Made the run over to nearby Park Center High School last night to take in the practice session for the North Tartan 13U team led by Jake Kuppe who just recently was named the new Head Girls Basketball Coach at conference rival Champlin Park High School. Kuppe is assisted by Charlie Schaub; a very knowledgeable basketball guy who just happens to have three daughters involved in the game; two of them that are at this practice tonight, in fact: Danielle; an 8th grader who is on the team and current Park Center sophomore Hannah who is playing on the North Tartan Herbrechtsmeyer (sophomore) team and is helping out tonight with the practice. The team consists of:
Allison Gerard W Champlin Park
Danielle Schaub G Park Center
Ann Simonet G Park Center
Michayla Hayes P Park Center
Cecile Keiger W Woodbury
Dee Dee Winston G Hopkins
Sara Teske W Apple Valley
Terri Carda G Lakeville North
Erin Navatril W/P Albany
Carman Backus P Chisago Lakes
This team placed 9th in Nationals in 2012 and was also state champs last summer as well and will be the number one seed in this weekend's State Tournament to be held at Bloomington Kennedy and Bloomington Jefferson High Schools.
Kuppe begins this practice having the team get loosened up with various light-running and stretching drills to get them ready for the main course. The first drill the team does is a passing drill on the edges of the lane that is also modified to incorporate bounce and overhead passes; so essential when you're working in the paint. Next, Kuppe has his team work on lay-ups off of inbounds passes and then modifies the drill to have the team start in the perimeter area. Kuppe wastes no time in picking up the intensity of this practice as he is constantly barking out, "Look sharp! Let's go, let's go!" This drill is then modified again that incorprates mid-range jumpers.
Next, Kuppe has his group do a "shell"-type drill which has the team running various offensive plays and sets. The emphasis here appears to be positioning and setting proper screens off of passes and ensuring that players come off correctly from the screen that's been set for them. A bit later, Kuppe uses four players to emphasize the importance of motion in the offense and how it's supposed to be run. After a short water break for the team, it's then time for some good ol' 5-on-5 work and it's here that you can really see the intensity pick up. Kuppe - "We kind of laid an egg at the Qualifier Tourney a couple weekends ago; we weren't intense enough. We hope to rectify that this weekend." After a well-deserved water break, this group is at it again but this time they are using nearly the full court as this gives the guards; particularly the all-important point guard, an opportunity to see the floor better and survey out the defense. Kuppe stops the team in action from time to time to point out flaws and how to correct them but the intensity level does not drop one iota.
After another well-deserved water break, Kuppe has his team work on inbounds passing that is directed by Charlie Schaub. Kuppe, however, is not pleased at the beginning of the drill by the screens (or the lack thereof) his young group is attempting to set and excoriates the lack of effort. "Set screens on inbounds plays!!" he shouts. "Do I have to make it any clearer?!!" He goes on, "Don't let them (the defense) push you around. Hold your ground!" The team definitely gets the message and they proceed to get physical. After about 10 minutes of this work, Kuppe then wraps things up with some more 5-on-5 work; but this time where defensive cohesiveness is emphasized and Charlie Schaub is right there encouraging the defense to guard the ball and be ready to make that steal or create a turnover.
Afterward, Kuppe seems pleased with his team's practice on this night. Maybe never perfect but Kuppe feels confident his squad is ready to make good on the number one seed they were given. "We're trying to teach them to be physical" he states and it appears that they're well on their way to getting to that point. While it's always a bit risky to predict the future success of eighth-graders, you can definitely see that this team has potential to do well; not only at the state level but at the National level as well.
