Sunday’s practice looked a lot like Saturday's practice.
Came away impressed with Monty’s Basketball 101 class, the
Green Machine, Kyle and Julius. I also came away wondering how
the lack of big men is going to affect practice reps now, and the
team down the road.
Monty once again stresses defense, footwork and being
constantly “on balance”. He spent a lot of time
stopping drills and coaching Chris, Rob and Josh. I couldn’t
help but think that Monty has immediate plans for these guys and
they have to learn fast.
The Green Team of Josh, Rob, Chris and Tyler play well as a
unit. Green, but already seem to have a bond or a basketball
understanding of each other. You'd think they met in Clovis every
weekend over the summer or something. With Monty’s strong
belief in triangle offense, the trio of Rob, Chris and Josh could
bring great things to Stanford Basketball. They just need to
remember that every drill, every practice and every game counts.
Kyle was a leader on the court. He was vocal, was talking /
teaching the new guys and running drills to perfection. He looked
very comfortable. Kyle, Justin and Julius look bigger. Julius was
on today. His shots were on the mark and his movement was crisp.
It looks like both Kyle and Julius know their time has come, and
it's time to contribute big time.
My only concern is not having 6 big men or 15 guys to
practice. In our 5 on 0 drills the big men are getting lots of
reps. But there are always 3 guys out. It basically means that
the rest of the guys are getting less reps. In Monty’s
precision offense and with a young team, is this going to affect
the way we play? With Justin’s and CB's foot / ankle
history, is added reps in practice going to hurt them? On the
other hand; Joe and Rob will adjust quicker. Nick at times was
playing the 4, by the way.
All in all, a good practice. This year will be fun. If
healthy, this will be a great team by tournament time.