A long time staff member said this today, "we have a long way to go, but, we have a long time to get there." I think that was a fair assessment.
The first couple of segments in these early practices are conditioning type drills. They will run a 3 man weave up and back against the clock. Then a 5 man weave. It is always a competition. The drills are against the clock and the makes are counted.
Today was a little different than the 1st practice. After conditioning drills they broke into a big and guard group for position drills. Not much to report. They were teaching segments and a lot of it was at 3/4 speed.
They did have a segment of one on one work. Booker was exposed a little. Woodard was much better today on defense. I believe Buddy can guard anyone.
They finally broke into a 5 on 5 half court controlled scrimmage. It is pretty hard to figure out where the scoring is going to come from. Tyler was the leading scorer today and as a group, the walkons were the 2nd leading scorer.
During the half court portion Booker got a couple of 3's to go. On one of them he put a real nice move on Buddy to get himself open. Booker also seems to have nice court vision and over the last couple of practices has made some really nice passes. Cam missed several open looks during this segment. Buddy wasn't getting anything to go either.
They then broke into small groups for a segment of shooting drills. The last 40minutes or so was a 5 on 5 full court with full court pressure.
The white team was Woodard, Cousins, Buddy, Cam, and Bennett. The red was Hornbeak, Tyler, Cole, Spangler, and Booker. The walkons filled on both teams to give the starters a breather.The whites were the best today. You could say that Woodard was the point guard for the whites. But, sometimes it was Cousins setting the offense and from time to time it would be Buddy. Both offenses still had the four around one look for the most part. Cam would post up from time to time.
The walkons and Booker disappeared from the scoring during the full court segment. Woodard never did score all afternoon. Hornbeak got it going pretty good and was hitting well from 3. Spangler scored three contested shots from in close and hit a jumper from the free throw line. Bennet had a rebound and put back and was wide open under the basket off a defensive bust.
Cam finally found his shot and hit a couple of jumpers. Buddy hit 2 threes late and had a put back for another score. Cousins hit a couple of jumpers and never attempted a 3. I don't recall Cole scoring. I don't sit there trying to keep a shot chart. But, I left with the impression that Hornbeak, Tyler, and Spangler were the only ones that had a decent shooting day.
The whites were defending very well. They were hard to score on. Woodard is an impressive freshman. You will see him make mistakes like dribbling into a jam because the defenders closed quicker than he expected. But, the next possession he has picked some ones pocket and he is off to the races. He is not immune from making freshman mistakes. But, this kid is going to be good.
Cousins had a good practice. He is defending very well and on offense he isn't really looking for a shot as hard as he seemed to last season. He made a couple today and they came to him within the flow of the offense. I don't know who will play the point. If it is Woodard, Cousins looks to have come along far enough to still be a 8 man rotation kind of guy.
Cole has gotten a little better. But, he still doesn't look like the kind of player you really need. I'm rooting for him to take a big step forward.
Turnovers were down today.
The first couple of segments in these early practices are conditioning type drills. They will run a 3 man weave up and back against the clock. Then a 5 man weave. It is always a competition. The drills are against the clock and the makes are counted.
Today was a little different than the 1st practice. After conditioning drills they broke into a big and guard group for position drills. Not much to report. They were teaching segments and a lot of it was at 3/4 speed.
They did have a segment of one on one work. Booker was exposed a little. Woodard was much better today on defense. I believe Buddy can guard anyone.
They finally broke into a 5 on 5 half court controlled scrimmage. It is pretty hard to figure out where the scoring is going to come from. Tyler was the leading scorer today and as a group, the walkons were the 2nd leading scorer.
During the half court portion Booker got a couple of 3's to go. On one of them he put a real nice move on Buddy to get himself open. Booker also seems to have nice court vision and over the last couple of practices has made some really nice passes. Cam missed several open looks during this segment. Buddy wasn't getting anything to go either.
They then broke into small groups for a segment of shooting drills. The last 40minutes or so was a 5 on 5 full court with full court pressure.
The white team was Woodard, Cousins, Buddy, Cam, and Bennett. The red was Hornbeak, Tyler, Cole, Spangler, and Booker. The walkons filled on both teams to give the starters a breather.The whites were the best today. You could say that Woodard was the point guard for the whites. But, sometimes it was Cousins setting the offense and from time to time it would be Buddy. Both offenses still had the four around one look for the most part. Cam would post up from time to time.
The walkons and Booker disappeared from the scoring during the full court segment. Woodard never did score all afternoon. Hornbeak got it going pretty good and was hitting well from 3. Spangler scored three contested shots from in close and hit a jumper from the free throw line. Bennet had a rebound and put back and was wide open under the basket off a defensive bust.
Cam finally found his shot and hit a couple of jumpers. Buddy hit 2 threes late and had a put back for another score. Cousins hit a couple of jumpers and never attempted a 3. I don't recall Cole scoring. I don't sit there trying to keep a shot chart. But, I left with the impression that Hornbeak, Tyler, and Spangler were the only ones that had a decent shooting day.
The whites were defending very well. They were hard to score on. Woodard is an impressive freshman. You will see him make mistakes like dribbling into a jam because the defenders closed quicker than he expected. But, the next possession he has picked some ones pocket and he is off to the races. He is not immune from making freshman mistakes. But, this kid is going to be good.
Cousins had a good practice. He is defending very well and on offense he isn't really looking for a shot as hard as he seemed to last season. He made a couple today and they came to him within the flow of the offense. I don't know who will play the point. If it is Woodard, Cousins looks to have come along far enough to still be a 8 man rotation kind of guy.
Cole has gotten a little better. But, he still doesn't look like the kind of player you really need. I'm rooting for him to take a big step forward.
Turnovers were down today.
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