Was at the opening practice Tuesday, and there didn't seem like there was much excitement. Now, maybe that was because Riley held a midnight practice, then an afternoon practice after most of his players had trouble getting back to sleep.
But anyway, the biggest news was Antoine Walker, Smush Parker and Earl Barron not passing their conditioning tests. But that might have been because each of them is nursing minor injuries, or in Earl Barron's case, he just got back after recently signing his deal.
Didn't see much other than a handful of dummy offensive sets, so can't see who's doing well yet.
But I spoke to Dorell Wright for a while, and he seems pretty annoyed with all these questions about his season and how he's going to play, etc. I thought his summer was pretty interesting. He played in L.A. most of the summer. Kevin Garnett was there, a lot of Clippers and a lot of Lakers, too. He attended Tim Grgurich's camp in Las Vegas. He played with Carlos Boozer, Raja Bell, J-Will, Udonis, Penny and others here in Miami.
He said he did well in L.A., in particular, and liked the challenge of playing against Raja.
Here's more of what he said:
(On whether trying to emulate Dwyane Wade has held him back):
"I don’t feel I do anything he does. If you watch a great
player all the time, every day, you’re going to see those things and take
moves. That’s just like him when they compare him to Jordan. He grew up in
Chicago and watched Jordan. When you watch somebody and you study him and you get an
opportunity to see him play all the time, you find little things and you steal
things. That’s all guys do around the league. I sat there for three years and
watched him every day. There’s a lot of things I’ll take from him. I try to be
myself all the time. I think we’re two totally different players. So I don’t
know about that one."
(On his newfound chemistry with Jason Williams):
I think I’m fast enough to keep up with him a little bit –
even though he runs by me, too. But if you run the floor, he’s going to get you
open shots.
(On how much weight he has put on in the offseason):
Ha, ha. I kind of lost a lot of weight just getting my
body fat down. Down to 206. Keeps me running like a deer.
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