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Gordan Giricek's Training Camp Diary
Guard Gordan Giricek #10 poses for a studio portrait during the Grizzlies Media Day.
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Day 4: Today's Lesson - If you are open, take the shot
Today we ended practice with a scrimmage simulating the last five minutes of a game. We need to be comfortable at the end of games. In a team meeting before camp the coaches said we lost too many games in crunch time last season, so we need to work on that. In that drill the coaches told me that if I was open, to take the shot. When you have the chance to finish it, you have to, and if not you’ll go sit on the bench.
(On my role with the Grizzlies) In Europe I was always one of the main guys, but here, I’ll have to play as hard as possible when I play because I know there are guys ahead of me. But I don’t expect too much right now because if you expect too much you’ll be disappointed. I just want to work as hard as I can when I get the chance to play.
Tomorrow is our open practice, which should be fun, I’ve never practiced in front of a crowd before. I’m not nervous though, I’ll be cool.
Day 3: Comparisons to European League
I felt really good this morning. I’m a little sore, we’ve been doing a lot of running, but that’s the way it should be. We have an 82-game schedule and we have to prepare for the season in front of us. We started doing plays today, but we still run a lot too.
As I said the other day, the intensity is greater here. Practices are much more physical, although in Europe, we practice twice a day even during the season. So far I haven’t found any of teammates any harder to guard than any others- they all have something that makes them very hard to guard. That’s obvious though, because if they didn’t they wouldn’t be here.
Our first preseason game is on Tuesday (against the Houston Rockets). It’s still a few days away so I’m not nervous, I’ll probably treat it like any ordinary game since I played professionally in Europe for five years. However, I might get nervous on game day. I’m really looking forward to playing against Michael Jordan when the Washington Wizards are here in November, I followed him when I was younger.
Day 2: Getting comfortable
Today's morning practice was better than yesterday, I felt much more comfortable, and I know that by the beginning of the season I'll be fully ready to go.
We are still working on our physical conditioning. We haven't started working on plays yet, our practices have been based on conditioning, a lot of running. I feel much better already, and it's only Day Two. At practice, we have to run lines the width of the court, and the goal is to do 17 in one minute. I did that today, almost getting 18.
Everybody's been giving me advice, the coaches have been great. Anytime I have a question or want to work on something they help me out. And today, Shane Battier gave me some advice. During a scrimmage, we tried too many behind-the-back passes. Shane told me that's not a good idea, especially with me being a rookie and it only being the second day of camp.
After practice this morning, I'll go home, have lunch, play cards with my girlfriend and have a nap before being back tonight at 5 p.m.
Day 1: My first NBA training camp practice
It’s nice for me to be here with the guys, I really enjoyed playing with them this morning. The practice was very interesting, there was lots of running. In Europe, you practice hard, but not with the same intensity as here. In Europe, you get more breaks in practice to get water and to rest. Here, you go from exercise to exercise, and it’s much more physical.
This is my first time at an NBA training camp. I slept fine last night and I wasn’t nervous today, but I was also not relaxed. There was some hesitation, I was thinking about what I’d be doing next instead of just doing it.