Galloway Township, NJ – At the conclusion of practice Friday the players gathered on the far side of the gym at Stockton University for meditation. Each player lay on his back with his legs raised and resting on a chair. It is just another example of the organization trying different things to grow a program.
“Nobody is afraid to try things,” Brett Brown said. “We are always trying to find some edge, try some different things, and this year we are trying that. I give Jesse Wright (strength and conditioning coach) for implementing it. It seems like our players are responding. It is not pulling teeth. They go over there freely. We have done it a few times now.”
Brown has made a couple of adjustments from last year’s training camp to this year’s. The team practices 90 minutes in the morning session, and if they have an evening session, they go hard for 60 minutes. Meditating afterward is a relaxing reward.
“It is good for us,” Jerami Grant said. “We have tough practices. At the end of every practice we get with Jesse, our strength trainer, and he is just good at what he does.
Grant regularly meditates as does his teammate JaKarr Sampson.
“We have the calm music playing in the background,” Sampson said. “It relaxes the mind. I am a big yoga guy, so I love meditation.”
Grant and Sampson are both entering their second NBA season. They are athletic, energetic players who are zoning in on being Brett Brown’s go-to perimeter defenders.
“JaKarr and I are the two best on the ball defenders on the team this year,” Grant said. “I think we are going to be guarding the best players on the team in terms of guards; Nerlens will guard the big men. I think that is a key role for us.”
Last year Luc Mbah a Moute filled that role for the team and the veteran did it extremely well. Brown believes Grant and Sampson both have what it takes to tackle the task this season.
“Now you are studied,” the coach said. “We call it KYP; know your personnel. You start knowing who you are guarding. You combine all that; their athleticism, fundamental skills and the knowledge of this is my man. He likes to up-fake and drive right. You start growing young defenders who are intellectually gifted as well as physically gifted.”
Speaking of gifted, the Sixers have not one but two gifted big men this year. However, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor are gifted in very different ways. The two centers spent the week battling in the low post, much to the enjoyment of those around them.
“That is a good battle for those two,” Sampson said. “Nerlens is one of the best post defenders in the league, and then you have Jah coming in as a rookie trying to establish himself, so that is a good little matchup. We let them go at it.”
The mano-a-mano matchup is helping develop both big men. The better the games of each, the better for the players sharing the court with them.
“Just having them on the court is a presence,” Grant said. “On the defensive end you know you can pressure on the ball. On the offensive end you know you are going to get open shots with Jahlil on the court.
As training camp winds down, optimism is on the rise.
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