'Green' is good as gold for Racer shooters
WBB: The weekly shooting drills push the players in multiple ways each week
If you follow any of the social media accounts of the Murray State women’s basketball program, you’ve probably seen a weekly graphic touting the team’s ‘Greenlight Shooters of the Week.’ So what exactly is a ‘Greenlight Shooter’?
“We have it on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Murray State junior guard Briley Pena said. “(The coaches) give us a drill and there's a certain number that you have to make of whatever the drill is. If you make that, then you're ‘Greenlight.’ That happens on Tuesdays. On Thursdays, we shoot 100 threes. If you make 70 out of 100, (you’re ‘Greenlight’). You just have to get one of the days.”
Murray State Head Coach Rechelle Turner installed the ‘Greenlight’ program four years ago after seeing a video of Arkansas Head Coach Mike Neighbors explaining it.
“Obviously, we want to shoot a lot of threes,” Turner said. “We want to get those up, but it's a pressure situation, so we have about six-to-eight different drills, and we'll rotate them each week. They're timed in some way, so it’s pressure shooting. They have to make so many shots in so many minutes, or from so many spots. There's just all kinds of different ones we do, and some are easier than others. Some weeks, you'll see a big group of ‘Greenlight’ shooters, and some weeks you'll see a small group, but it's just a game-like situation. They have to go hard, and there's pressure. That's what we want because there’s going to be pressure in the game. We utilize it just to put them in pressure situations to see if they can make shots when they need to the most.”
Since mid-August, the Racers have had anywhere from six to ten ‘Greenlight’ shooters each week. Pena says the competition isn’t as much with her teammates as it is with herself.
“I just focus on myself,” Pena said. “I'm like, ‘OK, you've gotten it every single time since your freshman year.’ I haven't missed a ‘Greenlight’ picture. That's kind of my motivation to just keep going and keep getting on the picture every week. Obviously, I'm trying to work on shooting a little faster. So if I don't get ‘Greenlight’, I'm not going to be too worried about it because I know I'm getting better for the season.”
The weekly ‘Greenlight’ graphic provides a weekly, and public, pat on the back for the players that qualify. Turner believes that social media post adds some subtle pressure to her players each week.
“I wish they'd do away with social media,” Turner chuckled. “I know everybody's going to think, ‘Well, Grandma, yeah, you would think that.’ But it is there, so it is something you need to utilize. Yes, their parents will text them, ‘Why didn't you make ‘Greenlight’ this week? — or their friends, you know? So there's some added pressure there, but it's a pride thing that they want to be in that picture every week for sure.”
The Racers will play their lone exhibition game on October 30th at home against Bethel.