DENVER –
Tonight at 5 p.m., the 2008-09 basketball season officially started,
when the University of Denver Pioneers took the court for their first
practice of the season. Second-year head coach Joe Scott
opened the session talking to the team, followed by full court layup
drills. The players were split into two groups with coaches A.J. Kuhle and Jon Jordan taking one end of the court, and Mike McKee
taking the other, while Coach Scott split his time between both ends.
Unlike many teams in the country, Coach Scott and his staff rarely have
the team do anything without the ball. In other words, the team
practices drills by running plays, both offensively and defensively.
With
the DU hockey team taking on Wisconsin in Magness Arena and the
volleyball team playing in Hamilton Gymnasium, the team had a mini-road
trip from the start, even if it was just a few blocks from campus at
Denver Christian High School. (Based on the seven state championship
banners hanging in the gym, the Crusaders have had a pretty good run
over the past few decades.) For a team that is going to find itself on
the road for six of the first seven games, perhaps the unusual
surroundings could help them prepare for the random gyms in Iowa, Texas,
Wyoming and Montana. The gym was not all that unique for one DU player,
though. Sophomore Kyle Lewis
played high school basketball at Kent Denver, the main rival for Denver
Christian, and the two teams split eight games at the venue.
With
the youngest team in the nation, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this
team early, but it appears that the returning players worked hard with
the freshmen over the summer, and the team seems to be better off than
last year’s team was a month into the season. And there’s no question
that these guys can shoot. Of course, Rob Lewis dunking
as I typed that didn’t hurt the team’s shooting percentage tonight.
Without the new college three-point line, the players were forced to
estimate their shooting range, but a good majority of the shots were
pure, straight through the net.
Junior Nate Rohnert, Rob Lewis and Kyle Lewis
appear to have taken the initial steps toward leadership, despite their
relatively young age. Of course, those three did get quite a bit of
experience last year. All three played in every game and were averaging
around 30 minutes per game as the season concluded. Sophomore walk-on Nigel Peter-Denman also got time in 17 games and drilled 10-of-16 shots from three-point range. Andrew Hooper
got experience practicing with the Pioneers last year as a redshirt,
even if he has still not seen his first minute in a college game. After a
year with this system, those five look poised to teach the younger
players, and those younger players look eager to learn. That may seem
like I’m getting ahead of myself – it is the first practice after all –
but there is an excitement with this program, because the foundation was
set last season and the building process is underway.
Considering the Pioneers could play only seven players at the end of last season after the loss of David Kummer
to a broken leg, it is nice seeing four guys standing on the sideline
as two groups of five face each other as they go through plays. As
usual, practice ended with full court, fast break drills. The players
look a little tired after the practice, but it’s the good kind of tired
that you only get after a solid workout. They better rebound quickly.
Tomorrow’s practice is at 8 a.m.
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