Open Practice 10/29, 3:30

[CT Rhody]

Any first hand accounts? Apparently everybody went out to eat or to the bar after this thing!

[adam914]

This was a scary thing to read at first. Wording was misleading. Ha ha

Seriously this scared the crap out of me when I first saw it on Twitter.

[TruePoint]

New rule: no starting tweets or posts with the words "EC Matthews injured his knee" unless there is new news to report.

[Billyboy78]

I was there today. The best thing about this practice was seeing 13 healthy scholarship players. Koch is right about EC, lightning quick on that 360 spin move. Unless I knew he injured his knee, I'd never know. He looks tremendous. Dan asked the fans if they had any questions. I was sitting pretty close to where Dan was standing, so I heard most of it. The Harvard scrimmage didn't end until about 9:00 last night, so they held a light practice today. He said he was so thrilled with the defense against Harvard that they worked mostly on offense today. First a lot of ball handling skills, then lots of pushing the ball with pace up the court (no defense). Dan said that 10 players played last night between 8 and 31 minutes. EC played about 23. Dan said he though EC might have some rust. Not so...4-7 from the floor in the 1st half with 5 assists. Robinson was held out of the scrimmage due to what Dan said was something minor and that they were just being cautious. He practiced today. He's definitely not a shooter, but he's very athletic...fast and quick with some hops. Some of the questions asked....Q: When Jarvis needs a break, who plays PG? Dan answered with no hesitation, Jeff Dowtin. He said that Jeff played both on and off the ball in HS with Cowtin his backcourt mate. He's very capable at both spots and has a very high basketball IQ,L Dan said. Q: Which,of the newcomers have the best chance of of breaking the rotation (asked by Abu Bakr). Dan again mentioned Dowtin. He then said there's a very interesting battle for minutes going on between Langevine and Berry, with one being a good offensive player and the other being a good defensive player. He said both still need a lot of work on the opposite ends respectively. Speaking about free throws, Dan said they recently hired someone to deal with mental issues, like learning to breath and relax on free throws and other things. I forgot his name, but he also works for the Red Sox. Dan joked that what happened to the Red Sox was not this guy's fault. He comes every so often and spends a couple of days with the kids just talking and teaching them some techniques. I was very happy to hear this. I have been asking for someone like this for a while. Someone else yelled out, Thanks for staying, Dan. Dan again jokingly (somewhat) said that was his wife's decision. Then he said, Leave this team? Are you crazy? I had heard that Dan was a very funny guy, but I finally got to see it first hand today. It was very enjoyable listening to him. Any way, that's all I can think of for now. Ask me any questions if you'd like.

[Billyboy78]

Oh yeah, he also said that 11 guys deserve to play right now, but 11 will not. He said it'll be 9 or 10. It sounds like Layssard and Tertsea are the odd men out with the other 11 fighting for the 9-10 spots. He did talk about Layssard a little, saying he'd be a stretch 5 in the future.

[RIFan]

Thanks Billyboy!

[ace]

Justin Su'a is the guy they've been working with.

Good stuff- thanks!

[CT Rhody]

So he will only play 9-10 and currently 11 guys are fighting for those spots, interesting. I hope they do save Lysard and Tertsea's year of eligibility since they won't see the floor this year in any meanfulling way. I really wonder what other player or two won't be in the rotation. Obviously Dowtin is in.

[Ram1019]

It was very obvious that Dan is a HUGE fan of Dowtin.

[CT Rhody]

Do they really need Langevine for offense anyway? Stand near the rim and dunk anything given to you when your left open. Hopefully that's all we need from that position anyway right?

[Billyboy78]

Dowtin and Robinson are the two guys on the bench who are definitely in the rotation. That leaves Langevine, Berry, Thompson and Akele as the 4 guys fighting for 2 or 3 spots. As I said, it sounds as if Langevine and Berry are in direct competition for minutes. That could also be the case with Thompson and Akele, although if we go 10 deep, both will play, I assume.

[ATPTourFan]

Akele will be a big part of their trapping game this season.

[RoadyJay]

Dowtin really stood out to me today. For a Freshman he is very vocal. You can also see, as Dan mentioned, he has a high basketball IQ. When some struggled with positioning on the floor, he was quick to point out where they should be. He is confident, athletic, smooth, and has some swagger. We have a loaded backcourt but I like this kid!

[rhodyram74]

