Last year the Eckerd College Women's Basketball team finished third in the Sunshine State Conference, racking up the most wins in Eckerd history. Coming off such a successful year can pose its challenges for the 2009-2010 Women's team.
With six new players, the Tritons can be considered an “underclassmen team.”
“We are trying to figure out different combinations with new players while working on chemistry,” said Head Coach
Paul Honsinger.
From a coaching stand point, a young team means a lot of teaching. “Our practices right now are a lot of me talking and [the team] not playing as much,” adds Honsinger. “Eventually that is going to wean its way out where they are playing more and more as they understand what we are getting at.”
On Monday, the Tritons had ten healthy, ready-to-go players in practice. Honsinger said, “First time going five-on-five, so that was exciting.”
Practices are gaining momentum and intensity with each day. The team knows they have to prove themselves again this season, especially with being a young team.
There are a few key returners who know the offense since they were major contributors last year. “[We will be] leaning on the returners coming into this year with a younger team,” Honsinger said.
All the players are putting their best foot forward. As for now, there are still a couple positions up in the air.
With 80-plus practices and 25 competitions in regular season alone, the Tritons are going to have plenty of opportunities to progress as a team. Right now there is a steep learning curve which the team has to overcome. Hopefully, early non-conference games will place the team in the right direction to be better prepared for conference play in January.
Sunday, the team takes the floor against Northwood. For both teams this will be their first game of the season. That means the Tritons have no game film to help prepare for the match up. Honsinger explains, “[Its like] walking in a bit blind from a preparation stand point."
But the Tritons are going to try their best at exploiting Northwood's weaknesses while taking care of Eckerd's side of the ball.
“It will be more be about us then about them, especially this early on in the season,” Honsinger said. He went on to explain that he would like to see the team focus on the things they have been working out in practice.
The fact that they are a young team is not slowing the Tritons down. The team knows they have a lot to prove. It is the hope that through this season, the players can jump ahead quickly as they start to focus on conference play in January.
Honsinger said, “I'm really excited about this young group. I'm excited about how we can mold them to be something better than they are today and hopefully our upperclassmen can help shape some of that youth to make us better as the season goes on.”
