Wizards Training Camp: Notable Quotes From Day One
The Washington Wizards held their first day of training camp at Virginia Commenwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
Former Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders and legendary Boston Celtics’ coach K.C. Jones were special guests.
Once again, the Wizards PR staff was nice enough to release some notable quotes from the first day.
WIZARDS HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN
On how Etan Thomas looked today:
“Very physical. Very athletic. Very intense and very competitive. He looked good.”
On Gilbert Arenas’ involvement in camp:
“He brought a group over here early. He had them doing shooting drills, so it’s been good. He’s really into it. It’s good to have him in uniform and around.”
On Dee Brown:
“Dee was a lighting bolt today. It was really great to see. He talks a lot (on the floor). He’s tough. He pushes the ball. He’s fast, and his shot has really improved. He’s a speed demon out there. That’s something that we haven’t had since I’ve been coaching here, and we welcome that sort of talent.”
On guest coach K.C. Jones being in camp:
“I always liked his coaching style, and I liked his story even when he was a player.”
On the young guys:
“Dom had a great summer. Our young guys are a lot more focused, a lot more professional, and they’ve taken it upon themselves to work on their game. That’s a real promising thing to see Dominic (McGuire), Andray (Blatche), Nick (Young) and Pech (Oleksiy Pecherov) really work at it.”
WIZARDS FORWARD CARON BUTLER
On today’s practice:
“I was really excited with what I saw from the younger guys. Nick Young looked great…Andray Blatche, JaVale (McGee), Dominic (McGuire), they looked good. We hit the ground running. It was nice to get the young guys confidence up too because we are going to need the younger guys more than ever.”
More on practice today:
“It was just fun to be out there full speed with contact. It felt good. I am just trying to establish a rhythm and get my legs under me. That’s what the veterans do, and the young guys really looked great.”
On guest coach K.C. Jones:
“That was classic. When we saw K.C. Jones come in and he was sharing stories about the Celtics…guarding Jerry West and stuff like that…we really got a history lesson last night.”
On what he spoke with guest coach Flip Saunders about:
“My main thing, since he’s a great coach, was to ask him how he attacked me on the defensive end (as an opposing coach) – what were some of the things that you focused on – and he said ‘we just hoped that you had a bad night.’”
WIZARDS GUARD GILBERT ARENAS
On rehabbing from injury:
“The frustrating part is when you show signs of coming back, but you can’t do too much or it sets you back further. So I’m (thinking) ‘when is this ever going to end?’ When can I just go out there and play?”
On being at training camp:
“I need to be a presence, because I know I’m a part of the crew. Even though I’m not out there, I’m still a part of the team.”
On the Wizards without him:
“(The team on the floor) is very talented. Our young guys have been getting up to speed early, and the veterans are healthy and shooting the ball well, so this is a good training camp for us.”
On players showing up early to practice:
“By 9:00 (two hours before practice started) we must have had 14 guys here. Caron came on the early bus, AD (Antonio Daniels) came, Juan (Dixon) came…and I brought the young guys with me. We wanted to get 300 ‘makes’ in before practice.
This article was written by:
Rashad Mobley - who has written 68 posts on Hoops Addict.
Rashad Mobley graduated with a B.S. in English Education, from Hampton University in Hampton, VA in 1996. He is a government consultant for the Department of Justice in Washington D.C., where he currently resides. Rashad is will be covering the Washington Wizards for HoopsAddict.com during the upcoming NBA season.