Зуны лигийн нээлтийн тоглолтод багийн бүх тоглогч цугласан нь шинэ соёл бүрэлдэж байгааг илтгэлээ.
Лас Вегас хотноо болсон Зуны лигийн нээлтийн тоглолтод Эй Жэй Дибанца хоёр гараар довтлон оноо авч, Трэ Жонсон 26 оноо, Вилл Райли 32 оноо тус тус авснаар гайхалтай тоглолтыг үзүүлэв. Үүнээс гадна Уошингтон Уизардс багийн үндсэн бүрэлдэхүүний 11 гишүүн, тухайлбал Деандре Эйтон, Билал Кулибали, Алекс Сарр, Трэй Янг нар талбайн хажууд ирж багаа дэмжсэн нь олны анхаарлыг татлаа. Кэйшон Жорж энэхүү нэгдэл нь багийн дотоод соёлыг бэхжүүлэх эхлэл болж буйг онцолсон юм.
Тус багийнхан Зуны лигийн үеэр гурван өдрийн турш үргэлжилсэн ахмад тоглогчдын бэлтгэлд хамрагдаж, хүчний болон ур чадварын дасгалуудыг хамтдаа хийжээ. Багийн туслах дасгалжуулагч Жэй Жэй Аутлоугийн удирдлага дор явагдсан энэхүү бэлтгэлд тоглогчид өөрсдийн хүсэлтээр ирж, багийн нэгдмэл байдлыг хангахыг зорьсон байна. Багийн удирдлага Mandalay Bay Convention Center-т бүрэн тоноглогдсон бэлтгэлийн бааз байгуулж, тоглогчдод 24 цагийн турш бэлтгэл хийх боломжийг бүрдүүлжээ.
Бэлтгэлийн үеэр Трэй Янг болон бусад тоглогчид хамтдаа тактикийн дасгал хийж, гэмтлийн улмаас нөхөн сэргээлт хийж буй Алекс Сарр хүртэл будагтай талбайгаас шидэлтийн дасгалуудыг гүйцэтгэв. Энэхүү хамтын ажиллагаа нь ирэх улиралд тулгарах сорилтуудыг даван туулахад багийн нэгдмэл байдал чухал үүрэгтэйг харуулж байна. Кэйшон Жорж багийн шинэ үе эхэлж байгааг тэмдэглээд, байгууллагад нэгдсэн хүн бүр ижил түвшний хичээл зүтгэл гаргах ёстойг онцоллоо.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
LAS VEGAS — What’s the most enduring image of the Washington Wizards’ time in Nevada so far this summer?
AJ Dybantsa maneuvering around and through four defenders for an emphatic two-handed dunk during his summer-league debut? Tre Johnson dribbling between his legs and stepping back for a pinpoint 3-pointer as part of a 26-point performance? Will Riley marauding through the lane as he scored 32 points against the Sacramento Kings?
You can make a convincing case for any of those special moments, but let the Wizards themselves add another worthy nominee to the list: having all 11 other members of their standard roster attend the summer-league opener. Deandre Ayton, Bub Carrington, Justin Champagnie, Bilal Coulibaly, Anthony Davis, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, Alex Sarr, Tristan Vukčević, Cam Whitmore and Trae Young watched the exhibition game from courtside seats, most of them across from the team’s bench.
“We’ve been trying to build a culture for the past two years, since I got drafted at least, and I think it’s showing right now,” George said. “I mean, there was no way I was missing summer league, and I think by me being here, Alex being here, Bilal being here, it just attracted all the other vets. I think it shows a lot that everybody’s around.”
The 11 Wizards players not on the summer-league roster did more than attend the opening game. They traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the team’s three-day veteran minicamp, which officially ran from Friday through Sunday and included on-court workouts and weightlifting sessions under the supervision of Wizards’ coaches, development staff and athlete care and performance staff.
