Tweets from Practice

[tcf15]

William Paxton @wspaxton · 3m3 minutes ago
Ryan Boatright: 'it's probably one of the hardest practices these guys have ever been through.' #UConn

William Paxton @wspaxton · 2m2 minutes ago
Rodney Purvis on being referred to as a Ferrari by Ollie: 'that's a pretty nice car.' #UConn

William Paxton @wspaxton · 1m1 minute ago
Ollie: 'The energy was high, they competed and they played hard.' #UConn

William Paxton @wspaxton · 9s8 seconds ago
Sam Cassell Jr. said he's never played on team with this much talent in the backcourt.

William Paxton @wspaxton · 14s15 seconds ago
Boatright said Omar has his shot back.

Dom Amore @AmoreCourant · 6m6 minutes ago
Everybody got through practice in good shape, vets were impressed by newcomers determination #uconn

Dom Amore @AmoreCourant · 6m6 minutes ago
Ollie stressed fast break, which will b ongoing. "We want more easy buckets, we're not going to have shabazz to bail us out with 30 footers"

Dom Amore @AmoreCourant · 4m4 minutes ago
Sam Cassell jr "totally different from practices at JUCO ... Very intense. We got after it" #uconn

Dom Amore @AmoreCourant · 3m3 minutes ago
Rakim Lubin says coaches like his weight at about 265, where it is now. He looks very solid

Dom Amore @AmoreCourant · 1m1 minute ago
Practice started at Guyer gym, then Gampel today. Went about 31/2 hours. Mostly running at Guyer. Rebounding at Gampel #uconn

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 6m6 minutes ago
FWIW (next to nothing) the first team at the end of practice was Boatright, Calhoun, Samuel, Facey, Nolan.

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 5m5 minutes ago
With the second team Purvis, Cassell, Hamilton, Lubin, Brimah.

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 5m5 minutes ago
Ollie stressed fast break in the portion media watched: "There's no reason we should not be a great fast break team."

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 5m5 minutes ago
ICYMI (I did) Phil Nolan has switched to jersey No. 1. Other numbers for newcomers: Hamilton 5, Cassell 10, Lubin 14.

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 3m3 minutes ago
Have to admit, I expected Rakim Lubin to struggle with conditioning aspects of practice. I was wrong. He was more than solid.

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 3m3 minutes ago
Ladder/suicide sprinting drill at the end of practice: Lubin the first of his group across the line.

David Borges @DaveBorges · 4m4 minutes ago
At one point, Ollie got on Rakim Lubin during rebound drill. Lubin said it was because he was taking it too easy on his teammates. #UConn

David Borges @DaveBorges · 27s27 seconds ago
Ollie: “We want to be a better fast-breaking team than we were last year ... We can’t have Shabazz bailing us out with 35-footers."

 

[tcf15]

David Borges @DaveBorge
Sam Cassell, Jr. on how good UConn backcourt can be. http://www.tout.com/m/p4p6oi?ref=twcyx8rm…

David Borges @DaveBorges
Ryan Boatright on #UConn first practice. http://www.tout.com/m/1xwvt0?ref=tw2tm2mg…

David Borges @DaveBorges
Kevin Ollie on first practice. http://www.tout.com/m/8wg7q4?ref=twdxxo4i…

 

[tcf15]

Dom Amore ‏@AmoreCourant 3m3 minutes ago
Ollie pushed Lubin to be more physical in rebound drills "I didn't want to hurt anybody" Lubin said.

Gavin Keefe ‏@GavinKeefe 2m2 minutes ago
Ollie: "We've just got to do a little bit more than year. Everybody understands that."

Gavin Keefe ‏@GavinKeefe 22s23 seconds ago
Senior Ryan Boatright said this year's first practice was tougher than last year. More running.

Gavin Keefe ‏@GavinKeefe 4m4 minutes ago
Coach Ollie: "The energy was hot. They competed and played hard." #UConn

 

[3uconn]

WOW:
@AmoreCourant: Ollie pushed Lubin to be more physical in rebound drills "I didn't want to hurt anybody" Lubin said.

 

[Gringo]

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 6m6 minutes ago
FWIW (next to nothing) the first team at the end of practice was Boatright, Calhoun, Samuel, Facey, Nolan.

