TicketsAt the first practice of the season on Friday night, I saw a lot of what you would expect: this is a team that clearly has a drive to succeed, but at the same time they have a lot of work to do by the time the season opens on November 15. Head coach Jamelle Elliott had a no-nonsense approach: the players hit the ground running with drills, and then got a chance to play against a practice squad of young men plus Angel Morgan, a familiar face who was a senior on the team last year. The practice squad looked ready to play in drills and in full-court scrimmage; if the practice players keep up a consistent level of effort, the team will be challenged in practice.
A couple of negatives that should be addressed: some of the younger players were consistently missing a lot of layups. Additionally, Elliott felt that some of the younger players could have been giving more effort, and she went after them throughout the course of practice. Elliott refuses to let her players give less than their full effort, and when she saw players going less than 100 percent, she let them have it. As the days go on, I think the players will begin to consistently work harder and harder in practice as they get in the groove. Elliott will continue to expect more and more out of them as time goes on and the coaches install more of the offense.
We won't be able to see how well the practices translate on game day for a few more weeks, but overall it was an encouraging start. If the season started tomorrow, I would be concerned, but with a few weeks to prepare, Elliott's regime should begin going through its birth pains without a hitch.