West Virginia hopes experience, depth will help bring faster tempo to offense this season

Following their games in the Greentree Pro-Am Summer League Monday, three of the West Virginia men’s basketball players in attendance sounded much like they did at this time last season when they described what style of play to expect from them next season.

"We just want to push the ball and try to get easy buckets," said sophomore point guard Jabarie Hinds. "Teams focus on good defense, so if we can push it and get a couple of fast layups, I think that’ll help us a lot more."

The Mountaineers set out to do the same things last season, but a few things kept them from playing the way they wanted.

With such a young team last year – consisting of just three upperclassmen – West Virginia had a tough time finding the right chemistry to run the style of offense that it wanted to.

But with a year of experience under their belts, the Mountaineers think this year could be a lot different.

"Last year we were kind of hesitant to push it up and down because we didn’t really click and know how each other played yet," said sophomore forward Pat Forsythe. "This year, we’re running and getting into our motion right away.

"We’ve all been playing together, we know how we play. Now that everything’s running more smoothly, we’ll be able to run a lot better."

With that extra experience that they were able to get last season, the younger players will be able to head into this year knowing what it’s going to take to get the job done.

"It feels a lot different (than last year)," said sophomore forward Keaton Miles. "There’s a lot more confidence because we know what to prepare for.

"Last year we went into college basketball wide-eyed and just tried to find our niche, and this year we can come in and have a better understanding of what to prepare for and how to prepare for it."

It’s also going to play into West Virginia’s favor this season if the team members can stay healthy.

This season, head coach Bob Huggins will have the benefit of plenty of depth at just about every position on the floor. They can substitute players in and out when they get tired – something they haven’t been able to do in the past due to injuries.

"We’ve got five bigs this year that we’ll be able to rotate in and out, just to make sure we can keep the tempo up," Forsythe said. "We’ve got a lot more talent coming in. If one guy’s having an off night or one’s beat up, we have four others that we can rotate in.

"It’s the same with the guards too; there are a lot. We have a bigger rotation and
it’ll be easier with more depth."

The summer league is a big benefit for the players. It gives them a chance to improve before the next season.

For Miles, who scored five points on 2-of-10 shooting with 11 rebounds in his Greentree debut this season, it’s about being more consistent with his jump shot.

"I really couldn’t buy a shot today, but I’ve been working on it," he said. "I just want to contribute as much as possible. With me scoring, I can contribute more to the team, but if that’s not my role then it’s not my role. I want the win before worrying about myself."

Forsythe played in the first game of the night and was matched up against highly touted Pitt freshman Steven Adams.

He struggled in the first half, but was able to pick things up in the final 20 minutes, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in his first action since suffering a back injury that ended his freshman season.

"I’m trying to run up and down. I need to run, rebound and block shots. The scoring will come with the rebounding, and I know that these summer leagues are pretty much guard-oriented," Forsythe said.

Hinds led his team back from a double-digit second-half deficit to score a comeback win in the last game of the night. He finished with 17 points on a 6-of-15 shooting performance, three rebounds and an assist while turning the ball over two times.

Those players, as well as sophomore guard Aaron Brown and freshmen Terry Henderson and Eron Harris, will be playing again Wednesday at the Greentree Sportsplex starting at 7 p.m.