Got invited to watch practice today
- Thread starter Rico444
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No, a friend of mine has season tickets (I think you've met her before) and she asked if I wanted to go. The athletic department sent out an e-mail saying you could get as many tickets to the practice on 2/18 (I believe it was at 4:00) as you have season tickets. Not sure if they invited all season ticket holders or you had to be at some minimum donor level.Hooper.....you're a season ticket holder and haven't contacted me for a pre or post game??????
Believe it or not I have not been to a game this year. She's asked me twice this year and both times I couldn't go. I will let you know when I come down for a game.
Rico444
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Practice started with stretching, and some defensive line drills, where the players run about a quarter length of the court, then act like they're defending someone by getting down and sliding a few steps to either side laterally, then run another quarter of the court and do the same thing. Ollie stopped the 2nd group because he didn't like the intensity they were using. Hobbs then turned to us and mentioned that they had two days off in a row, so the staff had to knock the rust off. After that, they worked on transition D for a bit. They would have a group on the court the would go the length of the court and put up a shot. As soon as that shot left their hands, the other group that was defending, which included walk-ons and a few scholarship guys, would immediately rush down towards the other side of the court with a different ball, so the team putting up the shot would have to immediately turn down and sprint back down the court. Hobbs turned and let us know that they were working on this because Memphis got a bunch of layups in the transistion and this needed to be tightened up. They did OK, Ollie was focused on getting them to do a better job of stopping the ball, and they got better as the drill went on. The goal was to get 5 stops in a row in transistion, and they did pretty well, although Tolksdorf broke their streak a few times by hitting 3s while well defended.
After that drill, they went to a free throw drill. Ollie up half the team on free throw lines scattered around the court, and the other half rebounding and kicking the ball back to the shooter. He then set up the clock at one minute. Hobbs explained that in this drill, the players are directed to attempt (and make) as many free throws in a minute as they can. This forces the players to limit the amount of movement in their shot, and they've seen very good results from the drill. If I remember right, the goal is to take at least 18 free throws, and to make at least 80%. Those who don't, run. Then they switch so the players rebounding shoot, and the ones who shot rebound.
The next drill...actually, I'm now remembering this was the first drill. My timeline was a bit off. Anyway, this drill was a 4-on-4 defensive drill. Walk-ons comprised of the offense, and they would pass the ball around the perimeter, looking for holes in the defense. The defense was playing man and Ollie was adamant about them calling out their role: the whole time, you could barely hear anything because the players were constantly calling out "I GOT BALL! I GOT BALL!" or "HELP-SIDE!" Outside of that, it was tough to hear what each guy was saying. They did pretty well, although at one point Ollie stopped them and yelled because he said the only person he heard in the entire gym talking was Niels. From this point on they were much better.
They split into two teams next and, like I said above, had one on offense and one on defense. Ollie would take the offense off to the side and call up two plays, while Coach Miller went over some stuff with the defense. Then, the offense would come out and go to the opposite side of the floor of the defense and run one of the plays with nobody defending. Then, when they succeeded there, they would come down to the other side and run the other play with the defense on them. They would play on until a made basket, or a defensive rebound. Then the two groups would switch sides. They ran this until one side made three baskets. Team white (the starters: Shabazz, Boat, Lasan, DD, and Brimah) won fairly easily. The blue team (Samuel, Giffey, Omar, Nolan, and TO) had to run.
Next, Ollie kept rotating back and forth between the blue and white teams, and would call out plays to have them run against no defense. He seemed to be working specifically on plays with a lot of ball screens. The bigs were setting multiple screens every play. Hell, even Boatright was setting some screens. Shabazz was every bit as knowledgeable as Ollie when it came to each play; he was constantly calling out where everyone was supposed to be if they were in the wrong spot. It's pretty amazing seeing up close how smart he is; it's like having a second coach out there on the court. After that, they ran a bunch of out of bounds plays. Each team would run one, then the other would rotate onto the court, all against no defense. After running 7 or 8 plays, Ollie ended practice. He gave us a speech about how the team may not always succeed with their golas on the court, they may not always win, but they're always going to play with heart and give it their all, and he hoped that we all saw that today. Then he thanked us for coming and asked if we had any questions. Then the players came over and Ollie said they were available for autographs and pictures.
