SI: Wojo's big next step at Marquette
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:40 am
How Steve Wojciechowski is prepping Marquette for a foreign tour, Year 2
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... reign-trip
MILWAUKEE — The door opens to a wall of sound at the Al McGuire Center. It’s Monday, Aug. 3, and a four-game tour of Italy is a week away for Marquette. During a practice on home soil, preparation is fast, meticulous and loud. One assistant coach, Stan Johnson, crouches in a defensive stance on the sideline hollering instructions during a four-on-four drill. Another assistant, Brett Nelson, stands under the basket and barks his own counsel. Players shout to each other above the din, or try to. Defensive stops are the goal. First side to five points, earned by buckets or by preventing them, wins. The losing team sprints.
Steve Wojciechowski, the Golden Eagles’ second-year head coach, stalks the action on the perimeter with a whistle in his mouth. His team returns just four players who saw game action last winter. At this stage, Marquette’s unpredictability matches its promise. Thus the late July work is fundamental: Coaches drill down on the footwork for defensive closeouts. They issue reminders not to leave shooters in the corner. They lament a possession lost because no one blocked out for a rebound.
In one decisive sequence, Henry Ellenson, the team’s talented 6’10” freshman, drives baseline and collides with forward Luke Fischer. Fischer falls, and a cloudburst of noise follows. Ellenson is whistled for a charge he doesn’t agree with and the players in blue jerseys line up to run. Ellenson quietly protests, saying he thought the stop left the team in white one point short of a win.
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http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... reign-trip
MILWAUKEE — The door opens to a wall of sound at the Al McGuire Center. It’s Monday, Aug. 3, and a four-game tour of Italy is a week away for Marquette. During a practice on home soil, preparation is fast, meticulous and loud. One assistant coach, Stan Johnson, crouches in a defensive stance on the sideline hollering instructions during a four-on-four drill. Another assistant, Brett Nelson, stands under the basket and barks his own counsel. Players shout to each other above the din, or try to. Defensive stops are the goal. First side to five points, earned by buckets or by preventing them, wins. The losing team sprints.
Steve Wojciechowski, the Golden Eagles’ second-year head coach, stalks the action on the perimeter with a whistle in his mouth. His team returns just four players who saw game action last winter. At this stage, Marquette’s unpredictability matches its promise. Thus the late July work is fundamental: Coaches drill down on the footwork for defensive closeouts. They issue reminders not to leave shooters in the corner. They lament a possession lost because no one blocked out for a rebound.
In one decisive sequence, Henry Ellenson, the team’s talented 6’10” freshman, drives baseline and collides with forward Luke Fischer. Fischer falls, and a cloudburst of noise follows. Ellenson is whistled for a charge he doesn’t agree with and the players in blue jerseys line up to run. Ellenson quietly protests, saying he thought the stop left the team in white one point short of a win.
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