Women?s Basketball Preseason Report
10/23/2008 4:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO,
“It (practice) has been good,” said Cram. “I like their work ethic and they have been working hard, but we just have a lot to learn. We have six newcomers plus Logan Youngblood who redshirted last year. That is half your ball club. It (practice) is slower than this time last year because we only had one freshman last season.”
The Lady Eagles feature six newcomers on this year's team. Coach Cram has had the team focusing on fundamentals in the early going. “We are working on getting their legs under them and on full court play. We are trying to get all the fundamentals in from the shooting, to the passing, to the ball handling. We are going to continue that, but we are starting on putting plays into our offenses,” stated Cram.
The Women's Basketball team spent the early part of practice Wednesday working on getting the ball into the paint. They also went through three-on-three rebounding drills and then worked on transitioning the ball from defense to offense. The Lady Eagles wrapped up practice by working on some offensive plays.
“Today's practice was very sluggish because we added two more options off of our motion offense and with six freshmen it was very confusing,” said Cram. “We are also trying to work on our transition defense and offense going into our half court sets.”
The coaching staff also emphasized making free throws in Wednesday's session.
POINT GUARD
Arguably the deepest position on the team is point guard. Carolyn Whitney and Jamie Navarro return up top for the Lady Eagles. Both of them played a significant number of minutes at point guard last season.
“I think they have been great, and I am very pleased with both of them,” said Cram. “They are both focused and competing well for the time. I think it is making them both better and this team better.”
The Lady Eagles also have experienced depth at the position. Both seniors Ashley Rivens and Ashley Melson have played the point guard position in their careers at Georgia Southern and if needed can return to the point if called upon. However, according to Cram he would like to keep his seniors on the perimeter as much as possible
“Rivens and Melson can both play the point guard. They have both played it before for us in their freshman years,” stated Cram. “We really have four point guards if we need them, but we are going to focus on Carolyn and Jamie at the Point position and keep Rivens and Melson out on the wing as much as we can.”
The Lady Eagles continue their preparation this week with practices Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
