It takes two (a days) to make a thing go right

It’s after 5 o’clock and the folks behind the “ONLY AUTHORIZED TRAIL BLAZER PERSONNEL BEYOND THIS POINT PLEASE” door have periodically checked to see if I’m still here. Yup. I am. Last one here. Might as well bunk on these nice cushy folding chairs for the night so I can be the first one here for Terry Stotts’ Saturday morning two-a-day session.

If you’ve been counting, Saturday should be the fourth two-a-day practice in five days. Check out my story in Saturday’s Columbian, I try to paint a picture of what two-a-days are like here in Blazerville. I get the sense that no matter how physically taxing the sessions can be, they are more mentally challenging than anything else. Especially when you put yourself in Damian Lillard’s adidas. Dude will be running the most important position on the floor, learning a new offense and doing all this against Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook and Jeremy Lin on his first three days on the job.

So I asked Damian today after practice, if he was feeling “overwhelmed” with all the knowledge and responsibilities handed his way this week.

Damian said:

“It’s just one of those things where you don’t want to be the guy that messes up. You don’t want to be the one that doesn’t remember what this is called or remember to be here. So, there’s a lot on your mind but I haven’t been overwhelmed by it.”

Damian oozes confidences – even when he’s dog tired – so his response was expected. Due to the limited time we media folk get to see the team (boy, Adam Morrison can sure hit free throws!) and the fact that I’ve yet to spend a full week with the team, I’m just like you guys when I say I can’t wait to get through the point where we’re not just judging the guys through the pollyanna lens of first-week practices. Very curious to see the team in action next Wednesday versus the Lakers.