It is common for some veteran players to attend their teams’ NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas and to work out individually while they are in town. But it is exceptionally rare for a team to have all members of its roster together in Vegas simultaneously. It is the offseason, after all, and participation in the veteran minicamp was optional. Players who aren’t on the summer league roster must pay for their own travel and their own hotel accommodations.
“The biggest thing that we’re doing is we’re creating a chemistry and a cohesion amongst the group,” said Wizards assistant coach J.J. Outlaw, who ran the minicamp. “The guys have chosen to be out here. They’re doing this on their own dime, and they’re doing it because they bought into the group, and they want to be a part of what this new ‘Wizards Way’ group is going to look like.”
The Wizards’ front office took measures to make participating attractive. This is the third consecutive summer that the franchise has maintained a practice facility in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center ballroom, replete with a regulation basketball court, weight-room equipment, an area for the entire team to study game film and athletic-training tables for players to receive massage therapy and have their ankles taped.
The facility is enormous, measuring 115 feet by 234 feet. That nearly 27,000 square feet of space is almost half the square footage of an NFL football field (including both end zones). The ceilings are 30 feet high.
The complex features some bells and whistles. Ten vertically oriented LED panels line one wall of the ballroom, and they cycle through four distinct animations. One of those animations includes the phrase “For the District.” Another displays the Wizards’ primary logo. Another, titled “District of Basketball,” features images of cherry blossoms. The court, which is stored at a climate-controlled location in Las Vegas 11-plus months a year, even includes a custom logo that says “Wizards Summer League” at its center. Custom-printed signs adorn some of the walls.
At any given time, 10 to 15 members of the Wizards’ athlete care and performance staff are in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League.
Players, accompanied by team security staff members, can access the facility 24 hours a day. All it takes is a key card and a short, indoor walk from the team’s hotel to the ballroom.
Dybantsa, the No. 1 pick in the draft last month, had heard about the facility before he flew with the Wizards’ summer-league team to Las Vegas. Still, when he saw the ballroom, he thought the descriptions had undersold things.
“I told them when I first got here, this is like ridiculously professional,” Dybantsa said after one of the Wizards’ summer-league practices. “… I don’t know how you even get a court in here, or a weight room in here. But it’s incredible.”
AJ Dybantsa at summer league practice
Josh Robbins and Jeshua Kidd
It’s impressive enough that Davis and Young arrived one day before the veteran minicamp. On Thursday, Davis and Vukčević went through individual shooting workouts, with team staff members rebounding.
On Saturday, with the minicamp in full swing, Young shot and did defensive-coverage recognition drills on one end of the court with Outlaw, Wizards assistant coach James Fraschilla and several development coaches. On the other end of the court, Sarr, who is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured right foot, sat in the middle of the lane for stationary shooting drills and hand-eye coordination drills, with lead assistant coach Adam Caporn and Coaching Apprentice Program members Dennis Clifford and Malachi Ndur watching closely.
About 30 minutes later, Davis and Vukčević worked on one end of the court while Carrington and Champagnie worked on the other end.
Wizards coach Brian Keefe, assistant coach Patrick Ewing and coaching advisor Steve Clifford watched from sideline seats.
“I think this is just a part of the beginning of trying to turn a new chapter,” Young said after his workout, still dripping with sweat.
“You’ve got to build that chemistry on and off the court. I’ve been on other teams, and we haven’t had this many people in Vegas for summer league at once. It’s just great to see all the older guys here supporting the younger guys. That’s what it’s here for, and that’s what we’ve got to be here to do.”
All NBA teams must deal with some level of adversity during a season, and while this Wizards squad has high hopes for its short-term and long-term futures, the group will not be immune to hardships once the regular season begins.
Perhaps some of the camaraderie and equity built in July will carry over and help in those difficult moments.
“It shows our identity,” George said. “Whoever comes in our organization is a part of it and has to put in the work that everybody’s putting in here.”
