Three serious and intense days of training camp have started to catch up with the Wizards. After a three-hour practice Thursday afternoon, players were absolutely dragging as reporters watched them go through stretching stations. Even John Wall was moving slowly, a true rarity on the basketball court.
Sean Marks again sat out due to the hamstring he injured on Wednesday. Wizards head coach Flip Saunders said it has set Marks back “a little bit,” but neither of the two seemed particularly worried.
“I hope everyday I’ll be doing a little bit more,” said Marks. “Anytime you get injured in camp, you’re concerned.”
Other than that, JaVale McGee is apparently nursing a cold. “It hasn’t really affected [camp],” said McGee. “I just don’t feel good when I wake up and when I go to sleep. That’s about it.”
Sounds awesome.
But the story of the afternoon – aside from Al Thornton tweeting after practice that he was actually hit by a car while walking on the George Mason campus (he also later said he was okay, but that “students can’t drive”) – was the appearance of Bullets legend Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, whose presence is the latest move by the team to help connect its present players to the franchise’s past. It was the first time Monroe, 65, had been to a training camp since he was a player – he retired in 1980.
“After 30 years, I finally came back to a training camp, and this is a real good and interesting camp,” said Monroe. “What they’ve got is a group of young guys that they can mold into the type of team they want to have. Aside from that, they have a lot of talent. I was very impressed by the guys in the scrimmage and how focused they were in the scrimmages. This is going to be something that’s very special here in the Washington area.”
Monroe, who is staying through Saturday, didn’t have a particular message for the players but was anxious to watch them and be a resource.
“When I was playing here, I played with some great players,” he said. “You know, Wes [Unseld] and Gus Johnson. Jack Marin. Kevin Loughery. All those guys all contributed to whatever I did, and I think that this team has the same opportunity to do that type of thing. Certainly, they didn’t have a great season last year, but I think this year, with the guys they have coming in, the kind of team that they’ve put together. John, I didn’t realize he was as fast as he was, as tenacious as he is. But I’m glad to see it and I’m hoping that as the year goes on, that this team will really come together. Good teams start with camaraderie, and these guys have a lot of that, and I’m looking to see how that progresses over the year.”
Friday was originally scheduled to include two practices, but it appears the Wizards will take to the court only once, in the morning.
