Arenas

Daniels

Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels have taken turns schooling each other on some of the finer points of the game. Arenas, entering his third season running the point in Eddie Jordan’s offense, has taken extra time to help Daniels grasp all of the options and counters of Jordan’s intricate offense. Daniels, on the other hand, has been seen and heard offering defensive encouragement to Arenas, as part of a renewed Wizards’ effort in stressing defense.

Atkins

On the subject of defense, Arenas and Daniels were just two of a number of Wizards that were focused on ‘D’ on Day One.

As Chucky Atkins noted, "when you read the newspaper clippings, in all of the articles the main thing that people talk about is can the Wizards play defense? Everybody knows that we can score, but to win night in and night out, we know the importance of defense, and Coach Jordan is definitely stressing that. It starts right here in training camp."

After an intense two-and-a-half hour morning workout, it’s a safe bet that all of the Wizards have noted Jordan’s stress on ‘D’.

Ruffin

If you’re still holding on to the arcane image of players reporting for training camp out-of-shape and out-of-practice and begrudgingly partaking in drills for the purpose of rounding themselves into “game shape”, it’s time to let go of that notion.

At Wizards Training Camp ’06, while fundamentals will be preached, and chemistry will be encouraged, conditioning drills began in the summer. Particularly of note, Brendan Haywood reported for camp looking strong and svelte, Jared Jeffries has added bulk while maintaining his quickness, and Michael Ruffin looks like he’s ready to go 12 rounds with Lennox Lewis.

Haywood

It’s interesting to note how the Wizards break up for smaller group instruction. On Day One, three groups emerged: Bigs, Mids and Smalls. Haywood led a ‘Bigs’ group that included Etan Thomas, Ruffin, Calvin Booth, Peter Ramos and Hiram Fuller. Antawn Jamison was vocal with the ‘Mids’ – Caron Butler, Jarvis Hayes, Jared Jeffries and Awvee Storey – and the competition amongst the smalls was particularly fun to watch, with Arenas, Daniels, Chucky Atkins, Donell Taylor and Billy Thomas pushing each other through every drill.

Other observations from Day One: