Air Force men's basketball notes: Fewer physical practices for the Falcons

When Air Force began this men's basketball season, the coaching staff decided to cut down on the length and intensity of practice. There was more mental work at walk-through speed but the sessions weren’t a physical grind.

With the Falcons’ late-game execution becoming a bit problematic, the staff met Sunday and reassessed whether practices needed to get more physical. The coaches decided that they’d stick with the plan.

“Stay the course,” coach Jeff Reynolds said.

The lighter practice load has paid off in some ways. Reynolds said the only time his team didn’t have a lot of energy at tip-off this season was against TCU, which he attributed to fresher legs.

“If a fan comes to Clune, they see close to nine guys, sometimes 10, giving great effort,” Reynolds said. “Now we just have to put the ball in the basket more.”

New schedule

Playing on Tuesday instead of the normal Wednesday doesn’t affect the Falcons that much. Usually Reynolds gives the team off on Sunday, with two days of preparation before games Wednesday and Saturday. This week, the players will have today off, and play Saturday at Colorado State.

“It just flips it around,” Reynolds said.

New lineup

With the Falcons struggling early against New Mexico, Reynolds went with an odd lineup to give the team a spark. DeLovell Earls, a Colorado Springs School graduate, hadn’t played in three straight games, Colt Barnhill hadn’t played for five straight games, and Max Yon had played less than 10 minutes in four of the Falcons’ previous six games, but all three of them went in with the Falcons trailing by double digits in the first half.