Neill Ostrout @NeillOstrout · 5m5 minutes ago
With the second team Purvis, Cassell, Hamilton, Lubin, Brimah.

Everyone is talking about Kentucky's top 10 players. Our's is pretty damn good too.

 

[tcf15]

“@NeillOstrout: Boatright on Calhoun: “Omar looked good, real good. The athleticism is back. His confidence is back. He’s back to being the old Omar."”

“@NeillOstrout: More Boat on Calhoun: "He’s talking, talking trash. We missed that.””

 

[David 76]

Thank you tcf!

 

[husky99]

Thanks big time

 

[OkaForPrez]

+10 ppg on the fast break is about what I expected for the goal. Need to manufacture easier buckets to make up for the loss of shooting especially at the 4. Boat touched on both of those points. Will be interesting to see who carves out the most minutes at the 4. It will be all about defensive rebounding and starting the break.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Great news about Omar and Rakim. I'm in favor of Rakim not hurting anybody.

 

[DogMania]

Great news about Omar and Rakim. I'm in favor of Rakim not hurting anybody.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't want to see Rakim flipping Brimah over his shoulder. Hum...ring a bell? On the other hand, will be good to see the team toughen up in the paint.

 

[Tommyboy]

Great news about Omar and Rakim. I'm in favor of Rakim not hurting anybody.

At least not yet.

 

[Jluc]

I'm glad Paxton clarified for us that this is the best back court Cassell has ever played with.

 

[huskiesnyc]

+10 ppg on the fast break is about what I expected for the goal. Need to manufacture easier buckets to make up for the loss of shooting especially at the 4. Boat touched on both of those points. Will be interesting to see who carves out the most minutes at the 4. It will be all about defensive rebounding and starting the break.

I was happy to hear Boat touch on that. He said last year we had about 6-8 but he expects 16-18 fast break points this year. I think our front court will be better this year due to experience and Rock's rebounding, and our backcourt is arguably the deepest in the country. Our biggest question mark is who is going to replace Daniels. I'm thinking D-Ham and and Omar will be up to the task at least scoring wise.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I hope we run and run and run... i love how rakim said he didnt want to hurt anybody lol... cant wait for him to toss guys around when the season starts

 

[Dove]

Rock is rolling!!

Err....he's rolling Rock?

 

[intlzncster]

Looks like I nailed my 'no one will puke' prediction.

Since I'm on a roll, we will be 2015 National Champions. Book it.

 

[intlzncster]

Nice work on the thread tcf.

 

[tcf15]

Notes, quotes and video from UConn's first practice of 2014 - http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/2014/10/notes-quotes-and-video-from-uconns.html

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Thanks tcf!

 

[James]

“My dream is to have four guys who can get it off the backboard, push it and be a point guard. That’s what I’m recruiting for ... Let’s go, let’s push it, let’s play fast-break basketball. I don’t want to call a lot of plays. I can if we need to ... but I want us to use our athleticism.”

Wow . awesome.

 

[tcf15]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...eir-first-practice-20141004-story.html#page=1

 

[Irish Loop]

I love the conditioning Ollie's doing with this team. I honestly think is was a huge aspect to our run last year. Several teams that theoretically had more talent than us looked absolutely gassed. I think this is a hugely underrated component of Ollie's coaching.

 

[upstater]

I love the conditioning Ollie's doing with this team. I honestly think is was a huge aspect to our run last year. Several teams that theoretically had more talent than us looked absolutely gassed. I think this is a hugely underrated component of Ollie's coaching.

It's a hard thing to do, to mix in that level of conditioning in the hours allowed by the NCAA. Two things are working for Ollie. One, he doesn't waste a lot of time in his practices, so players are always moving. And two, he is still in shape and his hard work and entire career gives him a lot of credibility when he insists his players achieve top conditioning. It's much harder to accept such demands from, say, Tom Crean or John Calipari or Ed Cooley or Steve Lavin.

 

[Huskybass]

OMG how great would it be if we use our depth and athleticism and uptempo every game? We have the athletes to do it. The Pitt style 61-58 rockfights are always a crapshoot. Get it in the high 70's or low 80's and rack up the W's.