Sunday was the summer solstice, longest day of the year.
Because of the severe meteorological conditions, it was also a Marc Weinberg kind of nighttime. The hyperventilating TV weather junkie surely set a PR for screen time, tracking tornado warnings, wind rotations, dust signatures, and admonitions for viewers to “get to your safe place NOW.”
The dude was in heaven.*
*Which peripheral mention has nothing to do with U of L hoops; I just get such an addictive kick when he’s on a roll.
Anyway, the morning
after, a day a smidge shorter, arrived with a softball sized raindrop deluge that soon abated.
And then the treat. A first hint of what’s ahead. A hoopaholic’s heart was full.
Pat Kelsey and some of his/our still mysterious team were having a presser.*
*I inquired of SID Dana Brown if we of the Fourth and Fifth Estates might get a peek at an actual workout, like being able to see Bo (Bojuan Zhang) and his mates actually ball? “I’m working on something for July,” said she.
There’s rarely much of true substance one can gain for some such Q & As. It’s more about getting a feel for the situation. Getting a sense of Kelsey’s ever rah rah state of mind. The character of the players provided.
* * * * *
It has been clear that the addition of two new Associate Head Coaches — Sean Dixon and John Andrzejek — and the roster construction dynamics required inquiring whether PK was undergoing some strategic and philosophical shift?
In a revelatory moment, he stated he took “an intentional approach to increase our length, our athleticism, and in particular our rim protection.”
Goodbye reticent Sananda Fru. Hello Flory Bidunga, Obinna Ekezie Jr., Gabe Dynes, Alvaro Fogueiras, and Karter Knox.
The Coach also shared that he “self evaluates on a drill by drill basis.”
* * * * *
There are roster spots still available.
PK: “We are always beating the bushes globally.”
(I’m advised that after cutting bait with last year’s redshirt Mo Camara, who committed to EKU, Kelsey made entreaties to the player to return. Which were rejected.)
* * * * *
He was asked about each player, and, frankly, the responses were the usual borderline platitudinal palaver. Minimal insight to be honest.
Great speed. Underrated passer. incredible assist/ turnover ratio. Well coached before he got here. Shot maker. Triple threat. Mature beyond his years.
Except for two players, about which there was illuminating insight.
Isaac Ellis.
“He’s a bulldog,” PK said with glee in his eyes.
“I think he leads the country in practice fights to this point so far.
“If he’s tied up for a loose ball, you’re going to have to saw his arm off to get him off the ball — or blow the whistle 8,000 times.”
When Ellis’s name was mentioned, the players we had access to — Bidunga, Jackson Shelstad, Adrian Woooley, Karter Knox — to the man either rolled his eyes, kind of smirked, or looked at each other knowingly.
Which is to say, Ellis has made an impression.
Will Hanke.
Yes, the walk on from St. X. The guy who got mop up duty in ten games last campaign. One bucket. A few boards.
But here’s why.
PK: “Will’s the connector of all connectors.”
With a put together total makeover of a squad, that’s leadership.
Coordinated bowling outings, fishing trips. Gatherings. Dinners.
Both Bidunga and Shelstad, obviously the team leaders, gave a shout out to Hanke.
Contributions to the good of the whole take different forms. Hanke’s isimportant and critical.
* * * * *
My main takeaway of the morning, what got me more excited than anything about the season ahead — not that it takes much — the presence of Bidunga and Shelstad. The sense of their character.
They are both quite articulate — though Bidunga has a heavy accent — obviously bright, and mature.
Together on the rostrum, they also seem to have developed a bond.
Asked if they were kind of a package deal, since they visited on the same weekend and committed at the same time, Shelstad advised they weren’t really.
I observe, from the answer, the two sensed at some point it would be beneficial to play together.
They’d known each other in HS and through camps.
I also loved how Bidunga showed some friendly snark to a reporter when he was asked about his Derby experience.
I, being totally smitten with the incredible World Cup going on, had to ask the native of Kinshasa, DR Congo, if he’d been following the soccer?
Replying with mock horror, he “stared” at me and shot back, “Where do you think I’m going to be on Saturday?”
Correct answer: Atlanta. DR Congo vs. Uzbekistan.
* * * * *
Before I close this out, I’ll share the question I came oh so close to asking Kelsey, but in a fit of level-headedness, opted not to.
“Coach, what’s it like to coach college players who are making more money than you are?”
— c d kaplan
