Freedom Hall Open Practice Report

Just got back from the practice. It was a fun, light-hearted affair, definitely nowhere near one of his real practices (I assume).

Starting off, he had the players come out and sign autographs for 20 minutes. It was entertaining to watch as a player would leave one position and huge groups of fans would cheer loudly to try to grab the player's attention. Best part was Patterson weaving between two corners, goading them into thying to outcheer the other corner.

Orton and Liggins did not practice. Calipari gave the explanation that they both had an important class in the morning, and that they stayed in Lexington tonight. Both will be at the game tomorrow. Strangely, Cousins was wearing Orton's #33 Practice jersey.

After the autograph session, the players spent about 10 minutes just generally shooting around. Nothing special. Once Calipari got finished signing autographs himself, the players split into guards and bigs, and worked on special skills. Guards worked mainly on dribbling to the elbow then kicking out to the wing for a 3-pointer. The bigs worked on their turnarounds, both into the lane and out into the wing, and shot 18-footers.

During this time, Calipari had gathered about 6 5-8 year old children. At random times they would come out and shoot free throws until they hit one. Players would give them pointers or scoot them up if they missed. Whenever one of the kids hit their shot, the people in the arena would give out a good cheer, and players would high-five the kids as they walked off the court.

The next phase of the practice was a three-point shooting contest where the team was split in two. The Blue team consisted of Cousins, Harris, Stevenson, Dodson and Krebs. The White team consisted of Wall, Patterson, Harrellson, Miller and Bledsoe. Teams would line-up, player would take a shot, grab his own rebound, kick it to the next player in line and repeat. The first team to hit 10 gets a point and it was best of 7. After each round, they would move around the three-point line similar to a three-point contest at an all-star game.

Surprisingly, the Blue team won four rounds in a row to complete the sweep. Each side of the stadium kept count for one of the teams, and led to a very fun atmosphere as the round got closer to 10. Blue side was jumping up and down, raucous, whenever that 10th shot went in.

After this, Calipari called a close to the practice and let the players go back to signing autographs.

Overall, I liked the practice. For the serious basketball fanatic it would have been nice to actually watch them run some drills and see what a normal practice looks like. On the other hand, most of the audience were parents with little kids, and they were totally into every aspect of it. Calipari knows how to keep a crowd happy. I can't wait to go back tomorrow and cheer on the team in the real deal.

Best part of the night came in two parts. First, 10 minutes before the players came out, three boys run out onto the court and start jumping up and down on the Cardinals logo on center court. Very cute and the crowd got a kick out of it. Second, staying in the spirit of this, Harrellson and Cousins line up on either end of the center line, run at each other and do a back bump at center court, coming down loudly onto the cardinal logo. Wall and Bledsoe quickly line up to do the same but are stopped by Asst. Coach Antigua before they can finish the maneuver.

The crowd went absolutely nuts when Cuz and Jorts launched, and gave a mild jeer to Orlando for breaking up the second round.

I hope you enjoy this summary, and if you have any questions, feel free to post and I will answer what I can.