Follow Sam and fellow hoops scribe Jason Jones on Twitter - sam_amick and jejones_sacbee.
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The NBA player's transition from summer fun to hitting the floor again used to be a story told on media day, when guys like me played the part of 5th Grade teacher and repeatedly asked 'How was your summer?'
But now there's YouTube, which means you don't even need to box anyone out in a media scrum to have a window into their world. Witness, Spencer Hawes...
The Kings' third-year center was so dedicated this summer he was doing cardio everywhere, including the sideline of his alma mater's upset over USC last weekend. (BLOG UPDATE, Sept. 22, 6:53 pm: What I'd thought was a random video shot by a Huskies fan that had gained YouTube traction was, in fact, content shot by Ben of Blazers Edge and published on Sactownroyalty in this post. I'm all about hat-tips, of course, so let that be known)
Hawes eventually joined his teammates in Sacramento, where most of the team has been running every day in the voluntary program that precedes the start of training camp on Sept. 29.
I'll be heading over to the practice facility today to take a look for myself and see how guys are coming along. Normally, I wouldn't have much interest in the work that's taking place over there these days. But this is far from a veteran-laden team, meaning chemistry and work ethic and a good early start are all more important than ever. This team needs to make its own breaks (and avoiding breaking anything of the physical sort) if they have any hope of surprising the masses who expect so little from them this season.
Kings coach Paul Westphal said as much when we spoke last week.
"We've had 10 guys (working out), and then Cisco (Garcia) has been here as well," Westphal said. "Tyreke (Evans) and K9 (Kenny Thomas) are coming soon and Beno (Udrih) and Noc (Andres Nocioni) are around corner. It's getting close.
"This is a real good sign to see these guys bonding and enjoying what they're doing, and working hard. Without the hard work, it means nothing. (Fifth-year Kings strength and conditioning coach) Daniel Shapiro has done a great job of getting them the conditioning and an opportunity to enjoy it and to interact with each other. This is a good thing right now."
I'll share some observations and have something in tomorrow's paper on the matter, so come on back. - Sam Amick
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