When most people hear the words "brick house," they are usually preceded by the words "she’s a" in reference to the 1977 Commodores classic "Brick House", but for the UF women’s basketball team, the words have taken on a whole new meaning.
Instituted by coach Amanda Butler at the beginning of her UF coaching tenure, the "Brickhouse Award" is given to one player after each practice and game.
"There are certain things that we’re measuring, that we’re tracking every single practice because we want them to be the bricks, the foundation of the way that we play and the way that we compete," she said.
The award is based on values like talk, hustle, rebounds and layups, among others, that Butler feels should build the foundation of a good basketball team.
In a metaphorical sense, the bricks add up to form a powerful team unit.
At Sunday’s first official practice of the season, junior forward Ronni Williams took home the award in the main practice and sophomore guard Dyandria Anderson took it in the second, smaller practice.
"It was great competition," Butler said, adding that "it was a big deal for Ronni to win it and it was a big deal for (Dyandria) to win it in the second practice."
Butler herself set the tone for the intensity and importance of the first practice by showing up wearing a pair of glistening chrome-silver basketball shorts, the likes of which would have fit in perfectly in future Bikini Bottom.
"Sunday, goin’ to church, you put on a dress. If it was your birthday, then you put on something new or something special. First day of school, you gotta wear something cool.
And yesterday was the first day of practice, so I had to come with something a little special to try and set the tone," Butler said.
Based on her opinion of how the first practice went, Butler would probably say that setting the tone with her silver pants worked.
"I loved how we competed," she said. "I think there was a great understanding of how good we can be as a unit if we bring the level of competition against one another in practice that we need. That’s just going to elevate the level of the whole group."
The team specifically focused on the importance of touch in their first practice, meaning that they worked on interacting with each other.
This included everything from on-court communication to high-fives and chest bumps, all with team energy in mind.
"I think we did an outstanding job yesterday with the way that we just energized each other with connection," Butler said.
The focus of practice starting on Wednesday is going to be defense as UF tries to find its defensive identity.
That being said, the team appears to be ahead of last year’s squad when it comes to finding an identity in general.
"I think that we have a much more firm identity, and that’s gonna continue to evolve and grow," Butler said.
When it comes to progression on the court, Butler said that early signs are encouraging. However, she acknowledged that it’s going to be a while until everything comes together for this team.
"It’s also very early," she said.
"I know a lot of things are going to change and grow in the right direction."
Follow Ethan Bauer on Twitter @ebaueri
UF women's basketball coach Amanda Butler Gator Chomps after being introduced at Gators Madness on Oct. 2, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
