Practices look a lot different for the UA womenโs basketball team these days.
Of course, you could say that about every preseason since Adia Barnes has been at the helm.
In the beginning, the Wildcats focused only on the basics. As they progressed and the talent grew, Barnes implemented her system. The coach has since fine-tuned it.
And while the Wildcats have the same amount of time to prepare for their season as in past years โ 42 days from the first practice to the first game โ everything this year seems condensed.
The team began strength and conditioning work in August. The Wildcats didnโt run their first full-contact team drills until practice started on Oct. 14.
Guard Aari McDonald says the UA is moving at a โmuch quicker pace than we were last yearโ as it prepares for a Nov. 25 opener.
Thereโs another reason why the Wildcats are pushing hard to improve. The team was headed to its first NCAA Tournament in more than a decade when the 2019-20 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the UA wants to prove that its among the best teams in the country.
Practice has already been the most competitive McDonald has seen at Arizona.
โItโs literally โฆ war. Every drill, we want to win,โ McDonald said. โAnd itโs very physical, it gets scrappy. Practice is always interesting, full of energy. It is different. Itโs really different. But itโs a good different.โ
Barnes has a new way to gauge the Catsโ progress. She asks three questions after each practice: Are they a first-round tournament team? Are they an Elite Eight team? Are they a Final Four team?
โThatโs based off our intensity, our competitiveness, how well we do the little things. If weโre talking and communicating,โ McDonald said.
โI know we had one day, we had like a first-round knockout practice. It was like, โUhh.โ We competed, but itโs like we break down. You have to be attentive; you have to focus, be more detail-oriented. We only had one of those. โฆ After that mishap, that one day, we never looked back, and we just keep going hard. โฆ Itโs been nothing but Final Four, Elite Eight practices. Thatโs all we can ask for is just keep getting better every day.โ
Earning the โAโ
For the second consecutive season, the Wildcats have to earn their โAโ in practice.
McDonald, Sam Thomas, Cate Reese and Trinity Baptiste were the first to earn it. Teammates Lauren Manumaleuga and Lauren Ware got their As on Saturday.
The โGo Beyondโ program initiated by Barnes is also continuing. Each week, coaches chart not only stats but โpassion playsโ โ who gets the most high fives, dives for balls or makes the most hard plays.
In the past, each weekโs winner would receive a pink T-shirt to wear in practice. This year, winners get gold jerseys. Baptiste and Reese won for the first two weeks of practice.
The 1% club
A new board in the Wildcatsโ locker room tracks their personal progress.
โIf you want to be great you have to be better than 99% of the rest โ so you have to be that 1%,โ Barnes said. โOur goal is to be 1% better every day.โ
Last week, players decided which things they would be working on every day. Some wanted to be more proactive with their homework, while others wanted to eat healthier and some wanted to work on their shooting.
McDonald, for example, is now taking 500 shots a day.
What is Barnesโ 1%? She wants to get back into shape after giving birth to her daughter, Capri, last month.
โIโm taking extra steps every day to get back in shape,โ she said.
Rim shots
- The Wildcats took over the NCAA womenโs basketball Instagram account Wednesday. They showed Ware and Manumaleuga going for their daily COVID-19 testing, Mara Mote hitting a no-look back-to-the-basket NBA 3-pointer, TikTok videos featuring Thomas, Helena Pueyo, Shaina Pellington, Bendu Yeaney, Lakin Gardner, Baptiste and Reese, and aired part of the UAโs practice.
- ESPNW listed Yeaney (43) and Baptiste (45) on its list of the top 50 freshmen and transfers.
- Barnes has offered scholarships to two Seattle-area prospects: forward Jenna Villa (2023) and guard Devin Coppinger (2024).
