After more than 30 years in and around the NBA, Kevin McHale soon will do something he has never done.

For the first time as an NBA coach, he will run a typical monthlong NBA training camp.

“It’s much more comfortable just knowing that we’re here, planning with the coaches, having players coming in and out, being able to talk to them about what we’re envisioning,” McHale, 54, said. “We’re just getting a comfort level with each other as opposed to having the lockout lifted, two days and then getting started.”

Yet, with all the changes, the Rockets believe they will get a running start heading into camp that they could not even with a relatively veteran team last season.

“We’ve had a chance to … get them a little more comfortable with what we expect out of them,” McHale said. “That’s all positive stuff. It’s a much different feel for me than it was last year. After the first day of practice, when I woke up the next morning, it was ‘Oh, my word, do we have a long way to go. Boy, we’re not in good shape, we have a game in two weeks, we have to put all this in.’

via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle