Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
pic by Dana Nolan
We solicited students to write about the practice. This is #2, Taylor Mayer. Here were this thoughts:
Before I start, I just want to say it’s an honor to write a piece for KSR. It’s been a huge part of my college life, and I know many other students could say the same. No matter where I go and who I run into in Lexington, there is almost always the question “Did you read KSR today?” It’s a truly special website for the Commonwealth.
— Anyway, Coach started practice at about 2:00, and insisted that every student in attendance (Memorial was about 60% full) hold up their cell phone, and turn it to silent mode. He also emphasized that this was a practice, so cheers were to be discouraged during the drills.
—- They began with a few fast break drills, running up and down the court working on speed and handling the ball. One of the first things I noticed was how big DeMarcus Cousins really is. In pictures on KSR, he looks borderline thin, but in person he is huge. It seemed Cal had to emphasize hustle to him more so than any other player, but his attitude definitely was not a glaring issue by any means.
— Coach Cal also mentioned in passing that someone or another (he didn’t seem to point anyone out in particular) was playing differently because he was being watched by thousands of students. It’s hard to determine how much (if at all) the players and coaches were playing and acting differently because there were students there.
—- The players seemed to all have a business-like manner, and there was little joking or cutting up it seemed. I don’t know if that is just their own nature or if Coach discourages any light-heartedness, but it was clear that they were there to get some work done.
— Liggins looked fairly comfortable with the ball this afternoon. He took the ball down the court in fast break drills with a lot of power, which may pay huge dividends in the DDO. John Wall’s speed is almost incredible; when he dunks, it’s almost as if he’s floating in the air. Even though Cal discouraged any cheers from the students, it was hard not to “ooh” and “awe” out loud at least a little bit. He’ll be really fun to watch.
— During a fast break drill in which Cal was pressing them to run full speed, the students got a small laugh at P. Steve’s awkward run/hilarious facial expression dribbling down the court the fastest he could.
— Jon Hood looks solid fundamentally, but didn’t seem to have the quickness and strength that the other guards had. In my opinion, he may have some serious room for improvement at this point in his UK career
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— Darnell Dodson looks like a shorter Ramel Bradley. He’s quick with the ball.
— Towards the end of practice, Orton (who looked good today) dove for a ball out of bounds near the sideline, and the entire team, even though they were all standing underneath the basket went over to help him up. It was pretty clear that Cal had taught them to do this in some effort to encourage a strong sense of team. It was pretty cool to watch.
— During one of the fast break drills, Wall and a few others weren’t driving to the basket and were instead dishing it around the perimeter, prompting Coach Cal to say, “If you’re afraid to drive, then you can’t play here.”
-All in all, it was a great idea to open the practice up (if you ask me, anyway). It elicited a small sense of community in an otherwise huge nation of UK basketball fans, which I’m sure most of the students appreciated. Also, in a practical sense, it was probably good for the freshmen to get some work done in front of a few thousand people, something they’ll need to get used to fast.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Darnell Dodson is 4 inches taller than Ramel Bradley…
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
1. I hope Dodson isn’t shorter than Ramel.
2. I’ve never heard anything Wall does described as “almost incredible.”
3. Why is taking the ball down the court with power going to pay huge dividends in the DDO?
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:13 pm
2. question 3.
forcing the ball down court with “power” means the defense is not able to setup press, or get back on D. it pretty much makes them stay on their heels everytime you have the ball. In result it forces fouls and alot of mental mistakes by the defense, mistakes that hopefully the offense will be able to capitalize on.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Dodson is definitely taller than Smooth.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:29 pm
3.
I felt like Liggins purely dribbled with “power” last year. I guess my question is I still don’t understand the phrasing and I don’t understand how that specifically helps a DDMotion offense? Furthermore, didn’t Cal say he was going to play Liggins on the wing, with Darius being the third primary ballhandler?
I’m still having trouble making any sense out of this practice report.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Coach emphasized the hustle to get a wayward ball. After a ball went out of bounds with no one running after it, Cal preached the need for hustle to fight for the rock. The players were itching after this to show their tenacity, and the intensity ramped up, until Orton capped it off with his dive. When all the players came to help him up it truly was a show of cohesiveness
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Thanks so much Taylor… And I agree KSR is also a huge part of my life living outside the state.. Theres something special about being a Kentucky fan and the KSR writers make it so much fun to follow my Cats. We are so lucky as Big Blue Nation to have this site.. LONG LIVE KSR!!!!
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Dodson smaller than Bradley? Yikes.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Why has no one talked about Coach Cal having the players do a chest bump with the person next to them after one of the drills? I thought this was one of the most entertaining parts of the practice and the players seemed to enjoy it too.
As for all the Liggins comments- He really didn’t look any different to me than last year while hustling to bring the ball down the floor. His ball handling skills still looked very awkward and out of control to me with the same high dribble as last year. During Cal’s 3 dribbles from one end of the court to the other drill, I would say only cousins looked more awkward than Liggins– but he is 6′10″.
October 24th, 2009 at 12:30 am
9) Last year I remember Liggins doing a lot of dribble to one-handed-pass downcourt. Half the time, it was a laser (sometimes dropped). The other half it was an airball that missed his teammate or was picked off.
At least as far as I remember, his problem wasn’t handling so much as decisionmaking and shooting.
October 24th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Thank god this guy was not in the blogger contest, but just to be safe can we go ahead and eliminate him from any future posting on the site?
October 24th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I know I’m not the first person to call you out … but a shorter Ramel Bradley? Have you ever seen Ramel Bradley?
You’re fired.
October 24th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Thanks Taylor for the report, I thought you did a great job
October 24th, 2009 at 9:46 am
“Thanks Taylor for the report, I thought you did a great job”
Perhaps, aside from saying a player who is at least 4 inches taller than a past Cat looks like a shorter version of him
October 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
dude awesome job, I was at the practice as well and if I had wrote an article on what I saw it would of been identical to yours I believe. nice job man for sure…ppat is POY without question btw
October 25th, 2009 at 10:29 am
[...] Kentucky Sports Radio has a couple of student-only practice reports. [...]