The Trojans returned to the practice court today. The day off was much needed by some of the players who were banged up on the weekend. Donte Smith practiced today showing no ill effects from the ankle sprain he suffered on Friday. Another bright spot was the return of junior forward Kasey Cunningham to the court during early position workouts.
Practice began with 5 on 0 running through offensive sets and moved into a 50 passes drill to work on ball movement. The team then broke up into two groups, guards and bigs, to work on position specific offensive and defensive skills. They then went into half court 3 on 3 working on drive & kicks and moving without the ball.
Coach O'Neill then brought the tempo of practice up by going into 3 on 3, 4 on 4, and 5 on 5 full court drills working on pushing the ball up the floor and then pulling it out if no advantage could be gained. Next, they broke into groups for shooting drills and finished practice up with half court offensive sets and out of bounds plays.
Practice did have a surprise visitor as well. Jay Bilas from ESPN College Basketball GameDay was at practice taking it all in. He was in Galen Center today filming a promo for the College GameDay show which airs on Saturday mornings during the season. The Trojan Fever Blog will have behind the scenes pictures of the shoot after it airs in November.
The Trojans resume practice tomorrow at 3pm in the Galen Center practice pavilion. As always, it is open to the public.
