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Post by DiMarz on Oct 4, 2019 1:04:58 GMT -5
I’ve been to many practices going back to the Blaney days. Generally coaches don’t mind a few quite fans watching, however if there is a “crowd” it does change the way the players and coaches behave.. Most coaches won’t “speak harshly” to the team or individual players with the public around. Not a good idea today for many reasons..
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Oct 4, 2019 3:57:38 GMT -5
Blaney court has pull-out seats for volleyball, only. Hard to hold open practices on that court.
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Post by Tom on Oct 4, 2019 7:01:27 GMT -5
Blaney court has pull-out seats for volleyball, only. Hard to hold open practices on that court. Blaney allows for multiple practices at the same time (M + W hoops for example). I assume this will be in the main gym
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Post by hchoops on Oct 6, 2019 16:30:47 GMT -5
Trimster’s comments about the practice(on the Mike R thread) are encouraging, esp about the bigs. The injuries are not good , but from what NAD wrote about BN’s comments, none seem too serious
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Post by efg72 on Oct 6, 2019 16:34:38 GMT -5
Trimste do you have additional thoughts/reactions re the Pg position?
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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 6, 2019 16:50:14 GMT -5
A few quick thoughts on practice . . .
1. Opened with defense and spent a lot of time on it. Man-to-man, with quick sideline traps, heavy emphasis on weak-side help ("The ball moves, you move!"), and rotating back hard to cover cross-court passes and ball reversal.
2. Several five-man, end-to-end sprints sprinkled throughout. We will be running some, I guess. Transition offense and defense - three players going hard to the offensive boards (I almost fainted), with the point and another guard dropping back for defense.
3. Lowder looked good offensively and moving north-south - thought he had trouble moving laterally to his left, got lost/beaten a few times on defense.
4. Thought Ryan Wade was the best player out there today - very smooth, scored at all three levels, very good on-ball defender, consistent, talkative and heady. Dad was there and commiserated with NAD and his posse. AB also looked good. Niego was pretty impressive as well.
5. Purple team - Lowder, Wade, Butler, Faw . . . and Verbeek. I'm guessing the first four will see lots of minutes. In mixed situations with the White team, only Butler and Wade were consistently Purple. Aside from Niego, Reilly and Hargis showed ok.
6. Nelson breaking drills up to teach, often in Socratic fashion ("Where were you supposed to be, Joey?" . . . "What's your job on that play, Marlon?"). Liked his intensity, total engagement, and the emphasis on defense.
Copeland in a boot. Sandy, Pridgen, LeSann also DNP, none looked seriously hurt.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 6, 2019 16:52:27 GMT -5
Was there. Hard to tell with a boot, but at least he was on the floor, and engaged in the practice. As for the others - CLS looked ok to me; but for some reason did not participate at all. Sandy had some kind of thing on his ankle (believe Tom, who was there, called it an air cast). He's got decent length. Yeutter did some limited stuff in the beginning, but I don't believe participated in the actual scrimmaging.
My guy Pridgen also did not participate other than some early loosening up. I think he may have a minor issue with one leg, maybe a muscle pull or something. Still, he had my interest throughout- the kid was constantly doing stuff. He would do pushups, then he would jump in place, bringing his knees up high (hmmm, maybe he doesn't have a muscle pull). Then he would hop on one leg up and down, up and down. Then, back to pushups. He's pretty ripped. After practice, he was out shooting threes (and hitting most). Can't wait to see him down the road.
High energy practice punctuated with a bunch of teaching. Lots of banging around. And most will be glad to hear that Coach Nelson spoke the word "rebounding" many times. The bottom line might not change much right away, but the style sure will.
Individually - in terms of improvement, Hargis and Verbeek impressed me the most. Both I think will be ready to make some contributions this year. Blake even mixed it up a bit inside. Both AB and CN looked good. The Michigan guys certainly look like they have the skills. A lot of work to do, but at least it looks like these guys will have the chance to get better each week as they work with the coaches.
One funny moment - at one point in the scrimmage, RJ took the ball on the right wing, made a hard drive to the left before cutting back for a layup. The Red Sea parted; no one wanted to get near him! RJ looks like he could be a NFL middle linebacker right now; it's hard to believe he was once a quarterback!
Let the new journey begin.
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Post by efg72 on Oct 6, 2019 16:53:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the post
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Post by hchoops on Oct 6, 2019 16:54:32 GMT -5
ThNks for all the detail,
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Post by hc89 on Oct 6, 2019 16:54:46 GMT -5
The Open Practice was a fun event. Coach Nelson is definitely the captain of the ship. The program is in very good hands. He worked the kids hard and did a lot of “individual instruction” along the way.
Overall, we have a young, fairly inexperienced team. With the two critical transfers, and the graduation of some stalwart players, there are some good opportunities for many to step in to some significant minutes.
The two midwestern freshmen looked really good. They will play right away. Reilly plays really hard and will be in the mix for some minutes. Pridgen and Sandy did not play so cannot report on them.
AB was his typical self- hustling and diving all over the place. Niego and Faw were both solid. I think Hargis and Verbeek will get lots of playing time. Verbeek has beefed up a bit. He shoots it pretty well. I think Coach Nelson would like to see him mix it up a bit more inside. Hargis displayed a nice stroke from the outside and also displayed good athleticism.
Lots of injured/non-participants on the sidelines- including Kyle Copeland.
RJ Evans is going to make some great contributions as a coach- already is!
