10/2 Training Camp Coverage

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Kobe Bryant described LAL's opening practice: http://bit.ly/WgU4jr His takeaway: "There's a lot of talent out here. It's exciting."

Jmeeks20: First day of camp was great! The Journey begins!!!

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Lakers break their huddle to end their first practice of the 2012-13 season with "1-2-3 Ring!"

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Working on second unit: Jamison, Hill, Ebanks, Duhon & Sacre right now. Jodie Meeks is w/t third group. First day tho, this means little.

Arash Markazi ‏@ArashMarkazi

A source tells @mcten Dwight Howard "was dunking everything in sight. He looks like he can play in an NBA game today."

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Surprising/encouraging sign: We get let into Lakers practice & see Dwight running up the court in 5-on-0 offense drills w/ Kobe/Pau/Nash/MWP

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Already seeing Nash as a coach on the court, directing World Peace and Dwight where to go on offense in chorus with Eddie Jordan

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten

Dwight went 3-of-5 on corner 3s with Duhon yelling, "That's his shot!" after practice. Threes during the year? DH: "You might see some"

KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing

Dwight is laboring as he goes up and down full court as practice nears its end. Coaches asking him to push through it.

KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing

Pau on Dwight today: "He worked just as much as anybody else. So that's good."

Kobe Bryant wrote:Here. We. Go.
Had a LONG first day of practice. About 5 hours. A lot of teaching and running. Nash looks in top form as always. Pau looks strong and DH is getting closer to top health each day. Metta has worked his butt off all summer and this is the best shape I have seen him in since Indiana.

As for my self, I'm just excited for this opportunity. There was a point in practice today where I look
ed around the court and it hit me, this is the most talent I have ever played with other then all star games and the Olympics.

We have a ton of work to do but we are hungry for that challenge.
I need to pack my body down with ice now to make sure I keep inflammation out of my joints. It's a daily routine along with a ton of stretching. I have to stay on top of it along with the diet and weight strengthening so I don't lose all that I have gained this summer. 2 sessions tomorrow. Should be fun.

Will update you all with more intel soon.
Till then..
Mamba out

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register wrote:First things first: The offense is not just the Princeton offense.

“Everyone thinks it’s the Princeton,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said Tuesday after his first attempt at teaching his new system to his team. “It’s aspects of that.”

The offense also carries over some of the things the Lakers already did last season in Brown’s first season, but the bottom line is that it is a new offense overall, so there will be an adjustment period. That’s why the Lakers went heavy on offense on their first day of teaching in training camp.

New Lakers point guard Steve Nash acknowledged his vast experience hasn’t fully prepared him for this considering he has usually run pick-and-roll sets in his career. He described the offense as “a lot of read and react.” The variations based on what your defender does, Nash said, makes for “boundless possibilities.”

Pau Gasol said similarities between the new offense and the Lakers’ old triangle offense to exist in that they’re both “predicated on movement, reads and moving the ball.” But Gasol said he’ll take the learning process day by day: “We have to be patient.”

How well Howard figures things out will dictate to some degree how much the offense runs through him versus Gasol. About the new offense, Howard said: “It’s tough for all of us.”