Miami Heat Training Camp: “Getting Everybody Physically Right”

In the Miami Heat’s first day of training camp, Erik Spoelstra reiterated a few times that it is all about making sure the player’s bodies are right. And well, it seems as if everybody is ready.

For starters, Erik Spoelstra mentioned that “It felt more like a practice of continuation than starting over,” and that’s a huge advantage for Miami. Some of the teams that didn’t make it to the bubble haven’t played in 9 months, and that’s a worse scenario than a short off-season.

When the players would discuss their bodies after a short off-season, it seems as if there was a mutual response, which was that they’re all ready. I don’t believe there will be any issues in that regard for the start of the season, but I do think Coach Spoelstra will be mindful with veterans.

There’s uncertainty of what Goran Dragic’s status will be by the first game, while Jimmy Butler missed the first day of camp with an excused absence.

But lucky for Miami, they have a great mix of youth and veterans, which means that Spoelstra will adjust if he sees an advantage with one over another.

Kelly Olynyk also seemed excited about the team following the first day of camp, saying “Seeing what this team can do and has in store for this upcoming season is exciting.”

There’s a different level of confidence there since he actually is watching what is going on behind the scenes. And actually everybody seems very confident with the guys on this team, mostly since they retained most guys, while plugging in Avery Bradley and Moe Harkless who can play in any system.

Conditioning is priority with this team, which is no surprise, but the overall consensus is that everybody is ready to go since it didn’t even feel like a real off-season.