Practice update

With three days before their big matchup with the Canisius Golden Griffs, the men's basketball team hit the practice court at 3:30 this afternoon. The Stags seemed to be working hard, but Head Coach Ed Cooley gave the practice a "D-". However, Cooley quickly said that the team has not had a A practice all season, so a D- is pretty good.

• The team started the practice with a walk through of the plays they will be running against Canisius. The team's starters, Jonathan Han `09, Devin Johnson `10, Michael Van Schaick `07, Greg Nero `10, and Anthony Johnson `10 walked through the plays. The team was focusing on the defense of Canisius, which Cooley said that the Griffs will try to deny the ball to the post and will fight hard through screens.
• Following the walk through the team ran a boxing out drill. Cooley emphasized to his players the importance of rebounding, saying that the team is the worst in the league in defensive rebounding and that it would depend on the coaches to fix that.
• My first look at Michael Evanovich, a transfer from Iowa, in play, he looks like a good find for the Stags. He was able to take the big men guarding him off the dribble and also take mid-range to long-range shots. His size and shooting ability make him a threat that should be a major help for the Stags next season.
• The team also spent a good amount of time working on their full court press plays.
• Devin Johnson `10 was very impressive during practice. Seeing how hard he works, it is easy to see why he is a starter. At one point during the defensive rebounding drill, he grabbed 4 rebounds from the offensive side, skying in and fighting hard for the ball. Coach Simon pressured him to get one, then told him to get a second and he did, and then seemed impressed by his hustle to get two more. Also the team was running sprints and had 7.4 seconds to get down the court. Cooley chose who he thought were the fastest players to do it. He then asked any he did not choose if they wanted to step up and Johnson did. He ended up being the fastest down and back.
• The team ran a scrimmage with a red team made up of Danny Oglesby, Rich Flemming, Herbie Allen, Marty O'Sullivan/Michael Evanovich, and Roi Buchbinder against a white team of Michael Van Schaick, Jonathan Han, Anthony Johnson, Devin Johnson and Greg Nero. The red team won easily 13-5. Mamadou Diakhate and Geoff Middleton had class and were not in practice.

-Tom Cleary