Practice (lots of it) makes perfect for CU sophomore Kennedy Leonard.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Leonard, Buffs Hope To Be Reenergized For WNIT Appearance
March 15, 2017 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
CU faces UNLV at Coors Events Center on Thursday night in first-round game
BOULDER – When the Colorado women's basketball team was eliminated from the Pac-12 Conference Tournament earlier this month, all coach JR Payne, her staff and players could do was wait for word from the WNIT that they would play on or call it a season.
It seemed like a good time, reasoned Payne, for everyone to take some time off from hoops.
Payne and most of the others did. Ousted by Washington State on Thursday night, March 2, the Buffaloes returned to Boulder the following day – and Payne and her family, which includes husband/associate head coach Toriano Towns, settled in for a non-hoops weekend.
"I spent the entire weekend at home with my kids, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd done that," recalled Payne. "We got to church again, took them to Chuck E. Cheese – we were all very normal for two days."
As for her players, they were given five days off. And when they regrouped it was for a couple of days conditioning only. Said Payne: "It was more so they could just get a mental break from basketball, focus on school and get caught up on stuff and just be away from it."
That plan held for most of her players – but not Kennedy Leonard. Pushing Leonard away from basketball is as likely as pushing the earth out of orbit. Leonard's world revolves around basketball; keeping her out of the gym might require handcuffs and shackles.
"She does (need it) but she doesn't like to take time off . . . she's always in the gym," Payne said. "But we made her take a few days. I think it's been good for her."
Leonard's recollection is a little different.
"I haven't taken time off, I've been in the gym every day," she said. "I can't stay away from it . . . I'd rather be in the gym. I don't have to be shooting. I could be literally sitting there just surrounded by the court and the gym and be happy. But yeah, I have to force myself – and 'Coach J' is like, 'Go rest, go eat something, go take a break.' But it takes everything in me to not be in here."
BUT THERE WAS AT LEAST a break in the practice grind for Leonard, a sophomore guard who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors after leading the Buffs in scoring (16.8 ppg), assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.5 spg). Leonard needs five assists to tie Ann Troyan's school single-season record (177, 1979-80).
She also plays more minutes (34.5) than any of her teammates, which undoubtedly is in direct correlation to the hours she logs in the gym. But Leonard concedes that, yes, a short break from practice has been good for her.
"It's been good for my mind more than anything," she said the other day, taking a brief respite from having a team manager feed her the ball for pre-practice shooting. "You get so used to going four hours a day every day and thinking about basketball the entire time.
"To have a couple of days off to think about school work, family or me and what I want to do, get sweet tea at Chick fil a or something like that . . . that's been relieving."
It's an even bigger relief that Leonard's season is still alive. On Monday night the Buffs received (and accepted) a bid to play in the WNIT. They face UNLV on Thursday night (7 p.m.) in the Coors Events Center.
After the Buffs learned their first-round opponent, Leonard and her roommate – backcourt mate Alexis Robinson – got busy.
"It's March Madness," Leonard said, laughing. "(Monday) night we were all waiting around our phones waiting for that text from 'Coach J.' When we got it we were looking up UNLV, scouting film . . . me and 'Lex' watched their game film of Fresno State and Utah State (in the Mountain West Tournament) and took notes. We scouted them a little in our own minds. It's exciting."
UNLV finished the season at 22-10, CU at 15-15. Like the Buffs, the Lady Rebels favor an up-tempo pace, with four of their players averaging in double figures, topped by Dakota Gonzalez at 13.3 points a game. UNLV is bigger than Payne's bunch and rebounds more effectively (about six more per game) than the Buffs.
Payne is very familiar with veteran UNLV coach Kathy Olivier and most of her staff, and says they always were "welcoming" is discussing their trade with Payne: "They took time to talk to us when we were young assistants."
She also says the Lady Rebels' style mirrors Olivier's "tough-minded" approach. "They're aggressive, feisty . . . it should be two similar teams on Thursday night."
But here's one big difference: the Lady Rebels' bench is short. "They don't play a lot of people; they rely heavily on those four players, particularly their guards," Payne said. "Some of them play Kennedy Leonard-type minutes. It's important that we're aggressive and try to take advantage of that."
LEONARD'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS of the Lady Rebels: "They're pretty athletic but they don't push too hard in transition. They like their pull-up game, they're aggressive on defense . . . I think if we speed them, play our fundamental game and are aggressive we should be OK."
The Buffs haven't played in the WNIT since 2014. They're 12-5 in the tournament, including 10-3 at the CEC. And they've advanced past the first round in each of their previous five WNIT appearances.
All of those are favorable factoids for CU, but for Payne and Leonard the mere fact that their season isn't over is exhilarating.
Payne called reaching the postseason in her first season "really important. It's great for our young players who are now getting a taste of the postseason for the first time. It's great for our seniors who haven't been in the postseason since their freshman year. It's great for the program, recruiting, for everyone. As long as you can keep playing it's a good thing."
You know how Leonard feels about merely being in the gym, and you shouldn't be surprised at what continuing with games in mid-March means to her.
"It's hard to put into words after the season we had last year," she said. "We're going from seven wins to 15. People might look at it and say, 'Oh, it's not a huge turnaround,' but it's a pretty big turnaround. It's double the wins. I think more than just the wins, it's the attitude about it.
"Coming here I wanted to bring the program to a place where you're consistently going to the postseason. For us to get over that little hedge and in 'J' and her staff's first year, I think it speaks volumes to the way they coach and the program they're going to create.
