Colorado University Athletics
Peyton Carter brings the ball up the floor in transition during Monday's practice.
Photo by: Jeremy Cannon
CU Prepping For Europe Trip With Practices Before Three-Game Stretch In Italy
August 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – Colorado's women's basketball team hit the halfway point of its 10 allotted practices on Monday before its trip to Italy that starts this weekend. The Buffs are preparing for their foreign tour that will include three exhibition games.
College teams are allowed to take a foreign tour once every four years to allow student-athletes the opportunity to experience cultures abroad. It's an experience that general students often have, but due to the time commitments for their sports, college athletes are often grounded back at home as they train and compete during the season and offseason.
CU embarks on the 10-day trip to Italy on Sunday, a trip that will mostly involve sightseeing, but will include three games and a practice leading up to the competition.
This current period of 10 practices is a unique stretch of time for the entire team as they normally have this time off from basketball and are just working out in the weight room and taking summer classes in early August.
"It's different doing things that we usually do in October or November now," senior guard Kennedy Leonard said. "It's fun because we get to get into it early so we will be better at it by [October]. It's a little shaky at times, but I think it's good to get the chemistry down and get us all playing together in more of a game-like setting."
The practices in August are also an adjustment for the coaching staff.
"It's an interesting thing to try to plan a practice because a coach has in their mind what a practice looks like," head coach JR Payne said. "It's rebounding, it's breakdowns. But a practice in August as you're preparing for three games is different than a practice in October preparing for games a month later. So we've been trying to play live more, get up and down [the floor] some. The other thing is we're just not in practice shape to go for several hours. We're doing a lot of shooting, a lot of half-court, as we're trying to get in shape for going up-and-down."
Payne and her coaching staff are also installing a new offensive scheme so the practices have been completely new to everyone, veterans included. The Buffs plan to utilize their strengths in the backcourt more this season and the new offense revolves around that philosophy.
"[The new offense] is a lot more spread out and plays to our strengths in that we've got good guards on the perimeter and have got some big guards on the perimeter," Payne said. "And our posts are really versatile this year. We're not trying to force a square peg into a round hole, like forcing Mya (Hollingshed) to be a low-post kid. That's not her strength. To be able to play with her strengths and the strengths of all of our posts on the perimeter really fits our personnel. It just takes time and patience for everyone."
CU's Italy itinerary includes time in Rome, Florence, Venice and the Lake Como area. The Buffs will have a significant amount of time to sightsee and experience the culture on their own. It will be an opportunity to see historical sites that they have read about in books and learned in school.
Leonard is looking forward to riding through the canals in Venice. She also believes the trip will help team chemistry and bring them closer together.
"I'm looking forward to just having fun and hanging out with people," Leonard said. "Here in Boulder, sometimes you just do the same things over-and-over again repetitively and it can get monotonous. We don't get to go on the boats in the canals all the time like we will in Italy. To be able to experience that for the first time, to be together, will help bond us throughout the whole season."
Payne is also excited for the sightseeing.
"I honestly am looking forward to everything because I've never been there so I don't know a lot about any of it," Payne said. "The boats on the canal will be cool (like Kennedy said). Seeing the Vatican will be cool. One of my favorite movies of all-time is Gladiator, so the Colosseum will be really cool. But just being together, the bus, the plane, the airport, the food, everything that we will do will be really unique and fun."
The team departs Denver early Sunday morning, then connects in Dallas before arriving in Rome at 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday. The team will remain in Rome with one practice scheduled there before bussing to Florence on Thursday. On Saturday, the Buffs will bus to Venice and stay just outside the city in Mestre for two more nights, before the final stretch of the trip in Como starting on Monday, Aug. 20.
The team's first game is Friday, Aug. 17 in Ponte Buggianese, near Florence, against an Italian Select team. The second game is Sunday, Aug. 19, against ASD Pallacanestro Inter Club Muggia in Trieste near Venice. The final competition is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21, against Basket Costa in Costa Masnaga, near Como.
College teams are allowed to take a foreign tour once every four years to allow student-athletes the opportunity to experience cultures abroad. It's an experience that general students often have, but due to the time commitments for their sports, college athletes are often grounded back at home as they train and compete during the season and offseason.
CU embarks on the 10-day trip to Italy on Sunday, a trip that will mostly involve sightseeing, but will include three games and a practice leading up to the competition.
This current period of 10 practices is a unique stretch of time for the entire team as they normally have this time off from basketball and are just working out in the weight room and taking summer classes in early August.
"It's different doing things that we usually do in October or November now," senior guard Kennedy Leonard said. "It's fun because we get to get into it early so we will be better at it by [October]. It's a little shaky at times, but I think it's good to get the chemistry down and get us all playing together in more of a game-like setting."
The practices in August are also an adjustment for the coaching staff.
"It's an interesting thing to try to plan a practice because a coach has in their mind what a practice looks like," head coach JR Payne said. "It's rebounding, it's breakdowns. But a practice in August as you're preparing for three games is different than a practice in October preparing for games a month later. So we've been trying to play live more, get up and down [the floor] some. The other thing is we're just not in practice shape to go for several hours. We're doing a lot of shooting, a lot of half-court, as we're trying to get in shape for going up-and-down."
Payne and her coaching staff are also installing a new offensive scheme so the practices have been completely new to everyone, veterans included. The Buffs plan to utilize their strengths in the backcourt more this season and the new offense revolves around that philosophy.
"[The new offense] is a lot more spread out and plays to our strengths in that we've got good guards on the perimeter and have got some big guards on the perimeter," Payne said. "And our posts are really versatile this year. We're not trying to force a square peg into a round hole, like forcing Mya (Hollingshed) to be a low-post kid. That's not her strength. To be able to play with her strengths and the strengths of all of our posts on the perimeter really fits our personnel. It just takes time and patience for everyone."
CU's Italy itinerary includes time in Rome, Florence, Venice and the Lake Como area. The Buffs will have a significant amount of time to sightsee and experience the culture on their own. It will be an opportunity to see historical sites that they have read about in books and learned in school.
Leonard is looking forward to riding through the canals in Venice. She also believes the trip will help team chemistry and bring them closer together.
"I'm looking forward to just having fun and hanging out with people," Leonard said. "Here in Boulder, sometimes you just do the same things over-and-over again repetitively and it can get monotonous. We don't get to go on the boats in the canals all the time like we will in Italy. To be able to experience that for the first time, to be together, will help bond us throughout the whole season."
Payne is also excited for the sightseeing.
"I honestly am looking forward to everything because I've never been there so I don't know a lot about any of it," Payne said. "The boats on the canal will be cool (like Kennedy said). Seeing the Vatican will be cool. One of my favorite movies of all-time is Gladiator, so the Colosseum will be really cool. But just being together, the bus, the plane, the airport, the food, everything that we will do will be really unique and fun."
The team departs Denver early Sunday morning, then connects in Dallas before arriving in Rome at 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday. The team will remain in Rome with one practice scheduled there before bussing to Florence on Thursday. On Saturday, the Buffs will bus to Venice and stay just outside the city in Mestre for two more nights, before the final stretch of the trip in Como starting on Monday, Aug. 20.
The team's first game is Friday, Aug. 17 in Ponte Buggianese, near Florence, against an Italian Select team. The second game is Sunday, Aug. 19, against ASD Pallacanestro Inter Club Muggia in Trieste near Venice. The final competition is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21, against Basket Costa in Costa Masnaga, near Como.
Players Mentioned
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