10-01-2014, 09:37 AM
http://www.steveshields.com/latest.html
September 30, 2014
As we get ready to start official practice next Monday, Oct. 6, we have to be happy with the overall health of our team. To get through seven weeks of workouts and now be just a week away from practice with no severe injuries is exciting and fortunate. As I’ve said before, I think we’ve had a very good fall to follow up a very good spring and summer.
We’ve made a lot of progress in skill development. Our conditioning has gotten much better. Our strength has also improved. With those components, you typically have to worry about health issues going into the start of practice. But from that standpoint we’ve been very fortunate. We’ve had minimal misses due to injury. I was talking with John Barron this morning, and he brought up the fact that we haven’t had guys miss workouts or portions of workouts this year the way we did a year ago. That’s a positive from a team standpoint and says a lot about our guys’ mental approach to workouts.
With that said, Andre Brown has been in a boot for a couple weeks after rolling his ankle. The good news is we sent him to the doctor last week and there are no bone issues. It’s just a bad sprain, but he should be back soon. Jerron Washington has had some minor hamstring issues. But outside of those two injuries, our team has been healthy.
As far as points of emphasis will go once practice starts, we have to become a better rebounding team this fall. I’ve said that before, but I will say again that we’re just not a very good rebounding team right now. We’ve got to continue to get better in that area. We have to continue to improve on defense, which will come with time. We also have to keep making progress on offense. I think we’re shooting the ball well – better than we were a year ago – and that’s encouraging. There will also continue to be an emphasis on playing unselfish basketball. We can’t care who gets the credit. We want them to embrace the mentality that allows players to pass up good shots to get great shots. All of those things are very important to us.
Entering the second year of the NCAA’s new rules on practice time that allows you to start 42 days prior to your first game, I have to say that I really like it. And I believe that the vast majority of coaches like it. We used to start practice the closest Friday to October 15, which forced coaches to try and cram in a lot of stuff over a short period of time. This new rule allows coaches to have more patience with the process. It also keeps teams healthier. I would imagine if someone did a study that it would show that it’s helped tremendously with injuries. I haven’t heard from a single person that doesn’t like it. No one feels as rushed. You’re able to fully understand concepts before moving on to something else.
I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Shane Edwards on being invited to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ training camp. He had an offer overseas, but he and his agent wanted to wait and see if he’d be able to get a chance with Cleveland. Right now he’s one of 18 players on the Cavs’ training camp roster, which is two under the NBA limit.
I would also like to take this time to say how excited I am to have Ted Crass join our staff as a full-time assistant. His tireless work ethic and energy to recruit will continue to be big positives for our program. He’s been on the road since we moved him up. He was out last Friday and Saturday and he’s constantly on the phone. That’s what it takes to be a good recruiter. Now we just have to get a Director of Basketball Operations hired and hopefully we’ll be able to have someone in place around the first of November.
September 30, 2014
As we get ready to start official practice next Monday, Oct. 6, we have to be happy with the overall health of our team. To get through seven weeks of workouts and now be just a week away from practice with no severe injuries is exciting and fortunate. As I’ve said before, I think we’ve had a very good fall to follow up a very good spring and summer.
We’ve made a lot of progress in skill development. Our conditioning has gotten much better. Our strength has also improved. With those components, you typically have to worry about health issues going into the start of practice. But from that standpoint we’ve been very fortunate. We’ve had minimal misses due to injury. I was talking with John Barron this morning, and he brought up the fact that we haven’t had guys miss workouts or portions of workouts this year the way we did a year ago. That’s a positive from a team standpoint and says a lot about our guys’ mental approach to workouts.
With that said, Andre Brown has been in a boot for a couple weeks after rolling his ankle. The good news is we sent him to the doctor last week and there are no bone issues. It’s just a bad sprain, but he should be back soon. Jerron Washington has had some minor hamstring issues. But outside of those two injuries, our team has been healthy.
As far as points of emphasis will go once practice starts, we have to become a better rebounding team this fall. I’ve said that before, but I will say again that we’re just not a very good rebounding team right now. We’ve got to continue to get better in that area. We have to continue to improve on defense, which will come with time. We also have to keep making progress on offense. I think we’re shooting the ball well – better than we were a year ago – and that’s encouraging. There will also continue to be an emphasis on playing unselfish basketball. We can’t care who gets the credit. We want them to embrace the mentality that allows players to pass up good shots to get great shots. All of those things are very important to us.
Entering the second year of the NCAA’s new rules on practice time that allows you to start 42 days prior to your first game, I have to say that I really like it. And I believe that the vast majority of coaches like it. We used to start practice the closest Friday to October 15, which forced coaches to try and cram in a lot of stuff over a short period of time. This new rule allows coaches to have more patience with the process. It also keeps teams healthier. I would imagine if someone did a study that it would show that it’s helped tremendously with injuries. I haven’t heard from a single person that doesn’t like it. No one feels as rushed. You’re able to fully understand concepts before moving on to something else.
I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Shane Edwards on being invited to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ training camp. He had an offer overseas, but he and his agent wanted to wait and see if he’d be able to get a chance with Cleveland. Right now he’s one of 18 players on the Cavs’ training camp roster, which is two under the NBA limit.
I would also like to take this time to say how excited I am to have Ted Crass join our staff as a full-time assistant. His tireless work ethic and energy to recruit will continue to be big positives for our program. He’s been on the road since we moved him up. He was out last Friday and Saturday and he’s constantly on the phone. That’s what it takes to be a good recruiter. Now we just have to get a Director of Basketball Operations hired and hopefully we’ll be able to have someone in place around the first of November.