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Training camp a test of endurance – for Pistons players and coaches both

The morning practices on the first two days of Pistons training camp were nearly three hours long. Day three spilled 15 minutes into a fourth hour.

“No, didn’t ever have it,” Marcus Morris shook his head when asked if he’d experienced sessions of similar duration at his previous NBA training camps in Houston and Phoenix. “It’s long, man. It’s long. Just using it to get in great shape. Can’t complain.”

Stan Van Gundy remembers coming to the NBA as a Miami assistant 20 years ago. Those Pat Riley training camps, now they were sheer tests of physical endurance. His practices don’t compare to those, he’ll tell you, and probably demand more mental focus than anything. Much to teach, much to absorb.

The toughest part of the day for the players is the morning practice. They’ll get to the gym around 9 a.m. and do some individual drill work with their assigned assistant coach in advance of the 10 a.m. start of formal practice. The morning practice will contain some portion of full-court, five-on-five scrimmaging. On Wednesday, it was three successive 12-minute quarters. On Thursday, it was about 20 to 25 minutes, the bulk of practice prior to that devoted to defensive execution.

The second practice of the day starts at 5 p.m. and runs about two hours, maybe a shade longer. That’s less physically demanding. Players will break off into small groups and get up plenty of shots. They come in drills designed to approximate the types of shots the offense is intended for them to get. For Anthony Tolliver, it will be plenty of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. For Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks, it will be coming around screens or one- and two-dribble pull-ups. For Andre Drummond, hook shots from each side of the basket.

The night sessions include two other major components: weight-lifting under the direction of strength coach Anthony Harvey and assistant Jordan Sabourin, and installations of new offensive sets or defensive schemes that will be put to use in the next day’s practice.

NBA teams are allowed to conduct six days of two-a-day practices during training camp. Van Gundy will use only four of them – consecutively. So today marks the last of the two-a-day Pistons practices. Saturday’s only practice will be open to the public at The Palace, starting at 11 a.m. with doors opening at 10.

Training camp is also demanding for Van Gundy and his staff. He’ll be up by 6 a.m. and meeting with general manager Jeff Bower by 7:30. Then he’ll meet with his coaching staff, most of whom have already been in getting their own work done beforehand, at 8 a.m.

Van Gundy scripts his practices, but is always tinkering with them based on what he sees sinking in or needing further work from the previous day.

“I’ve got pretty much the whole month planned out in terms of what I want to do, but it does change every day,” he said. “In fact, when I send out the practice plans, I always tell (assistant coach) Charles (Klask), ‘Don’t print ’em out until we’re like 10 minutes before the coaches meeting,’ because up until then it’s all subject to change.”

When the coaches meeting breaks up and the assistants hit the floor to work with players before practice, Van Gundy stays in his office to tailor the next practice session’s schedule based on the changes made to the one about to take place.

After the morning practice, the coaches watch the videotape from the first practice and discuss what needs fine tuning and how the video crew should edit the tape to show the players as examples of good and bad. There isn’t as much to do after the evening practice – no videotape to review, since there is no “live” action – but coaches don’t get out of the building until after sunset. These gorgeous fall days? They’re not seeing a minute of sunshine.

The first day off the Pistons get will be Sunday, then Monday it’s back to practice and Tuesday opens the preseason with a morning walk-through and then the opener that night at The Palace. It’ll be pretty much non-stop from now until mid-April – and at least a little beyond that, if the season goes well.