Diener’s Diary
JUMP TO: DAY ONE | JUMP TO: DAY TWO | JUMP TO: DAY THREE
Friday, Day Four: Last night, we had the night off, so I went with a few of my teammates and went out to eat. We had a really nice dinner, but more importantly, I got some much-needed rest all afternoon and night. I watched a little TV and just tried to get ready for today's two workouts.
This morning, Coach Hill switched things up again and we had the non-contact work (as opposed to doing it at night). We put in a few more plays, ran through our offense and did a few shooting drills. We'll come back in tonight, be very competitive and go at it a little bit in the second practice. It will probably be a lot like our first few practices, as far as getting up-and-down, mixing in a few drills and try to execute both our offensive and defensive schemes.
It's been pretty easy so far for me to keep up with what the coaches have been putting in. Most of the stuff we're doing, we ran during the Summer League, so I think the guys that played together in Vegas already have an idea about it. It's been pretty easy so far, but I'm sure that once the days keep going, we'll put in more and more plays. I think it's fairly basic right now and everyone is picking things up very quickly.
Our last drill this morning was a shooting drill. We were broken up into three teams, with Steve (Francis), Grant (Hill) and Hedo (Turkoglu) choosing sides. Steve had the first pick overall and he picked me...he has a lot of confidence in me. I was kind of surprised, because I thought he would pick Pat (Garrity) first. He went with the rookie and it paid off! We ended up coming back and winning the drill, so I guess he made the smart move!!
Thursday, Day Three: It was really good to get up-and-down today. We went a lot longer than usual, because we're not going tonight. The coaches put in a little more stuff and we got to do a little scrimmaging at the end. I thought I did pretty well today. In fact, I thought I really had one of my better practices since I've been here. I'm just trying to play with a little more confidence each day and keep things going until camp is over.
As a young guy, you tend to come in nervous. I think that happened to me during Summer League too. In the first game I played, I was very hesitant. Same thing here...but now I think I am getting more comfortable each day. Today, I did shoot better. I don't like to let that dictate how I play, but I did shoot it pretty well this morning. I'm just trying to carry everything that I have learned from one practice to the next, and try to not make as many mistakes. Simply play smart basketball.
When I was a kid, I used to watch Grant Hill at Duke. Steve Francis was one of my favorite players at Maryland. Now, here I am on the same team as these guys. It's kind of a surreal thing...growing up, these were the best players in college basketball and now they are among the best players in the NBA. I try not to look at it like that so much. I just try to go out and help our team in practice, and when games start, just try to do whatever it takes to win and be successful.
All of the guards - Jameer, Keyon and Steve - they have all helped me out a ton. All three have brought valuable knowledge to me and have helped me out quite a bit. They are really making the transition pretty easy for me.
Coach Hill gave us the night off tonight, so I don't know what I'm going to do! Dwight and I may go out to eat, then go catch a movie or something. I'm just going to take this extra time to relax, get my feet up and recover. Coach understands we have been working very hard and that we need a night off. And that's great. I'll be ready to go again tomorrow!
Wednesday, Day Two: Going into today's practice, I was a little sore...I think everyone was feeling that way. But once the juices got going and my body finally started feeling good, I was alright. Right now, I feel pretty good.
I thought this morning was a really good session. We went a little longer (almost three hours) than yesterday, but I think it went really well. I'm learning to stay focused and giving each drill my best effort - like I've been taught throughout my career. I need to slow down. Everything doesn't have to be a hundred miles per hour. We're getting a lot of things thrown at us, so I need to try to slow down, try to execute properly and do things the right way.
Getting rest is very important. The team has arranged for massages after the night sessions, so I'm going to sign up for one of those! Other than that, I will eat, go take a nap, then come back to the gym re-energized and focused on the next practice. It's extremely important to get as much rest as you can.
Today's practice did start a little differently. I had to sing "Happy Birthday" to Grant Hill. I thought I was going to be the only one, since I'm the only rookie! We got Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Mario Kasun and Matt Freije to sing with me. It was nice to give Grant his birthday song. Being the only rookie, I expect a lot more of that stuff during the next few months!!
Tuesday, Day One: A lot of the guys were anxious this morning and I was more-so, because I'm the rookie. In fact, I'm the only rookie out here out of the 19 guys. But that feeling goes away pretty quickly when you get scored on, or when you score on someone else. The butterflies seemed to disappear right away after that. I'm sure going into my first game I'll be nervous too, but any athlete will tell you that it wears off pretty quick.
Our practices at Marquette were extremely intense and extremely energetic, so this morning's session was about the same. I don't think I'm going to see anything that I haven't seen before, as far as from a conditioning standpoint. Coach (Tom) Crean demanded a lot of hard work and intensity, and I think Coach Hill is the same way.
The first practice went pretty well. We got up-and-down a little bit and got a LOT of teaching in, especially on defense. We tried to do a few things offensively, but really did a lot of new and different techniques defensively. We're just going to try to improve and get better every day we're up here. The execution, obviously being the first day, was not how we want it to be or need it to be, but everybody came out this morning, worked very hard and I expect that to continue into tonight's practice.
