Just Got Back From Stan Heath's First Practice

[GoBulls07]

I wanted to take some pictures, but I felt like a loser so I didn't.

There were about 30 people there watching the comings and goings of the practice.

First thing I noticed was Heath harping about keeping everything up tempo.  Was harping on the players about getting back in transition etc.

Things were kinda quiet actually.  First practice so you expect things to seem odd.

Gransberry looks like he has lost some weight, but still seems big.

Lots of faces I didn't reconize....but the guy who seemed to be the most active was Verdejo. 

Never really caught a Bulls formal practice --- so the analysis isn't worth much.

[Matt]

hopefully this team doesnt turn it over 20 times a game

[Guest BasketBull.]

Go Bulls!

[Kyle]

I have a feeling Verdejo will thrive in an uptempo offense. I sure hope so.

[VeryBullish]

I hope they can post some pics of the practices. This year, basketball will be a great chaser when football ends.

[NormalBull]

Thanks 07, it was better than nothing.

Normal

[outrunner]

They did a really fun drill, but turned out to look really bad. They put 2:00 on the clock. Three guys do a weave down the court and they shoot the ball (the other two get passed a ball from someone else). The team has to score 60 pints in that time period (according to Heath that was getting off easy, he wants them to be doing 80).

Well, when our team did it, they didn't get to 60. So they put another 1:00 up to get 30 points. They didn't get it. So another minute, then they got 34 the last time.

It was fun to watch, and I realize it's only the first practice, but they have a long way to go.

[BULLfreak]

Lets hope the basketball team can run with what the football team has going

[AndytheBull]

There was ALOT more than 30 people there. I got there about 6:30, really enjoyed it.

I've done 30 minutes of womens soccer, 1 1/2 hours of basketball practice, 20 minutes of volleyball, and 1st half of mens soccer, so I'm tired, but here are some random thoughts on basketball practice:

One assistant really gets on the guys, but shows them what he wants.

BJ(the guy w/ the long name that goes by BJ) has an extremely long wingspan.

Dante Curry is really thin.

The practice was very physical, lots of bumping/fouls.

Amu Saaka went down for a minute or two, but got up and was fine by the end of practice.

The drill Outrunner described in the previous post was fun to watch at first, then became painful when you see 3 guys miss shots at the same time.

We will be the best conditioned team in the Big East, from having to do that drill 5 different times, and also earlier shooting FT's as a 1 and 1 situation and if you missed the front end, you had to run down and back on the side of the court. Unfortunately, we had guys running alot.

At the end, Coach Heath walked over in front of the crowd, and thanked everyone for coming, I believe he also said about it being a work in progress and it wasnt a show, but you could see what they are actually working on. He also had 5X7's of himself photoshopped inside a packed Sun Dome he was autographing and passing out, and the players came into the crowd and shook hands and talked to people.

Also, quote of the night...... at the start of the drill Outrunner described, Coach Heath said "If you arent a 3 point shooter, dont shoot 3's". Just the way he said it was awesome.

Very cool just being able to listen to them instruct on the court. If you arent a hardcore basketball fan, you probably wouldnt have liked it, and wanted the show, but for me it was awesome.