This week, they found that things haven’t changed much in 15 years.
“Prior to this, we had a team meeting with the Media Relations team to go over certain things for all new players,” Kuzma said. . . He was sitting across the room and everyone was talking. I am listening; I am seeing all my teammates. And we glance at each other. And we just start laughing. “
Kuzma and Morris’ deep bond is the only Wizards team to add five new faces to their core rotation, with Kristaps Porzingis keeping Brad in the lead until Friday’s 96-87 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Saitama Super Arena. A big man who never shared the court with Lee. Beer and Kuzma at the same time.
Every team tries to build chemistry during preseason.Washington has the added advantage of doing it in a foreign country where the players eat together every day, go to practices and games on the same bus, and return to the same hotel at night – not to mention 28 hours together on a round trip flight.
Wizards can definitely use more bonding time than most people.
Locker room malfunctions and misunderstandings between the team’s core players and coaching staff were the main culprits in last season’s messy delegation to a 10-3 start.
This season, the Wizards’ offense will be overseen by Morris, an amiable point guard who coach Wes Unseld Jr. called people’s natural connection. He coached Morris in Denver for his five seasons. They also added carefree Taj Gibson as a locker room veteran, and role players Doron Wright and Will Burton.
Aside from Burton (back strain) and Deni Avdija (left groin strain), Unseld throws out different lineup combinations to see what his rotation looks like when the regular season starts Oct. 10. Everyone watched the time they played against the Warriors to get a better sense of what was going on. 19.
Unseld was generally happy with the starters of Morris, Beal, Kuzma, Rui Hachimura and Porzingis. Given the venue, Hachimura was a natural choice to include in the starting line-up. As he and Stephen Curry greeted the fans before the game with a bouquet of gifts in hand, an enthusiastic sold-out crowd of 20,497 gave him the loudest applause of the night. Before presenting Callie with a bottle of wine, Callie spoke in English and Hachimura spoke in Japanese. Technically the Warriors may have been the home team, but it was clear who was hosting.
Unseld and his coaching staff are weighing the possibility that Friday’s starting lineup can retain their spots even after the team returns. From Hachimura’s hometown.
“It’s certainly been talked about, and we’ve tried it bit by bit,” said Unseld. “So just seeing it work out was positive overall.”
The group had some smooth-looking sequences, but the overall quality of play by both teams was low after extensive travel over the past few days. The Warriors had a 36.7% field goal percentage and 17 turnovers, while Washington had a 36.9% shooting percentage and 14 turnovers.
Hachimura drew praise from Beal and Unseld for his aggression after leading Washington in scoring (13 points) and rebounding (9). In his first game since Beal underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist, he scored nine points.
“Obviously there are a lot of things to fix,” says Unseld. “I liked our process. I thought we generated some of the shots we were trying to make — it was a rough shooting night for both teams.
Speaking of on-court chemistry, Beal said he was impressed with his new teammates. He highlighted Wright’s defensive prowess and Morris’ shrewd facilitation, noting that he and Porzingis are still learning each other’s preferences on the court.
A charity event is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, a skill competition is scheduled for later that night at the Saitama Super Arena, and a team dinner will be held at a location Hachimura will choose immediately after Friday’s game. . The team will play on Sunday and then return home.
“That’s the point,” Biel said. “Many of us don’t have families here, some of us do, but this means we can spend more time together, making friendships, building relationships, and spending more time together.” It’s all about spending time together. That’s all we can do, and we accept that.”
