Staff writer Sam Amick is part of The Bee's coverage team at Kings training camp. Here are excerpts from Wednesday's blogs. To read them in full, go to www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.
It may sound absurd, but I think I'm more ready for the two-a-days to be over with than the players themselves.
No, I'm not running any lines or even squeezing in a few pushups, but I am missing out on the best action that's taking place because of the format. The media availability all takes place after the morning session, with the curtain inside the practice facility unveiled for the majority of the practice.
But whereas the closed night session is mostly up-and-down scrimmaging, the part we see is mostly drills and walkthroughs. Once it gets down to one practice per day (which I'm not sure exactly when that is), we'll likely get a much better look at these guys on the go.
For now, here's what Kings coach Reggie Theus has been seeing.
"The enthusiasm level is strong," he said after Wednesday's morning session. "Guys are running hard. I'm really pleased with how things are moving along. We're throwing a lot of things at them, and they're picking it up quick."
• As a follow-up to my piece (published Wednesday) about Spencer Hawes and the mandated conditioning test, the Kings center told me that he would talk to Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie again and is still hoping to reach a compromise on the situation. When I asked him if he knew if he was going to be fined, he shrugged and said he wasn't sure yet.
Our own Melody Gutierrez asked Theus if he had any updates, and he responded with a negative.
"None from me," Theus said. "I have no idea. I'm staying out of that. The rules are what they are, and it's not going to change."
What's more, I learned a bit more about the conditioning test. As it turns out, they aren't suicides (which entail running in intermittent lengths on the floor back and forth). For big men such as Hawes, they are required to run the full length of the court 10 times in 62 seconds. (The time is reduced for other positions.) That counts as one set, and they are required to do four sets with a short rest in between each one. Thus, the entire exercise takes 10 minutes or so. And, yes, you have to complete each set by the timeline in order to pass the test.
• Jason Thompson is on the Chipotle diet, at least for today's lunch. I ran into the rookie center at the burrito joint near Arco Arena. Flying solo and sporting shades so black and big that they could've been used in the filming of "The Fly," he was his gregarious self with the folks building his meal. Not a reserved bone in his body.
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