Now that I’ve decided what to do with all the things that I see when following the Golden State Warriors closely, be it at practices, one-on-one meetings, clinics, shoe events, or what have you, it’s time I got you guys all caught up on my “exploits” during training camp and the trip to China.
During training camp, you really got the sense that Coach Mark Jackson was putting his stamp on the culture of this team. I summarized it using the same words that were prevalent throughout camp: “making each other better”, “going at it hard”, “no plays off”.
Here’s a recap of what I saw when training camp started, after Media/Tweedia Day. Media was allowed in after practice, as practices are closed (you know, wouldn’t want any strategies to leak, of course). I couldn’t recall a single day where I didn’t hear a lot of clapping and yelling and encouragement, even behind closed doors at the practice facility.
Every end-of-practice interview started, as always, with Coach Mark Jackson. He would be followed by Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson, as it so happened. The baseline of the near court has a chair and the Warriors blue backdrop that you might see on Warriors TV online. The players always end practice with free throws. Andre Iguodala was paired with Marreese Speights, David Lee with fellow left-hander Kent Bazemore, Toney Douglas and Stephen Curry on the near court next to the cameras, and Draymond Green and HB, for example. So while the interviews are going on, you can still hear balls bouncing.
The only funny thing about Day One was that HB said MJ seemed more serious, to which MJ said it was interesting that HB said that. Barnes said that the team was no longer of the mindset of playing a few games “and calling it a season”. It’s just funny when HB comes up with stuff like that on the fly. And he always does it with a big smile.
On the flipside, it’s too bad Joe Alexander never really got any reps. I saw him in a walking boot on his left foot.
Nemanja Nedovic didn’t show up til a few days later during camp due to visa problems. And when he did, you could really get a sense of his calm approach. He spoke English very well. Perhaps the language barrier is a reason why we haven’t gotten a sit-down with Ogjnen Kuzmic yet, aside from the fact that he’s on the lowest rung of the ladder on the depth chart.
I’d say Nedo’s English is better than that of Speights’! Marreese has a thick street vernacular and he slurs, so it’s very hard to understand what he’s saying. But don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely still a professional and downplayed any label of “bringing the nasty” on defense.
On Day Two, Iguodala spoke and I was surprised when he said that it’d take him till around December to probably feel comfortable with his new team. I got the chance to ask him how long it took to get acclimated to his Denver Nuggets teammates last season, to which he added another surprise: that didn’t happen until the Nuggets reached the playoffs.
Steph was also there on Day Two and said that Bazemore stood out as someone who was playing well.
The next day Bazemore felt good about Steph’s comment and said that watching Toney Douglas pressure inbounds balls motivated him to play better D as well. When asked if anyone had gotten dunked on yet, Baze said, “Oh, D.Lee got Bogut on a ‘toe-dragger’, but it was nothing.” That’s probably the first and last time I’ll ever hear a dunk described as a toe-dragger.
A couple of other funny tidbits: Klay Thompson playing football and running routes, as well as being quarterback. And Andrew Bogut shooting three-pointers. You know, just random occurrences you don’t see everyday.
After a day off, the next practice was held on Thursday, October 3rd at Oracle as MJ wanted the team and the rookies to get the feeling of playing in the arena. I couldn’t find the way in, as the usual entrances were closed. Luckily the Oakland Athletics were playing the Detroit Tigers that night, so there were people around and random doors being opened and closed. I even saw Art Spander there reporting on the baseball game, but he wasn’t quite sure how to get to Oracle. Eventually I got in and you could see how the first string (reversible jerseys white) was divided with the second string (blue). Thus far, MJ and the players had said he was mixing up the scrimmages a lot.
It was also interesting to see the extra courtside rows of individual seats. The injured Festus Ezeli was on the bench and dribbling a ball between his legs, which made it difficult for MJ to answer questions with media. MJ turned and said, “Festus! Really?”, but he was only joking. I think.
There was consensus that the guys were ready to play against another team after, as MJ told me, “beating each other up” all week. He also told me that it was probably more difficult to coach a preseason game, due to all the variables involved. The team would play the Los Angeles Lakers in Ontario, CA on Saturday and take the day off on Sunday.
On Friday, Draymond had a great interview which revealed just how well he understood the game. That’s probably worth a post in and of itself (please be sure to do a search on this later). During these last few days, I really didn’t have time to do any posts, as I was getting ready to go to the 2013 NBA Global Games starting in Manila.
I left for Manila on Monday, October 7th and actually watched the tail end of the preseason game against the Sacramento Kings that night at the hotel. As such, I would not see the team again until Monday, October 14th, a couple days after their arrival in Beijing.
I can’t wait to tell you about China. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
After that, I will catch you up on the post-China practices, a week of which I missed because I returned to the Bay Area only a few days ago on October 26th, whereas the team flew back right after the Shanghai game on October 18th. That will lead us up right until Opening Night tomorrow. And then from that point on, you’ll get the scoop from me as things happen, either every day or every couple of days.
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