I would be happy to share some observations from the open practice this afternoon. My first observation when walking into the practice is - we have some definite height. Hurley spoke to the crowd and said he was going to focus on offense because at the Harvard scrimmage last night he emphasized defense. So most of the drills and run-throughs were working on set plays, always moving, setting screens. Several times they broke out into groups with ARD working with the bigs, etc. Towards the end of the practice Hurley came over to the crowd and talked about the scrimmage and said he was really pleased with the outcome. He said they played 50 mins vs. a 40 min game. They pressed for about 80% of the scrimmage. He eased EC into the game playing him 23 mins of the first half and then sitting him for the start of the second. He hit 4 of 7 shots in the first half. Said he hasn't skipped a beat. He was asked who he thought of the freshman had made the transition from high school to college and is ready for college ball. He brought up Dowtin and Langevin. Someone said "thanks for staying" and Hurley's response was "how could I leave this team!"
Player wise -
EC - he's back and just has that confidence about him. Not favoring the repaired knee at all but wearing a brace. Did have his spin move back in his arsenal. Talked to him after the practice and he said he is feeling real good.
Hass - Hass is Hass. He is smooth, strong, and hit some outside shots.
Iverson - looks awesome, stroking the ball real well, moving, confident too.
JG & JT - what a backcourt we are going to have. The chemistry between them is so evident. Their shots were falling too although JT got pissed off on a few of his layups - thorn in his side!
So the new guys -
Dowtin - we have a gem in this kid. He has height, vision, good basketball IQ, hands/passing, can't wait to see him mature in a few years.
Langevine - his physique is something to see and he is smooth and seems to slide to the basket. Needs to work on his FT! Fits in well with the starting group.
Akele - Looked to me like he grew! And yes he didn't miss many of his shots. Looks more comfortable as a second year player.
Robinson & Thompson - big strides for Thompson, more confidence and nice shot. First time seeing Robinson and liked what I saw.
Tertsea & Layssard - need some work but can definitely see the potential on both of them. Big guys and can see the potential in both of them.
Berry - lots quite a bit of weight and is really quicker on his feet. Great hands and just so sweet around the basket.
As the players were taking FT at the end of practice Hurley mentioned that they brought in a specialist to help the kids with the mental part of taking FTs. A mental visionist (maybe he said sports psych, not sure) that has done a lot of work with the Red Sox and other professional teams. He has been working with the team since the beginning of September. They hit 23 out of 26 FTs but certainly not in a game situation. The crowd was encouraged to go out onto the court and meet the players who were very gracious, thanking everyone for coming.
The recruit Sloan Seymour was on opposite side of court with his father. Big kid, players all went over after practice and shook his hand.
Hope this sheds some light on the team. It wasn't the type of practice that showed a lot of " in game'" talent, just reporting on what I saw during the drills.

[CT Rhody]

Thanks everybody for all the information! Interesting the way the rotation seems to be breaking. If things work out this year the future is potentially even brighter with the depth this squad has.

[ace]

[Billyboy78]

Yeah, Dan invited all of the fans to come onto the court after practice to hang out and talk to the players, saying what great kids they are and how much fun they are to talk to. Dan really loves this group.

[RoadyJay]

The other thing I kept thinking was that EC looks much more mature this year. He looks like a man now. He's no longer that 18 year old kid that came to Kingston a few years ago. Ok, maybe it's just the scruffy beard he is sporting, but no, I think it's more than that.

[CT Rhody]

How did Akele look, stronger? I really think with his length he is a mismatch waiting to happen.

[adam914]

Thanks for all the info from you guys that were there. Definitely getting me even more fired up. Means we're close!

I love hearing that we pressed so much in that scrimmage. I'll be thrilled if that is a regular part of our game this season.

[Iggy1979]

Robinson is going through concussion protocol

[Tom98]

I was very encouraged from what I saw at the practice. The team looked much bigger and stronger than I can recall for some time. A lot of good depth at every position was an obvious change from last years team. A few specific takeaways....

EC: as stated looked excellent

Thompson: looked stronger and was making shots consistently. Could make a significant strides in his sophomore year

Cyril Langivine: looked strong with good height. Very athletic and will be an intimidating defender. Looks to definitely be a contributor off the bench.

Lassard: another big and strong player in the paint. Looked impressive to me with his post moves and defensive presence. A bit slower than Cyril but seems very poised and fundamentally sound.

[CT Rhody]

Glad Thompson is making strides and hitting shots, you can never have too many shooters available off the bench. Can we start the season already!

[HASwatTeam]

To emphasize a few things already mentioned while watching the practice in person:

EC had a smile on his face the entire practice, you can physically feel how bad he wants this season to start.

Has still dunks the ball, even in practice, like he is trying to kill someone beneath the hoop.

CT looks like hes gone through 2 years of growth and feels like such a strong player.

Jeff Dowtin (JD) has the ball on a damn string. Something just feels so right about him. And this was the feeling before DH praised him like crazy.

November 11th should be the beginning of a great year.

[CT Rhody]

Is Dowtin looking better then Robinson?

[Billyboy78]

Two very different types of players. We've talked about Dowtin and that he's comfortable at either guard spot. Both a good ball handler and a good shooter. Robinson is a slasher who will attack the rim. He's also a very good defensive player. I see him using his speed on the break filling the lane and getting some easy baskets and dunks, very athletic.

[reef]

Great reports !! Can't wait for Nov 11th

[DanInAZ]

Thank you for the reports!

[Iggy1979]

Practice is open to media today. Expect reports coming out of that.

[ATPTourFan]

Bill Koch of the Providence Journal is there, tweeting his observations:

[Section104]

Jarvis Garrett broke his jaw on the same spin move in the lane he's performing today without any difficulty. He's back.

[ATPTourFan]

Jarvis Garrett broke his jaw on the same spin move in the lane he's performing today without any difficulty. He's back.

Funny Funny Funny

[adam914]

Getting more and more excited about Dowtin with everything we hear.

[ATPTourFan]

[ATPTourFan]

[reef]

Jeez I would hope he would get Lamar and the 2 assistant coaches under him Murph and ARD. Poor T Bell and Luther lol