Fabio: Lately...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while guys...I'm not a big fan of blogs....

ANYWAY, I'm really liking what I've read these past couple weeks, keep up the posts, and thank you Niji for the comments....

Just a laundry list of things from recent practices I would like to improve on:

-Feeling better (being sick SUUUUCKS)
-Playing tighter on my man when playing downfield D - I'm becoming afraid of letting my man go deep so sometimes I let him stay a couple steps in but then can't recover when the cutter makes an in cut (The plus side is that I haven't gotten beat deep in a few weeks). Suggestions?
-More wrist action on my throws, especially my flick - Like Sean said, during warmups and drills I can pretty much make the throws, but the scrimmage rolls around and my flick becomes very arm-y. I guess all I can about that is to think minimal body movement and play all that I can in scrimmages so I get the game-situation experience. Thoughts?
-Having the courage to lay out more - I have some opportunities in scrimmages to lay out on D, but rarely take them...I guess I just need to make myself do it/still be drunk for Sunday morning practice to lay out whenever.

Keep it real,

Fabio

Fabio: Revelation from Tuesday Practice

I kind of already talked to Sean about this, but I felt that everyone should know.

I feel one big problem we had last year especially with new players and non-handlers was not looking off the strike throw as much. I feel a good portion of our turns, at least from what I can remember, was forcing the lower percentage strike throw. We need to realize that the front of the stack SHOULD be making a dump cut once the dump goes strike. This will get the disk to the opposite side of the field and will set up a deeper break side throw.. For this to happen effectively, however, the front of the stack needs to constantly be aware of where the disk is at and needs to time his cut accordingly (as soon as the handler looks off strike) to receive the disk.

Bottom Line: If the timing is not right/you are not comfortable making the strike throw, holster it and look for the around coming from the front of the stack. Changes in horizontal position, I feel, are SO effective in setting up upfield throws for massive yardage gains.

Fabio: First Real Practice

I pretty much agree with Sean...to add to that though, I'd say that Tommy Vereb played considerably well. He had a couple D's during the scrimmage. Nothing that really stands out in my mind from Matt, John, Joey, or Minner, which, like Sean said, means the freshmen knew their place and stayed the hell out of the way, haha.

As for my play, I played pretty well today during the scrimmage...I had no turns, a bookends, and solid upfield throws. I did let Kyle go deep and get a score though...damn.

Fabio - First Sunday Practice

So considering that I was still drunk until halfway through practice, I think I played pretty well. I had a couple opportunities to bid during the dish and deep drill, but I felt like I probably would've vommed if I landed on my stomach.

My defense is still a tad poachy and I REALLY need to get out of that habit. I fortunately didn't let up any outcut completions and had some solid D's toward the end of our scrimmage. I had one turn during the scrimmage, and it was a high lefty backhand to the dump, but I can't say it was entirely my fault (sorry Sean). I need to make more fakes when I have the disk, but that will come with time. I also need to work on removing the delay in my flick, because it may become blockable against high caliber teams.

I felt that my cutting overall was pretty good but not great...I need to take harder steps in my fakes and need to work on nonverbal communication with the thrower. A couple times during the scrimmage I looked off opportunities for me to continue my cut over to the break side and receive the disk.

Overall, no silly mistakes on O or D, but definitely a lot of room for improvement. The things I need to work on will give me the motivation to work my ass off.

-Fabio

Quick Review of First Day of Tryouts

I feel like I still need to get out of the mindset of Summer League (no stupid throws, look dump earlier, stop playing poached D) and return to tight D and conservative offense. Not only will I make less mistakes but I will also feel more satisfied with my playing.

I had no turns today during the scrimmage or the pickup game, but there were some missed opportunities for me to get the disk on offense, a missed opportunity to bid on a break throw to the ace (front of the stack, for those of you who don't know) on defense, and a bad beat deep that luckily resulted in a turn. I didn't have any opportunities to make any medium to long distance throws today, but I really hope to improve on not only hucks, but those accurate, high-percentage medium distance throws.

There are a handful of nubs that have played competitively in high school who already have decent throws and show good athleticism, which will make it difficult for those who have had little to no experience. I think some of the A-team players are already making unofficial decisions on who will make the team based on one day of tryouts, however, and I am not a fan of making these considerations. I think the pickup game we had was a good way to see some of the nubs play with A-team players, but we can't forget about players that show great potential who didn't play in the pickup game. We need to consider the players' tryout process in its entirety before assessing their overall ability.

-Fabio