Some Good, Some Bad
November 06, 2008 05:37 PM | General
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Bob Huggins said there was some good and there was some bad during last Saturday’s closed scrimmage at Virginia. This Saturday, the Mountaineers will give their first public performance of the year against Mountain State at 1 pm at the Coliseum.
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| Bob Huggins said transition defense will be important Saturday against Mountain State.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“We did a really poor job with out-of-bounds plays but all we did was walk through them,” Huggins said of last Saturday’s scrimmage. “Our transition defense wasn’t any good and we didn’t spend any time on it. If we don’t have good transition defense on Saturday it could be a long night for us.”
Here are some other items that Huggs covered on Wednesday afternoon:
On if his team will be able to extend its defense … “If we’re not solid in the half court then we’re really going to struggle. I think pressure is good early in the year but as the year goes on you have to be really good at it and you still have to be solid in the half court,” he said. “We’re not going to mortgage the season trying to be good too early. I think we’ve got to be sound in the half court before start doing that.”
On the development of freshmen Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant … “I think in the last two or three days I think Devin has made a huge step forward. Kevin Jones has been pretty consistent for us and Truck … I think what he’s going through happens all the time. You bring a guy in and say, ‘Here’s the ball go run my team.’ It’s hard,” Huggins said. “He not only has to know where he’s supposed to be he has to know where everybody else is supposed to be. Where as guys like Devin and Kevin pretty much just have to know their positions.
“His head is spinning right now and he’s not playing near as hard as we need him to play because I think he’s thinking too much. He’s worried about where am I supposed to be and what am I supposed to be doing? It’s going to take him a little bit more time.”
On picking a starting five for Saturday … “I’m open to suggestions.”
Huggins pointed out that Joe Mazzulla, Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff have been the most consistent performers in practice so far. After that, he said several have had their moments.
“Other days Dee Proby may have a good practice or (Tuesday) Wellington (Smith) had a good practice. John Flowers has had some good practices and lately Devin has had really good practices,” Huggins said. “Kevin Jones has been really consistent for us so I don’t know. I can’t put some guys on the floor at the same time to start the game because I’ve only got so many guys at one position.
“For instance, I probably couldn’t start Truck and Joe Mazzulla together because if Truck gets three fouls and Joe gets tired where do you turn? It’s more than just putting your five best guys out there.”
By the way, fans arriving early for Saturday’s football game should consider walking over to the Coliseum to catch the team’s exhibition game against Mountain State. Matt Wells, WVU’s sports marketing director, said the team will have a full pre-game operation for the game as a dry run for the regular season.
Junior forward Da’Sean Butler came up with a pretty good remark about Saturday’s exhibition game: “Hopefully we get a good turnout, we win, and we can keep our coach happy,” says Butler.
Keeping Huggs happy is always a good thing with a couple of new treadmills sitting on along the sidelines.
There is no live TV for those four home games.
Seton Hall got the thumbs down on 6-foot-8-inch New Mexico State transfer Herb Pope, a native of nearby Aliquippa, Pa. Pope was expected to give Coach Bobby Gonzalez a much needed presence in the post.
Also, Ohio State will not have 6-foot-8-inch Nikola Kecman when it faces the Mountaineers on Dec. 27. Kecman, who played last year at Eastern Arizona College, will be available for Ohio State’s game against Michigan State on Jan. 6.
When you really look into it, with the exception of the large stadium and the affiliation with the Southeastern Conference, West Virginia and Tennessee football have a lot in common. The two schools’ enrollments are about the same and both have a dearth of Division I prospects in their state.
I am told by someone in the know that Tennessee’s signing class averages about 2-3 players a year in-state, meaning 15-20 recruits a year are coming from out-of-state. I find that interesting.
According to Mr. Zinn, Pat White has also been effective on the ground against the Cincinnati defense carrying 45 times for 359 yards and four touchdowns. White is averaging almost eight yards per carry against the Bearcats.