A few thoughts:
- Shabazz is a real leader. You can tell just by watching how he goes about his business in practice. He wasn't afraid to goof around a little bit with the guys, but he also gave them a kick in the ass when needed. The biggest thing was, after every successful play, he would go to everyone on his team and give them some love. We are so lucky to have him here. If you're not already, make sure to cherish every second we have left watching him.
- Ollie was tough on Samuel. Like, really tough. He stopped drills halfway through to get on him about certain things. A few times when a play would start, he would say "Alright Terrance! Go be a point guard! Go be a leader!" You can tell he has high hopes for him, and while Samuel made some mistakes during the practice, not doing a good job stopping the ball in transition and not being in the right spot on defense, he had his good moments too. He's great at getting into the middle of the defense and finishing through contact, as he did once or twice today against our white team. Kid is gonna be a rock as an upperclassman.
- As I said earlier, Facey is fast. He was flying down the court whenever they ran, or when they were working on transition. Kid stood out with the effort he was giving in practice, too: while I suspect this practice was a little more laid back than usual because of the audience, Kentan went at every drill with maximum intensity. Once DeAndre moves on, Kentan is gonna step in and be just fine.
- It was a thrill watching Ollie lead these kids. Like I said, I think this practice was a bit laid back because of the fans in attendance, but he wasn't afraid to get on them. At the same time, he let them goof around a little in between plays if he wasn't directly addressing them, something I'd imagine Calhoun wouldn't have tolerated. And addressing the fans, Ollie is at his best. Someone asked him if Kevin knew that he was so fast when he showed up at college, or if it took a little bit of time before he realized his own speed. Ollie laughed and said that he knew when Coach Calhoun told him that he was too fast, and that he needs to slow down. That got some laughs. Ollie spent the entire autograph session getting hounded as much by adults as kids, and he was great with everyone.
- The athletes were awesome with the kids. They signed for everyone, and didn't shy away from pictures with anyone. Nolan is a complete and utter goofball, he was running around photobombing everyone's pictures and goofing around with the kids. It was a great atmosphere.
If any of you get the opportunity to go to something like this, DO IT. I had a blast.
After that drill, they went to a free throw drill. Ollie up half the team on free throw lines scattered around the court, and the other half rebounding and kicking the ball back to the shooter. He then set up the clock at one minute. Hobbs explained that in this drill, the players are directed to attempt (and make) as many free throws in a minute as they can. This forces the players to limit the amount of movement in their shot, and they've seen very good results from the drill. If I remember right, the goal is to take at least 18 free throws, and to make at least 80%. Those who don't, run. Then they switch so the players rebounding shoot, and the ones who shot rebound.
The next drill...actually, I'm now remembering this was the first drill. My timeline was a bit off. Anyway, this drill was a 4-on-4 defensive drill. Walk-ons comprised of the offense, and they would pass the ball around the perimeter, looking for holes in the defense. The defense was playing man and Ollie was adamant about them calling out their role: the whole time, you could barely hear anything because the players were constantly calling out "I GOT BALL! I GOT BALL!" or "HELP-SIDE!" Outside of that, it was tough to hear what each guy was saying. They did pretty well, although at one point Ollie stopped them and yelled because he said the only person he heard in the entire gym talking was Niels. From this point on they were much better.
They split into two teams next and, like I said above, had one on offense and one on defense. Ollie would take the offense off to the side and call up two plays, while Coach Miller went over some stuff with the defense. Then, the offense would come out and go to the opposite side of the floor of the defense and run one of the plays with nobody defending. Then, when they succeeded there, they would come down to the other side and run the other play with the defense on them. They would play on until a made basket, or a defensive rebound. Then the two groups would switch sides. They ran this until one side made three baskets. Team white (the starters: Shabazz, Boat, Lasan, DD, and Brimah) won fairly easily. The blue team (Samuel, Giffey, Omar, Nolan, and TO) had to run.
Next, Ollie kept rotating back and forth between the blue and white teams, and would call out plays to have them run against no defense. He seemed to be working specifically on plays with a lot of ball screens. The bigs were setting multiple screens every play. Hell, even Boatright was setting some screens. Shabazz was every bit as knowledgeable as Ollie when it came to each play; he was constantly calling out where everyone was supposed to be if they were in the wrong spot. It's pretty amazing seeing up close how smart he is; it's like having a second coach out there on the court. After that, they ran a bunch of out of bounds plays. Each team would run one, then the other would rotate onto the court, all against no defense. After running 7 or 8 plays, Ollie ended practice. He gave us a speech about how the team may not always succeed with their golas on the court, they may not always win, but they're always going to play with heart and give it their all, and he hoped that we all saw that today. Then he thanked us for coming and asked if we had any questions. Then the players came over and Ollie said they were available for autographs and pictures.
