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Sarah Todd
Guest
SALT LAKE CITY — There is a lot that the Utah Jazz players are getting used to in Orlando.
Isolated from the rest of the world inside the NBA’s Disney-based bubble, the players are beginning to get into a new routine that sort of resembles training for an NBA season, but the differences are vast and noticeable.
“I can’t tell you the last time I had practice at 6 o’clock. It gives you that feeling of an AAU or summer camp kind of vibe and that’s not the same as an NBA season. Being able to stay focused on the goal will be one of the biggest things.” — Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell
The Jazz wrapped up their second day of practice in Orlando at 8 p.m. EDT, a far cry from their usual practice times that often falls between 10 a.m. and noon. Though the time change might seem insignificant for an outsider, for NBA players who are accustomed to their days and nights being ruled by a certain schedule, it makes a huge difference.
“I can’t tell you the last time I had practice at 6 o’clock,” Donovan Mitchell said. “It gives you that feeling of an AAU or summer camp kind of vibe and that’s not the same as an NBA season. Being able to stay focused on the goal will be one of the biggest things.”
After practice and weightlifting and film sessions, life in the bubble can very much continue to seem like summer camp. There are hundreds of basketball players confined to a few hotels who will hang out, try to entertain themselves, play video games, eat meals together and surely spend plenty of time shooting the breeze.
But, as Mitchell said, that summer-camp vibe is not necessarily conducive to preparing for the most competitive basketball of the season, which is just around the corner. Finding the mental fortitude to separate the vibe inside the bubble from the task at hand will be one of the biggest hurdles for the players.
“Being able to stay mentally locked in, that’s going to be the toughest part, along with being away from our friends and family,” Mitchell said.
On Thursday, the Jazz held practice for the first time since the NBA shut down on March 11. Head coach Quin Snyder said he let the guys just get on the court and play. Friday marked the second day of practice, and Snyder wasted no time making things a little more nuanced.
The team started to go through some of their sets and schemes on the court, a sort of refresher series for the players.
“It’s a lot of learning and listening but a lot of playing as well,” forward Joe Ingles said. “It’s been really cool to get back out there and compete with the guys, talk a bit of (expletive), and it’s fun.”
Even though the team had held Zoom meetings over the hiatus to help out with keeping plays on everyone’s minds, and even though every one seemed really focused, Ingles said that there was no way of knowing how much retention players would have when it came to the intricacies of the Jazz playbook. Luckily, it seems like the Jazz were ready for everything the coaching staff threw their way.
“To be able to hold onto that stuff for that long and be able to implement it and do it right away was pretty impressive I thought,” Ingles said, noting his sweat-soaked shirt, an indication of the work being put in. “I was really impressed with the IQ of the guys to remember a lot of what we wanted to run after having such a big break.”
Though the Jazz’s practice included a bit more structure Friday, it was just the second day of being on the court together after nearly four months of mostly individual workouts.
Getting up and down the floor, running with teammates, and just getting a feel for the game is important in these early days, and as Mitchell explained, just being able to play with contact.
Although the players are just on Day 2 of a return to the court, both Mitchell and Ingles are encouraged by the progress of the players and the readiness they showed upon reassembling. Much like the old adage of “it’s like riding a bike,” Mitchell said the players would have been ready to get on the court no matter the length of the season suspension.
“You could take three years off and if coach tells you to go out there and play, we’re ready to go,” he said. “Guys have been really locked in, really ready and really focused.”
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