Five Things to Watch
November 10, 2006 10:15 AM | General
November 10, 2006
 |
||
| Jay Jacobs |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- As West Virginia gets ready for another year of men’s basketball, here are five things I think fans should keep a close eye on with this year’s team:
5. 3-Point Shooting
I didn’t realize this until I got into it a little deeper but West Virginia took 967 3-point attempts last season. That’s an average of 29 per game. This year the team won’t pass up the 3-point shot but I just don’t see the team taking that many 3s this year.
4. Rebounding
West Virginia was last in the conference last year but that team only turned the ball over seven times a game and averaged 15 assists per game. This season I think this team will do a better job on the glass with Jamie Smalligan, Joe Alexander, Rob Summers and the two freshmen Da’Sean Butler and Wellington Smith. I think Alex Ruoff will be a better rebounder than most people think.
3. Foul Shooting
This area will be down this year and the reason is because there are a lot of new faces and also the inexperience of the freshmen. Experienced teams shoot better from the foul than inexperienced teams – there is no mystery there. Last year the team shot 75 percent and I don’t think you can expect much more than the low to mid 60s from this club this year. They are going to have to find other ways to get their points.
2. Center Position
Last season Kevin Pittsnogle owned that position averaging 36 minutes per game on the court. This season it’s going to be center-by-committee with Rob Summers and Jamie “Big Country” Smalligan. Plus, I believe at times even Joe Alexander will play that position on the defensive end and Frank Young on the offensive end. John Beilein will look for scoring and rebounding and rebounding in total from this position and that’s a little bit different than he’s had in the past when he had just Pittsnogle.
1. Bench Play
Last season only six players played major minutes for the team and of the final two in John Beilein’s rotation Darris Nichols averaged just 13 minutes per game and Rob Summers only three minutes per game. This year I think the bench will go an easy nine players and even beyond that at times. The bench could play an average of 11 to 13 minutes per game.
We’ll see you at the Coliseum.
