Houston Cougars' 1st day of practice for the 2011-'12 Season

POSTED: October 14, 2011 -- 11:10 p.m. CDT

Though news of the Big East's decision to invite the University of Houston (and five other universities) to join the league is very, very big news, Houston Cougars' head coach James Dickey and his team were sweating and competing during their first day of practice for the 2011-2012 basketball season.

While watching practice, one thing is very obvious: the Coogs are quite athletic; however, being great athletes does not equate to being great basketball players. Yet.

The 2011-2012 squad is young (only one senior, 9 freshmen or sophomores) and inexperienced; but, the squad is talented.

"We're going to be young," Coach Dickey said. "We're going to be inexperienced. We're going to have some growing pains; but, I really expect this group to play really hard and be extremely competitive."

Darian Thibodeaux, the lone senior on the team, could barely contain his enthusiasm.

"I'm so excited!" Thibodeaux said. "I'm probably over-excited. I'm just ready to get it (the season) going and ready to get it underway."

As the only senior on the team, Thibodeaux understands he must lead by example on and off the court; however, he doesn't believe leading the team will be a problem.

"I am the senior; so, I bring quite a bit of experience and knowledge to the game for the young fellas," said Tip. "But, off the court, that's just and every day thing. Just doing everything right on the court and off the court."

The team's overall talent and athleticism is improved compared to last year's team; but, both qualities need to be channelled into a big weakness from last season: team defense.

"Last year, we dropped a lot of games that we should have won," Thibodeaux said candidly. "But, this year, we're taking a fresh approach on defense and just really getting after the ball."

Since defense is extremely important to Coach Dickey, he echoed Thibodeaux's statement.

"To make sure they play hard; understand the concepts and help one another. We didn't do a good job always helping (on defense) last year," Dickey admitted. "That's an area that we've got to get better in where we help people out.

Coach Dickey knows his team is talented; and, he's looking forward to teaching and helping his players get better.

"They're talented and that's the good thing," said Dickey. "They're going to be able to do a lot of things that you don't coach; and, that's one of the things we want to do. We want to give them some freedom.

"We want them to play fast; but, at the same time, we want them to take care of the basketball and not turn it over. We want to be a better rebounding team. We've got be better defensively; and, they understand all the things and the areas that we want to better in."

Coach Dickey summarized what he's looking forward to about this team: "The one neat thing I've told our coaches is, with eight new players, we're going to get to do a lot of teaching and that's what coaching is all about."

The first day of practice is a day of hope and optimism for each season for nearly every team in every sport. Thibodeaux was so excited about this season, he said, "I think we're going to win Conference."

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