Colorado held its first full practice of the season this morning at 8 a.m. local time. This being the Buffs’ second season under head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller CU is looking to improve on 9-18 overall and 3-13 conference records. Last season one of the problems was defense. It seemed this morning the team was out to rectify that emphasizing defense in both the half and full courts. From what I recall from last season’s pre-season practices defense was an afterthought; it appears this season the Buffs are working hard to make sure defense is priority physically and mentally. They worked on half-court and transition defense for much of the hour and a half I was able to watch.
The first practice saw seven players who are either freshmen, a transfer or redshirts taking the court with eligibility to play. Additionally, there was a new assistant coach in Tom McConnell, older brother of head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. Of all the “newcomers” coach Miller was an immediate head turner with his enthusiastic and very positive teaching and coaching. It appears that the Buffs have taken to his style and he seems very comfortable with his role in player development.
Of the newcomers, who will be on the floor, the two that caught my eye in this practice were true freshmen Whitney Houston and Aija Putnina. Houston will be the starting point guard and brings serious speed and a wicked crossover dribble that will allow her to get to the basket even in the half court. Although listed at 5-8 it seems that she is 5-6 at best, but that won’t matter, as she knows how to get to the rim. Putnina has poise and fundamentals that should give her a chance to get on the court despite the depth in the post and small forward.
One of the Buffs’ true freshmen not on the participating today was Candice Rucker who is supposed to be one of the quickest players on the team.
It was nice to see center Kara Richards on the floor again after missing all but last year’s exhibition games due to a broken foot. She should be a key player this season and will allow last season’s leading scorer and rebounder Jackie McFarland to play almost exclusively at the power forward.
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MarkW
HoopScoop.net
