The new season kicked off for me today up at Anoka-Ramsey as I took in the Golden Rams 3:45 P.M. practice at their practice facility. I first met up with Assistant Coach James Fassett who has been Head Coach David DeWitt's right hand man for several seasons and we both were able to tell our tales of woe regarding our favorite college football teams (mine being UCLA of, course and his Missouri). We then briefly discussed the upcoming season and how the new players were coming along in practices so far.
It didn't take long for the team to start getting into their routine once DeWitt arrived and he had the squad start out with a drill I hadn't seen before. Basically, they started out from the sideline and "hopped" twice on their left legs to get squared up into shooting position. They did the same thing on their right leg a few minutes later. At first glance, it looked a little funny to watch them do this but DeWitt is a coach who insists on fundamentals and technique. This little drill would be modified in its latter stages with each player using a ball to dribble into shooting position.
Next, Coach Fassett had the guards and wing players work on their perimeter shooting. First he had the players start from near the half-court line to shoot from the right wing position and later had them start near the baseline and then move up to that same right wing spot to shoot the ball. The process would be repeated from the left wing as well. Meanwhile, Coach DeWitt was doing some one-on-one work with promising new sophomore Alandra Brown-Cox who comes to Anoka-Ramsey after one year at Itasca Community College and at Hope Academy before that. Former Anoka-Ramsey player and Assistant Coach Cami Bauer also helps out as DeWitt shows her some of the basic fundamentals of rebounding, posting up and going up hard for the shot.
Next, DeWitt had his squad work on his favorite aspect of basketball - defense and the drills he had his players go through were interrupted several times as DeWitt became increasingly agitated by the players' seeming lack of intensity and attitude toward it. "GET YOUR TECHNIQUE RIGHT!" DeWitt shouted (caps used to stress his ability to shout instructions!). Later, DeWitt had the team do a 3-on-3 drill with defensive emphasis; making sure each player knew where they were supposed to be defensively and how to move with the ball.
Next, DeWitt had the team employ a 5-on-0 "shell" drill where the players used the full-court to work on offensive positioning and ball movement. DeWitt became increasingly dissatisfied with the efforts here as well as once again, the drill was interrupted several times as DeWitt pointed out the shortcomings of their performance. A 4-on-4 half-court drill was done afterward as DeWitt had the squad work on some of the finer points of defense. To wrap things up on this day, the squad broke into groups of two to work on their shooting before calling it a practice.
Outtakes: With the departure of stalwart sophomores (and leaders) Maria Loughlin and Nicole Schaub, this is a team with a lot of new young faces and a squad still likely searching for that next "leader" to replace Loughlin who is now at UM-Crookston. The guess here is that burden likely falls on the shoulders of PG heir-apparent Hannah Norton and fellow sophomore guard Mattie Racek. The post spot is a bit of a concern as well as Fassett emphasized to me afterward that he's hoping to get some sort of commitment from one or two of the players currently playing on the volleyball team at Anoka-Ramsey. At the moment, Brown-Cox, is holding down the spot and Anoka-Ramsey can ill-afford any injury to her. She is incredibly athletic and has a ton of potential. While arguably more of a "natural" at the "4" position, you can bet that DeWitt will have her working hard to hold down that post position. The backcourt looks very solid at the moment with the aforementioned experience of both Norton and Racek but a host of hungry young players will be pushing them for playing time. I can't say at this date and time that Anoka-Ramsey is a sure bet to make a return trip to the NJCAA National Tournament in Rochester come next March. The MCAC will be tough enough as it is with Minnesota West likely remaining a force in the conference and Northland Community and Technical College seeking to repeat last year's unlikely run to a national title. Still, DeWitt has a way of getting the most out of his teams and I suspect that this squad will only get better as the season progresses and will, at the very least, have something to say about who does go to the Big Dance in Rochester.
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