--West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said that he likes these tournament games. They are able to get some people in the games because they play three games in four days and it forces you to use your depth to get them feeling more confident and better. They need to play and need the time on the court together in order to help the team gel overall.
--Elon shoots the ball really well and he was able to watch two of their games. When they get on a roll they make a lot of shots. They’re going to play some 1-3-1 and some 2-3 and some man which will be good for them as well. They’re really good if you give them step in shots so you have to get them on the run. The more you speed them up the harder it is for them to score baskets, but that’s the case with any team that you play. Everybody practices shooting step in shots so you’re better there.
--Huggins thinks it helps your tournament resume to play these games. Over the years some of the people they’ve been able to play have played really well. They beat Western Kentucky in a tournament last year and they had a heck of a year. It’s a situation where St. Bonaventure is probably going to win their league and hopefully they can play them. The field in South Dakota was all high majors because of the COVID-19 and it still ended up being a pretty decent field.
--To a large degree you end up toughing it out in these tournaments. You have to be ready to play but it is good preparation for the NCAA tournament. Anything they can do particularly with this team with so many new guys that haven’t played in tournament settings is a good thing. They’re going to play three or four freshmen because they keep getting better and better every day.
--A couple of freshmen are a lot more prepared to play than some of the other guys are. They’ve got so much work to do because they’ve had guys at the lower level and were able to get away with more at the lower level because of how physical it is here. The more you play, the more you realize what you have to do and the better prepared you’ll be. The progress that they’ve made from Dayton to now has been immense. It was hard to watch the Dayton scrimmage.
--Ball pressure was really good against Pittsburgh. They shot 58-percent, but you can’t let them shoot that well. That isn’t good defense but a lot of it came on second shots and defensive breakdowns on guys that haven’t played a lot. A lot of it was on the offensive glass and that’s a no-no.
--Huggins didn’t see a lot of improvement with rebounding. They have to block people out and have to stay inside of guys. They have spent a good deal of time in the practices they’ve had with keeping people on their backs. They are big and strong enough to do that they just haven’t done it.
--The biggest adjustment for Sean McNeil is that he’s playing against really good athletes and they don’t help off him at all. He isn’t getting shots off penetrate and pitch and is getting a lot more attention. When they don’t help off him it leaves a lot of room for the rest of the team. He has to do a better job using screens and he knows that. He is capable of more even though he and Taz Sherman are really carrying the team right now.
--James Okonkwo has worked out the past couple days but he is behind right now. He’s had maybe three or four practices but Huggins isn’t at the point where he has decided on a redshirt. He does things that quite frankly some of the other players can’t do. He’s going to check with the medical people to see what kind of time limit is there. He doesn’t know a lot of the sets but his skill level is better than just about every player that they have on the roster.
--If Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil are open they’ve got to shoot it. That happened to Jalen Bridges some and Huggins told him if he’s open he has to shoot the ball. Those three guys it’s hard to guard all three of them and if they can get a post guy that can catch and score the ball that would really help them.
--Huggins said it’s not the wrong guys shooting free throws they just haven’t shot it well. It’s been atrocious so far, but a lot of things happen.
--Elon shoots the ball really well and he was able to watch two of their games. When they get on a roll they make a lot of shots. They’re going to play some 1-3-1 and some 2-3 and some man which will be good for them as well. They’re really good if you give them step in shots so you have to get them on the run. The more you speed them up the harder it is for them to score baskets, but that’s the case with any team that you play. Everybody practices shooting step in shots so you’re better there.
--Huggins thinks it helps your tournament resume to play these games. Over the years some of the people they’ve been able to play have played really well. They beat Western Kentucky in a tournament last year and they had a heck of a year. It’s a situation where St. Bonaventure is probably going to win their league and hopefully they can play them. The field in South Dakota was all high majors because of the COVID-19 and it still ended up being a pretty decent field.
--To a large degree you end up toughing it out in these tournaments. You have to be ready to play but it is good preparation for the NCAA tournament. Anything they can do particularly with this team with so many new guys that haven’t played in tournament settings is a good thing. They’re going to play three or four freshmen because they keep getting better and better every day.
--A couple of freshmen are a lot more prepared to play than some of the other guys are. They’ve got so much work to do because they’ve had guys at the lower level and were able to get away with more at the lower level because of how physical it is here. The more you play, the more you realize what you have to do and the better prepared you’ll be. The progress that they’ve made from Dayton to now has been immense. It was hard to watch the Dayton scrimmage.
--Ball pressure was really good against Pittsburgh. They shot 58-percent, but you can’t let them shoot that well. That isn’t good defense but a lot of it came on second shots and defensive breakdowns on guys that haven’t played a lot. A lot of it was on the offensive glass and that’s a no-no.
--Huggins didn’t see a lot of improvement with rebounding. They have to block people out and have to stay inside of guys. They have spent a good deal of time in the practices they’ve had with keeping people on their backs. They are big and strong enough to do that they just haven’t done it.
--The biggest adjustment for Sean McNeil is that he’s playing against really good athletes and they don’t help off him at all. He isn’t getting shots off penetrate and pitch and is getting a lot more attention. When they don’t help off him it leaves a lot of room for the rest of the team. He has to do a better job using screens and he knows that. He is capable of more even though he and Taz Sherman are really carrying the team right now.
--James Okonkwo has worked out the past couple days but he is behind right now. He’s had maybe three or four practices but Huggins isn’t at the point where he has decided on a redshirt. He does things that quite frankly some of the other players can’t do. He’s going to check with the medical people to see what kind of time limit is there. He doesn’t know a lot of the sets but his skill level is better than just about every player that they have on the roster.
--If Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil are open they’ve got to shoot it. That happened to Jalen Bridges some and Huggins told him if he’s open he has to shoot the ball. Those three guys it’s hard to guard all three of them and if they can get a post guy that can catch and score the ball that would really help them.
--Huggins said it’s not the wrong guys shooting free throws they just haven’t shot it well. It’s been atrocious so far, but a lot of things happen.
