Adapting inside the bubble

After the initial tests and requisite quarantine, teams had officially practiced in Orlando.  Except for those who opted out or are having some health issues, players and coaches were eager to get back to work, collectively saying that they missed the game and hungry to play.  And because of the long layoff, plenty of guys getting tired earlier than usual.

Missing the game for almost four months, DeMar DeRozan of San Antonio compared the feeling of poodles let loose from cages while Fred Van Vleet of Toronto likened it to the first day of school.  LeBron James said it puts focus and joy and love of the game.  And Boston’s Marcus Smart is already talking trash.

But not all players are in game shape.  While some may had been working out as a group for months in some private gyms before facilities opened, most players didn’t have access nor haven’t touched a basketball since the lockdown began.  The Jazz solved that problem when they had their weight room equipment brought to Orlando from Utah.

Miami is without Kendrick Nunn and Bam Adebayo.  Denver and the LA Clippers practiced without their superstars.  Kawhi Leonard arrived at the bubble a day late and was still in quarantine.  Nikola Jokic is still in transit from Europe.  The Lakers’ focused on defensive sets and had their first casualty when Rajon Rondo broke his thumb.  They practiced without Danny Green who had a lab issue with his Covid test and Dwight Howard, who like Kawhi, arrived a day late.  Houston practiced without James Harden and Russell Westbrook.  Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Memphis, Sacramento and Utah had 5-on-5 sessions.  Milwaukee did some shooting and stretching. 

The Heat had provided each player with a video playbook which consists of 60 to 80 sets, for players to review and study.  Coach Erik Spoelstra is using the first few days in the bubble to review things that they had before the season came to a sudden stop.  “Once we get into the gym, everything feels more normal and the excitement to get back and play is real”, he said.

The state of Florida reports daily cases of 15,000 Covid infections.  322 players were tested since arriving at the Disney campus on July 7 and two of them did not clear testing and were either sent home to isolate or in an isolation housing.   Yet, despite precautions and supposedly strict guidelines, two players, one from Houston and one Sacramento, breached protocols and paid the price – back in self isolation for 10 days.