Walked into Ford Center to watch practice to find the 40
member rowing team on rowing machines taking up prime practice
viewing space. I noticed the back door facing the tennis courts
open so I figured I’d watch from there. I found myself
watching the majority of practice closer to the action than I
have ever been before. The following are my observations:
When I arrived the white team of Justin Davis, Rob Little,
Matt Lottich, Kyle Logan, Chris Hernandez and Tyler Berkseker
were taking it to the Red team. Rob thought he was a Point Center
and was making some awesome passes to Justin. You got a sense
that these guys liked playing together. Later on during practice
Casey, Curtis and the red team showed them they weren’t
going to be dominated two games in a row.
As ME-97 said before, these guys are a team and seem to like
each other. There was constant peer coaching from the sideline.
Everyone was helping each other. At one point Nick went over to
Josh to explain some type of early offense during a free throw
situation. At another point Curtis stopped an in-bounding drill
and showed Robert the proper move. Everyone is giving constant
encouragement. With a tough pre-season schedule, the learning
curve is short.
The next time anyone goes to practice, watch Casey during
shooting drills. His footwork and balance is the same during
every shot ( Granted a jump shot is different than a slash across
the lane). He can take 300 shots and they are all the same. You
could tape/film his feet during a 3-hour practice and have an
excellent teaching video. Great work ethic.
I talked to some of the players after practice. The consensus
was it had been a tough first week of practice and the guys were
feeling it. Some were having trouble doing the basic little
things. The veterans recognized that there leadership roles have
changed and are up for the challenge.
You get the feeling this team feels a lot like the team need
after the graduation of Art Lee and Company. They were great
players but now it is our time to show what we can do. If
healthy, don’t bet against this team in March and April.