Carleton Practice 10-20-16

I headed down to Northfield on Thursday afternoon to take in Carleton's practice that began at 5:30 that evening.  I got to West Gym in plenty of time and met Head Coach Cassie Kosiba in her office as she was enjoying a salad for something of an impromptu meal to hold her over for the early evening.  I was able to make myself comfortable on the sofa in her office and we talked about her squad and the upcoming season.  Kosiba exuded a quiet confidence in her team's ability to take the next step - and hopefully avoid the injury bugaboo that plagued the team last season.  There was a part of me that waxed a bit nostalgic as well as I brought up the glory years of Carleton Women's Basketball from 2001 to 2008 that saw the program win five MIAC Championship Games and snare three regular season titles as well.  Kosiba remembers those days well and she hopes to bring those glory days back to West Gym but she knows the road ahead will not be easy.

While the volleyball team is finishing up things on the gym floor, Assistant Chris Dahled is watching the squad mill around the upper level of West Gym; doing some various stretching and flexing exercised to get loosened up for the evening's practice session.  Dahled and I talk about the squad and the upcoming season and, he too, is enthusiastic about the squad and its chances this season. Eventually I'm able to take a set at a table on the upper deck of the arena while the squad and Kosiba and Dahled get onto the gym floor and ready themselves for the practice session.

One point that Kosiba wants to get across to her team in their pre-practice pep talk is to "celebrate each other's success"; whether it's a good pass or a defensive play or a clutch shot with high-fives and the like.  But the team is a close-knit group and they know what to do.  The first drill of the evening is "Transition Buildup".  In this drill, a free throw is shot and then it's a 2-on-1 situation going the other way.  After a basket is made, it then becomes a 3-on-2 drill the other way back and it gradually expands to 4-on-3 to 5-on-4 and then finally 5-on-5.  Both Kosiba and Dahled have to stop the drill from time to time to point out flaws that need to be corrected.

Next, shooting is worked on in a drill called "Motion Cuts/Shots".  Here, you have a player at the top of the key and players at each wing.  The top player throws the ball to one of the wing players and the other wing player has to simulate a screen that allows the top player to get into the lane with the pass and score.  Kosiba and Dahled also alter the drill so that the top player has to hit a shot from the wing area as well.

Offense becomes the next area of focus and this is where Kosiba and Dahled work on the motion offense.  Kosiba takes time to explain to her team how the motion offense should work; showing them how they should be moving and filling the spots on the floor and to be "shot ready" on every catch.

Fast break and transition which is Carleton's bread and butter is worked on next.  This is essentially a 5-on-0 "shell" drill that begins off of a defensive rebound.  Kosiba is a big believer in up-tempo play and being able to make this work effectively will be critical for the Knights.

After a well, deserved water break, the team works for a bit on rebounding and boxing out; something that is crucial for any basketball team.  Then, Kosiba has the team in two lines to work on finishing shots.  Both inside hand and reverse lay-ups are done in addition to shots in the middle of the lane.

Next is a drill called "Cyclone Closeouts" and, being an Iowa grad and a die-hard UCLA guy, I wish the Bruins and the Hawkeyes could get a bit more love when it comes to drill names.  In any event, here you have three lines of players - one along each sideline and another group in the middle. Dahled throws a ball to one of the sideline players and the middle line players then have to go over and defend the player on that sideline.  Each line gets a chance to be a defender in this drill.

After Kosiba has the team do some 4-on-4 half-court work to work on and analyze the defensive aspect a bit more, the last drill of this evening's practice is aptly called "Chaos".  Here, you have five shooters and five reboundersand the goal for each shooter is to make as many shots as possible within a specified time frame and the shooters have to rotate positions as well.  Afterward, Kosiba has the team gather round for a closing pep talk, hammering home the point of good communication between each player and the coaches and, once again, to celebrate each other's success.  The team is in a good mood and both Kosiba and Dahled seem pleased with the evening's practice and they call it a night.

Outtakes:  Being that so many of the players come from out of state, you might initially think that team chemistry could be an issue.  But these players seem to mesh very well both on and off the court and Kosiba was bubbling with enthusiasm on her newcomers......Junior forward Anne Hamilton who played her high school basketball at Minnetonka will have a big part in helping make this Carleton team go with her versatile play.  A couple of other players who stood out, IMHO, are junior guard Sarah Paller of Brooklyn, New York and sophomore forward Cece Leone of Fairfax, Virginia.....The first three non-conference games to open the season are challenging.  They host WIAC perennial powerhouse UW-River Falls in their opener on 11-15 and then head out to California over the Thanksgiving holiday to take on both Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer in the David Wells Classic before delving into MIAC play.  They also take on UMAC powerhouse Northwestern on 12-14 and play two more WIAC teams before the end of the year - UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout - with both of those games at Wisconsin Dells......Injuries plagued the Knights last season and they have to stay healthy this time around if they hope to have a shot at that sixth playoff spot.