—Head coach Bob Huggins said that his team can make shots. Sean McNeil, Taz Sherman, Jalen Bridges and Isaiah Cottrell have all really shot the ball well so far.
—Huggins was really surprised this summer with the recovery of Cottrell from his injury. He hasn’t shown any sign of it and has been ready to go.
—Cottrell has really shot the ball well from the perimeter and shot a couple yesterday that didn’t move the net from three. He’s got to rebound it better and do some other things but he has really shot the ball well.
—Bridges is going to a perimeter guy and if Cottrell can make shots it’s really going to spread defenses. Huggins think they will be able to do that because you’re going to have to guard those guys. They have to pass it better.
—You’d like to have one off the bench and make shots in McNeil or Sherman but they both deserve to start. They need all of them to make shots. Bridges played a lot of four last year and he is much bigger than he was last season.
—West Virginia is going to have to be a team rebounding team.
—Gabe Osabuohien has gotten a lot better shooting the ball. He didn’t work with him at all, it was all him. He was in the gym every day, all day working on that. His mechanics were horrible and he has really cleaned them up. He is making shots now.
—The better offensive rebounding team you are the less you have to deal with transition.
—Huggins said they suck guarding and they don’t make rotations they way they need to. If they can get to the point if they can make rotations they’ll be really good but they’re not there. They have a tendency to stand and watch.
—Dimon Carrigan has been good as a rim protector. Huggins had to get him moving. Pauly Paulicap isn’t as big but he is bouncy and Seny Ndiaye is getting better defensively.
—James Okonkwo stepped on somebody’s foot and the bones in his foot are now apart and they were together from the time he was born. They said it was going to be five or six weeks it would heal but Huggins doesn’t know what it means. Before he got hurt he was going to play. He’s quicker off the floor than other guys. The plan all along was to redshirt him but he shocked Huggins and he was a lot better than he saw on film.
—Huggins said this team has to make free throws down the stretch that they didn’t make last year. They’ve got to be able to stand at the line and make free throws.
—Rotation issues on defense are all about reacting. When you stand there and watch you’re trying to run and catch up but you never catch up.
—Kedrian Johnson has played well and shot the ball better than he did a year ago. His ball security has been better too. Kobe Johnson might have the best ball security on the team.
—Malik Curry just had his molars pulled. They were going at it pretty good with Johnson early but has the problem with the molars.
—More unknowns than knowns with this team. They don’t have veteran guys that have played a lot of minutes coming back. McNeil and Sherman didn’t even play a lot of minutes until the end of the season and those are the two most experienced guys. It’s fair to say that they possibly could make up for bad defense because they shoot the ball but Huggins hates to count on that. It’s a really athletic league and they guard pretty good in this league.
—Kobe and Seth are not as athletic as Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles. Huggins likes junior college guys because they aren’t spoiled.
—Huggins was really surprised this summer with the recovery of Cottrell from his injury. He hasn’t shown any sign of it and has been ready to go.
—Cottrell has really shot the ball well from the perimeter and shot a couple yesterday that didn’t move the net from three. He’s got to rebound it better and do some other things but he has really shot the ball well.
—Bridges is going to a perimeter guy and if Cottrell can make shots it’s really going to spread defenses. Huggins think they will be able to do that because you’re going to have to guard those guys. They have to pass it better.
—You’d like to have one off the bench and make shots in McNeil or Sherman but they both deserve to start. They need all of them to make shots. Bridges played a lot of four last year and he is much bigger than he was last season.
—West Virginia is going to have to be a team rebounding team.
—Gabe Osabuohien has gotten a lot better shooting the ball. He didn’t work with him at all, it was all him. He was in the gym every day, all day working on that. His mechanics were horrible and he has really cleaned them up. He is making shots now.
—The better offensive rebounding team you are the less you have to deal with transition.
—Huggins said they suck guarding and they don’t make rotations they way they need to. If they can get to the point if they can make rotations they’ll be really good but they’re not there. They have a tendency to stand and watch.
—Dimon Carrigan has been good as a rim protector. Huggins had to get him moving. Pauly Paulicap isn’t as big but he is bouncy and Seny Ndiaye is getting better defensively.
—James Okonkwo stepped on somebody’s foot and the bones in his foot are now apart and they were together from the time he was born. They said it was going to be five or six weeks it would heal but Huggins doesn’t know what it means. Before he got hurt he was going to play. He’s quicker off the floor than other guys. The plan all along was to redshirt him but he shocked Huggins and he was a lot better than he saw on film.
—Huggins said this team has to make free throws down the stretch that they didn’t make last year. They’ve got to be able to stand at the line and make free throws.
—Rotation issues on defense are all about reacting. When you stand there and watch you’re trying to run and catch up but you never catch up.
—Kedrian Johnson has played well and shot the ball better than he did a year ago. His ball security has been better too. Kobe Johnson might have the best ball security on the team.
—Malik Curry just had his molars pulled. They were going at it pretty good with Johnson early but has the problem with the molars.
—More unknowns than knowns with this team. They don’t have veteran guys that have played a lot of minutes coming back. McNeil and Sherman didn’t even play a lot of minutes until the end of the season and those are the two most experienced guys. It’s fair to say that they possibly could make up for bad defense because they shoot the ball but Huggins hates to count on that. It’s a really athletic league and they guard pretty good in this league.
—Kobe and Seth are not as athletic as Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles. Huggins likes junior college guys because they aren’t spoiled.
