--West Virginia Mountaineers basketball coach Bob Huggins said that it's different with the pre-season. They gave them a couple weeks where they could go an hour and a half, so their understanding of what is expected is better than it would have been. It's what you do every year when it comes to trying to balance a roster, there is no difference.
--The ball goes in is what intrigues him. They need a little work on handling the ball and they throw it around pretty good.
--Huggins said that they haven't corrected scoring around the rim yet, but it will be. The bigs are very coachable and they are great guys. For whatever reason, big guys don't look at the rim, they catch it and looking down or around and the only time they see the rim is on the way up which is why there are so many misses around there.
--Size wise he feels like they are better there in the post. They are more skilled and more athletic.
--It's different in that the older guys you can't have them help the younger guys because they don't understand what's going on either.
--Huggins thinks they have a chance to be really good. They have more guys who can score and they do have some guys with experience. They have good size but need to be able to get them to score it close and they have some guys that can really shoot. They've got guys that really will have to compete to play.
--The ball goes in with Tre Mitchell and Erik Stevenson. They both can shoot it and both are competitive. They are two guys that are comfortable. They have to learn regardless but those guys have been around and have played for good coaches.
--Emmitt Matthews is shooting the ball well. He isn't slinging it from over his head and his mechanics are good. He is a much, much better offensive player than before he left and he was already a good defender. They can play him at the three which will help his rebounds.
--At point guard Kedrian Johnson is the guy who's the best right now because he knows what's going on. Joe Toussaint is good and he's played really well for them. They threw Kobe Johnson out there last year because they had to, but he isn't a point really. They can play him there and at two if they need to. He's going to play minutes because he can give you something at multiple positions.
--Matthews is trying to find their niche. And he had the talk with Matthews of playing him at the three. He is willing to do whatever.
--Jimmy Bell has done a great job getting into shape and working at it. He's working out four times a day and has great feet. He is hard to move but Huggins wouldn't mind him getting down to 260.
--He hasn't even thought about lineup combinations. It's going to be like any other time they are going to compete against each other in practice and they are going to play against the best people in practice.
--There's a lot of things he wants to correct from last year including rebounding. A big part of it is it's competitive.
--Mohamed Wague can block shots, he is 6-foot-10 and can run and his agile.
--Erik Stevenson makes shots. He is competitive. He is a guy that played for Frank Martin so it wasn't hard for him to do research.
--Huggins is glad the Hall of Fame stuff is over, but he got to see a bunch of people he hasn't seen in a long time.
--He wasn't going to leave this program the way it was last year. There was a lot of support last year.
--Huggins believes they have the bodies to press if they want and they can throw a lot of fresh bodies out there at people.
--Erik Stevenson leads where they want him to or not. He is the alpha of the group. He liked him when he was a freshman at Wichita State. He has always been intriguing to watch.
--James Okonkwo plays a little too fast for his own good but he can block shots, rebound and run. He is physical. He is the only player that can keep Jimmy Bell off the glass.
--Huggins thinks they can be really versatile. They can look at film from other people and be able to do a better job attacking them. They can do it in a multitude of ways. This is the most depth they've had in a long time.
--This is the hardest non-conference schedule they've played ever and they will find out if they're any good.
--Huggins thought he would hate the transfer portal but he loves it. If you're able to pick who you want, it benefits the program. You can change it around quickly and Huggins believes that they have gotten two of the best guys in the portal when it comes to filling needs. He doesn't mind it as much as he thought he would.
--Matthews called West Virginia when he was in the transfer portal. He thought the world of him when he was here, but he needed to get closer to home.
--Josiah Davis is a West Virginia kid that wanted to play at West Virginia and he's competitive. That will bode well for us in the future.
--West Virginia needed competitive people. They didn't compete the way they wanted to compete and they had to get tougher and Erik Stevenson is tough and can make shots. He thought he was a heck of a player as a freshman.
--You're going to sit down and guard or somebody is going to show you how to do it and you'll sit down and watch.
--The ball goes in is what intrigues him. They need a little work on handling the ball and they throw it around pretty good.
--Huggins said that they haven't corrected scoring around the rim yet, but it will be. The bigs are very coachable and they are great guys. For whatever reason, big guys don't look at the rim, they catch it and looking down or around and the only time they see the rim is on the way up which is why there are so many misses around there.
--Size wise he feels like they are better there in the post. They are more skilled and more athletic.
--It's different in that the older guys you can't have them help the younger guys because they don't understand what's going on either.
--Huggins thinks they have a chance to be really good. They have more guys who can score and they do have some guys with experience. They have good size but need to be able to get them to score it close and they have some guys that can really shoot. They've got guys that really will have to compete to play.
--The ball goes in with Tre Mitchell and Erik Stevenson. They both can shoot it and both are competitive. They are two guys that are comfortable. They have to learn regardless but those guys have been around and have played for good coaches.
--Emmitt Matthews is shooting the ball well. He isn't slinging it from over his head and his mechanics are good. He is a much, much better offensive player than before he left and he was already a good defender. They can play him at the three which will help his rebounds.
--At point guard Kedrian Johnson is the guy who's the best right now because he knows what's going on. Joe Toussaint is good and he's played really well for them. They threw Kobe Johnson out there last year because they had to, but he isn't a point really. They can play him there and at two if they need to. He's going to play minutes because he can give you something at multiple positions.
--Matthews is trying to find their niche. And he had the talk with Matthews of playing him at the three. He is willing to do whatever.
--Jimmy Bell has done a great job getting into shape and working at it. He's working out four times a day and has great feet. He is hard to move but Huggins wouldn't mind him getting down to 260.
--He hasn't even thought about lineup combinations. It's going to be like any other time they are going to compete against each other in practice and they are going to play against the best people in practice.
--There's a lot of things he wants to correct from last year including rebounding. A big part of it is it's competitive.
--Mohamed Wague can block shots, he is 6-foot-10 and can run and his agile.
--Erik Stevenson makes shots. He is competitive. He is a guy that played for Frank Martin so it wasn't hard for him to do research.
--Huggins is glad the Hall of Fame stuff is over, but he got to see a bunch of people he hasn't seen in a long time.
--He wasn't going to leave this program the way it was last year. There was a lot of support last year.
--Huggins believes they have the bodies to press if they want and they can throw a lot of fresh bodies out there at people.
--Erik Stevenson leads where they want him to or not. He is the alpha of the group. He liked him when he was a freshman at Wichita State. He has always been intriguing to watch.
--James Okonkwo plays a little too fast for his own good but he can block shots, rebound and run. He is physical. He is the only player that can keep Jimmy Bell off the glass.
--Huggins thinks they can be really versatile. They can look at film from other people and be able to do a better job attacking them. They can do it in a multitude of ways. This is the most depth they've had in a long time.
--This is the hardest non-conference schedule they've played ever and they will find out if they're any good.
--Huggins thought he would hate the transfer portal but he loves it. If you're able to pick who you want, it benefits the program. You can change it around quickly and Huggins believes that they have gotten two of the best guys in the portal when it comes to filling needs. He doesn't mind it as much as he thought he would.
--Matthews called West Virginia when he was in the transfer portal. He thought the world of him when he was here, but he needed to get closer to home.
--Josiah Davis is a West Virginia kid that wanted to play at West Virginia and he's competitive. That will bode well for us in the future.
--West Virginia needed competitive people. They didn't compete the way they wanted to compete and they had to get tougher and Erik Stevenson is tough and can make shots. He thought he was a heck of a player as a freshman.
--You're going to sit down and guard or somebody is going to show you how to do it and you'll sit down and watch.
