Northwestern Practice 10-31-16

Battled the rush hour traffic on I-694 on Halloween evening to get over to Roseville and on the campus of Northwestern University at Ericksen Center for Monday evening's practice session for the Eagles.  Thankfully, I was not met with ghouls or goblins on this night but a very cordial Head Coach Aaron Kahl and some of his squad as they readied themselves for this practice session.

After a 15 minute film session to review the scrimmage up at CSB on Saturday, the team warms up with a bit of a shoot-around and various warm-up and stretching exercises.  The first drill that Kahl has his team do is two-line shooting that incorporates a variety of shots but Kahl also wants his squad to focus on their footwork as well.

Next, Kahl puts his team through the "Willie Drill"; a drill Kahl has named after his days as an assistant at GAC when standout Carey Willis played there in the late 90's.  In this drill, basically you have two defenders at each basket and three offensive players coming down in a transtion-type situation and it's a fun drill to watch.

Next, Kahl has the team get into three different groups and here the squad works on some of the small stuff.  Kahl has his group do a 5-on-0 "shell" drill; emphasizing on how to move in the half-court on offense while Assistant Coach Nathan Bellefeuille has his two groups do some post-entry and 1-on-1 work.

Next is some 5-on-5 half-court work and here Kahl, Bellefeuille and Assistant Coach Roxie Brown stop things on several occasions to point out little mistakes that are being made and how to correct them.

Another drill that is done is called 1-2-3 rebounding which is basically a 3-on-3 half-court drill where Kahl passes the ball to one of the offensive players who put up an immediate jump shot and the defenders, who are lined up in a straight line under the basket, have to sprint out to the offensive players and try to get defensive rebound as well.  Points are assigned for defensive and offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Running is in order as well on this day and Kahl has his players lined up on opposite corners of the baseline where they run to the opposite corner baseline and then run backwards on the way back. Another running drill involves players starting at the baseline where they run up to the free throw line, run backward to the baseline, slide to the sideline and then run down to the opposite baseline.  Kahl wants to ensure that his players have good footwork in addition to movement/speed and these drills help with both.

Lastly, some rebound transition work is done which is essentially a 5-on-5 full-court drill.  Here, Kahl or Bellefeuille put up an errant jump shot for a rebound and it goes from there.  To close things out, Kahl also has his squad work on free throws before calling it a night.

Outtakes:  Kahl was upfront in saying that not having four players from last year; including graduated seniors Kim Campbell, Courtney Cunard and Regan Cooper will be a tough adjustment.  This year's version does not feature a lot of size but does have some good flexibility and athleticism.  The "core" group that will help make this year's team go will include seniors Tiffany Stubbs, Emily VanLith and Rachel Hart along with junior Amy Berglund and sophomore Taryn Tumbleson but I also expect senior Jessica Brown to play a prominent role in the post spot vacated by Cooper......Kahl expects his squad along with UM-Morris and Bethany Lutheran to be in the mix for the title chase but also says that UW-Superior will still be the team to beat......The Eagles scrimmage at GAC on Friday (11-11) before the season starts.  They have a relatively favorable non-conference schedule that features home dates with both Trinity Bible College and Hamline on the weekend of November 18-19 and a short hop over to Augsburg on 11-26 before the UMAC opener at home on 12-2 against said UW-Superior team......I couldn't resist asking Kahl about one of the staple features of his team; the 2-3 "match-up" zone defense.  "It's tough to prepare for" he replied.  He says that they'll also employ a "box and one" or a "triangle and two" from time to time but he's a believer in the 2-3 "match-up" zone defense and it's paid dividends for his squad over the last few years.