At roughly 9:30AM this morning, the Orlando Magic's 2006-07 season officially got underway. Head coach Brian Hill brought all 17 players on the roster to half court to kick things off as they all loudly clapped to celebrate finally be back together as a team.
Most of the team was out on the court shooting around well before 9:00, eagerly anticipating their first day of camp. Each player arrived on court wearing the team's new practice gear by adidas, who replaces Reebok this season as the official apparel supplier of NBA.
Coach Hill split the squad into three colored jerseys - black, white and orange. The black squad was composed of Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Jameer Nelson, Tony Battie and Hedo Turkoglu. Wearing the white were Carlos Arroyo, Darko Milicic, Keyon Dooling, Trevor Ariza, Pat Garrity and Kasib Powell. Finally, Jackie Manuel, Travis Diener, James Augustine, J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans and Bo Outlaw sported the orange jerseys.
After receiving some opening instructions from Coach Hill and doing some stretches to get loose, work got underway.
A variety of drills were run in the opening hour, including work on staying with the ball handler on defense, sprinting back down the court and getting into position to properly stop the offense, along with a number of 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 fast break drills.
The players wrapped up practice with a few minutes of 5-on-5 before finishing up the first session with some free throws.
A few player observations after the first round of practices this week...
Some were questioning whether the World Championships would deflate Dwight, Carlos and Darko a bit entering camp. I think after this week is over and the season begins, we'll see no signs of fatigue from these guys and instead start talking about how well conditioned they are after playing in Japan.
Both Dwight and Darko look like they've bulked up a bit and Carlos was, well, Carlos - going at it 100 percent the entire time...
By the way, it's quite a joy watching Dwight and Darko match up with one another in practice. There's good reason other teams are drooling at the young duo we'll have inside the paint this season.
Last week, Dwight joked with the media that he didn't think rookie J.J. Redick had missed a shot during the team's voluntary workouts. And while J.J. assured everyone at Media Day that he had indeed missed some shots, it's easy to see how this guy is so dangerous. He makes shooting the outside shot seem so flawless and looked really good from outside in a number of drills.
Another player who looked solid from the outside - Travis Diener…
Yes, folks. Grant Hill was present at the first day of camp and participated the entire time. Were there any signs of Grant holding back or not going at it 100 percent? None. Grant looked like the same All-Star calibur player we've seen over the years and went at it full steam.
Should Grant sit out the evening session this week, I wouldn't read much into it. It's better to take the preventative approach now than regret it down the road. But all signs point to a healthy Grant Hill on the floor right now, which could mean great things for the team this season.
Got a Question?: Wanna know what's going on a training camp? Send a message to Glass Half Full. The OrlandoMagic.com blogger will be responding to your emails live from training camp throughout the week.
Evening Session Recap - Day 1
By Matthew Gardner | October 3, 2006
No contact in the evening session, but still a lot going on during the two and a half hour practice. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that the team won't have any trouble getting to sleep tonight.
League rules restrict the amount of contact allowed in practice, so the evening sessions at training camp are for getting the players in game shape, working on the fundamentals and trying to master the playbook. Lots of movement up and down the floor and lots of shooting were accompanied by running through a number of offensive sets before putting to bed the first day of camp.
A few observations...
ARIZA FROM OUTSIDE: A number of comments have been made on how great Trevor Ariza could be if he developed a jumpshot. Though this is only practice, Trevor looked good from 15 feet and beyond. If that translates well into the season, that could become another ingredient the team adds to this year's arsenal. With Grant Hill sitting out for much of the evening session, Trevor got the opportunity to play with the first team (Howard, Nelson, Turkoglu and Battie).
BO NOSE: Bo Outlaw ditched his trademark goggles today for a faceguard. The veteran forward apparently got hit a few times in some recent pickup games, so the faceguard is to avoid more contact - not a Rip Hamilton-style fashion statement. Unfortunately, the faceguard didn't prevent him from getting hit in the side of the head by an errant pass earlier in the day.
GARRITY'S TENURE: Sometimes overlooked on a team with rising superstars are the veterans like Pat Garrity that bring the experience, education and most importantly - heart - to the floor. Guys like Garrity last in the league because they do a lot of the little things right. The Magic can use Garrity to their advantage because of his size and outside shooting ability. That combination creates matchup problems for opponents and often opens up other offensive opportunities when Garrity pops outside.
Though Hill, Battie and Outlaw may be older than him, Garrity holds the longest tenure on this Magic squad - playing in his eighth season with the team.
THE DOOLING-ARROYO SPARK: Late last season, the Magic got a huge spark from the bench when Keyon Dooling and Carlos Arroyo were in the game at the same time. It appears than combination may be dangerous again this year with Keyon and Carlos already showing that on-court chemistry on Day 1 of camp.
AUGUSTINE'S FIRST DAY: It's easy to see why all those Illini fans are crazy about James Augustine. What's not to like about the guy? On Day 1 of camp he's already demonstrating why his name got called on Draft night. He goes hard all the time, is already showing his knack for being around the ball and is hanging in there with the more experienced bigs. In the early stages of the season, James will go through the same growing pains all rookies experience and will occasionally make the typical first-year mistakes. How well he continues to develop - both offensively and defensively - will determine how much court time he sees his first year.
At roughly 9:30AM this morning, the Orlando Magic's 2006-07 season officially got underway. Head coach Brian Hill brought all 17 players on the roster to half court to kick things off as they all loudly clapped to celebrate finally be back together as a team.
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