http://www.drewgooden.net/news.php?id=31
Training camp day 1
Oct.01.2003
Yesterday the Orlando Magic and 28 other NBA teams started the preparations for
the 2003-2004 season with their first day of training camp. According to the new
rule the NBA set up last year, players with four or more years of NBA experienc
e may not report to training camp until friday. Where several NBA teams had trou
ble getting enough players to be able to play a full scrimmage on their first da
y of camp, the youthful Orlando Magic had 14 players to deal with.
Offcourse 22 year old, second year forward Drew Gooden was one of those players.
"When the vets come in, they are going to be all stiff, slowing down our practi
ce," Gooden joked. "We need that mental edge on them. Maybe we won't turn the ba
ll over so much when they get here."
To start this years camp with a "team-building experience", headcoach Doc Rivers
woke his players up at 06:30 a.m. to take them on a safari ride at Animal Kingd
om.
"We knew something was up, though, because they woke us up at 6:30 this morning.
I ain't woke up that early for basketball or anything in a while," Drew Gooden
said. "They told us we were going for a Safari adventure, and everybody got exci
ted. Strangest thing I saw? When they fed the crocodiles. They rang the bell, th
e crocodile bell, and they all starting squirming, getting ready to eat. They to
re that [dead]chicken up."
Although second year players Drew Gooden and Gordon Giricek, who arrived with th
e Magic last season after being traded from Memphis, showed they were the best p
layers on the court, most eyes were pointed at Reece Gaines and Shammond William
s. Doc Rivers wanted to test rookie Reece Gaines and told newly acquired point g
uard Shammond Williams, who could take part in this first day of training camp b
ecause he only has a partially guaranteed contract, to get on him every chance h
e would get.
So be it.
Williams and Gaines ended up in an epic point guard battle, where the more exper
ienced Shammond Williams seemed to have the last word with a huge three pointer
in the buzzer. Besides that, Reece Gaines held his own. Doc Rivers had nothing t
o complain about.
As a matter of fact, he did complain about the lack of touches his potential sta
r Drew Gooden got in the first scrimmage: none. Rivers and other staff members o
f the Magic feel that Gooden is on the verge of stardom. Rivers has already set
a goal for his forward to end the season as a top 10 rebounder in the NBA.
"I really think he has a chance to be one of the great rebounders in this league
, sort of like one of the undersized guys like Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley
," Rivers said. "The only way we can be great is if he's a great rebounder."
Gooden himself is anxtious to become a better player and help his team reach the
ir goals. He worked hard this summer to get there.
Today the Magic will have their second day of camp, and friday the 6 veterans on
the team with 4 years of experience or more will join the rest of the team.
"I might still be young, but I know how to play this game," Gooden said. "This i
s a great group. We have young guys who have been in the NBA a couple of years n
ow. Hey, the NBA is getting younger and this is just the way it is now. You coul
d be 21 or 22 and be three years into the league."
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