Open Practice 11/14/23

[Patriotsince81]

Here we go with a summary of the Open Practice today.

First: I asked about season tickets and Gold Room Passes. Both should be coming out in the next week. The exhibition tickets for 10/23 against St. Thomas are included as part of the season ticket package, they should be available for download in the next week as well.

Second: NO Jalen Haynes.

Today was Practice #13 according to handouts. Schedule below.

10:00 - 10:07 Active Stretch - players warmed up with new strength and conditioning coach.
10:07 - 10:12 Team Ball Handling
10:12 - 10:13 "Curry Passing" - the team had a goal to complete 65 passes in one minute. They completed 70.
10:13 - 10:16 "Nuggets Shooting" - full court drill with layups and shots from all over the court. Very fun to watch. Goal was to make 70. Don't remember if they did or not.
10:16 - 10:21 "Around the Horn" - defensive drills
10:21 - 10:24 Water Break
10:24 - 10:29 "3 v 3 Energizer Drill" - also defensive in nature
10:29 - 10:34 "Hibbert Drill" - defensive in nature, emphasis on taking a charge among others
10:34 - 10:39 "Cavalier/50 Gap Drill
10:39 - 10:42 Water Break
Up to this point practice ran to the minute and was impressive to watch.
10:42 - 10:57 4 vs 4 Shell Drill - See teams.
Green Team (Polite, Billups, Hall, Pavrette).
Gold Team (Okojie, Dinkins, Newton, Henry)
Blue Team (Wood, Maddox, Ball, Kelly)
10:57 - 11:07 Fastbreak Buildup
11:07 - 11:17 Coaches Game. Green Team tied Gold 10-10.
11:17 - 11:20 Water Break
11:20 - 11:35 7 Minute Game. Green Team won.
11:35 - 11:50 Conditioning
11:50 - TS talked briefly & players introduced themselves

Side Notes:
Green Team in the 7 minute game was Polite, Billups, Maddox, Hall, and Kelly
Gold Team was Dinkins, Wood, Ball, Henry, Newton
Please do not read anything into it. Only practice 13. One interesting comment at the end was that TS said that the team was not where he wanted them to be or expected them to be at this point in time.

I saw positives and negatives during the practice. Some players stood out while others did not. I'm not going to pass judgement on anyone after one practice on day 13. I will say that I am tempering my own expectations for the team this season. I'll make one bold prediction, we won't go 0-31 or 31-0.

Need some time to further digest everything that I saw.

 

[DRK331]

21 minute Youtube video of the Open Practice here

21 minute Youtube video of the Open Practice here

 

[Patriotsince81]

A few thoughts about individual players.

Jared Billups. I was impressed with his overall game. He is vocal and appears to be a leader. He shot, defended, and rebounded well. I think he's a great addition to the team.

Keyshawn Hall. I was amazed at how thin he looked in comparison to his 280 pound self. I also liked what I saw from him. He can score, he defended well, and led the sprints for his group on several occasions. He could end up being a very good player for us.

Tre Wood. Absolutely nailed some big shots including a 3 at the buzzer in the C game. At one point he had three in a row. He can get after it as well.

Nico Pavrette can protect the rim. He runs the floor very well.

Austin Ball could play a lot more than people think and earlier than people may think. I like his overall game and grit. He and Keyshawn went against each other quite a bit.

Darius Maddox can shoot it when open. I see double figures in his future.

 

[DRK331]

Devin Dinkins made a good amount of 3s today

 

[psyclone]

Here we go with a summary of the Open Practice today.

First: I asked about season tickets and Gold Room Passes. Both should be coming out in the next week. The exhibition tickets for 10/23 against St. Thomas are included as part of the season ticket package, they should be available for download in the next week as well.

Second: NO Jalen Haynes.

Today was Practice #13 according to handouts. Schedule below.

10:00 - 10:07 Active Stretch - players warmed up with new strength and conditioning coach.
10:07 - 10:12 Team Ball Handling
10:12 - 10:13 "Curry Passing" - the team had a goal to complete 65 passes in one minute. They completed 70.
10:13 - 10:16 "Nuggets Shooting" - full court drill with layups and shots from all over the court. Very fun to watch. Goal was to make 70. Don't remember if they did or not.
10:16 - 10:21 "Around the Horn" - defensive drills
10:21 - 10:24 Water Break
10:24 - 10:29 "3 v 3 Energizer Drill" - also defensive in nature
10:29 - 10:34 "Hibbert Drill" - defensive in nature, emphasis on taking a charge among others
10:34 - 10:39 "Cavalier/50 Gap Drill
10:39 - 10:42 Water Break
Up to this point practice ran to the minute and was impressive to watch.
10:42 - 10:57 4 vs 4 Shell Drill - See teams.
Green Team (Polite, Billups, Hall, Pavrette).
Gold Team (Okojie, Dinkins, Newton, Henry)
Blue Team (Wood, Maddox, Ball, Kelly)
10:57 - 11:07 Fastbreak Buildup
11:07 - 11:17 Coaches Game. Green Team tied Gold 10-10.
11:17 - 11:20 Water Break
11:20 - 11:35 7 Minute Game. Green Team won.
11:35 - 11:50 Conditioning
11:50 - TS talked briefly & players introduced themselves

Side Notes:
Green Team in the 7 minute game was Polite, Billups, Maddox, Hall, and Kelly
Gold Team was Dinkins, Wood, Ball, Henry, Newton
Please do not read anything into it. Only practice 13. One interesting comment at the end was that TS said that the team was not where he wanted them to be or expected them to be at this point in time.

