@GabeD and I went to the open practice this afternoon, here's some of the stuff that happened:
-The team was running a four-on-four-on-four drill when we walked in but they split up for full a 5-on-5 scrimmage soon after. The White team had a starting lineup of Nick Honor, D'Moi Hodge, Isiaih Mosley, Noah Carter and Kobe Brown, with Aidan Shaw, Kaleb Brown and Jackson Francois on the bench and C.Y. and Ryan Sharbaugh as their coaches. The Black team's starting five had Sean East, DeAndre Gholston, Tre Gomillion, Ronnie DeGray and Mo Diarra with Mabor Majak and Ben Sternberg on the bench and David Nutt and Kyle Smithpeters as their coaches.
-Mosley was running with the team in the earlier drill and played at least a few possessions in the scrimmage, but got pulled and was on the sideline for nearly the whole game. Sternberg was also wearing a thick brace on his right knee and didn't play.
-I really hope the scorer's table has enough spotters because it's going to be tough to keep up with all the stats at the pace the team was playing in the scrimmage. Just tons and tons and tons of transition baskets. Gabe said something to the effect of "That's the fastest a team's played in this building in a long time." It worked for and against both teams, though -- if White knocked down a 3 on one side, Black would match it on the next possession because White wasn't back on defense yet.
-The score didn't start at 0-0. I'm not sure exactly what the starting score was, but it was probably something around the high 30s/low 40s. Black called the first timeout of the game after giving up a pair of fast break dunks to Kobe, trailing 49-43 with 16:57 on the clock.
-Noah Carter impressed me the most out of everyone. The coaches weren't afraid of playing him at the small forward spot next to Kobe and Shaw and he was really effective making plays from the wing. Kaleb had a drive-and-kick to him in transition and he canned a 3. Honor got it to a few trips later and he blew past his defender for an and-1 dunk. He drove again the next time he caught the ball outside but this time floated an alley-oop pass to Shaw. Just made a bunch of really smart plays to help White get a big lead early.
-I didn't see Shaw taking a single jumper in the scrimmage, but he had a handful of dunks. He's going to be really important on the boards for this team. That's something Gates harped on him about during the practice. He fit in pretty well playing with one or both of Kobe and Carter.
-Nick Honor is fun to watch. You can tell he's got a high basketball-IQ -- you kind of have to when you're under 6-foot playing in the SEC. He's very crafty when he's driving to the rim, going up against the other teams bigs to find a layup.
-Sean East really enjoys throwing one-handed, cross-court passes. They are beautiful when they're on target. But when they're not, it kills the momentum. East's turnovers were a reason the Black team fell behind early. (He's also a big reason why they came back, more on that later.)
-I think Tre Gomillion guarded every single player on the floor. It didn't always turn out well, as he got whistled for three or four fouls. But he wasn't backing down from anybody, even if it was Kobe Brown posting him up. He's tough.
-The Black team went down by double digits with a little less than 10 minutes to play. Diarra sparked a comeback. They tossed him a lob on a baseline out-of-bounds play, he drew a foul and hit his free throws. On the next trip down, he set a screen for East on the left wing, who sank a pull-up trey. A few possessions later, he was backing down Kobe and hit a runner over him. He earned another trip to the line and hit his free throws again.
-East took advantage of a turnover and converted on a 4-point play to tie the game up at 71-71 with 5:28 left. Black went on a 9-1 run to build up their biggest lead of the game, capped off by a pair of free throws from East.
-Carter knocked down a corner 3 to cut the deficit to 80-75 with 2:09 left. C.Y. called timeout and let everyone in the gym know they were going to press -- "If you're guarding the ball, do not be seven yards off your man!"
-DeAndre Gholston had a gorgeous reverse layup immediately after, he's got a smooth game. The teams traded a few buckets and a layup from Honor cut it to 84-81 with 54.4 seconds. Gomillion got trapped and turned the ball over. Honor found Hodge in the right corner for a triple that tied the game up. Gholston was trapped on the next possession, but got fouled by one of the defenders. Gates was steamed. The White team tried to argue the call and Gates said "It doesn't matter. Don't foul. That might've cost you the game."
-Gholston only made one of his two free throws. The White team got the ball to Kobe in the post but he tripped and got tied up with Diarra for a jumpball. Possession stayed with the White team and C.Y. called timeout with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Honor inbounded the ball from the baseline and found Hodge in the right corner, who hit the game-winner over East. C.Y. skipped across the court and the Black team dogpiled on Hodge.
-There wasn't a crazy amount of fans in attendance, but the place wasn't empty either. Gates got on the loudspeakers and said they have $5 tickets for the home opener -- "The greatest joy I can have as a head coach, that these student-athletes can have, is a soldout crowd."