A few thoughts:
- Shabazz is a real leader. You can tell just by watching how he goes about his business in practice. He wasn't afraid to goof around a little bit with the guys, but he also gave them a kick in the ass when needed. The biggest thing was, after every successful play, he would go to everyone on his team and give them some love. We are so lucky to have him here. If you're not already, make sure to cherish every second we have left watching him.
- Ollie was tough on Samuel. Like, really tough. He stopped drills halfway through to get on him about certain things. A few times when a play would start, he would say "Alright Terrance! Go be a point guard! Go be a leader!" You can tell he has high hopes for him, and while Samuel made some mistakes during the practice, not doing a good job stopping the ball in transition and not being in the right spot on defense, he had his good moments too. He's great at getting into the middle of the defense and finishing through contact, as he did once or twice today against our white team. Kid is gonna be a rock as an upperclassman.
- As I said earlier, Facey is fast. He was flying down the court whenever they ran, or when they were working on transition. Kid stood out with the effort he was giving in practice, too: while I suspect this practice was a little more laid back than usual because of the audience, Kentan went at every drill with maximum intensity. Once DeAndre moves on, Kentan is gonna step in and be just fine.
- It was a thrill watching Ollie lead these kids. Like I said, I think this practice was a bit laid back because of the fans in attendance, but he wasn't afraid to get on them. At the same time, he let them goof around a little in between plays if he wasn't directly addressing them, something I'd imagine Calhoun wouldn't have tolerated. And addressing the fans, Ollie is at his best. Someone asked him if Kevin knew that he was so fast when he showed up at college, or if it took a little bit of time before he realized his own speed. Ollie laughed and said that he knew when Coach Calhoun told him that he was too fast, and that he needs to slow down. That got some laughs. Ollie spent the entire autograph session getting hounded as much by adults as kids, and he was great with everyone.
- The athletes were awesome with the kids. They signed for everyone, and didn't shy away from pictures with anyone. Nolan is a complete and utter goofball, he was running around photobombing everyone's pictures and goofing around with the kids. It was a great atmosphere.
If any of you get the opportunity to go to something like this, DO IT. I had a blast.
Rico444
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He looked OK. Made a 3 at one point. Whenever him and Brimah met on the low blocks, they were very physical with each other trying to gain position.
CL82
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Loved it all but this was my favorite observation:
Thanks for post. One the best things I've read on the board for a while (3uconn excepted, of course.)
I am not sure if people realize that.
Thanks for post. One the best things I've read on the board for a while (3uconn excepted, of course.)
Rico444
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I'm glad you liked that, because it was what stuck out to me the most from the practice. I'm only going to get to see him two more times in person...senior day is going to suck.
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I like to hear that. Everyone raves about the improvements from Brimah and Nolan and I had a feeling going against a senior with a ring in practice everyday played no small role in that.
Dogbreath2U
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Something to keep in mind....those who have participated in the Calhoun Ride/Walk for Cancer have been invited to a practice before the beginning of the season. The upcoming event will be in the early Fall (later than last year) and so likely to be cooler and more comfortable. It would be awesome to have a large Boneyard presence at the Walk/Ride and at the practice. I enjoyed the practice very much....KO structured it like a game, 4 quarters of scrimmages with drills in between the quarters.
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Great stuff Rico thanks for taking the time and writing down your thoughts…...
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I will add that Boat and Samuel will benefit from this type of tutelage. I see a long stream of great point guards in our future.
Taking this further, if I remember correctly Taliek was the last freshman/sophomore point guard not to be schooled by or paired with a vet. Its been corrected (freshman point guards paired with veterans) ever since with great results.
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TO is a teacher in his own way, with the right attitude. Invaluable. This may be comethe most emotional 'real' senior night ever.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that Glen Miller spent a fair amount of time with Brimah working on his shot. He was working on both, a little turn around jump shot as well as a short jump shot facing the basket. I was most impressed with Brimah's ability to hit the shots with either his left or right hand. During his shooting he must have taken close to 150 shots, making at least 70% of them.
IMind
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There's something about Samuel and the way he plays that I really love. I think he's going to be really solid for us.
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