{"id":130522,"date":"2025-06-28T03:21:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T03:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/130522\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T03:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T03:21:22","slug":"practices-at-uconn-definitely-harder-than-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/130522\/","title":{"rendered":"Practices at UConn ‘definitely harder’ than NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donovan Clingan<\/a> won two national championships in his two years at UConn, and as the Bristol native embarks on his NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, he may be starting to understand even more just how unique his college experience was.<\/p>\n

At the first day of Blazers training camp on Tuesday ahead of the 2024-25 season, Clingan was asked to compare practices with his new team under head coach Chauncey Billups<\/a> to the ones he experienced in Storrs with Dan Hurley.<\/p>\n

\u201cChauncey\u2019s great, I feel like it\u2019s two different styles,\u201d Clingan told reporters<\/a>. \u201cPractices were definitely harder at UConn, for sure. Chauncey\u2019s more laid-back, great coach, but Danny\u2019s intense, man. It\u2019s two and a half hours of just getting yelled at, he\u2019s a very intense coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donovan Clingan on NBA practices compared to UCONN practices, and the different coaching styles of Chauncey Billups and Dan Hurley. pic.twitter.com\/z7Oz62UzwD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Conor Bergin (@ConorBergin8) October 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Clingan also talked about his summer, and how tough it was to leave his college days behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely hard leaving Storrs behind. Every time I go back to Connecticut, I always go stop in and say hi. But it\u2019s been a good transition. I\u2019ve been in Portland a lot, really just trying to do little things to get better, stronger, work on my body, work on my game. I\u2019ve really just been trying to adapt to this level, adapt to this style of play, and just trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Clingan has gotten used to his new digs in Portland, former Husky Stephon Castle<\/a> has been learning from one of the great point guards of all-time in Chris Paul. He told reporters at Spurs media day what he\u2019s learned from Paul so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the way he sees the game is so much different from a high-level NBA guy,\u201d Castle said<\/a>. \u201cI mean, he sees the game so much different, so being able to pick up on stuff that he does on the court is kind of helping me improve my game as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castle will take the court for his first preseason game with the Spurs on Oct. 7 against the Thunder. Clingan\u2019s Blazers get the preseason underway Oct. 11 against the L.A. Clippers.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 2, 2024 at 11:09 AM EDT<\/p>\n