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Post by Tom on Oct 6, 2019 19:57:58 GMT -5
2. Several five-man, end-to-end sprints sprinkled throughout. The small group sprints were run by the losers of each mini scrimmage or drill that could have a defined winner ---------------------------------------------------- It was a two hour practice. The first hour focused on defense and rebounding. Ended with about a 4 minute scrimmage 2nd hour focused on O and ended with an 8 minute scrimmage Purple: Wade, Lowder, Butler, Faw, and Verbeek White: RJ, Reilly, Hargis, Niego, and Lovisolo Names written in order of who guarded who
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Post by efg72 on Oct 6, 2019 20:02:27 GMT -5
How was RJs matchup? Hargis/Butler ?
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Post by hchoops on Oct 6, 2019 21:50:14 GMT -5
Congratulations to the assistant coach(es) who worked with BV this off season to help him make the strides he has made.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Oct 6, 2019 21:59:41 GMT -5
Congratulations to the assistant coach(es) who worked with BV this off season to help him make the strides he has made. Congratulations to Verbeek for putting in the work.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 6, 2019 22:13:51 GMT -5
Congratulations to the assistant coach(es) who worked with BV this off season to help him make the strides he has made. Congratulations to Verbeek for putting in the work. Fine point totally agree
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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 7, 2019 5:42:15 GMT -5
I would pump the brakes a bit on Verbeek. He can catch-and-shoot out at the arc (slow release, can get away with it at his height), but was a little awkward physically in both offensive and defensive sets, and got pushed around some by Lovisolo (and smaller guys) in rebounding action. Lack of foot-speed was most evident when he rotated from the weak side. He is big, though, and did get up and down the court well.
All the other Purple guys - Lowder, Wade, Butler, and Faw - look like easy choices for starters/minutes, at this point.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 7, 2019 6:17:01 GMT -5
I would pump the brakes a bit on Verbeek. He can catch-and-shoot out at the arc (slow release, can get away with it at his height), but was a little awkward physically in both offensive and defensive sets, and got pushed around some by Lovisolo (and smaller guys) in rebounding action. Lack of foot-speed was most evident when he rotated from the weak side. He is big, though, and did get up and down the court well. All the other Purple guys - Lowder, Wade, Butler, and Faw - look like easy choices for starters/minutes, at this point. I think that's a fair assessment; I think what is encouraging is that he seems to be further along at this point than perhaps anticipated (at least in my view). I wonder if that 5th starting spot might change from game to game, depending on whether he wants to go bigger, or smaller and quicker.
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Post by trimster on Oct 7, 2019 6:31:49 GMT -5
2. Several five-man, end-to-end sprints sprinkled throughout. The small group sprints were run by the losers of each mini scrimmage or drill that could have a defined winner ---------------------------------------------------- It was a two hour practice. The first hour focused on defense and rebounding. Ended with about a 4 minute scrimmage 2nd hour focused on O and ended with an 8 minute scrimmage Purple: Wade, Lowder, Butler, Faw, and Verbeek White: RJ, Reilly, Hargis, Niego, and Lovisolo Names written in order of who guarded who I think I am beginning to detect just a little bit of a buzz about Holy Cross basketball.
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Post by sader81 on Oct 7, 2019 7:00:19 GMT -5
The small group sprints were run by the losers of each mini scrimmage or drill that could have a defined winner ---------------------------------------------------- It was a two hour practice. The first hour focused on defense and rebounding. Ended with about a 4 minute scrimmage 2nd hour focused on O and ended with an 8 minute scrimmage Purple: Wade, Lowder, Butler, Faw, and Verbeek White: RJ, Reilly, Hargis, Niego, and Lovisolo Names written in order of who guarded who I think I am beginning to detect just a little bit of a buzz about Holy Cross basketball. No reason not to. As much as the naysayers disagree, there are four pretty good players returning in Faw, Niego, Butler and Copeland. Add to that two good Michigan players and natural progression of the frosh. Sure, they finished last, but how many teams faced the off the court roller coaster they faced with the coach’s family issues. That’s a tough thing to lay on 19 & 20 year olds, and corresponded right when they came off a pretty good OOC run. They are probably a year away, but going to be a fun team to watch.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Oct 7, 2019 7:13:41 GMT -5
This world would be a far better place if we all shared in 81’s optimistic outlook on things.
Although I’d hate to be considered a “naysayer” if I don’t share in the view at Copeland and Niego are “pretty good players” when there isn’t much to back up that claim.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 7, 2019 7:30:08 GMT -5
Long term, trust in The Full Nelson.....
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Post by bison137 on Oct 8, 2019 16:33:26 GMT -5
Apologies if this has already been posted. HC has a closed scrimmage game vs UMass Lowell on Thursday October 24th in the Hart.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 8, 2019 16:39:17 GMT -5
Thanks. Believe this is the first we have heard.
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Post by Tom on Oct 15, 2019 11:42:39 GMT -5
There is supposed to be a second open practice this Saturday. This is the one that was announced by E-mail. There was no time attached.
A couple of years ago there was an open practice on Homecoming that was more like a glorified scrimmage. It was in conjunction with tours of the new Luth complex. I remember helping setting up a tailgate on the baseball field then sprinting up to Luth. I thought I was going to be the first person to use the new Luth defibrillator.
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Post by breezy on Oct 15, 2019 12:07:03 GMT -5
Saturday at 10:00 AM.
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