Made my way up Snelling Avenue after leaving UST's practice to catch the 6:30 P.M. practice that Haline was having that night. I arrived at Hamline in plenty of time and had an opportunity to chat with Head Coach Kerri Stockwell who was in her office with assistants Angel Leon, Dean Stambaugh, and Jon Hodge as they were preparing tonight's practice session. When I went into the arena I also got to chat with seniors Cassidy Vogt and Steph Pilgrim who both figure to play major roles in the success of this Piper program for this upcoming season.
In addition to myself, there were other visitors as well in the form of high school recruits checking out practice tonight as well as Stockwell has been hitting the recruiting trail hard. The really neat thing, though, was the presence of Steph Rice who is helping out with the team at practice this season as much as she can. Rice, of course, missed the last few games of her senior season last year but her knowledge of the game and her basketball savvy will be invaluable to this team. It's just a testament as to how much she loves this program and how she wants to contribute to its success. And, make no mistake about it, she'll be able to "ball" for a long, long time.
After getting loosened up, the Pipers get it going in earnest as they start with a 4-on-4 halfcourt drill where the emphasis here appears to be defense and communication. The next drill Stockwell employs starts out as a 2-on-1 and eventually morphs into a 5-on-4 drill where the emphasis appears to be defending transition opportunities.
For the next set of drills, the team divides into two groups at each basket to do what appears to be "give and go" work in the paint. Dribbling is added to enhance the drill and then later chairs are placed just inside the 3-point line that the dribblers have to go around. Another notable drill the Pipers perform is a lay-up drill whereby players are lined up at the ends and at the center where three players with ball go the full length of the court to do a lay-up. After doing the lay-up, they then have to do a long baseball-type pass to the center of the court to the next player. Stockwell also has the team do 5-on-5 halfcourt work to work on the offense.
Outtakes - This Hamline squad went through perhaps one of the most uncanny injury-riddled seasons I have ever seen any team endure and yet, through it all, they remained very competitive throughout. Obviously Stockwell does not hope for a repeat of the injury bugaboo and if the key components of this squad can stay healthy there's certainly no reason why this team can't be in the mix as far as a playoff spot is concerned. When sophomore standout Jordan Sammons returns from soccer, it will make this athletic and speedy squad even more dangerous. I'm also impressed with how senior PG Kara Poirier has taken on the leadership role for this team as well. Also keep your eyes on Je'Naya Brown and Mackenzie Lee this year as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment