St. Kate's Intrasquad Scrimmage - Purple vs Gold - 10-27-13

Made my way over to St. Paul on this Sunday evening to take in the intrasquad scrimmage for St. Kate's. While I knew it was incredibly early in the year with only a few weeks of practice in the books, I was anxious to see this group of new, young talent that Head Coach Sean Pinkerton and Assistant Coach Tim Kjar have assembled for this season and to see how they would react in game-like situations.

The scrimmage was composed of two 15-minute periods which kept things, IMHO, in a relatively short setting yet long enough to give the players opportunities to do things.  And, it arguably worked out well for both Packer and Viking fans who wanted to see their teams battle it out in the "Border Battle" going on that night over at MOA Field.  In any event, it took both sides a bit to get the expected jitters out before freshman Mari Lee; younger sister of senior Kristen Lee, helped the Purple team draw first blood at the 12:47 mark with a short jumper in the lane.  The Purple team would expand that lead to a count of 5-2 with 8:47 left thanks to junior Sarah Manning as she maneuvered into the paint for a score with 10:01 left and followed that up with a charity stripe shot.  The Gold team, however, would quickly work their way back into things thanks to a strong move and finish in the paint by strong freshman LaShay Holt; fresh out of St. Paul Humboldt with 8:26 left and would be neck and neck with their Purple counterparts by the 4:42 mark with things knotted up at 10-all.  With 2:30 left, freshman sensation Kennedy Jennings from Dallas Center-Grimes (Iowa) put the Gold team ahead with an explosive drive and finish that got her fouled; making the score 12-10.  The perimeter shooting on this night was not what you would call vintage but senior Kristen Lee changed that for the Gold team with 1:04 left when she connected with a jumper to make it a 15-12 game for the Gold.  Still, the Purple team would make one last little run before the short intermission and two charity stripe shots by Manning made it 16-15 for the Purple just before the break.

The second period started in the same fashion as the first period - with freshman Mari Lee connecting on a lay-up with only thirty seconds elapsed to up the Purple's advantage to 18-15.  Manning contributed to the Purple's efforts with a charity stripe shot with 12:32 left and a score in the paint with 11:32 left that upped the Purple's advantage to 21-15.  Junior guard Jenna Mistler briefly halted the Purple's run by snaring an offensive rebound for a putback at the 11:08 mark but Mari Lee, who had a very nice outing on this night, connected with a lay-up in transition with 9:08 left and then knocked down a jumper off the glass with 8:10 left to stretch the lead to 25-17.  The Purple team upped their advantage to nine at 27-18 when diminutive junior guard Amanda Padilla used her 5'3" frame to slither into the paint for a score with 5:43 left.  Still, the Gold team made one last run.  Kristen Lee banged home a "3" from the left wing with 4:43 left and then Jennings used her speed and athleticism down low that sent her to the charity stripe to slice the Purple's lead down to 27-22.  With 1:59 left, Kristen Lee again showed why she'll be a force to be reckoned with this season as she knocked down a long "2" from the right top area that made it a 28-24 ballgame .  But the Gold could not get any closer.  Manning scored for the Purple with 1:32 left and then it was Mari Lee with an insurance lay-up in transition with 1:09 left that made it 32-24.  Freshman Abby Torgerson, the freshman speedster out of Anoka, helped the Gold team make one last gasp as she scored in the paint with :47 left and got one free throw with :23.8 left but two free throws by the Purple's sophomore standout Gabby Zehrer made the final count 34-28 on this very entertaining evening. 

Afterward, Head Coach Sean Pinkerton admitted that it wasn't the prettiest brand of basketball that you'll ever see as there were the expected amount of turnovers and other mistakes that the team will be working on in practice in the days and weeks to come.  Still, there's something fresh and exciting about this squad as you have a lot of great young talent making their mark on this team that holds a lot of promise for the future.  Coupled with the leadership of senior Kristen Lee, this will be a team to keep your eye on this year in the MIAC.

Macalester Practice 10-18-13

Was over at Macalester's Leonard Center early on this Friday evening to catch Macalester 6:30 P.M. practice. After chatting briefly with Head Coach Ellen Thompson and Assistant Coach Evie Peterson, the team assembled up in the Fieldhouse area as the men were still occupying the main gym with their practice. After a short conference together, Thompson has the team do a variety of light running and stretching drills to get loosened up for the evening's activities. The first drill that the team does on this night is a 4-on-3 full-court drill with one defensive "chaser". The emphasis of this drill appears to be trying to thwart an easy transition opportunity for the offense. A bit later, Thompson has the team broken into four groups: Peterson has one group working on their dribbling skills with chairs on the floor while another group does 2-on-2 work with Assistant Coach Kathy Mobley. Another group is with Assistant Coach and former Macalester player Claire Berge and they work on jump shots and lay-ups while Thompson's group does work on cutting to an open area to receive a pass for an open look. After approximately ten minutes, the groups rotate to a different station until each group has done all four areas. Shortly after 7:00 P.M., the team is able to move from the fieldhouse area down to the main gym and, once settled in, Thompson has the team perform a drill I haven't seen before called 3-line shooting where Thompson has players lined up along the sidelines. The players without the ball run across the court to the other side where they receive a pass from a player and either do a lay-up or a jump shot. After this drill, Thompson has her team broken into groups of three to do free throws and you must make all three or you have to run sprints. Somewhat predictably, sprints are in the offing then for those who didn't get the requisite three charity stripe shots. Next, Thompson has the team into two groups where each group does 5-0 "shell"-type work to give the players more exposure to how Thompson's offensive philosophy works. For the returning veterans who know and understand how all of this works this may seem rather mundane but for the five new freshmen on the squad who are just in the early stages of grasping the fundamentals of it all this type of work is invaluable. A bit later, Thompson brings the team together for some 5-on-5 halfcourt work to see if all of this makes any sense. Not happy with the boxing out and defense, Thompson has the team work specifically on the boxing-out part. The team gets back to the 5-on-5 mode but now Peterson and Berge are putting up errant jump shots to see how the team plays defense and make sure they are boxing out. Next, Thompson has the team in two groups again. Thompson has the guards and wing players work on driving to the rim while Peterson and Mobley work with the post players and their defense. Thompson then has each group do some 2-on-2 work as well and then later changes things up to a 3-on-4 situation where the emphasis appears to be making sure the post player on defense closes off the baseline opportunity for the offense. Thompson then has the team do some more 5-on-5 halfcourt work as she wants the defense to be communicating and the guards on offense to be driving to the rim. Finally, it's then time for some full-court 5-on-5 work and, once into scrimmaging, Thompson stops the action from time to time to point out errors and other shortcomings on both sides of the ball. At the same time, you can see the hustle and desire from the players on the floor as they definitely like to get at it. To wrap things up, Thompson has more free throws (and sprints) for the team to do before they call it an evening. Outtakes: Thompson indicated to me that the freshmen on the squad are slowly coming along; learning all the intricate details of how things are done and meshing with the returning veterans. While Thompson insists that no one spot in the staring five is etched in stone at the moment, I would have to think that senior post player Veronika Jakubovie will almost certainly get the nod down low. That all-important point guard spot held by Kyanna Jones over the last few seasons is vacant but the guess here is that sophomore Erin Murray out of Sparta, Wisconsin likely has the inside track. Just judging from this practice, the floor leader would appear to be senior Emma Leyden out of Berkeley, California and I think she's someone you would want as a captain and leader. This squad may not be loaded with a ton of speed and athleticism but this squad is incredibly well-coached and the last thing you want to do is take a Macalester team coached by Ellen Thompson lightly as a lot of MIAC opponents have had to find out the hard way that that is not a smart thing to do.

Hamline Practice 10-16-13

Made my way over to venerable Hutton Arena on the Hamline campus tonight to take in one of Head Coach Kerri Stockwell's early season practices. I got over there right around 5:40 and went to Stockwell's office where I was greeted by her and her staff consisting of assistant Dean Stambaugh and new assistants Naomi Stohlmann and Willie Taylor; fresh from his longstanding job as Head Coach at St. Paul Central. Stockwell indicated that tonight's session would be based more on evaluation than anything else as they're not in true "practice" mode just yet. Nevertheless, I was anxious to get a look at this year's squad; particularly the thirteen new freshman that have come on board this year. To get tonight's session going, Stockwell has the team go through a wide variety of light running and stretching exercises to get loosened up. With the team fully ready to go, Stockwell has the team perform a passing drill that utilizes the full court. Players pair up and down the court pass the ball without dribbling. The drill is then modified to incorporate a bounce pass and then modified again as she has the players catch the ball with onehand and then pass the ball back to the teammate with one hand as well. Challenging to say the least! Next, in a somewhat surprising move from my standpoint (but certainly not complaining), Stockwell has the team divided into four groups of five players to do some good ol' 5-on-5 full-court work. As I mentioned earlier, Stockwell and her staff are still very much in an evaluation mode and a situation such as this help to give her an inkling perhaps of what her newer players can bring to the table. The groups do 2-minute scrimmages against each other and this gives Stockwell a chance to see what these newer players can do on offense as well as defense - not to mention to notice where improvement is needed. For me, it's interesting to watch the new young players mix in with the returning veterans and I definitely saw a lot of hustle, desire and enthusiasm out there. After Stockwell has the team broken into small groups to work on free throws, short jumpers and lay-ups, she then gets the team into three different groups to work on lay-ups except now the person doing the lay-up has to come off of a would-be defender. Stockwell keeps modifying and tweaking the drill in her creative fashion that makes it challenging and fun for the players on this night. Next, Assistant Willie Taylor takes control of the team for the next 15-20 minutes of this practice as he has the team perform a wide variety of movement and dribbling/movement drills to work and improve the players' mobility on the floor. The team is very receptive of Taylor and the enthusiasm and great knowledge he brings to this program. The addition of Taylor to this coaching staff is a fantastic get for this program and it's just further proof of how much the quality of coaching has gone upward in the MIAC in the last ten years alone. Stockwell later has the team into two groups under each basket where the groups do 5-0 "shell"-type drills to simulate how the ball should move on offense. Stockwell then modifies this by having this go 5-on-5 halfcourt but again it's really more about ball/player movement and utilizing the shot clock than actual scrimmaging. Stockwell then has the groups doing some 3-on-3 work to work on the rebounding and boxing out aspects that she will surely want to work more on in future practices. Lastly, Stockwell has the team do something fun at the end. She has all the players line up on the baseline and they're supposed to walk in an exact straight line down to the other baseline. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it's not and it takes roughly seven or eight attempts before they FINALLY figure out how to do it correctly. I'm not 100% sure but I wonder if the real focus and purpose of this was to have the players figure out something on their own out on the floor without being told exactly what to do. And perhaps the other by-product of doing something like this helps promote team chemistry; something that is so critical to the success of any basketball program. In any event, it was a fun way to end the evening and when the team makes it to the other end in a straight line they erupt in shouts and cheers! Outtakes: As I mentioned at the beginning, this is in many ways a completely different Hamline team than what we've seen the last couple of years with the thirteen new freshman joining the squad. It's safe to say that the leadership on the floor will fall on lone senior Je'Naya Brown and junior Jordan Sammons who is perhaps the best athlete in the conference. Still, it's hard to replace a triumvirate of seniors such as Steph Pilgrim, Kara "The Natural" Poirer and Cassidy "Lightning" Vogt. This will still be a team with an incredible amount of speed and athleticism out on the perimeter but bringing along and getting the new freshmen post players up to speed will take time. For the moment anyway, you would have to figure that junior Rachel Usgaard will likely be Stockwell's choice to patrol the paint in the near term. I still feel that this is a team that can be in the mix for that sixth playoff spot at the end of the regular season but their margin for error will arguably be smaller than what it was this last season.

St. Kate's Practice 10-15-13

Was over at St. Kate's on this Tuesday night for the opening night of practice for the Wildcats. I got there early to meet up with Head Coach Sean Pinkerton and Asst. Coach Tim Kjar who were both incredibly pumped and excited for the season to begin as was former St. Kate's standout Laura Kalbfell who was there to help out with the team. The first order of the evening has the team doing various warm-up exercises which consisted of a defensive slide and a zig-zag defensive slide and sprint. Afterwards, Pinkerton and Kjar have the squad do some of the smaller things that tend to get overlooked: walking on toes and then heels, quad stretching, butt-kicks, power skip and an interesting movement called carioca. The first drill done on this night is a 3-on-2 full-court drill with a "chaser"; i.e., three people start at the half court and a "chaser" comes from the sideline to join the three. The emphasis here appears to be simulating a fast break opportunity and getting the easy basket as quickly as possible. Afterward, Pinkerton is not happy with the lack of communication on defense and the lack of boxing out effectively as well and, as a result, the team is treated to a round of sprints. The next drill is termed "Indy Transition" whichis a full-court drill with one line of players under the basket and a line of players on each sideline. Pinkerton throws up a ball off the glass and the player under the basket grabs the rebound and the two other players from the sidelines join her for a dash down the court to simulate a transition opportunity. In this drill, Pinkerton has the players perform a variety of shots including jumpers from the wing, post layup running to the rim, pick and roll finish at the rim, and a pick and roll and pass to the point guard backside for the "3". The next drill is a drill called "star passing" where the team is divided into two groups under each basket. There, five players are positioned in a star-like formation where the players have to pass the ball across the lane and the fourth pass is followed by a lay-up. The next important drill that is done is called "Laker Passing" whereby you have three players going down the court as if it were a fast-break opportunity. However, at the shooting end, one of those three players becomes a defensive playersas they try to defend against the easy lay-up. Pinkerton isn't happy with the overall performance of the drill midway through and the team has more sprinting to do before the drill is resumed. Individual work for both the guards and wing/post players as well as full-court lay-ups and close-out shooting are performed before and interesting drill is performed: 8-person passing whereby a special weighted basketball is used and the emphasis here is crisp, concise passing. Next is an odd-number break where the defensive team is lined up on the foul lineand the offense (three players along with two "chasers" ) is lined up on the baseline. After four different types of drills are done for defensive work, the next notable drill involves 5-on-5 half-court work where the emphasis appears to be positioning. Afterward, Pinkerton has the team do a 5-0 "shell-type drill to show how the offense is supposed to move and how screens are supposed to be set. Pinkerton and Kjar finish up this night by having each member of the team shoot a free throw. If the person makes the free throw, the team applauds but if a member misses a free throw, they then have to run sprints. Outtakes: I sensed something at this practice that I had not experienced in my previous visits to opening St. Kate's practices - just a newfound enthusiasm and anticipation. Unlike last year, Pinkerton finally has some athleticism AND depth to work with although this athleticism is young and the depth/talent level is raw. Neither Pinkerton nor Kjar are under any illusions about turning around the St. Kate's program overnight. This is something that will take some time but they are definitely headed in the right direction and they are determined and enthusiastic about what the future holds for this program. The unquestioned leader on the floor for the Wildcats this year will be the lone senior on the team - Kristen Lee, who can excel on the perimeter as well as down low in the paint. What caught my eye, however, was the great new talent that has been infused into this group. Players such as Gabby Zehrer out of Totino-Grace who played one year at Colorado Christian College before coming back home to the Twin Cities will have an immediate impact on this team and she can feel comfortable at either the point or off-guard position. Another newcomer to keep your eye on is Abby Torgerson out of Anoka; a speedster who can make life miserable for opponents out on the perimeter. The other newcomer that caught my attention is Kennedy Jennings from Dallas Center (Grimes) in Iowa. Incredibly athletic and fast, Jennings will give this squad the kind of speed and athleticism this program simply hasn't had before. On something of a down note, the team did lose two members who will be missed down low in the paint but should be ready for next year: Mary Nuemann who tore her ACL this last summer in the Mid-town YWCA Summer League and Alexis Garcia who tore her ACL earlier this fall.

Anoka-Ramsey Practice 10-14-13

The first practice of the week found me over at Anoka-Ramsey Community College up in Coon Rapids where they've actually been going at it for a while now. After catching up with Assistant Coach James Fassett; back in his old position at Anoka-Ramsey as the players warmed up, Fassett started things off on this day with a three-player shooting drill from the perimeter which is later modified a bit that incorporates a dribble before shooting. Next, Fassett has the players pair up for a 3-point shooting drill whereby each player has to shoot "3's" from different areas of the perimeter. Then the players run to the other end of the floor and do the same there. Fifteen minutes into practice, Head Coach David DeWitt shows up and one of the first drills he has the team do is a three-man weave which is followed by a passing drill by the baseline. Another interesting drill that DeWitt has the players do is rebounding the ball off of a high bounce by another player; presumably to simulate a long rebound. But those drills are just appetizers before the main course on this day. DeWitt then organizes a posting-up drill whereby Fassett is using one of the big hand-held pads to simulate a defensive player guarding the post with the ball down low. DeWitt is not happy with the lack of communication between his players as he yells, "Talk! Talk! Talk!!" After about 10-15 minutes, DeWitt then has the team do a 3-0 full-court drill where the emphasis appears to be simulating setting a screen and, again, DeWitt is not pleased with the communication (or lack thereof) between his players. "Talk! Communicate! Get on the same page!!!". Then a 3-on-2 full-court drill is done to simulate fast break opportunities and proper ball movement. Next, DeWitt has four players under the basket along with four players out on the perimeter; each with a ball. The defensive players under the basket have to sprint out to guard their assigned player as DeWitt wants precise defensive positioning. After a well-deserved break for water, they players get to work on their perimeter shooting a bit more and then DeWitt breaks the team into two separate groups to do 3-on-3 work (wing, wing and a post). The emphasis: making sure the post player rotates correctly in defense in correlation to ball movement by the opposing team. DeWitt has to do his share of admonishing and yelling on this drill as well. "NO ONE gets inside us!" At the end of the drill DeWitt scowls, " You've GOT to develop an attitude defensively!" A 5-0 "shell" drill is done next to simulate motion offense that utilizes the full court and, it's not as easy as it initially looks, either. Next is a 5-on-5 half-court drill to emphasize defensive positioning. DeWitt: "Attack the ball!!" "I do not want their life to be easy!" Lastly, DeWitt has the team to 5-on-5 full-court work but the emphasis again (not surprisingly) is on defense. As DeWitt and Fassett close this day down with the team huddled up, DeWitt emphasizes to them how important it is to be great on defense. I doubt that this is the last this team hears of it, either. Outtakes: You can't help but like what DeWitt has assembled for this squad this year although I personally do worry about the seeming lack of depth; particularly if the injury bugaboo should strike again. One big positive is having Maria Loughlin out of Rogers back on the squad for her sophomore season after having to sit out last season recovering from an ACL injury she did on the very first day of practice last fall. Also back is smooth willowy Nicole Schaub out of Park Center who can terrorize opponents from behind the three-point line. This isn't what I would call a team with a lot of size but they won't shy away from the paint either. Players such as Nicole Howard, Erica Parker, Paris Finklea, and newcomer Olivia Antilla out of Osseo are all solid enough to be tough rebounders. The big question I have is who is going to be that floor general; the leader out their on the floor from both a playing and emotional standpoint? Presumably that task would fall on Loughlin. There's no reason why Anoka-Ramsey can't be right back in the national title mix and you know DeWitt & Co. is hungry.

Another Season - Almost Upon Us!

Well, it's been a little while since my last entry on here (the Midtown YWCA Summer League to be exact) but the tennis and now football season has been keeping me going lately; especially with UCLA's hot 5-0 start. Just hope they can keep it up!! But mid-October is here and with it come the opening practices for most of the college programs here in the Twin Cities and Minnesota and, just as I have for the past few years, I'll be there covering some of these opening practices to get a feel of how the teams look and what their prospects may be like for the upcoming season. I think we have at least two programs here in the Twin Cities alone that are capable of winning national championships (Anoka-Ramsey and UST)and some other programs that are going to be very competitive to say the least. It never ceases to amaze me how the talent level here in Minnesota seems to get better every year - at both the college and HS levels. In any event, I'll be providing a synopsis of the practices I'm able to attend over the next couple of weeks and try to break them down as best I can. Stay tuned....!