Shootaround: Rams Feed Off Personality

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Mar 9

8:30 p.m.

Women's Basketball

vs SF vs. No. 2 UNLV

LAS VEGAS – Work on a dance move under the basket waiting for a rep. Trying not to laugh too much as the inside joke during a drill.

The work has been crisp and the attention to detail on point, but Ryun Williams' group hasn't lost the focus the game and the process is part of the fun. A big part.

Their DNA comes from the overall personality.

"It's unserious, I think. I feel like we had a little stretch in the middle of the year where we were all really overthinking it and now when we're playing our best basketball we've been kind of loose and free and just like been able to laugh at stuff," Maddie Bragg said as the Colorado State women's basketball team prepared to open the Mountain West Tournament on Sunday. "Like when we were in there (Saturday) during film, we were all able to laugh at our mistakes as a group and I think that just makes it easier.

"Also, we just have a good time together; all of us have really good personalities and we kind of bounce off of each other and that just makes the energy even better."

Williams has been doing this a long time, and coaches can lean toward being control freaks. What he's learned through the years is he cannot control what a team's personality will be. Allowing a group to have that freedom will naturally translate to the floor.

Forcing a direction is detrimental, and no two teams are the same.

"The longer you coach, you can't control that. Why would you try to make somebody they're not?" he said. "Sometimes early on as coaches, you're probably like, this is how we need to be. This team was like this, so we've got to be like this. And I've had it all. (Gritt) Ryder's group was holy cow -- where they just focused in, all business, all the time. And they had fun too. But this group may be a little … They're a little more youthful, let's say. More gregarious, and they do have fun.

"But, again, you've got to let your team be themselves. When they're comfortable, when they feel good, they're probably going to play a lot better. So my job on a day like today is stay out of the way as much as possible, except for when we're going through the game plan and that sort of thing."

Ask Bragg what dance she was working to perfect during shootaround and she'll respond with a question of her own – "which one?"

But she's alert and paying attention. She is cool with being the butt of the joke as much as initiating laughter. All of the team is, and they all know which teammate they can rage bait best to lighten a mood or with the intent to snap someone back into the concept they are working on.

Bragg knows the first impression of her was she was shy. She is not. It didn't take long for the transfer to fit in with the group, and she's impressed with the way by them all being themselves they've developed a strong chemistry as a whole. Her take is it leans toward weird and goofy.

"Being loose and carefree. I feel like just being able to let go of things after they happen has really helped us," she said. "I mean, short-term memory is really important in basketball or in any sport, but specifically this one. I feel like we've all developed like a better ability to like be able to let things go over time."

A Quick Scouting Trip

The Mountain West requires teams to arrive in Las Vegas on Friday regardless of schedule. For teams with a first-round bye, the extra day can seem long. For the Rams, it can seem really long, being the third seed and playing the final game of the day as long as they're in the bracket.

Saturday night, as per normal, Colorado State's team went to watch the game which decided their opponent.

"I think you want your kids to kind of get in that tournament mode and just get the vibe of the tournament. You could tell at our shootaround yesterday, our kids, the first place they went when they walked into the practice facility was across the hall to watch the game at the Thomas & Mack Center," Williams said. And they want to watch. As a player, I wanted to do that. I wanted to get the feel and the vibe of the tournament, and it helped break up the day. You know, you can only be in your hotel for so long."

As for the rest of the time between practice and watching the game, he trusted his team to do the right thing. Players watched some film on their own and some had papers to turn in, with Brooke Carlson working on an essay on her phone.

In the Paint

Colorado State and Grand Canyon played twice this season, with the Rams winning by double digits in each. In both, they were able to check the Lopes' leading scorers – Chloe Mann and all-conference pick Julianna LaMendola – to less than 10 points. … In both meetings, CSU had a trio of players in double figures, but only Lexus Bargesser scored 10 or more in both.

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Brooke Carlson

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