There may be someone who knows what actually happened at Sunday's practice at the Hitting Wonderland. I am not that person. The reason why will become apparent shortly.
Coach Andrew began practice by demanding that the Mudcats exhibit some mustard. Not because it was lunch time (although it was), but because he felt that little extra feistiness had been missing at Saturday's game. He divided the practice into multiple stations: basketball, tee, Hurricane, soft toss, live pitching, and hit-a-way.
A coach and/or parent was assigned to each station based on the one their skills best matched. The tallest, highest-jumping, sweetest-shooting individual was assigned to basketball. The primary duty for adults at that station was to prevent wrestling matches on the concrete when going after loose balls. A quick scouting report on the Mudcats on the basketball court:
Gabe: Do not try to wrestle him for a loose ball.
LB: Good movement without the ball. High-pitched shriek valuable at scaring off defenders.
Asher: Really good at saying, "I'm open!" Not so good at actually being open.
Christopher: Spent most of his time in the paint. Tough on the baseline.
Brenner: The next Spud Webb. Please tell me you remember Spud Webb.
Drew: Likes to get the ball around the top of the key. Has been known to tackle the man with the ball to subdue him.
Smiley: Approximately the same love for passing as Allen Iverson. Dangerous with the bank shot.
Anthony: Heady player. He may have actually tried to take a charge at one point.
JJ: Victim of perhaps the best line of the day, when he took off his shirt to play football and Coach Tom replied, "Hold on, JJ, it's getting kind of bright. Let me put on my sunglasses."
Charley: Turning seven on Monday, which is key because it resulted in cupcakes for the entire team (plus a few parents).
Big Ben: Actually made the effort to set screens in a driveway basketball game. Clearly a typical Tar Heel student of the game.
Hayes: A sneaky player. Hangs out quietly by the rim and waits for you to forget him. Then will either get the pass and score, or pull himself up on the rim like Spider-Man to block shots.
Tyler: Quickness enables him to be a good offensive rebounder.
Luke (ringer): Absolutely deadly moving to his right and firing in the right-handed bank shot on the run.
Bags (ringer): The playmaker.
Cole (ringer): Tall like a power forward (considering the competition), but with the playmaking skills of a point guard.
Adam (ringer): Just making sure...no one was actually watching the basketball station, right? OK, good. In that case--Incredibly talented, likely to be a first-round draft pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Registered a triple-double (blocks/steals/times saying, "Hold on, I'm tired").
The next practice is Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Method Road.
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