WE TALKIN’ ‘BOUT PRACTICE
By Chris Kowalczyk
10-15-09

In the unforgettable words of Allen Iverson, “We talkin’ ‘bout practice.”

Another season of VCU Basketball kicks off on Friday, Oct. 16, the first date allowed by NCAA regulations. Over the course of the next four weeks, both Men’s Basketball Coach Shaka Smart and Women’s Coach Beth Cunningham will attempt to teach offensive and defensive philosophies, hone fundamentals, construct a playing rotation and approximately 1,000 other things before the first games begin.

Much is unsettled and needs to be sorted out, but one thing is for certain, they’re ready to get down to business.

“My excitement level couldn’t be any higher,” Smart said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and now it’s finally here. I prefer action over talk anyway. It’s time to put the ball down on the floor and go to work.”

Cunningham echoed Smart’s sentiments.

“This is what you wait for, is a chance to get out on the court,” Cunningham said. “What people don’t realize is all the time that goes into the other things that go into being a coach. So when you finally get to the point in the season where you get to do what you love to do, you certainly look forward to it.”

Both Rams’ basketball squads are coming into this year from similar places. Each reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago and is being asked to replace one of, if not the best, player in school history in Quanitra Hollingsworth for the women and Eric Maynor for the men.

“Each new year, it’s a new team, a new identity,” Cunningham said. “Part of the fun is seeing how each team develops its own identity, its own mark in the program.”

On a personal level, Cunningham and Smart are coming from very different places. Cunningham is in her seventh season at the helm of the women’s program, while Smart is about to begin his first year as VCU’s men’s coach.

For Smart, a measured, organized guy, the race to get ready is an ongoing fight.

“It’s a huge change,” Smart said of his first head coaching job. “When you’re an assistant coach, everyone talks about how different it is when you make the move 24 inches over, but you never really understand it until you do it.

“It’s somewhat of a paradox, in that, I worked at five schools as an assistant coach, and worked for some great mentors. I felt like I prepared myself for this opportunity, but at the same time, in so many ways you really can’t be prepared until you do it.”

In order to ready for Oct. 16, both staffs have been busy, mixing meetings with recruiting visits, administrative duties, public appearances, you name it.

Cunningham says her staff meets, ‘at least once a day’ this time of year. Smart had a slightly different approach. Monday and Tuesday, the men’s basketball staff holed itself up in a conference room at the Richmond Marriott, where they held what Smart called a “coaches summit,” a practice he learned while working with Oliver Purnell at Clemson and Dayton.

From approximately 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., the staff met to hash out nearly everything. We mean everything.

”It was a couple of days of extensive meetings, talking about full court pressure, practice logistics, chemistry, to staff responsibilities, everything surrounding the start of the season,” Smart said.

But we’re not done.

 “The ways to guard different ball screens, different ways to get the ball inside, what to do when the ball goes inside, transition defense, intricacies of our running game, rebounding, different drills, everything. We could have kept going for five days.”

Whether they consider themselves ready or not, they’ll have their whistles out on Friday. It’s a time to put aside all other distractions, bear down and just coach. It’s an opportunity to work towards building a winner away from the limelight.

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