A friend asked me what my biggest concern was in basketball

[11nut]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

 

[Clyde0926]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

My concern is the same for the last several seasons. Can we knock down shots from the perimeter and are we big enough to rebound against the bigger teams in the Big 12. For one season can we shoot the ball well?

 

[xWVU2010x]

If we could shoot the lights out AND rebound against bigger teams, on top of pressing for 40 mins with a team that goes 12 deep we'd be unbeatable, people need to temper their expectations toward reality.

We punched Kansas in the mouth in Phog Allen without Staten and Browne, we will overcome their departures, we will be a Sweet 16 caliber team again.

 

[Okeyd57]

I can't see how we continue to rank near the bottom of the league in shooting percentages. It's bound to go up, just by the law of averages. I sure can't think of a good reason for it happening year after year. I hope it starts this fall.

 

[Cuyahoga Falls Eers_rivals]

If we could shoot the lights out AND rebound against bigger teams, on top of pressing for 40 mins with a team that goes 12 deep we'd be unbeatable, people need to temper their expectations toward reality.

.

This would be the perfect trifecta for WVU. But usually manage to miss on one or more of the three. Here's hoping the next season will be the miracle we've been waiting for since 1942.

 

[MSC_rivals460432]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

With a lot of new guys and young players I'm worried about how quickly they will come together. If they learn to play well together this team could be a Sweet 16 or better.

 

[Vernon]

With a lot of new guys and young players I'm worried about how quickly they will come together. If they learn to play well together this team could be a Sweet 16 or better.

That's one reason the Bahamas trip is going to be so important to this team. Even the new guys can participate so it's going to be huge advantage.

 

[TIREPUNK]

The last time Huggs had a team that could shoot he went to the Final 4.......of course it was with Beilein's players though......opcorn:

 

[1standlong]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

Has to be replacing Staten and only because we're stacked in other ways. His leadership and ability to take over game will be hard to replace.

 

[SteelHeadEer]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

Leadership and one or more guys willing to be coach on the floor should be everyone's biggest concern.

We lost two guys with an calming affect on the team. Who is going to be that guy/guys to take control and run the team when it counts the most?

I have liked Carter since watching him at Provo East and Miles shows some moxy but both are combo guards and most effective off the ball. Carter shows the most ability to play the point between the two. Philip can also play the point but I dont know if his handles are good enough and he makes some questionable decisions but no one can question his toughness.

Basically we will have a bunch of combo guards and hopefully someone will separate themselves from the pack to be the guy to run the show.

Bolden is a nice PG coming in but he is a scoring PG with handles and a plethora of moves geared towards getting buckets. He will be a nice change of pace coming off the bench.

So with all of my ramblings I guess it will be either Carter or Philip but I expect we could see upwards of 4/5 different people running the point at times including Ahmad, Bolden, Meyers, etc...... It should be an interesting summer in the practice facility. We always get a little news leaking out of there so we should know some things after the news guys arrive in June.

As a side:

A couple question that has me scratching my head is the strange offers I have seen lately and why hasn't Watkins had his surgery?

 

[Jp WVU]

The last time Huggs had a team that could shoot he went to the Final 4.......of course it was with Beilein's players though......opcorn:

We were an elite 3-pt shooting team and offensive team in 2013-2014. However, that was probably the anomaly under Huggs (I haven't looked into the numbers.

Everyone here knows what Huggs values most: Defense, effort, rebounding with shooting probably falling behind those three in priority.

That said, he's a very smart coach and realizes the importance to shooting. We are bringing in several solid jump shooters this year (Ahmad, Teyvon, Beetle).

 

[dave]

I said replacing Staten but you know I think we'll be able to that easier than most people believe. He was a great player and no one person is going to replace him this year but we have enough young guys to get it done.

Gary will be missed as well but more from a maturity stand point.

25 wins before tourney. Bahamas is huge for this team.

 

[skygusty_rivals]

I'm always interested in team chemistry with a new group of recruits. Last year's team seemed to all be on the same page. God knows we have had teams in the recent past where things weren't working. If they work together and Huggs isn't blowing up on the sidelines it will be good. I always loved the start of the basketball season and seeing how the new pieces fit in. PG is the biggest question, no doubt.

 

[KeatonsCorner]

The last time Huggs had a team that could shoot he went to the Final 4.......of course it was with Beilein's players though......opcorn:

The Final Four team had one of the worst FG% in college basketball.....

 

[xWVU2010x]

The last time Huggs had a team that could shoot he went to the Final 4.......of course it was with Beilein's players though......opcorn:

Butler was the only player on that team that could be considered a good shooter that actually contributed.

Ebanks - defensive specialist, most of his points were from rebounds
KJ - Okay shooter for a forward but was nowhere near where he was as a senior
Truck - below average shooter
Mazzula - awful shooter, I don't think he was even physically able to take jump shots for most of this season
Mitchell/West - good shooters but were not up to par in any other facet of the game that year so barely played
Flowers - Horrific shooter at that point of his career
Smith - Decent shooter

 

[VaultHunter]

One of the worst fg% teams yes. But that WVU team hit big shots and had guys capable of hitting big shots. Overall they were not a great shooting team over the course of a season but they shot the ball well in many games that year...the UK game comes to mind.

 

[KeatonsCorner]

not to nitpick but WVU shot 38% from the field that night against UK.............. we didn't make a 2pt bucket in the entire 1st half.

The difference was our 10-24 shooting from 3, as compared to their 4-24 from 3............ that and 34 foul shots.