ライフステージ別プラン（練習について）

★練習
ヒート時代、シャックはGヒルをチームに誘ったことがあるらしい。でもヒートの練習は厳しいのでGヒルは断ったらしい。Gヒル「練習はどうだ、長いのか？って彼に聞いたら「ごめん、俺は嘘はつけない」と言われた。俺は「そうか、ありがとう」と言ったよ。・・・ベテランが多いチームはそんなに練習をする必要がない。もう知り尽くしているから。ルーキーにはかわいそうな話だけどね。だって彼らには練習が必要だろ。」

Gヒル「これはBヒル監督への非難じゃないけど、去年のオーランド時代は今日みたいな日でもきつい練習をしたものだ。きつい試合の翌日とかさ。若いチームにはそれもいいけど、年をとるとこの時期にそれをやるのはきつい。マイク（ダントーニ監督）はそのあたりをわかっている。・・・例えば今日みたいに、シャックを使ったセットの多くは全く練習していないんだよ。試合が練習なんだ。だから理解に少し時間がかかる。・・・多くのことは試合を通してやっている。でも俺たちはまとまってきている。」

"I asked him, 'How are the practices? Are the practices long?' " Hill recalled. "He said, 'You know, boy, I can't lie to you.' I said, 'OK, thanks.' ''

One of the difficulties of acquiring O'Neal on Feb. 6 was that coach Mike D'Antoni didn't dare try to work him into the lineup with long practices. O'Neal is 36, Hill is 35 and Steve Nash is 34.

"When you have a veteran team, you don't need to practice so hard,'' Hill said. "We've seen it all, we've done it all. The poor rookies, they probably miss out because they need to practice.''

"In Orlando last year -- and this wasn't a problem, I'm not being critical of Brian Hill [who coached the Magic last season] -- we would have come in and practiced hard today. Even after a tough game last night," Hill said. "When you've got a young team [as the Magic had last season], that's good. But when you're older, it's hard during the grind of the season. Mike has a good read on his guys, and just understanding the big picture, understanding I need you for game time. Like today, he put in a new set and we didn't have to go against competition [in practice]. A lot of stuff we put in for Shaq, we don't even practice it. Our practices have been the games. That's why it took us a little while to figure it out.''