http://www.nba.com/sixers/features/jones_blog.html

In Philadelphia, the name Bobby Jones is synonymous with the 1982-83
championship team. That Bobby Jones has his No. 24 hanging in the rafters,
celebrating a distinguished eight year Sixers career. Bobby Jones, the 76ers
2006 second round draft choice, is all to familiar with the name comparison.
This Bobby Jones averaged 9.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 125
games (106 starts) in four seasons at the University of Washington. He
finished his career ranked 20th in UW history with 1,226 points and ranks
fourth in Washington history with 134 steals. Throughout training camp, the
newest Bobby Jones will share his experiences with Sixers.com.


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July 22: I didn’t get to play much this week. I got to see more stuff from
the sidelines rather than actually experiencing it. Still, I came out
learning a lot. Especially about my body and taking care of it. No matter
what happened, I found something positive to take back. I’m just looking to
continue to get better and look forward to training camp, or whatever may be
before that.

I am going to be going to Vegas for a skills camp at the end of this month.
From there, I will head back to Philly to find a place and then work on
getting better, getting in shape and getting ready for the season to start.
Next thing you know, the season will be right around the corner. At this
point, I don’t really have too much scheduled. I am going to be all over the
next month and a half. I will probably head back to Philly by the end of
August.

I had some time to watch some movies this week. I saw the IMax movie on
skydiving and base jumping and I went with some of the guys to see Little
Man. The IMax movie was better than Little Man… That’s saying a lot right
there. That’s why you go to the movies. It was a good experience. I got to
spend some time with some of my teammates.

These past few weeks, we came together real fast as a team. We hung out with
each other a lot. Even when we didn’t go out, we would hang out in each
others’ rooms and play Monopoly or something like that. We gelled real fast.
As fast as it happened, its almost hard to believe that it is already over
with. I’m sure we all will be exchanging numbers because you never know when
you may see each other again. It was a great experience seeing other players
that you played against or saw on TV before. You got to meet them. And it was
a good weekend for that.

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July 18:Traveling is really nothing new to me. I have been doing a lot of
travel the last three months. Just leaving on a day notice and traveling four
to five hours to play some games or go to some workouts. You already know
what to expect. I usually just go to sleep on the plane, so it doesn’t
affect me that much. I just want to be on the court and get out there and
play games. I’m always excited to get out there and play games and play
against other people. After a while you get tired playing against your
teammates so much. You see them around all the time and you just want to play
against some new faces. I was excited to get out here. Before we got here, I
had a little nagging hamstring problem. I was playing through it, trying to
learn as much as I could and take treatment on my body.

They have been telling me, “Don’t try to be a hero right now.” I still
have a long season ahead of me. I have tried to take that in stride and
listened to them. I have been icing my hamstring and trying to get it
stronger and staying more flexible. Back when I was in college I really didn’
t have to worry about that a lot. Now, you have to take good care of your
body because you can only last as long as your body allows for. I am learning
that, taking everything in stride and staying positive.

I think the biggest thing my injury needs is rest. During training camp, I
wanted to be out there and show the coaches that I did belong out there and
show them my talents. Now that we got here, they have seen what I can do, so
they are not really pressing the issue of me getting out there because they
understand. I tried to play through it when we were in Philly. I’m not
making excuses about anything. They understand that if I can’t go, I can’t
go. Rest is so important. Some people underestimate the importance of rest.
Your body at some point has to re-energize and get healthy. In the next month
or so, I’m still going to work out. I just need to get more rest and get
some treatment on my leg.

I’ll still be at the games supporting my teammates. One of the worst
feelings in the world is watching a game and not being able to play. I have
never really been in that situation before. I am trying to get used to that.
That is why you have teammates. You have to stay positive and support them
through the good and bad. That’s what I have been learning.


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July 12: I thought at first that these practices might be a little easier
because they are a less amount of time, but that time doesn’t compare to our
time in college. Here it is much more intense within those two hours. The
players are physically the same size and as fast as each other. It takes a
physical toll on your body, especially having double days. Other than that, I
have had to learn the terms. It is the same concepts, but different wording.
I think I am getting there though.

Our plays are pretty simple, nothing too complex when it comes to the plays
and our defensive schemes. Once you are in the game and it's time to
implement those things that’s when we will find out if it has all been
paying off or not.


The competition is always tough because everyone is just about the same
physically and mentally with the knowledge of the game. The only way to
really tell the difference is how hard you play and how hard you do the
drills. That’s where I try to stand out from everyone else.



The last few days I have spoken with the media and done a lot of interviews. I
’m the new guy in town. People want to see what I have to say and what I’m
all about. I don’t know if it’s going to be like that consistently but I’m
sure everyone wanted to see me and see what I am all about. First impressions
are everything.



I just want to stay healthy, not get hurt, continue to get better and win
some games in Salt Lake City.



Usually, I would only get treatment when I’m hurt or right after I get hurt.
They have been teaching me about prevention and the need to get treatment
even though you think you might not need it. I have had a couple nagging
injuries so I have been in the training room before and after practice. I am
learning to come in here no matter what and take care of my body.



Yesterday after I left the gym, I went back to my room and fell asleep. I
woke up a little later went to Subway to get something to eat and then went
back to sleep. That is what this whole week has been about. Just resting up
and getting ready for the next practice because we don’t have that much
time. Since I’m from the West Coast, I’m used to staying up later compared
to the East Coast time. I have been trying to force myself to sleep when I don
’t feel like it… I have been doing a good job of that.


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July 11: Draft-night was nerve wrecking. Everything you have been doing since
you have been playing basketball, comes down to that one day. Once you start
thinking about it like that, it is a pretty big-time day. I couldn’t sleep
that night. I woke up extra early so I had a lot of time at home. I was by
myself for most of the day. At a certain point, I got tired of watching the
new Superman movie at 1pm. By the time I got out it was "showtime." My
parents got back home from work and my sister stopped by. We all started
watching the draft on TV at our house, but once it got started, I went to my
room for a little bit because I was too nervous. I just wanted to be alone.
Once I got picked I was ecstatic. I was excited. I was happy to go anywhere.
I knew I couldn’t be too picky at that point. Once I found out that Philly
was going to select me, I was surprised because I never worked out with them.
My agent and I never really talked about Philly before the draft. The day of
the draft my agent called me to let me know that Philly might try to trade
and get me. Once it all happened I was really excited about the situation. I
know the Sixers have a lot of talent and that they made it to the Finals in
2001. I remember because I was still in L.A. when it happened. I knew Andre
[Iguodala] from college because we played against each other for a few years
in the Pac-10. Right now, that’s the only close tie I have to anyone on the
team. Eventually, I will get to know everybody.

I got in to Philadelphia late Thursday night (July 6). I took a cab to see
the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie on Friday. Most of the time ,so far, I
have just spent in my room watching TV. In college, I really didn’t have a
lot of time to watch TV a lot. Now I have some free time to watch some shows
and catch up on some current events and watch some movies on the movie
channel. Any time I can go to the movies, I definitely go. I am a big movie
buff. I like pretty much all kinds of movies - action, drama, comedy. I like
sitting at the movies with the big screen and the surround sound. Hopefully,
I will be able to have some more time to go.

Since camp started we have been busy. It takes a toll on your body but I know
I have to get used to this kind of intensity because it is a long season. In
college, you play less than half the games as an NBA team, so I know I have
some adjustments to make. I have been staying positive, going as hard as I
can and take things in on the fly. I think I had a pretty productive first
day. I just have to take today and get better for tomorrow.