PG - This position looks really solid. Keddy is a tenacious defender and is best in the open court taking it to the hoop. He has a nice 2 point jumper and is keeping his turnovers down. Toussaint is a bull dog, penetrates very well and finds the open man. He is a much better shooter than I thought he would be. A good defender but tough as nails. He sets the toughness tone for the team along with Stevenson. We have to keep these guys out of foul trouble as we have very little behind them.
SG - Stevenson had a rough night last night and just seemed out of sorts to me. But he is a guy other teams have to account for out to the 3 point line. He can also take guys off the dribble. The kid is a winner. Kobe and Seth are behind Stevenson but not much more than role players. That is why we are seeing a fair amount of Keddy and Toussaint playing together. Perez will be a welcome site (if he is the player most of us expect).
SF - Man I wish we could get the effort out of Matthews in every game that we got last night. He was raining down 3's and battling on the boards. I think he ended the night with 9 rebounds to lead the team. He is long and athletic and runs the floor very well. I wish we ran the break more often since I think we have some guys that play better in the open court. The problem with this position is that we have little behind Matthews. Stevenson can play SF, but he always seems to be in foul trouble. Harris is just not ready yet. Perez can help here as well, I hope. Matthews shot is so much better than when he was last here. Perhaps it was a great move for him to go to Washington, and apparently learn how to shoot, and then return to WVU for his final season. We need a bold, shot hunting, aggressive Matthews if we are to make any waves in the Big 12.
PF - Mitchell is a highly skilled player. There is just one thing he lacks, toughness. He plays far too soft at times and I don't think that can be fixed. Still, he is a threat out to the 3 point line. He is a walking mismatch. Put a big on him and he takes him outside and shoots the 3 or beats him off the dribble. Put a smaller player on him and he can post them up. Very flexible player. We really have no one behind him, except Matthews, meaning that Mitchell simply cannot disappear during games and we need 33 - 35 minutes a game out of him.
C - Jimmy is the most improved player on the team. Easily our best 5. He can score a little and rebound a little. He is not a rim protector. But he is a very big body that other 5's will be unable to move. But, he is prone to foul trouble. Wague is a walking foul machine. Perhaps a foul every 2 or 3 minutes. He gives maximum effort when he plays but has so much to learn. Okonkwo is just not ready, imo. He has so much to learn. Very athletic but that is about it. He gets bullied. This is our weakest position and Jimmy just has to stay out of foul trouble.
Of our remaining players, we can get a small number of minutes out of Kobe and Seth. They won't hurt us much and both give good effort. Just not sure the talent is there. I think Harris has good upside but he is going to need another year, imo. In terms of pretty high quality, we go 6 deep, not as deep as Huggs would like. Perez will hopefully make it 7 and many teams are in this same boat. But for the first time in a long, long time we are a strong offensive team. We are tough to defend at nearly every position. And I am seeing passes from primarily Toussaint and Stevenson that I have not seen a Huggs' team make in a long time. We can drive it to the basket, hit the 3 and run the floor. And we can finish at the rim.
The Big 12 seems to be down a bit this year but it will still be a gauntlet. I have seen both Kansas and Texas play and while both are more talented that we are, I think we can play with them. Perez is the unknown piece of the equation. If he is as good as advertised, he adds a much needed dimension to this team giving us quality depth at the 2 and the 3. We play with an attitude and we have some leaders that make every one else better. I think we win 20 this year, which is a far cry from where I thought we would be.
SG - Stevenson had a rough night last night and just seemed out of sorts to me. But he is a guy other teams have to account for out to the 3 point line. He can also take guys off the dribble. The kid is a winner. Kobe and Seth are behind Stevenson but not much more than role players. That is why we are seeing a fair amount of Keddy and Toussaint playing together. Perez will be a welcome site (if he is the player most of us expect).
SF - Man I wish we could get the effort out of Matthews in every game that we got last night. He was raining down 3's and battling on the boards. I think he ended the night with 9 rebounds to lead the team. He is long and athletic and runs the floor very well. I wish we ran the break more often since I think we have some guys that play better in the open court. The problem with this position is that we have little behind Matthews. Stevenson can play SF, but he always seems to be in foul trouble. Harris is just not ready yet. Perez can help here as well, I hope. Matthews shot is so much better than when he was last here. Perhaps it was a great move for him to go to Washington, and apparently learn how to shoot, and then return to WVU for his final season. We need a bold, shot hunting, aggressive Matthews if we are to make any waves in the Big 12.
PF - Mitchell is a highly skilled player. There is just one thing he lacks, toughness. He plays far too soft at times and I don't think that can be fixed. Still, he is a threat out to the 3 point line. He is a walking mismatch. Put a big on him and he takes him outside and shoots the 3 or beats him off the dribble. Put a smaller player on him and he can post them up. Very flexible player. We really have no one behind him, except Matthews, meaning that Mitchell simply cannot disappear during games and we need 33 - 35 minutes a game out of him.
C - Jimmy is the most improved player on the team. Easily our best 5. He can score a little and rebound a little. He is not a rim protector. But he is a very big body that other 5's will be unable to move. But, he is prone to foul trouble. Wague is a walking foul machine. Perhaps a foul every 2 or 3 minutes. He gives maximum effort when he plays but has so much to learn. Okonkwo is just not ready, imo. He has so much to learn. Very athletic but that is about it. He gets bullied. This is our weakest position and Jimmy just has to stay out of foul trouble.
Of our remaining players, we can get a small number of minutes out of Kobe and Seth. They won't hurt us much and both give good effort. Just not sure the talent is there. I think Harris has good upside but he is going to need another year, imo. In terms of pretty high quality, we go 6 deep, not as deep as Huggs would like. Perez will hopefully make it 7 and many teams are in this same boat. But for the first time in a long, long time we are a strong offensive team. We are tough to defend at nearly every position. And I am seeing passes from primarily Toussaint and Stevenson that I have not seen a Huggs' team make in a long time. We can drive it to the basket, hit the 3 and run the floor. And we can finish at the rim.
The Big 12 seems to be down a bit this year but it will still be a gauntlet. I have seen both Kansas and Texas play and while both are more talented that we are, I think we can play with them. Perez is the unknown piece of the equation. If he is as good as advertised, he adds a much needed dimension to this team giving us quality depth at the 2 and the 3. We play with an attitude and we have some leaders that make every one else better. I think we win 20 this year, which is a far cry from where I thought we would be.
