Katie Anding

November 28, 2005

Emory Basketball season is finally here again!

Last week was probably everyone’s favorite week of the basketball season. We finally got to see the results of the hard work we put in during pre-season with the year’s opening games. This year though, things have been a little different seeing as we now have a new gym floor, new varsity weight room, no more P6 drills and of course our 10 new freshmen.

This year also brings another first and that is the question of the day. Instead of just having a quote at the beginning of practice, Coach T now asks the team a random question (never sports related now that I think about it…) and makes it a competition between classes to see who can answer the most correctly. Lynn always gets really excited and Coach usually has to quiet down all the trash talking before she speaks. Right now, my fellow classmates and I have taken a commanding lead over everyone else. In second place is the sophomore class, consisting of Rizzo, who will have 19 points one day and 27 the next. You girls better get studying if you don’t want to get embarrassed…

We also have an addition of a new assistant coach. Sadly, she came from the dark side…cough, cough…Wash U. But don’t worry, she’s fitting in nicely and is really motivational. Even though she’s great on the court, she still hasn’t gotten used to our bathroom conversations.

Despite these changes, there are still some things that remain the same. Beth still has no balance and falls when no one is near her, Dutch still has injuries that no one can diagnose, and when Coach T comes wearing all black, we know it’s going to be a hard practice.

Even though we have had so many changes all the returners have adapted nicely and the freshmen have meshed well into the system. We saw just how well everyone had adapted in the first game in which we beat Bridgewater. It was a great game – the stands were full, the team was ready, there were no injuries (knock on wood) and of course, it helped that we won. It was the perfect way to start the season. However, maybe because we were a little overzealous about our win over Bridgewater, we let our next game slip away by two points. Our loss to Oglethorpe shouldn’t have happened and now we know what we did wrong and how to correct it.

After a nice Thanksgiving break, the team headed back to Atlanta for practice and then a short trip to Mobile, AL. The long bus ride must have taken a toll on our legs because we ended up down by 19 points at one point in the first half to Spring Hill College. However, we’re not a team to back down and ended up winning the game by one point (thanks to a game saving call by Coach Ciccone). Overall, it’s been a great start to our season and we look forward to adding a few more wins to our column.

Katie Anding is a junior from Houston, Texas. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.