"You can tell this is a program that's going to be on the rise for a little while. Hopefully we're going to be prominent in the women's basketball world. I think it means that times can be tough – last year was one of the toughest years of my life – but at the same time tough times don't always last. This might not be the NCAA Tournament but it's the postseason and that's a huge thing."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
It seemed like a good time, reasoned Payne, for everyone to take some time off from hoops.
Payne and most of the others did. Ousted by Washington State on Thursday night, March 2, the Buffaloes returned to Boulder the following day – and Payne and her family, which includes husband/associate head coach Toriano Towns, settled in for a non-hoops weekend.
"I spent the entire weekend at home with my kids, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd done that," recalled Payne. "We got to church again, took them to Chuck E. Cheese – we were all very normal for two days."
As for her players, they were given five days off. And when they regrouped it was for a couple of days conditioning only. Said Payne: "It was more so they could just get a mental break from basketball, focus on school and get caught up on stuff and just be away from it."
That plan held for most of her players – but not Kennedy Leonard. Pushing Leonard away from basketball is as likely as pushing the earth out of orbit. Leonard's world revolves around basketball; keeping her out of the gym might require handcuffs and shackles.
"She does (need it) but she doesn't like to take time off . . . she's always in the gym," Payne said. "But we made her take a few days. I think it's been good for her."
Leonard's recollection is a little different.
"I haven't taken time off, I've been in the gym every day," she said. "I can't stay away from it . . . I'd rather be in the gym. I don't have to be shooting. I could be literally sitting there just surrounded by the court and the gym and be happy. But yeah, I have to force myself – and 'Coach J' is like, 'Go rest, go eat something, go take a break.' But it takes everything in me to not be in here."
BUT THERE WAS AT LEAST a break in the practice grind for Leonard, a sophomore guard who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors after leading the Buffs in scoring (16.8 ppg), assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.5 spg). Leonard needs five assists to tie Ann Troyan's school single-season record (177, 1979-80).
She also plays more minutes (34.5) than any of her teammates, which undoubtedly is in direct correlation to the hours she logs in the gym. But Leonard concedes that, yes, a short break from practice has been good for her.
"It's been good for my mind more than anything," she said the other day, taking a brief respite from having a team manager feed her the ball for pre-practice shooting. "You get so used to going four hours a day every day and thinking about basketball the entire time.
"To have a couple of days off to think about school work, family or me and what I want to do, get sweet tea at Chick fil a or something like that . . . that's been relieving."
It's an even bigger relief that Leonard's season is still alive. On Monday night the Buffs received (and accepted) a bid to play in the WNIT. They face UNLV on Thursday night (7 p.m.) in the Coors Events Center.
After the Buffs learned their first-round opponent, Leonard and her roommate – backcourt mate Alexis Robinson – got busy.
"It's March Madness," Leonard said, laughing. "(Monday) night we were all waiting around our phones waiting for that text from 'Coach J.' When we got it we were looking up UNLV, scouting film . . . me and 'Lex' watched their game film of Fresno State and Utah State (in the Mountain West Tournament) and took notes. We scouted them a little in our own minds. It's exciting."
UNLV finished the season at 22-10, CU at 15-15. Like the Buffs, the Lady Rebels favor an up-tempo pace, with four of their players averaging in double figures, topped by Dakota Gonzalez at 13.3 points a game. UNLV is bigger than Payne's bunch and rebounds more effectively (about six more per game) than the Buffs.
Payne is very familiar with veteran UNLV coach Kathy Olivier and most of her staff, and says they always were "welcoming" is discussing their trade with Payne: "They took time to talk to us when we were young assistants."
She also says the Lady Rebels' style mirrors Olivier's "tough-minded" approach. "They're aggressive, feisty . . . it should be two similar teams on Thursday night."
But here's one big difference: the Lady Rebels' bench is short. "They don't play a lot of people; they rely heavily on those four players, particularly their guards," Payne said. "Some of them play Kennedy Leonard-type minutes. It's important that we're aggressive and try to take advantage of that."
LEONARD'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS of the Lady Rebels: "They're pretty athletic but they don't push too hard in transition. They like their pull-up game, they're aggressive on defense . . . I think if we speed them, play our fundamental game and are aggressive we should be OK."
The Buffs haven't played in the WNIT since 2014. They're 12-5 in the tournament, including 10-3 at the CEC. And they've advanced past the first round in each of their previous five WNIT appearances.
All of those are favorable factoids for CU, but for Payne and Leonard the mere fact that their season isn't over is exhilarating.
Payne called reaching the postseason in her first season "really important. It's great for our young players who are now getting a taste of the postseason for the first time. It's great for our seniors who haven't been in the postseason since their freshman year. It's great for the program, recruiting, for everyone. As long as you can keep playing it's a good thing."
You know how Leonard feels about merely being in the gym, and you shouldn't be surprised at what continuing with games in mid-March means to her.
"It's hard to put into words after the season we had last year," she said. "We're going from seven wins to 15. People might look at it and say, 'Oh, it's not a huge turnaround,' but it's a pretty big turnaround. It's double the wins. I think more than just the wins, it's the attitude about it.
"Coming here I wanted to bring the program to a place where you're consistently going to the postseason. For us to get over that little hedge and in 'J' and her staff's first year, I think it speaks volumes to the way they coach and the program they're going to create.
"You can tell this is a program that's going to be on the rise for a little while. Hopefully we're going to be prominent in the women's basketball world. I think it means that times can be tough – last year was one of the toughest years of my life – but at the same time tough times don't always last. This might not be the NCAA Tournament but it's the postseason and that's a huge thing."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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