JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2011
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I attended (along with a lot of other people) the open practice for season ticket holders that was held on Saturday afternoon. Geno answered questions from the audience after a 3-hour practice.
Here are some things that Geno said or that those present observed at this event:
1. Per Geno, Saniya will not play against Ohio State and neither will Dejenae. He is pretty sure that Saniya will available soon after Monday's game and should be ready for the Kansas State game a week later. Both players were present for today's practice but did not participate. Dejenae did some work (including some sprinting) on a side court during the practice.
2. I asked about the chances for an early return by Natalie (who was present and working on the side). Geno said it's possible but he is not counting on it. It all depends on how her hand reacts when the cast comes off, and that is different for everyone.
3. Regarding the practice itself, the scrimmages focused mostly on defense and press breaking. They clearly had Ohio State's guards in mind. Geno said that tomorrow's practice will be shorter and will focus on offense. He noted that Ohio State had only 3 assists against South Carolina, and said that teams that rely so much on individual play are tough to play against. He said that the key will be to make the OSU guards work really hard at their defensive end and wear them down as much as possible. Having seen Moriah and Kia practice today, there is an excellent chance that will happen. They were running hard from end to end with no apparent stress even after it was obvious that other players (especially Lou and Napheesa) were wearing down.
4. After seeing the practice, I think it is absolutely beyond doubt (famous last words) that Gabby will be the fifth starter on Monday night. She did all the reps with the Blue team. Lou, Napheesa, and Courtney were reserves. Courtney occasionally wore a white jersey (Tierney and "Polly" always wore white), but Courtney sometimes played in blue also. Gabby looked very good in practice, as she did in the last exhibition game.
5. Lou and Napheesa played well. Lou made 4 3-pointers out of maybe 9 or 10 that she attempted in the scrimmages. On defense, she was guarding on the perimeter. Napheesa was making shots around the basket with regularity, but she got corrected a lot on defense. I did not see either her or Gabby attempt shots from any distance.
6. The press break drill was interesting. It started with the White team shooting a free throw. Then Blue would have to inbound the ball against a press (involving mostly male practice players), get to the offensive end, run a possession, and get back again for a defensive possession before the drill ended. They repeated that 10 to 15 times with different players. Moriah excelled in those sequences, dribbling through the press on offense and stealing the ball when they returned on defense.
7. Geno calls most players by their first names, but somewhat oddly, Morgan was always called "Tuck". I guess he just prefers one syllable; Moriah was always "Mo". But Gabby was Gabby and Stewie was Stewie, despite the extra syllable.
8. Geno's funniest diatribe during the Q&A was his response to someone who asked about the chances for a 24-second clock being adopted. He started with a serious answer about most coaches not wanting to see a lot more possessions during the game, because the scores might get too lopsided if the teams were not well matched. But then he said (approximately), "Can you imagine Harry Perretta coaching with a 24-second clock? He couldn't do what he always does: 'Kathy, pass to Mary. Susie, cut to the basket. Emily, dribble to the left and pass.'" Having watched Perretta coach a game last Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, I can confirm that is exactly what he did when Villanova had the ball.
Here are some things that Geno said or that those present observed at this event:
1. Per Geno, Saniya will not play against Ohio State and neither will Dejenae. He is pretty sure that Saniya will available soon after Monday's game and should be ready for the Kansas State game a week later. Both players were present for today's practice but did not participate. Dejenae did some work (including some sprinting) on a side court during the practice.
2. I asked about the chances for an early return by Natalie (who was present and working on the side). Geno said it's possible but he is not counting on it. It all depends on how her hand reacts when the cast comes off, and that is different for everyone.
3. Regarding the practice itself, the scrimmages focused mostly on defense and press breaking. They clearly had Ohio State's guards in mind. Geno said that tomorrow's practice will be shorter and will focus on offense. He noted that Ohio State had only 3 assists against South Carolina, and said that teams that rely so much on individual play are tough to play against. He said that the key will be to make the OSU guards work really hard at their defensive end and wear them down as much as possible. Having seen Moriah and Kia practice today, there is an excellent chance that will happen. They were running hard from end to end with no apparent stress even after it was obvious that other players (especially Lou and Napheesa) were wearing down.
4. After seeing the practice, I think it is absolutely beyond doubt (famous last words) that Gabby will be the fifth starter on Monday night. She did all the reps with the Blue team. Lou, Napheesa, and Courtney were reserves. Courtney occasionally wore a white jersey (Tierney and "Polly" always wore white), but Courtney sometimes played in blue also. Gabby looked very good in practice, as she did in the last exhibition game.
5. Lou and Napheesa played well. Lou made 4 3-pointers out of maybe 9 or 10 that she attempted in the scrimmages. On defense, she was guarding on the perimeter. Napheesa was making shots around the basket with regularity, but she got corrected a lot on defense. I did not see either her or Gabby attempt shots from any distance.
6. The press break drill was interesting. It started with the White team shooting a free throw. Then Blue would have to inbound the ball against a press (involving mostly male practice players), get to the offensive end, run a possession, and get back again for a defensive possession before the drill ended. They repeated that 10 to 15 times with different players. Moriah excelled in those sequences, dribbling through the press on offense and stealing the ball when they returned on defense.
7. Geno calls most players by their first names, but somewhat oddly, Morgan was always called "Tuck". I guess he just prefers one syllable; Moriah was always "Mo". But Gabby was Gabby and Stewie was Stewie, despite the extra syllable.
8. Geno's funniest diatribe during the Q&A was his response to someone who asked about the chances for a 24-second clock being adopted. He started with a serious answer about most coaches not wanting to see a lot more possessions during the game, because the scores might get too lopsided if the teams were not well matched. But then he said (approximately), "Can you imagine Harry Perretta coaching with a 24-second clock? He couldn't do what he always does: 'Kathy, pass to Mary. Susie, cut to the basket. Emily, dribble to the left and pass.'" Having watched Perretta coach a game last Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, I can confirm that is exactly what he did when Villanova had the ball.
