<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As reporters were let into the Trail Blazers' Tualatin practice facility to watch the final half hour of the team's first practice Tuesday, you couldn't help but think: Geez, these guys are tall. We don't mean compared to everyday Joes and Janes, but compared to last season's team. This is very much a bigger team. That was just the start of the differences between this year's training camp and last year's. Obviously, the location was very different -- last year, coach Nate McMillan sequestered the team at Linfield College in McMinnville for a week. But there also was a difference in philosophy, comfort level and other such things . McMillan, for example, seemed much more comfortable, and not quite as intense. Last year, remember, was his first with Portland, and the players were strangers he was just beginning to get to know. This year, despite the mammoth turnover, this is his team. The team is no longer in McMinnville -- it's in McMillanville. The team's size was quite apparent in the portion we saw, and the Blazers would have seemed even bigger if the three players who sat out the live scrimmaging had played. That was another surprising difference -- the team was scrimmaging already, running five-on-five plays. Last year, we saw a lot more fundamental drills than we did scrimmaging the first week. Not Tuesday. "We really tried to play right away," McMillan said. "Normally, I would go into drills on the first day, but what I wanted to do was get these guys playing, and we'll get into station work later in the camp." Last year, McMillan spoke about his players not being in great shape entering training camp, making it difficult for him to do what he wanted. He said it is too early to tell if that will not be a problem this year, but he does like the early signs. "I thought the first day was good, I thought the intensity was there, the focus was there -- we went hard," McMillan said. "Are they in shape? It's too soon to say that. Tonight, we'll have our conditioning test, and we'll do more running. But I think guys can always be in better shape." The players who sat out the scrimmaging part -- although they all were dressed -- were LaMarcus Aldridge, Raef LaFrentz and Darius Miles. Aldridge still is recovering from shoulder surgery. LaFrentz has a calf injury that could slow him for a few more practices. And Miles ... well, see the post below. Also, Quick will have more on Miles in The Oregonian on Wednesday. Last year, McMillan spoke a lot about how having such a young roster forced him to run a lot of fundamental drills. He said then that he was surprised that some players did not have a grasp of basic things. This year, he said he will continue such drills. The difference is the players will be polishing and improving -- not learning at the bottom floor. "We'll always do that, we'll always work on that," he said. "Even veterans. That's something that you can never get enough of - just working on the basics of the game." Another big difference: there's not much question who the No. 1 point guard is. Last year, there was a competitive three-way battle between Sebastian Telfair, Steve Blake and Jarrett Jack, but with only Jack left, his status is pretty clear.</div> Source
