A bit of business, fun on first day of camp
RICHMOND – The concerns on Day 1 of Washington Wizards training camp were familiar — including the competition at starting shooting guard, the plan to improve defensively and increasingly familiar talk about aims for an NBA championship.
But the day’s dominant subject was the team dinner held Monday night in which head coach Flip Saunders enlisted hypnotist John-Ivan Palmer to lighten the mood and foster team unity.
“Everybody leading up to [camp] was just so serious,” said Randy Foye. “Just to see guys smiling, having a good time with each other, it was a great thing to see.”
Players were reluctant to divulge details of their experience, but Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, Mike James and even vice president of basketball administration Tommy Sheppard all were willing participants in antics including Young galloping around as if on a horse and James barking like a dog.
Back at Siegel Center, the hardwood also was familiar, given the installation of the Verizon Center basketball court transported from Washington. Gilbert Arenas took advantage, getting his shooting practice in before the sun was up.
“I came in, and he was getting shots in already, and I was the second guy in here,” said Caron Butler, who arrived at 8 a.m. “That just meant a lot, to see one of the leaders on this team showing up that early.”
Conducting his first drills as a head coach after a year out of the NBA, Saunders used the first of Tuesday’s two practices to install a few offensive plays and introduce the Wizards to his defensive concepts.
“I liken it sometimes to when you have real close friends, and you haven’t maybe seen them for 12 months,” said Saunders, who distributed T-shirts and hats with “Our Time” printed on the front. “It’s like you see them, and within two hours, it’s like you saw them three days ago. It’s kind of the same thing when you’ve been coaching, and that’s what you’ve been doing. You’re so familiar with it, and it’s something that you enjoy that when you get back into it, it almost seems like you haven’t been gone.”
