Drill by drill, lay-up by lay-up and dribble by dribble, changes are taking place in the way the Oregon women’s basketball team operates day-to-day.
Head coach Kelly Graves was hired in April and along with him came three new assistant coaches: Mark Campbell, Jodie Berry and Nicole Powell. Since then, the team is pushing to improve in every way. Full practices will get underway for the team on Oct. 6, just over a month before the season opener at Matthew Knight Arena on Nov. 14.
“The main thing that I’ve learned since Kelly has been our coach has been going back to the basics fundamental defense,” junior Lexi Petersen said after a recent practice.
Previous head coach Paul Westhead’s philosophy for success included an emphasis on offense rather than defense. He would allow his team to give up numerous points, so long as the team could find the basket on the other end. Last year, the Ducks allowed 89.1 points per game, the most in the nation in 2013-2014.
“It’s been a challenge, but again, it’s not rocket science,” Graves said. “All these players played in high school and they know how to play the game. They’re picking things up and the energy has been great.”
Because Oregon has had such a prominent track record on offense the past couple of years, Graves anticipates defense-oriented drills in the initial season preparation.
“I always say, defense is a constant, it’s not a variable,” Graves said. “Sometimes offense is more variable. There are nights when sometimes you can’t make a bucket, but you can always defend.”
Overall, the Ducks feel optimistic about the upcoming year, with plenty of talent returning and a new coaching staff that is inspiring the team to believe in itself.
“Everyone has really stepped up the defense, the talking and we are really meshing better as a whole as opposed to last year,” Petersen said.
Off the court, Graves has had the opportunity to create close relationships with his team. Senior Amanda Delgado and freshman Lexi Bando recently joined Graves at ESPN’s College GameDay, holding a women’s basketball-themed sign in a sea of yellow and green, many hours before the sun came up.
“They are fun to be around and they are very hard-working,” Graves said. “I like the fact that they’re all eager. They want to be good, they want to be coached and so they’ve been open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.”
Junior Jillian Alleyne tweeted on Sept. 25: “Practice tonight was full of HIGH ENERGY! I love it & I love my team!#WeWorking#ItsNotEasy#ButWeWorking.”
With all the pieces finally in place for Graves and the Ducks, the program has taken a step forward, especially during the summer recruiting period.
“Honestly, I feel that I have the best staff, certainly on the west coast,” Graves said. “We’ve hit the recruiting trail hard, very hard. I think that we’ve made a lot of headway, not only in the development of our players, but also on the recruiting trail and setting our culture in place.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
 
@@New year, new energy for women’s basketball@@
@@New coach brings new energy to women’s basketball@@