I saw positives and negatives during the practice. Some players stood out while others did not. I'm not going to pass judgement on anyone after one practice on day 13. I will say that I am tempering my own expectations for the team this season. I'll make one bold prediction, we won't go 0-31 or 31-0.

Need some time to further digest everything that I saw.

I arrived about 3 minutes into the Active Stretch. (Side note to mkaufman...while I'm clearly part of the gray-haired fans, I don't use a walker or cane, although I may look like I need one!). I'd estimate attendance at around 150-200 people. Fair number of possibly high school athletes and coaches and/or maybe friends/family of players.

While also reluctant to pass judgment, I did think that Hall stood out--shot well from 3 when open, cut to the hoop well without the ball and got a couple of dunks that way.

Okojie drove to the hoop a few times but had difficulty making the contested shots in close.

Kelly and Maddux didn't particularly stand out...not that they played poorly, just that I may have expected too much at this stage.

During "game" part of practice, Malik made both foul shots...one very clean, the other a high bounce off the rim which then rattled in! Maddux and Polite also made their one-and-ones and looked good doing it. How's that for extraneous and not probably relevant detail!

Worth going to for familiarizing myself to what the players look like.

 

[GSII]

Anymore info on Haynes? Sick?

 

[Mason2005]

Anymore info on Haynes? Sick?

At a wedding

 

[EXpatriot13]

Sharing a few of my high level thoughts below. It was great to be back in EBA, can’t wait to get back down for a few games this season.

- Maddox has such a nice looking shot, it’s clear that he’ll be relied upon heavily offensively.
- I don’t see Polite working off ball that much, at least to start the season. It was obvious that he’s far and away the best facilitator and playmaker on the team. He’ll make things go for himself and others.
- It looks like Wood and Okojie are 2a/2b behind Polite, with Dink the odd man out. Only way I see him getting consistent playing time is if the other two guys have crippling mistakes/consistent turnovers.
- Okojie has great size and super athletic, he’ll have his freshman growing pains/turnovers but I don’t think it’ll take him long to adapt.
- Hall looks like he’ll be streaky, but his size and athleticism allows him to score and defend from practically anywhere on the floor. Offense will likely run through Polite, Maddox, and Hall.
- Billups will be a fan favorite. He’s a slightly shorter, but stronger version of Ticket who just flat out hustles and is all over the floor. He might contribute more on offense than we think.
- Front court is limited, which we knew, unless Haynes somehow becomes eligible. Henry is his high motor self but limited. Kelly looks more polished offensively but limited defensively. I actually thought Pavrette stood out more in practice than I thought he would; he’s tall af with solid athleticism so will be intriguing to watch him develop but should contribute day 1 on defense.

I’m actually slightly more optimistic about this season. Of course it’s just practice so not going to go crazy but our depth is an obvious strength, and I think Tony did a good job securing players who have more diverse skill sets vs. seasons prior. There will be growing pains and frustrating nights, but they should be more than competitive in the A10.

 

[JC_FoodcourtBandit]

Sharing a few of my high level thoughts below. It was great to be back in EBA, can’t wait to get back down for a few games this season.

- Maddox has such a nice looking shot, it’s clear that he’ll be relied upon heavily offensively.
- I don’t see Polite working off ball that much, at least to start the season. It was obvious that he’s far and away the best facilitator and playmaker on the team. He’ll make things go for himself and others.
- It looks like Wood and Okojie are 2a/2b behind Polite, with Dink the odd man out. Only way I see him getting consistent playing time is if the other two guys have crippling mistakes/consistent turnovers.
- Okojie has great size and super athletic, he’ll have his freshman growing pains/turnovers but I don’t think it’ll take him long to adapt.
- Hall looks like he’ll be streaky, but his size and athleticism allows him to score and defend from practically anywhere on the floor. Offense will likely run through Polite, Maddox, and Hall.
- Billups will be a fan favorite. He’s a slightly shorter, but stronger version of Ticket who just flat out hustles and is all over the floor. He might contribute more on offense than we think.
- Front court is limited, which we knew, unless Haynes somehow becomes eligible. Henry is his high motor self but limited. Kelly looks more polished offensively but limited defensively. I actually thought Pavrette stood out more in practice than I thought he would; he’s tall af with solid athleticism so will be intriguing to watch him develop but should contribute day 1 on defense.

I’m actually slightly more optimistic about this season. Of course it’s just practice so not going to go crazy but our depth is an obvious strength, and I think Tony did a good job securing players who have more diverse skill sets vs. seasons prior. There will be growing pains and frustrating nights, but they should be more than competitive in the A10.

Great write up, I heard Ball impressed any thoughts on him?

 

[psyclone]

Great write up, I heard Ball impressed any thoughts on him?

Ball looked good...has a nice shot and a "presence" about him that is unusual for a freshman. Fundamentally, he appears very solid. That said, he wasn't all that prominent in the "scrimmage"-like parts of practice.

Seemed to be willing to take a back seat to the upper classmen (unlike a Luke Hancock). But make no mistake about it...he looks to be a good one, just not sure how much time he will get .