OPEN Practice Updated date

Positive spin on the Open Practice - Nelson is tweaking defensive scheme to account for his length & size. Hopefully, that leads to better rim protection / rebounding. Seems that Nelson is giving Batchelder the freedom to shoot whenever. I'm hoping that creates some space for the big fellas down low (ie. Gates, Louth) to go to work. Bo, Dorsey and Octave need to make real positive impacts on the wing this coming season.

On a side note, when was the last time we had this many upperclassmen projected to play this many impactful minutes?

That's probably the last one. Whether it's his fault or not, Nelson hasn't had the benefit of a veteran roster during his tenure. The transfers and losing have frustrated all of us, but if this team is poised for a leap (aren't we due after-all?), its this year. If they don't, we know what will happen.  

It took me a moment to figure this out!

Ok, I think I will go with either Simon or SW going forward....I could see myself doing this again!

Not a bad bet.   In the top 8 minutes played that season, 6 were upperclassmen.  (Charles and Zignorski being the two underclassmen.  Pretty safe bet that Kenney and Batchelder will be in the top 8 for minutes played.  I don't think Lewis will be playing big minutes.   That really only leaves Kirkwood and I have no clue where he will come in on the depth chart

I would not be surprised if Gerrale and Kenney play the 4-5 in many / most lineups,
You might Octave there more than Dorsey.

Tomorrow is the open practice for season ticket holders.   I predict no one will be checking credentials to make sure attendees actually have season tickets.

Not a ton of people showed up for the first one.  Some of the crowd looked like students.  Judging from post practice reactions, some players' family as well

I am glad all fans can attend. I guess we avoided shooting ourselves in the foot (again).

Did members of the hater crew wear disguises to skip past this requirement at the door?

I kid, I kid.

Go Cross Go!!!

Not much more to say than last weekend...Jaden Kirkwood was absent today, he has pink eye! Bo left the court early, he caught an elbow in rebounding action, was bleeding pretty good. He did not return.
The team looked a bit tired today, it was their 6th day in row, and couple of those days they had double sessions....They front rimmed a lot of shots..Joe Octave looked very comfortable out there, as did Jade Tse.(pronounced CEE). They did a few drills focusing on getting back on D, and also pushing the ball on O. It was nice to see Rabs score a few times on jump hook shots, Gates was Gates. Batch didn't shoot it very well today, he stayed out after to take more shots...Coach Nelson was very vocal regarding turnovers, and the team ran sprints for each turn over that happened in the scrimmage portion of the morning.

It appears we will play a more aggressive style on D..More double teams and stepping out into passing lanes than we have seen in the past few seasons. It seems Coach Nelson want to play fast, it would be a nice style to watch..I'd say we can go 9 deep. Gates is still the ONE, he has to carry the scoring, and I hope Bo can be a consistent #2 scorer.. I hope we can find a few other players each night to light it up.

I think this will be an interesting team to watch as the season progresses. It seems they all get along well, a lot of smiles and chatter out there!

Thanks again
If I recall correctly, you said that last week’s workout showed a match up man that seemed to be the primary defense.
This report says pressure 
Does this now seem to be the primary defense ?

Hard to say.  It's still pre-season practice.  Something that was different than last week, there was a portion of practice focused on zone D.  Some things were similar to last week.Some were different.  Some of what we saw might be adding tools to the tool belt.  When the real season starts, I don't know if pressure will be a regular thing or if this is just another tool in the belt that will be available when needed..

I'm not sure there is a big drop off from #4 on the depth chart to #10.  I think this team will have decent depth. Only time will tell if the interchangeabity of 4 thru 10 has the quality to translate into wins.

Tse had a pretty good jumped out at me more today than last week

Very tasty mini square croissants served, both chocolate and cream cheese with almonds, along with bagels and breakfast breads.

Oh, basketball. I can't add much more.

Louth has had a physical transformation; leaner looking guy. I was kinda hoping one of the bigs would really stand out, and look like a front runner for minutes, but I don't think that will be the case. On the other, we should see plenty of Louth, Wilbar and Rabs; Rabs in particular looked like he has made some strides (showing that baby hook, as mentioned).

We were saying "he's gotta make that shot" on quite a few occasions; but as was mentioned, we were told later they were finishing up a hot and heavy stretch of practice.

Just having Bo miss quite a bit of the scrimmage illustrated how badly they are going to need him to be an upper echelon team in the PL, imho. Some struggling to score.

Tse started slowly, but later on he did get to the rim for baskets a couple of times, one with each hand. They could use some steady game management type of play from him.

I really like Kenney; he's got that aggressive nature. Once he flashed along the baseline for a windmill dunk in someone's face; another time he stuffed Rabs right at the rim. Not sure exactly how they will use him, but I like having him in there.

Batch looked pretty smooth; as with others, shots weren't falling, but you can see he is comfortable putting it up. He (and the others) came up to see our group of 3 after; seems like a really great kid.

I understand the why, but I have to say I felt a little bad for the guys, having to look into the stands and pretty much seeing no one but a few old guys. Regardless of the coaching stuff, I'm really hoping they can have some success this year.

In conclusion, my one concern is this: while an ex coach like by buddy DiMarz can peer onto the court and see things they are trying to accomplish and work on, for an average schmo like me not enough jumps out at me at this point in year 4. I'm just not certain what they are trying to hang their hat on. Maybe that will become more apparent with a few real games. I do believe they are going to be able to (and might need to) go pretty deep into their bench.