Matrisciano has worked with Wizards teammate Gilbert Arenas and No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin, among others, and McGee sought him out at the urging of Milt Newton, the Wizards' vice president of player personnel. Matrisciano is known as "Hell's Trainer" because of his unorthodox methods, including climbing staircases with medicine balls, wearing weighted vests and running up sand hills in harnesses.
"It was some tough stuff, but I made it through," McGee said, albeit a tad lighter. During those runs up the 30-foot sand hills, McGee said he told himself, "This will help out in the long run."
McGee's stint with Matrisciano was shorter than those of most clients, which might explain why Coach Flip Saunders still criticized McGee's conditioning and focus during training camp in Richmond; at one point he called McGee "overwhelmed."
The 7-foot McGee, athletic but still unpolished, is third on the depth chart at center, behind starter Brendan Haywood and veteran Fabricio Oberto. Oberto will get the start Sunday afternoon in Toronto, with Haywood recovering from a sprained right ankle suffered during the Wizards' 123-115 loss to Dallas on Friday.