BOCA RATON -- So much for finally getting the whole band together.
The Heat's first practice of training camp Tuesday at FAU was supposed to be the first time Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh, and Hassan Whiteside were out on the floor together. Turns out it wasn't.
Whiteside, who came into camp with just seven percent body fat and in the best shape of his career according to coach Erik Spoelstra, missed Tuesday's practice with a right calf strain and it could be a couple days before the 7-foot center and defensive stopper finally gets out there with his teammates.
Whiteside said he strained his calf doing some extra conditioning work last Friday and he's taking a couple days off under the advisement of trainer Jay Sabol.
"During the workout I just felt like a tug on my calf muscle," Whiteside said. "So, I'm just taking a couple days off just to take it day-by-day. I didn't really know what to expect because I never injured it before. They just told me take it day-by-day. So, it's no rush."
Spoelstra didn't seem to be too bothered or in a rush to get Whiteside back out there.
"He's feeling better, but he's probably not ready for this right now. So we'll just take it day to day, see how he feels with another full day of treatment," Spoelstra said. "He did a long day of triple treatments [Monday], more treatment this morning. And we'll see how he feels in the morning. But everybody else was able to go."
Wade said as long as Whiteside is back at the right time that's all that matters to him.
"Obviously we want him out there, but we want to be smart," Wade said. "It's the time of the year, especially the veteran guys, when they have to take care of their bodies. We don't want something small to become a bigger deal -- especially with someone who is so valuable to our team."
DEFENSIVE FOCUS
As for the team's first practice, the Heat, as usual, focused nearly all of its efforts on defense. Spoelstra said he threw everything in the defensive playbook at the team with the hope some of it would stick for the newcomers.
"I thought everybody did good," Wade said in his assessment of practice. "Veteran guys communicated, talked with the newcomers, just trying to help everyone fast track things.
"We do things a certain way and that will never change. We've added a few things here and there, but our defensive principles are the same. Now it's about getting guys on the right page. It was good talking to Gerald [Green], talking to Goran, coming from Phoenix and a total different camp style. It was good to kind of look in their eyes when we started getting it going. But it's all good."
The Heat ranked 19th in defensive efficiency (103.8) last season. Going backward the four previous seasons -- all trips to the NBA Finals -- the Heat ranked 11th (102.9), seventh (100.5), fourth (97.1) and fifth (100.7) in the same statistical category.
"It's a tough defensive concept to grasp. It's not easy," Wade said. "Once you get it, it's special. But it takes awhile. You have to program a lot of guy's minds to do something they haven't done their whole life. A lot of us have been told when the ball is away from you, you're just by your man chilling. Not in this defense. You got to get off. You've got to be able to help the other person. It's no something common for other guys. So it takes a little while."
BOSH ENJOYS FIRST PRACTICE
Bosh, back from the blood clots in his lungs that cost him the final 30 games of last season, enjoyed being back out there with his teammates. He said he had no trouble breathing. He also didn't feel any extra emotions despite everything he's been through in the past year.
"I've been blessed to put that situation behind me," Bosh said. "That's the best part about all of this. I have no worries. I'm just able to go out there. Like I said, I've told so many people before, it's a little easier just being able to go and play basketball. Being a thinker is a little bit tough when you are confined to a space.
"It's just another day. I don't try to make things too big of a deal. I'm not an excited person anyway. I just come and do my job. I'm concentrated on trying to be a good leader and doing my job right."
Spoelstra said Bosh looked to be in good physical condition to him. "He has to get into 5-on-5 basketball shape, but he did his work," Spoelstra said. "I was pleased with what CB did in the offseason."
With the focus primarily on defense, Bosh and Dragic didn't get much opportunity to zero in on their pick and roll game. But that eventually will be a big focus in camp and in the preseason.
"It was a little helter-skelter out there today," Bosh said. "But you can see it. Right now we're just trying to get our conditioning up, getting our timing right and just get all that. We talked about that. Let's not even worry about that right now. For the first few days, let's just get out there and play. Then, eventually as it slows down for us we'll be able to communicate more and talk about it, see spots and really attack and work off each other."
> How did newcomer Amar'e Stoudemire look in a Heat uniform after so many years with the hated Knicks?
"I was very encouraged," Spoelstra said. "He knew what to expect coming into this. He went through the entire practice. He's very vocal. So we can definitely build on that defensively. He's picked up our main principles pretty quickly. You can tell he's a student. He's very detailed in his thought process. He's got a whole approach to it and he's vocal. Those are positive steps we can build on."
> As usual, owner Mickey Arison, Pat Riley and most of the front office and scouts were at Tuesday's morning practice. The Heat was scheduled to practice again Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., but Spoelstra said it will be more of a team meeting.
Since the new collective bargaining agreement began teams are allowed only 3 1/2 total hours of practice per day.
"We went a little bit longer today," Spoelstra said. "It was a 2 1/2 hour practice. We never go that long. We'll have a meeting and classroom session tonight and get back to two-a-days Wednesday."
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