As far as the first day goes, I thought it went pretty well for myself and for the team.
Friday, Day Four: Last night, we had the night off, so I went with a few of my teammates and went out to eat. We had a really nice dinner, but more importantly, I got some much-needed rest all afternoon and night. I watched a little TV and just tried to get ready for today's two workouts.
This morning, Coach Hill switched things up again and we had the non-contact work (as opposed to doing it at night). We put in a few more plays, ran through our offense and did a few shooting drills. We'll come back in tonight, be very competitive and go at it a little bit in the second practice. It will probably be a lot like our first few practices, as far as getting up-and-down, mixing in a few drills and try to execute both our offensive and defensive schemes.
It's been pretty easy so far for me to keep up with what the coaches have been putting in. Most of the stuff we're doing, we ran during the Summer League, so I think the guys that played together in Vegas already have an idea about it. It's been pretty easy so far, but I'm sure that once the days keep going, we'll put in more and more plays. I think it's fairly basic right now and everyone is picking things up very quickly.
Our last drill this morning was a shooting drill. We were broken up into three teams, with Steve (Francis), Grant (Hill) and Hedo (Turkoglu) choosing sides. Steve had the first pick overall and he picked me...he has a lot of confidence in me. I was kind of surprised, because I thought he would pick Pat (Garrity) first. He went with the rookie and it paid off! We ended up coming back and winning the drill, so I guess he made the smart move!!
Thursday, Day Three: It was really good to get up-and-down today. We went a lot longer than usual, because we're not going tonight. The coaches put in a little more stuff and we got to do a little scrimmaging at the end. I thought I did pretty well today. In fact, I thought I really had one of my better practices since I've been here. I'm just trying to play with a little more confidence each day and keep things going until camp is over.
As a young guy, you tend to come in nervous. I think that happened to me during Summer League too. In the first game I played, I was very hesitant. Same thing here...but now I think I am getting more comfortable each day. Today, I did shoot better. I don't like to let that dictate how I play, but I did shoot it pretty well this morning. I'm just trying to carry everything that I have learned from one practice to the next, and try to not make as many mistakes. Simply play smart basketball.
When I was a kid, I used to watch Grant Hill at Duke. Steve Francis was one of my favorite players at Maryland. Now, here I am on the same team as these guys. It's kind of a surreal thing...growing up, these were the best players in college basketball and now they are among the best players in the NBA. I try not to look at it like that so much. I just try to go out and help our team in practice, and when games start, just try to do whatever it takes to win and be successful.
All of the guards - Jameer, Keyon and Steve - they have all helped me out a ton. All three have brought valuable knowledge to me and have helped me out quite a bit. They are really making the transition pretty easy for me.
Coach Hill gave us the night off tonight, so I don't know what I'm going to do! Dwight and I may go out to eat, then go catch a movie or something. I'm just going to take this extra time to relax, get my feet up and recover. Coach understands we have been working very hard and that we need a night off. And that's great. I'll be ready to go again tomorrow!
Wednesday, Day Two: Going into today's practice, I was a little sore...I think everyone was feeling that way. But once the juices got going and my body finally started feeling good, I was alright. Right now, I feel pretty good.
I thought this morning was a really good session. We went a little longer (almost three hours) than yesterday, but I think it went really well. I'm learning to stay focused and giving each drill my best effort - like I've been taught throughout my career. I need to slow down. Everything doesn't have to be a hundred miles per hour. We're getting a lot of things thrown at us, so I need to try to slow down, try to execute properly and do things the right way.
Getting rest is very important. The team has arranged for massages after the night sessions, so I'm going to sign up for one of those! Other than that, I will eat, go take a nap, then come back to the gym re-energized and focused on the next practice. It's extremely important to get as much rest as you can.
Today's practice did start a little differently. I had to sing "Happy Birthday" to Grant Hill. I thought I was going to be the only one, since I'm the only rookie! We got Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Mario Kasun and Matt Freije to sing with me. It was nice to give Grant his birthday song. Being the only rookie, I expect a lot more of that stuff during the next few months!!
Tuesday, Day One: A lot of the guys were anxious this morning and I was more-so, because I'm the rookie. In fact, I'm the only rookie out here out of the 19 guys. But that feeling goes away pretty quickly when you get scored on, or when you score on someone else. The butterflies seemed to disappear right away after that. I'm sure going into my first game I'll be nervous too, but any athlete will tell you that it wears off pretty quick.
Our practices at Marquette were extremely intense and extremely energetic, so this morning's session was about the same. I don't think I'm going to see anything that I haven't seen before, as far as from a conditioning standpoint. Coach (Tom) Crean demanded a lot of hard work and intensity, and I think Coach Hill is the same way.
The first practice went pretty well. We got up-and-down a little bit and got a LOT of teaching in, especially on defense. We tried to do a few things offensively, but really did a lot of new and different techniques defensively. We're just going to try to improve and get better every day we're up here. The execution, obviously being the first day, was not how we want it to be or need it to be, but everybody came out this morning, worked very hard and I expect that to continue into tonight's practice.
As far as the first day goes, I thought it went pretty well for myself and for the team.
