Here are some notes from today's Men's basketball practice:
Assistant Coach James Holland
New Assistant Coach James Holland jumped right in and led a significant amount of drills in today's practice. He's specifically working with WMU's big men. Coach Holland and Shayne Whittington seem to be working well together. Holland seemed very comfortable and laid back the entire time and fit in perfectly with the Broncos right off the bat. He seems to have a nice balance of "approach-ability" and assertiveness. (Former) Assistant Coach Rick Carter Coach Carter was in attendance all day during the Broncos' practice and was just as much involved in practice as ever; shouting out plays, leading drills, yelling directions, giving one-on-one instruction, etc. This shouldn't come as a surprise since it's anticipated that he's headed for Missouri (who left for Europe yesterday). So if the rumors are true, Carter is probably in no rush to leave Kalamazoo. On a side-note, there was a lot of buzz and excitement for Coach Carter as word was obviously spreading quickly through other departments at University Arena.
Head Coach Steve Hawkins As can be expected, Coach Hawkins ran an efficient, high-energy, and fundamental-oriented practice session. The team began with some conditioning on the University Arena track, then stepped right into some fast-paced offensive and defensive transition drills. Afterwards, the team split up into two groups (white and black) and took part in a team scrimmage. Assistant Coach Kool led the white team (Richie, Paul, Pokley, Loney, Perry, McCormick, Stapert, and Brennan) and Assistant Coach Holland led the black team (Klein, Hutcheson, Whittington, Hoerdemann, Tava, Avery, and Washington).
Player Notes of Interest....
Hayden Hoerdemann Simply put, his shots were on today. Hoerdemann was hitting mid-range jumpers and three-pointers with ease. He's also bulked up quite a bit since last year, and it showed as he appeared to play much more physical on defense as well.
Charles Harris Harris is clearly still recovering from injury, as he spent most of today on a bike, stretching, and lightly shooting some hoops off to the side during a majority of the practice. No major concerns there. I'm sure he's itching to get back out there and play with the guys
Kellen McCormick McCormick shot the ball very well today. He was shooting the three ball well and was a major disruption on defense with his unsuspecting agility and long arms.
David Brown Brown is still on crutches and moving around very slowly. He sat nearby and watched most of the practice. He seems nowhere near a return at the moment.
Austin Richie & Jared Klein As expected, Richie and Klein both played a lot of point guard. Neither were overly impressive by any means, but both showed the ability to run the offense very smoothly and very efficiently. I didn't notice many mistakes from either. At the moment, Richie seems to provide a bigger spark and energy at the point, however Klein provides the more natural fit and movement to the position. I wouldn't give either one an advantage at point guard right now, but it's something to keep a close eye on.
Shayne Whittington Whittington is clearly the emotional leader on the court. He had a few very nice moments today, including one impressive dunk through traffic mid-way through practice. After the thunderous dunk, Whittington walked away from the basket pounding his chest, letting out a huge roar that echoed throughout the arena. The team energy (especially on defense) picked up immediately following the play. When Whittington's confidence is high, the team seems to gravitate to that and follow.
Connor Tava Of the fresman, Tava seems to be the most college-ready, and built for the Mid-American Conference tough and physical style of play. Tava was impressive in a lot of little ways today, much like senior Dan Loney is capable of doing quietly. Tava shot the ball well, passed well in traffic, and was not afraid to get physical inside.
Overall, today's practice was very focused, high energy, with a lot of up-tempo drills, Furthermore, you can't help but get a very positive vibe with this group. There seems to be a very positive team chemistry among this year's group already. With all of the incoming freshman, there seems to be a sense of a "new beginning" with all of last year's "issues." There were lots of high fives going around among players, lot's of clapping among coaches, and a high level of communication from coach to player, player to player, etc. Everybody seems to be on the same page and the "young bucks" seem very willing to listen and learn from instruction.
Much more to come later this week. Stay tuned to "The Zoo" on BroncoBlitz.com...
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