Texas Tech University Athletics
WBB Practice Report: Intensity and Patience
October 09, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 9, 2014
By Travis Cram
TexasTech.com
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Anyone who spends time around a Texas Tech Lady Raider basketball practice could probably walk away using at least two words to describe it -- fun and intense.
The latter is something head coach Candi Whitaker is looking to increase even on the first couple of days heading into the 2014-15 season.
"It has to be intense," Whitaker said with a smile. "We want to win and we want to do things at a high level and we've got to do it the right way. The bar's going to be high and they'll rise to that."
Part of that comes a lot from Whitaker's experience as a player in Hall of Fame head coach Marsha Sharp's system at Tech, which has been described by many Lady Raiders as intense. But Whitaker's players will tell you that's part of their head coach's style period, derived from her hard work as a head coach early on at UMKC.
The distinction between "fun" and "intense" are one in the same for senior forward Kelsi Baker.
"It's fun," Baker said. "That's the kind of intensity you want to play with and that's the kind of people you want to play with and that's what makes going to the game and those big games fun. You've worked hard in practice and you know you're prepared for them."
Those big games are some of the ones Tech would like to turn around this season. Half of its losses in 2013-14 came by 10 points or less.
"I mean we're playing in the best conference in the country," Battle said. "So we have to bring that intensity every day and go hard every day because we want to be one of the best in our league."
Whitaker and her staff planned ahead and made sure to use their first full year of recruiting as a way to bring in the right resources to help build that intensity on the court with experience and size. But with a high level of internsity and play on the court also comes a need for patience as eight newcomers learn a new system.
"Everything's new for them," Whitaker said. "Drills are new, terminology's new - every part of it is always new for a transfer or incoming freshman. So it's just a learning curve and it takes them a little bit of time. Coaches are often not patient with that but we have to be to an extent and get more reps and bring them in the office and continue to help them understan what we are trying to get done."
