By Nick Adams | September 29, 2007

Today at 9:00AM began the first of two practices for the team as they began training camp. The team will be having two-a-day practices at RDV Sportsplex up until Thursday, October 4th.

While practices are closed to the media, Coach Stan Van Gundy opened up his first practice session at noon for the media and OrlandoMagic.com jumped at the opportunity to catch the last 30 minutes of practice.

The practice was extremely loud and intense. You heard the skreetch of the sneakers, the players loudly communicating and Van Gundy vocalizing exactly what he wanted to see happen.

Van Gundy's energy and enthusiasm in his words and actions was contageous. Every time Van Gundy began to teach, everyone in the practice facility would stop what they were doing and focus on what he had to say. The carefree, joking-around attitude that the players displayed at Friday's Media Day was replaced by stern stares of focus. As Van Gundy concluded his teaching and it was time for the players to perform, you could see his energy transfer over to the players.

The team was working on their half court defense with Van Gundy stressing the importance of ball pressure, defensive rotation, and back side help.

The practice concluded with a team huddle and the players broke off to separate hoops to shoot free throws. Van Gundy was pleased with the first practice.

"I am pleased with our effort," Van Gundy said. "There was as much confusion as I thought there would be on the first day. We scrimmaged earlier and it was sloppy at times but that is to be expected.

"It is going to be sloppy. I am more focused on the team's effort and intensity right now and that has been great so far."

After the competion of the first practice, the players all stay at RDV Sportsplex. They are being provided with an area to relax at the RDV Sportsplex in between sessions. But the relaxation won't last for long as the evening session begins at 4:00PM and lasts until 6:00PM.

Practice Highlights...

Focus and Intensity
As mentioned before, the focus and intensity in the gym was overwhelming. All of the the players had a look of focus and determination on their faces. The ever-smiling Dwight Howard had a stern glare. The always-talking Keyon Dooling, was still talking, but about defensive rotations.

Communication
Communication is a major factor in basketball and is credited to a team's success on defense. If that is any indication then the Magic should have a solid defense this season. There was never silence in the gym and the players were always talking. You could always hear the deep low-pitched voice of Bo Outlaw over everyone yelling, "Backside, Backside". On top of the players talking on the floor, you had the players chatting and cheering on the sidelines. Carlos Arroyo always clapping encouraging his teammates.

Part of the keys to good communication is being a good listener and paying attention to what someone is saying. The players stopped verbally when Van Gundy stopped them to teach.

"Everyone listens when Coach is speaking," Adonal Foyle said. "He is a very good teacher and it will only benefit our team to listen to what he has to say."

Practice Teams
Coach Van Gundy stressed after practice the unimportance of who is on which team for practice.

"You guys can make up your own stories about the teams but they don't mean anything right now," Van Gundy said.

On this first day, the black team consisted of Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard, Bo Outlaw, Pat Garrity, and Kevin Kruger. The white team was composed of Carlos Arroyo, Trevor Ariza, Keyon Dooling, Marcin Gortat, Adonal Foyle, Keith Bogans, James Augustine, and Torrell Martin.

Mentor
It doesn't take a basketball genius to figure out why Patrick Ewing was brought to the team as an assistant. Patrick stood underneath the basket and each time Dwight Howard would sub out, he headed directly to Ewing. Patrick would talk to Dwight, demonsrating some moves as Dwight intently observed. Patrick helped Yao Ming in Houston and will undoubtly turn Howard into a more well-rounded center.

Biking Battie
While sidelined with a torn rotator cuff and deciding on whether surgery looms in the near future, Tony Battie was at practice pedaling on a stationary bike off to the side, supporting his teammates while also trying to stay in shape.

Extra Shooting
J.J. Redick and Torrell Martin stayed after practice to work on their shooting. With the assistant coaches rebounding, Redick and Martin worked on shooting off the pick and off the dribble.

"I usually stay after and work on my shot," Redick said. "Any free time I get I always try to shoot and work on my shot."