OAKLAND -– The two-a-days are over, and there were only two.
The Warriors are four days into training camp and just as many days away from their first exhibition, Tuesday against the Clippers in Los Angeles.
So, how do they look?
"We're only four days away from a game, and we're nowhere close to game ready," rookie coach Steve Kerr said after practice Friday afternoon. "We're just trying to get our legs underneath us and trying to get some terminology offensively and recognition of what we're trying to run.
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"It's a long process, but we're getting there."
Said veteran forward Andre Iguodala: "It's going to take a little time."
That's not to suggest the players and coaches are disappointing each other. There is no sign of that. But it's a new staff bringing entirely new systems into place.
That always requires an adjustment period.
"This is kind of like the Princeton offense,'' Iguodala said. "I've been through that. If you go through that, and you buy into it, you can see how things evolve. So with that, I'm staying patient."
RUN, RUN, RUN
One thing being emphasized every day, by every player and coach, is conditioning. Kerr wants the Warriors to run at every opportunity, even if they have to create it.
Those who are not in shape will be sent away –- to the bench at the very least.
Kerr will be watching, as will veteran assistant Alvin Gentry, whose primary responsibility is squeeze out more offense from a roster capable of putting up more than the 104.3 points per game (good for 10th in the NBA) than it did last season.
"Everybody says they want to be a running team," Gentry said. "But to be a running team, you've got to be in the best shape of any team in the league. Over the years, that's kind of what we've been. With the athletes we have here, and the shooting we have here, that's what we're going to try to instill."
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Gentry spent nine seasons as an assistant (under Mike D'Antoni or Terry Porter) or head coach with the Suns, who led the league in scoring five times during that stretch. Phoenix averaged a league-high 110.2 points per game under Gentry when Kerr was the general manager.
When Gentry was chief assistant to Doc Rivers last season for the Clippers, they led the league in scoring.
Veteran guard Leandro Barbosa, who was a member of those high-powered Suns teams, thinks the Warriors have the potential to go even higher.
Stock up on energy bars, fellas. And remember to hydrate.
NO MORE MR. NICE GUY?
Former Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo was a visitor to training camp on Friday, bringing back memories both regrettable and memorable. One that lives on in infamy was his associating with specific marketing slogan: No more Mr. Nice Guy.
Good intentions met with miserable failure, as the team continued to flounder. The ads, however, provided plenty of chuckles, with Carlesimo and players dressed in the fashion of prohibition-era gangsters.
While Kerr hints that additional toughness would be a good thing for this Warriors bunch, my guess is assistant coach Ron Adams will push to make it a reality.
If Gentry is Good Cop, keeping things loose with humor, Adams is Bad Cop, willing to snarl and confront. And he's not uncomfortable spicing his language with salt.
"We have good athleticism," Adams said. "I personally would like to see us play more physically, without fouling. We're capable of that."
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Adams, 67, will focus primarily on team defense and individual instruction.
"We have some really physical players. Unfortunately, we don't have Festus (Ezeli) at the moment. But there are members of the squad that (could be a little tougher).
"But with everyone, regardless of your personality, there are certain things that need to be done, in a fundamental manner, that contribute toward being a more physical team. Everyone is capable of that. Hopefully, we can grow that."
Couldn't be put more diplomatically.
