Gaucho Hoops All-Access - UCSB Women's Basketball Practice

November 22, 2016
UCSB Women's basketball practice at the Thunderdome

Coach Bonnie Henrickson and her staff put the team through some shooting drills, before running the St. Joe's drill.  It's a transition offense drill, and forces the players to play through fatigue.

The drill starts with a 2-on-1 fast break, and then moves in the opposite direction with a 3-on-2, and then reverses again with a 4-on-3, incrementally adding one player in the opposite direction, until it ends up being a 5-on-5 drill.  The goal is to pass and move, and not stand around.

It looks like the Gauchos run the motion offense.  It requires a high basketball IQ, and the ability to recognize how defenses are playing.  The goal is to take what the defense gives you, and if they cheat in one area, then take advantage and go the other direction.  It requires constant motion and recognition.

The point guard is key to this offense.  Coach Henrickson was urging her point guards "To be a point guard," and to not give up their dribble prematurely.

Other points of emphasis were the player with the ball to wait for the screen, and not just run at it (presumably to avoid a moving pick foul).  The person with the ball can be late, but not early in waiting for the screen.

The Lady Gauchos will run more this year, and try to push it and get "numbers" (having the offense beat the opponent's defense down the court) if it's there.  If the numbers advantage isn't there, then it's up to the point guard to pull it back and start the halfcourt offense.  But the point guard shouldn't call the offense until she crosses the halfcourt line.

Coach Henrickson also emphasized the point guards to lead with a calm voice, and to sometimes slow down so her teammates can catch up to her.  In other words, the point guard can get upcourt fast, but that doesn't help if her teammates haven't caught up to run the offense.

Tal Sahar really stood out as an overall player:  she's athletic, aggressive, and a good perimeter shooter with range.  She will redshirt this year after transferring in from Seattle.

The frontcourt looks much taller this year also.

The point guard must also recognize who the halfbacks and fullbacks are in the offense.

It's also harder for the point guard to make the entry pass from the top of the key, as the angle isn't there.  They must also recognize which teammate is hot, and feed her.

On defense, staying in front of the opponent is key and the bias is to steer them to the sideline.

They practiced the Stanford out of bounds play, where the ball goes to the corner off the double pick.

More Coach Henrickson tidbits:  "Don't jog!  If you're not open, cut!"

They then practiced end of quarter scenarios, where they would execute 2 possessions for 1.

She urged the players to play to their strengths.  For example, if finishing with the left hand is a problem, drive and finish to the right.

Practice ended with the 3-woman weave drill.  Here is video of the drill.


https://youtu.be/6MTAv4bNih0

Gaucho Hoops All-Access at a Practice

Notes from UCSB men's basketball practice on 10/7/2016


https://youtu.be/WuH5Ztyewls


One of the first drills was practicing the hand off.  The post player executes a jump stop, pivots, and hands off the ball to a curling perimeter player.  The ball should not be tossed up, but handed off to avoid turnovers.

The next drill was executing and defending the entry pass into the low block.  The post players would practice establishing position and defending the position.  Simultaneously, the perimeter players were making and defending the entry pass, so all four players were getting coached up on offense and defense.  The perimeter defender is supposed to open up his hips and then defend the cutting offensive player (the give-and-go).  The post player on offense needed to chop his steps and shield the defender to maintain balance before receiving the entry pass.

In the high post offense, a wrinkle was added to include a backdoor cut and feed.

The next drills incorporated the previous drills to run the transition offense, without and then against a defense.

Note:  Clifton Powell has an uncanny fade away jumper over his right shoulder (he's right handed).  He just gets so much lift that it is hard for the defender to get a hand in his face.  When he received a pass down low after a cut, he would use that move to get separation from his defender, and rise to release a feathery turnaround jumper.

Powell and athletic power forward Felix White have major hops.  White blocked several shots from out of nowhere.  He is a very gifted athlete.  He may be "raw" and played against weak competition in high school, but I think the high-major schools missed on him.  He is going to be a good player.  Coach Bromley stayed after practice to help him practice finishing post moves with his back to the basket.

Coach Williams strongly urged the players to "Catch the ball, and only dribble it if you are going somewhere.  If you dribble the ball without purpose and pick it up, we are ****ed!"

Other tidbits:
"If I'm up top, and the wings are covered, bigs--you come up."

Direct, hard cuts to the basket were demanded instead of rounding off cuts.

The bigs were coached to hold the ball high when switching sides, consistent with how UNC post players are coached.  This highlights the passing option.  I mentioned that Fresno City College players switch ball sides by swinging their arms low.  But Coach Williams said Fresno City College has a dribble-penetration first offense, while the Gaucho offense is a pass-first offense.

The next drill was an out of bounds play along the baseline.  Included was the UCLA out of bounds play.

Note:  Jarriese Blackmon's 3 point shot looks more solid this season.

Next came a defensive rotation drill.  The goal is to close out on the right shooters when the ball is reversed.  It's not a trapping defense, but a baseline drive will attract two defenders to stop dribble-penetration.  Everybody else has to rotate to the right perimeter shooter.  Communication is key in this drill.

Coach Williams mentioned he can field a big lineup without sacrificing much quickness.    An intriguing lineup in one of the drills had Gabriel Vincent, Christian Terrell, Maxwell Kupchak, Alex Hart, and Ami Lakoju.

When players were talking out of turn and not paying attention to the coaches, all players had to run wind sprints across the Thunderdome floor as punishment.  "Don't listen = run wind sprints."

Note:  Terrell resembles former Gaucho Michael Bryson, but he is bigger.  Clifton Powell resembles former Gaucho Chris Brew, but Powell is also bigger.

Another coaching nugget yelled by Coach Williams:  "Don't stand around looking for the ball.  Go backdoor!"  "Post players don't stand around in the corner!  Move toward the basket when the ball is reversed."

Next was a 5-4 with a twist transition offense.  I believe this is the offense they will run against a zone defense.  Pass and cut into a 2-man twist.

Note:  during drills, Canty wasn't engaged.  But once the drills were put together in full court drills, he woke up.  He's a good passer.

Coach Williams:  "The best 3 point shot is after an offensive rebound, or when the ball goes inside-out."

They then ran a 45-second 3-man weave drill.  The goal was to complete 8 layups full court in under 45 seconds.  Only two players managed to beat the clock, while the goal was to incrementally increase that number daily.  Overall, this team is speedier than previous teams, especially the post players.

They finished off with free throws while fatigued, and players who committed turnovers during the drills had to stay extra to work on their shot.

Coach Williams finished practice reminding them to eat a good breakfast and lunch every day.  Listening to the coaches instructions was emphasized.