--West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said that his team is getting better. The Dayton scrimmage was good for them and they are picking things up. You have to throw a lot at them in a short period of time and with so many guys coming from different places it’s a different culture.
--It’s different when they come from so many different cultures because there are so many ways to do things but they are learning and have been extremely receptive. They have been going hard for a long time and they aren’t there yet but they are trying.
--Huggins said right now they can’t score at the basket, but they eventually will. He’s had players in the past improve there over the season and bigs for whatever reason catch the ball and look down and have to find their target on the way up. That has to be corrected and it takes some time.
--Huggins said he hopes it doesn’t take a while for his team to settle. They played a scrimmage against Dayton and it was good for them and the charity exhibition will be good for them, too. It takes time when you have a few new guys.
--Emmitt Matthews dinged his shoulder up but he will play through it. Tre Mitchell is going to be a little longer but he gets better daily. Tre Mitchell hasn’t practiced yet, but they’ll find out what he can do when he gets totally healthy and he isn’t sure if he will be ready for the season opener.
--Joe Toussaint works really hard and is receptive to coaching. His shot has improved dramatically in the time since he’s arrived in Morgantown because he has put a lot of time into it. His mechanics have improved and he’s got a toughness to him. He isn’t the tallest guy but he has physical size and strength. He was really good in the Dayton game and might have been the best player on the team.
--West Virginia is stopping straight line drives better than they did a year ago. Their technique is better and they’ve spent a lot of time on that as well as their foot speed being better.
--Not at this point in time when it comes to mixing defenses. He doesn’t feel comfortable on defense right now and they played all man-to-man against Dayton. They can play some zone and they’ve exposed them to some other things but it’s not something they’ve worked a lot on yet.
--Transition defense will be give West Virginia a good test against Bowling Green.
--Erik Stevenson has days he makes every shot and days where he can’t make them but that happens to everybody. A lot of it is just being comfortable. When you start to miss shots early in the year you worry about what people are thinking and you don’t concentrate the way you should on making shots. But they’re capable. The freshmen are playing pretty well, but they’re freshmen but it’s good that the practices have been competitive.
--James Okonkwo has good days and bad days. He never was in organized basketball until he got here and now all the sudden he’s playing against guys his size and struggles to move them. He has a hard time being himself sometimes, but when he does he’s pretty good. He can step out and make shots and make a three as well as blocking shots. It’s going to take him some time.
--Seth Wilson hurt his wrist and he isn’t sure how long it’s going to be for him to get back to the way he was. But he has played much, much better. Kobe Johnson is a guy that can do a lot of things. They put him at backup point guard a year ago, and he can do that, but he can also play the two or three. Johnson is their most versatile guy on the roster right now. He has been around basketball.
--Huggins has no problem with the size of Kedrian Johnson and Joe Toussaint but he does worry about foul trouble and not having a sub to put in there. He isn’t sure if he will play them at the same time as much because he wants to have both available late to hit free throws.
--Huggins feels they have enough people at every position but you don’t really know until you go through it. You have players getting hurt and other issues to battle.
--Pat Suennick is out two or three weeks. It’s the best thing for him and for us to go in and clean everything up at once.
--Huggins believes his team has been good and has bought into what he is teaching. They are trying to do what they’re asked to do. The players find out quickly if they don’t the results are not in their favor when it comes to playing time and seeing the floor. Huggins expects the effort to be very good.
--From the scrimmage, Huggins thought they would guard better than they did but Dayton runs good offense. Huggins didn’t think they were very good in a lot of areas. Offensively West Virginia wasn’t very good and they scored more off their defense than they did off their offense. West Virginia didn’t rebound it as well as what they’re going to have to do to be good.
--It’s different when they come from so many different cultures because there are so many ways to do things but they are learning and have been extremely receptive. They have been going hard for a long time and they aren’t there yet but they are trying.
--Huggins said right now they can’t score at the basket, but they eventually will. He’s had players in the past improve there over the season and bigs for whatever reason catch the ball and look down and have to find their target on the way up. That has to be corrected and it takes some time.
--Huggins said he hopes it doesn’t take a while for his team to settle. They played a scrimmage against Dayton and it was good for them and the charity exhibition will be good for them, too. It takes time when you have a few new guys.
--Emmitt Matthews dinged his shoulder up but he will play through it. Tre Mitchell is going to be a little longer but he gets better daily. Tre Mitchell hasn’t practiced yet, but they’ll find out what he can do when he gets totally healthy and he isn’t sure if he will be ready for the season opener.
--Joe Toussaint works really hard and is receptive to coaching. His shot has improved dramatically in the time since he’s arrived in Morgantown because he has put a lot of time into it. His mechanics have improved and he’s got a toughness to him. He isn’t the tallest guy but he has physical size and strength. He was really good in the Dayton game and might have been the best player on the team.
--West Virginia is stopping straight line drives better than they did a year ago. Their technique is better and they’ve spent a lot of time on that as well as their foot speed being better.
--Not at this point in time when it comes to mixing defenses. He doesn’t feel comfortable on defense right now and they played all man-to-man against Dayton. They can play some zone and they’ve exposed them to some other things but it’s not something they’ve worked a lot on yet.
--Transition defense will be give West Virginia a good test against Bowling Green.
--Erik Stevenson has days he makes every shot and days where he can’t make them but that happens to everybody. A lot of it is just being comfortable. When you start to miss shots early in the year you worry about what people are thinking and you don’t concentrate the way you should on making shots. But they’re capable. The freshmen are playing pretty well, but they’re freshmen but it’s good that the practices have been competitive.
--James Okonkwo has good days and bad days. He never was in organized basketball until he got here and now all the sudden he’s playing against guys his size and struggles to move them. He has a hard time being himself sometimes, but when he does he’s pretty good. He can step out and make shots and make a three as well as blocking shots. It’s going to take him some time.
--Seth Wilson hurt his wrist and he isn’t sure how long it’s going to be for him to get back to the way he was. But he has played much, much better. Kobe Johnson is a guy that can do a lot of things. They put him at backup point guard a year ago, and he can do that, but he can also play the two or three. Johnson is their most versatile guy on the roster right now. He has been around basketball.
--Huggins has no problem with the size of Kedrian Johnson and Joe Toussaint but he does worry about foul trouble and not having a sub to put in there. He isn’t sure if he will play them at the same time as much because he wants to have both available late to hit free throws.
--Huggins feels they have enough people at every position but you don’t really know until you go through it. You have players getting hurt and other issues to battle.
--Pat Suennick is out two or three weeks. It’s the best thing for him and for us to go in and clean everything up at once.
--Huggins believes his team has been good and has bought into what he is teaching. They are trying to do what they’re asked to do. The players find out quickly if they don’t the results are not in their favor when it comes to playing time and seeing the floor. Huggins expects the effort to be very good.
--From the scrimmage, Huggins thought they would guard better than they did but Dayton runs good offense. Huggins didn’t think they were very good in a lot of areas. Offensively West Virginia wasn’t very good and they scored more off their defense than they did off their offense. West Virginia didn’t rebound it as well as what they’re going to have to do to be good.
