Northwestern Practice 11-2-18

Made my way over to the St. Paul side of town on this Friday evening to take in one of the early practices of the Northwestern women's basketball team.  I got over to Ericksen Center early and saw that the women's volleyball team was in the midst of their practice as they were going to be in the UMAC Championship Game the next day.  I soon met up with Head Coach Aaron Kahl and we talked about the team and the upcoming season not to mention my LA Rams, UCLA and Iowa.  Kahl and his assistants had a short pre-practice meeting and were soon out in the hallway ready to enter the gymnasium area.  When the volleyball team left the gym, they were greeted with whoops and cheers from the basketball team to wish them the best of luck in the UMAC Championship Game on Saturday.

After some stretching and shooting to get ready for the night's practice, the first drill Kahl has his team go through a 4-on-0 "shell" drill to work on movement and setting screens.  Some more warm-ups and stretching ensue for the team and then it's time to work on some defensive aspects of the game; particularly the team's 2-3 "match-up" zone defense that is a favorite of Kahl's and a Northwestern staple.

Next, the team splits into two groups to work on cutting on a defender and finishing at the rim.  It may seem like a trivial matter at first glance but in actuality it's an incredibly important element of the game; particularly at the college level.  Kahl has two of his assistants - former Northwestern standout Katie DeWitt-Severson and Tyler Schmidt - work as defenders at the top and the players have to make a variety of moves to elude the defender.

Next is a drill that Kahl terms as 3-person, 2-ball shooting.  Here, you have three players at each basket to work on a variety of jump shots and lay-ups and the action is continuous as there's always a player ready to catch the ball for a jumper or a lay-up. 

Next, Kahl has the team do a three-person weave to work on ball-handling and passing in transition.  It's not as easy as it looks and Kahl wants the team to up the tempo as the drill progresses. 

After the team does some 4-on-4 half-court work to work on setting screens and proper ball movement, the team then morphs into doing a drill that Kahl terms as "42 Off A FT" which is essentially a 5-on-5 drill that starts out as a free throw situation.  The opposing group inbounds the ball and goes the other way and the team that shot the free throw tries to employ a trapping defense on them at the mid-court area. 

Kahl has the team do one more drill before wrapping up things for the evening as the squad will be participating in a scrimmage up at UM-Crookston on Saturday afternoon.  It's some more 5-on-5 work to work on the half-court offensive sets.  Despite stopping the drill on a few occasions to point out a few flaws here and there, Kahl seems satisfied with the work his squad has put in on this night and call the team for a final huddle before calling it a night.

Outtakes - The one thing that caught my eye right away once I saw the team on the floor was an ingredient that most of Kahl's previous teams at Northwestern have lacked - size.  Besides returning 6'2" junior post Rio Landers and 5'11" senior Brooklyn Plagge, the front line is bolstered with the likes of 6'0" freshman Miranda Crenshaw formerly of Eastview, 6'0" freshman Hailey Paup, 5'11" freshman Megan Roberts out of Colorado and 5'10" freshman Brooklyn DeKam......Guard and wing play looks solid as well with senior Amy Berglund leading the way bolstered by junior Audrey Lefto.  Junior Jazinae Patterson is back after missing most of last year with an injury and it wouldn't surprise me to see sophomore Courtney Schmidt get some quality minutes as well.....UW-Superior is still the team to beat in the UMAC and Kahl was quick to acknowledge that but he feels his squad along with Bethany Lutheran and UM-Morris can all contend.  The opening portion of the schedule is an interesting one to say the least with six non-conference games - first with UW-Eau Claire out of the WIAC this Saturday night (11-10) then with five straight MIAC teams:  At home against St. Kate's on Monday (11-12), at Hamline on Wednesday night (11-14), home to Augsburg on Saturday (11-17), home to Macalester the following Tuesday (11-20) and then at Bethel on Saturday (12-1) before delving into UMAC play.  Right around the Christmas break, the squad will be taking on some more non-conference opponents - first at Grinnell out of the MWC on Friday (12-14).  The following weekend, a trip to the Motherland will be in the offing as the team will play Whitman of the NWC on Friday (12-21) then against UC-Santa Cruz the next day (Saturday 12-22) with both games to be played at UC-Santa Cruz so that's a huge opportunity for Northwestern to have a chance to go up against unfamiliar opponents in something of an NCAA Tournament setting while also getting a chance to soak up a little sun and warm weather before returning to Minnesota.