Live From Practice 4/22
Alright, enough of the talk from yesterday's media day. It's time to get down to basketball. The Storm held its first practice last evening and is back at The Furtado Center today for the second practice and first open to the media.
Players were shooting free throws in twos when we were let in to practice and now Brian Agler is walking the team through a set. It is already evident how thorough Coach Agler is in terms of explaining the options and the mentality for each player on the floor.
1:10 Update: Now the Storm is going through this set and into live action playing 4-on-4. That's the natural number because there are 12 players in camp.
Dee Davis, Allie Quigley, Sheryl Swoopes and Yolanda Griffith make up the white team. Kimberly Beck, Kristen O'Neill, Shyra Ely and Ashley Robinson are wearing black. The gold team has Daphanie Kennedy, Brandie Hoskins, Leah Rush and Natalie Doma.
Great learning opportunity for Quigley playing with the veterans right now. After the white team left the floor a moment ago, Griffith took her aside to share some wisdom on how to space the floor.
The gold team is the youngest group; only Rush has attended a WNBA training camp before. However, they had a very nice run on offense and drew praise from the players and coaches on the sidelines.
1:20 Update: File this under unexpected developments: Coach Agler encouraging Swoopes to be sure to shoot the ball when the defense goes under a screen on the pick-and-roll.
A couple of things that have stood out to me so far - Quigley's ability to shoot the ball from distance (as adverstised) and Kennedy's toughness. At 5-7, she is one of the smallest players on the court, but Kennedy is fearless in the paint, whether it is driving to the hoop or looking for a rebound.
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7 comments:
Any details on the point guard battle...Has Kim Beck shown anything out there?
We've only seen about a half-hour of basketball so far so I'm careful not to jump to any conclusions. We've seen some good things from each of the players there.
Yolanda Griffith did note after practice that Beck has done a good job of avoiding turnovers so far.
I'm looking forward to seeing Allie Quigley handle the point some after playing mostly off the ball today. Coach Agler said he would work her into the mix at some point.
Just wanted to give you a compliment on your blog and updates. I've checked out all the wnba teams sites, and this is the best! You provide interesting and daily information, thats what fans want and what can create new fans. Keep up the good work!
How did O'Neill do in Practice today - HAve a lot of respect for her as an all round player
Kevin, in previous years there were many daily posts detailing training camp. It seems as though the # of posts and details within them has dwindled....can we get more information on what's going on?!
Re O'Neill: She held her own the first day but didn't really stand out. Her attitude has clearly made an impression thus far.
Re posts: I think there might be some confusion because last year I mostly did notebooks in the blog but so far this year they have been separate. It's the same information, just in a different format:
http://www.wnba.com/storm/news/notebook080422.html
I'll probably move that back to the blog at some point later this week, maybe today.
Kevin - When is practice today? I am looking forward to the season but would love to hear more about what is happening.
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