Guys the basketball program is in excellent hands! One of the best coaching clinics I've been to. Oats and his staff are very sharp and creative. Charlie Henry is a brilliant assistant and gave a great lesson on defense...he is a big x and o guy. Oats talked on his offense which is very spaced and innovative. The staff is incredibly driven and they believe that they will win big at bama. Oats practices are intense!!!
Everything is a competition and I mean everything! Team is split evenly into 2 squads and each drill has winning team and losing team. Losers run and winners shoot a ft to earn a point...if they miss they do push-ups. Every drill is as close to game like as possible. Still too early to tell how good this team will be this year because everything is different than the past couple of years as far as style and pace of play. They are going to be 4 out 1 in or 5 out and they will try to score in 7 seconds after a defensive rebound. Don't expect many shot clock violations! Lol! Herb Jones will play the 4 a lot this year now that Rojas is out for the year.
I could see Kira, Quinerly (if eligible), Petty, Herb, and Reese being on the floor together a lot If we go small and 5 out. Key will be if that group will be able to defend and rebound because if they do they will get out and run and play in space very well! If Oats recruits well they will win big because the coaching is top notch. Player development is already very noticeable in Herb Jones, John Petty, Galin Smith, and especially Alex Reese. Biggest thing that stood out to me about this team and Oats...they play HARD and have a ton of positive energy!
You won't change the channel because you can't stand to see the team not playing tough and looking disinterested. But here is the key for me...Oats didn't yell the entire practice, he just teaches, which tells me players respect him and he has already made it clear what he expects! He also had a little visual motivation for the team...on the scoreboards it still had Alabama vs Norfolk St up!!! Lol! He said he wanted the team to have a constant reminder of where they have been and where they will be going!
I was extremely impressed and to be honest fired up when I left. Oats even had a mic during practice this interact with the high school coaches there to explain what was going on during each drill.
He says multiple times that is just a high school coach at heart and wants to give back to the high school coaching community. I'll post team personnel notes shortly.
Everything is a competition and I mean everything! Team is split evenly into 2 squads and each drill has winning team and losing team. Losers run and winners shoot a ft to earn a point...if they miss they do push-ups. Every drill is as close to game like as possible. Still too early to tell how good this team will be this year because everything is different than the past couple of years as far as style and pace of play. They are going to be 4 out 1 in or 5 out and they will try to score in 7 seconds after a defensive rebound. Don't expect many shot clock violations! Lol! Herb Jones will play the 4 a lot this year now that Rojas is out for the year.
I could see Kira, Quinerly (if eligible), Petty, Herb, and Reese being on the floor together a lot If we go small and 5 out. Key will be if that group will be able to defend and rebound because if they do they will get out and run and play in space very well! If Oats recruits well they will win big because the coaching is top notch. Player development is already very noticeable in Herb Jones, John Petty, Galin Smith, and especially Alex Reese. Biggest thing that stood out to me about this team and Oats...they play HARD and have a ton of positive energy!
You won't change the channel because you can't stand to see the team not playing tough and looking disinterested. But here is the key for me...Oats didn't yell the entire practice, he just teaches, which tells me players respect him and he has already made it clear what he expects! He also had a little visual motivation for the team...on the scoreboards it still had Alabama vs Norfolk St up!!! Lol! He said he wanted the team to have a constant reminder of where they have been and where they will be going!
I was extremely impressed and to be honest fired up when I left. Oats even had a mic during practice this interact with the high school coaches there to explain what was going on during each drill.
He says multiple times that is just a high school coach at heart and wants to give back to the high school coaching community. I'll post team personnel notes shortly.
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