As many of you know, Thursday was Kelvin Sampson's first open practice at IU. Open practices are the exception under Sampson, thanks to someone who published some of his, um, choice practice comments at Oklahoma on the internet. Thanks to the rarity of open practice, Thursday was a nice refresher, a chance to see what day-to-day practice - not just light scrimmages like Hoosier Hysteria - say about the 2006-07 Indiana Hoosiers.
So, what did yesterday's practice say? Though it's a small sample size, one word could probably work: ugly.
Practices are not meant to be fluid, exciting affairs, so Sampson and the team can surely be forgiven for that. Also, big picture-wise, it's still early. In other words, no reason to fret. But of course, things could have been better too.
Some notes from practice:
--An early starting lineup looks to be: Earl Calloway, Rod Wilmont, A.J. Ratliff, Lance Stemler, and D.J. White. Sampson showed the crowd a little of the 1 in, 4 out offense that would likely be the best way to run those five. Mike White switched in for Stemler toward the end of a 7-minute scrimmage, which would give the Hoosiers two conventional-style post players.
--Sampson was especially tough on Wilmont and Ratliff throughout practice, even making Ratliff run sprints by himself for taking two quick, lazy fouls while guarding Errek Suhr. Wilmont caught some heat for not knowing the secondary offense in spots. It's obvious Sampson expects a lot of both players this season.
--Defense might be the strength of this team. On both sides during the scrimmage - and in controlled transition drills - defense ruled, pressing nearly to half-court, challenging shots, hedging screens, the works. It was an impressive effort, especially so early in the season.
--Adam Ahlfeld is the most enthusiastic human being I've ever seen. IU fans can see him sprinting to half court to greet players after every timeout during games, but in practice, Ahlfeld turns it up a notch. (Who knew there was another notch?) During the brief scrimmage, he and Xavier Keeling usually stayed on the sideline clapping for their reserve team, but anytime anyone was called for a foul, or made a nice play, or fell down on the ground, Ahlfeld made a beeline to the middle of the court to give them a quick high five or slap on the back. It's kind of inspiring to see someone so totally enthused about the simplest of routines; if only every IU player was so excited to be in practice! At the same time, maybe Adam could take it down a few levels. Save it for more dire situations - or at least take a minute or two off.
