I have to admit, the sleep clock got well and truly messed up thanks to Monday night’s midnight madness and the required elementary school drop-off yesterday so we’ll have to take on the task of looking back at Day 1 of Wizards training camp as the first topic this morning.
Let’s start with this: the “Back to Basics” banner is very subtle – about a 4’ x 6’-sized picture of a metal-netted playground rim just hanging in the corner of Patriot Center – but it contrasts quite dramatically with the playbook-loaded iPads that Wizards head coach Flip Saunders has distributed to players (I also saw at least one member of the front office staff with one).
“It’s not the matter of being expensive,” said Saunders. “It’s a matter of being a great learning tool.”
Speaking of school – it will be interesting to see if its noticeable enough that we see players carrying them around after practices during the season. But that’s for later.
Talking basics is appropriate when it comes to camp itself – where conditioning has been the buzz since before it even began. And it’s not often that coaches compliment the players for being in shape right away. That’s a strong foundation to build upon, and it’s another sign that the way this roster has been built – with youth and experienced but hungry veterans – is promising.
“Sometimes when you have a veteran team, you give them the leeway of getting themselves in shape, and sometimes what happens, when they’re not in the shape they need to be in, they start breaking down,” said Saunders. “They try to get in shape too quick, and they’re not ready for it, and then their bodies just start breaking down.”
That wouldn’t be a reference to last year’s Wizards, would it? No matter, Saunders also seems like a kid in a candy store, making repeated references to his early coaching experience at the college level, and the presence of his buddy, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, adds to the academic feel of things.
“It was learning situation,” said Saunders of Tuesday afternoon’s practice – which didn’t involved any scrimmages, a dramatic contrast to the loose midnight practice that kicked things off. “A lot of running, it was almost like a college practice in terms of the enthusiasm, the drills and the amount of teaching and learning that these guys are doing and how quickly they’re picking things up.”
And the tone, clearly, is being set by the backcourt, where Saunders immediately singled out John Wall and Kirk Hinrich for their demonstrative leadership.
“This is a do or die league,” said Hinrich, who could have the most workmanlike presence on the squad. “If you’re not competing and doing your job, you’re going to be out of the league pretty fast. There’s guys on the team trying to make the team, there’s guys trying to make statements, and we all just have to understand that we need do it as a group and have one cause: to win games.”
Hopefully, reporters will get a chance to see a bit more than simply shooting reps today.
