A Good Practice
COACH STARKEY (10-18-09):
I'm not the kind of guy that gets overly excited about a practice but we had a really good one today. We pinpointed two areas that we were poor at yesterday and went to work on them today. We did something different today in that we divided practice up into two sessions. We started the day in the film room watching some clips on our defensive player -- specifically our ability to blockout and rebound. We always have an Emphasis of the Day and we post signs up everywhere reminding the players what the emphasis is at that time. We went with "Blockout & Rebound." We came out of the film session and went to work individually on rebounding techniques and then carried it over into some whole method 5-on-5 work. We were very aggressive in rebounding but more importantly executed well. Our perimeter players utilize a hit-and-go method while our post players use a hit-and-hold method. It was a great way to start practice.
We then headed back to the film room to watch some more clips. This time we zeroed in on our transition and motion offense -- specifically our screening. When the players returned to the court, they found we had changed the Emphasis of the Day to "Headhunt on Screens" which means we want to screen and put a body on the defense. We again worked individually on screening and cutting techniques. We worked one-on-zero and two-on-one before moving to some whole method five-on-five drills. We then play something called "Motion Game" where we give points for good screens. Of course the losing team has to run and it creates a really competitive atmosphere. The offensive execution was outstanding.
As we huddled at the end of practice looked at our team and said, "We got better today." There's no better thing to say at the end of a hard workout and they had earned it.
Today was not a perfect day today however. Taylor Booze received a call that her great grandmother had passed away. Taylor comes from a very close family and this is a difficult loss for her. Please join our team in keeping Taylor and her family in our prayers.