That's all I've got from the practice, I'll have another story out tomorrow morning.
-The team was running a four-on-four-on-four drill when we walked in but they split up for full a 5-on-5 scrimmage soon after. The White team had a starting lineup of Nick Honor, D'Moi Hodge, Isiaih Mosley, Noah Carter and Kobe Brown, with Aidan Shaw, Kaleb Brown and Jackson Francois on the bench and C.Y. and Ryan Sharbaugh as their coaches. The Black team's starting five had Sean East, DeAndre Gholston, Tre Gomillion, Ronnie DeGray and Mo Diarra with Mabor Majak and Ben Sternberg on the bench and David Nutt and Kyle Smithpeters as their coaches.
-Mosley was running with the team in the earlier drill and played at least a few possessions in the scrimmage, but got pulled and was on the sideline for nearly the whole game. Sternberg was also wearing a thick brace on his right knee and didn't play.
-I really hope the scorer's table has enough spotters because it's going to be tough to keep up with all the stats at the pace the team was playing in the scrimmage. Just tons and tons and tons of transition baskets. Gabe said something to the effect of "That's the fastest a team's played in this building in a long time." It worked for and against both teams, though -- if White knocked down a 3 on one side, Black would match it on the next possession because White wasn't back on defense yet.
-The score didn't start at 0-0. I'm not sure exactly what the starting score was, but it was probably something around the high 30s/low 40s. Black called the first timeout of the game after giving up a pair of fast break dunks to Kobe, trailing 49-43 with 16:57 on the clock.
-Noah Carter impressed me the most out of everyone. The coaches weren't afraid of playing him at the small forward spot next to Kobe and Shaw and he was really effective making plays from the wing. Kaleb had a drive-and-kick to him in transition and he canned a 3. Honor got it to a few trips later and he blew past his defender for an and-1 dunk. He drove again the next time he caught the ball outside but this time floated an alley-oop pass to Shaw. Just made a bunch of really smart plays to help White get a big lead early.
-I didn't see Shaw taking a single jumper in the scrimmage, but he had a handful of dunks. He's going to be really important on the boards for this team. That's something Gates harped on him about during the practice. He fit in pretty well playing with one or both of Kobe and Carter.
-Nick Honor is fun to watch. You can tell he's got a high basketball-IQ -- you kind of have to when you're under 6-foot playing in the SEC. He's very crafty when he's driving to the rim, going up against the other teams bigs to find a layup.
-Sean East really enjoys throwing one-handed, cross-court passes. They are beautiful when they're on target. But when they're not, it kills the momentum. East's turnovers were a reason the Black team fell behind early. (He's also a big reason why they came back, more on that later.)
-I think Tre Gomillion guarded every single player on the floor. It didn't always turn out well, as he got whistled for three or four fouls. But he wasn't backing down from anybody, even if it was Kobe Brown posting him up. He's tough.
-The Black team went down by double digits with a little less than 10 minutes to play. Diarra sparked a comeback. They tossed him a lob on a baseline out-of-bounds play, he drew a foul and hit his free throws. On the next trip down, he set a screen for East on the left wing, who sank a pull-up trey. A few possessions later, he was backing down Kobe and hit a runner over him. He earned another trip to the line and hit his free throws again.
-East took advantage of a turnover and converted on a 4-point play to tie the game up at 71-71 with 5:28 left. Black went on a 9-1 run to build up their biggest lead of the game, capped off by a pair of free throws from East.
-Carter knocked down a corner 3 to cut the deficit to 80-75 with 2:09 left. C.Y. called timeout and let everyone in the gym know they were going to press -- "If you're guarding the ball, do not be seven yards off your man!"
-DeAndre Gholston had a gorgeous reverse layup immediately after, he's got a smooth game. The teams traded a few buckets and a layup from Honor cut it to 84-81 with 54.4 seconds. Gomillion got trapped and turned the ball over. Honor found Hodge in the right corner for a triple that tied the game up. Gholston was trapped on the next possession, but got fouled by one of the defenders. Gates was steamed. The White team tried to argue the call and Gates said "It doesn't matter. Don't foul. That might've cost you the game."
-Gholston only made one of his two free throws. The White team got the ball to Kobe in the post but he tripped and got tied up with Diarra for a jumpball. Possession stayed with the White team and C.Y. called timeout with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Honor inbounded the ball from the baseline and found Hodge in the right corner, who hit the game-winner over East. C.Y. skipped across the court and the Black team dogpiled on Hodge.
-There wasn't a crazy amount of fans in attendance, but the place wasn't empty either. Gates got on the loudspeakers and said they have $5 tickets for the home opener -- "The greatest joy I can have as a head coach, that these student-athletes can have, is a soldout crowd."
That's all I've got from the practice, I'll have another story out tomorrow morning.
