Post by rainman on Oct 19, 2007 8:38:11 GMT -5
Athletic Alexander
By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com
October 19, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In an off-season marked by transition and adjustment for the West Virginia men’s basketball team, perhaps nobody in the program has transformed more than junior forward Joe Alexander.
First there is the matter of Alexander’s body. Playing at 205 pounds last year, the Mt. Airy, Md., native admits that it was tough finishing in traffic amid contact on drives to the basket.
“I can remember times last year when I was on the floor and my uniform felt kind of big and I kind of felt like a bum playing against all these big guys,” Alexander said
That will not be a problem this year. Alexander has put on 25 pounds over the summer and expects to play this season between 225 and 230 pounds. Despite the added weight, Alexander assures Mountaineers fans that he hasn’t lost a step. Anyone that saw his repertoire of dunks last Friday night at Mountaineer Madness can attest to that.
“It hasn’t affected it at all. I still move pretty well I think,” Alexander said with a laugh.
The ultra athletic junior is also in the process of adjusting to the rigorous practice regimen that is demanded by first-year Coach Bob Huggins.
“It’s a lot harder. We don’t get any water breaks or really any breaks at all. We just go from drill to drill for three hours. For a defensive drill you have to stay in your defensive stance the whole time and you’ve just got to work,” Alexander said. “When you don’t they will get on you every single time. It’s not like they’ll get on you and then you can kind of slack off for a little bit. They are on you every time.”
Alexander says the brutal practices test each player equally both mentally and physically. That is saying a lot coming from a guy that admitted that after just two days of practice under Huggins his body was as sore as it had ever been.
“It’s definitely both mental and physical,” Alexander says. “We have to get in better physical shape so we are able to do this and since we’re not there yet we have to keep pushing ourselves mentally to get where we need to be.”
Alexander says that while much is being made of all the new principles the team is learning this preseason, in actuality many of the basics were learned throughout the summer.
“It’s not all new. We had a short amount of time at the beginning of the summer to work with Huggins so we learned a lot of it then,” Alexander said. “It doesn’t feel like the year is starting right now. It feels like we have already been together for a year. We’ve been together all summer so I feel like we have really gelled.”
The former Mt. Airy Gazette Player of the Year has embraced his new coach and believes he can flourish in this wide-open free flowing system.
“For his style you have to be able to move fast. You have to be athletic basically. I do feel a little bit freed,” Alexander said. “It’s not like a puzzle I have to solve where I have to do all these little things a certain way. Basically all I have to do is work hard and hustle and I’ll be good. There is more of a sense of freedom I guess.”
Not that Alexander is throwing former coach John Beilein under the bus. He fully recognizes that the things learned under Beilein will only add to his arsenal as he gets set to suit up for Huggins.
“He was trying to teach me good stuff that would have helped me and it did help me. I learned a lot. I know how to read a screen when I come off of it,” Alexander said. “That is something we worked on a lot last year so I probably wouldn’t have been as good at doing that if I hadn’t been through that last year.”
Alexander describes how he has blended many of the teaching principles from both coaches to make himself a better player.
“A lot of drills that we run now, Coach Huggins will emphasize certain parts of it and won’t mention certain parts that were really important to us last year but I still do those parts instinctively now and it helps me,” Alexander said. “I don’t know if Huggins even realizes it but its just little things like which hand to put the ball in when you’re on a certain side and things like that.”
The freakishly athletic forward believes being able to play for two highly successful coaches in one college career is an opportunity that most players simply don’t get.
“I think any basketball player would probably benefit from having two different styles of coaches coach them rather than just one,” Alexander said. “You get the goods from both but for me personally I think Huggins is a good fit.”
More than anything else, Alexander is just looking to get the season started. The transition has been enjoyable for him and he hopes the fun times with players and coaches alike keep rolling along well into March and beyond.
“So far it has been fun and we just started. The summer was fun also,” Alexander said. “We are learning a lot of new stuff and we have hope that we are going to have a winning team and a bright future. It’s been fun already and it will be great when the season starts.”
By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com
October 19, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In an off-season marked by transition and adjustment for the West Virginia men’s basketball team, perhaps nobody in the program has transformed more than junior forward Joe Alexander.
First there is the matter of Alexander’s body. Playing at 205 pounds last year, the Mt. Airy, Md., native admits that it was tough finishing in traffic amid contact on drives to the basket.
“I can remember times last year when I was on the floor and my uniform felt kind of big and I kind of felt like a bum playing against all these big guys,” Alexander said
That will not be a problem this year. Alexander has put on 25 pounds over the summer and expects to play this season between 225 and 230 pounds. Despite the added weight, Alexander assures Mountaineers fans that he hasn’t lost a step. Anyone that saw his repertoire of dunks last Friday night at Mountaineer Madness can attest to that.
“It hasn’t affected it at all. I still move pretty well I think,” Alexander said with a laugh.
The ultra athletic junior is also in the process of adjusting to the rigorous practice regimen that is demanded by first-year Coach Bob Huggins.
“It’s a lot harder. We don’t get any water breaks or really any breaks at all. We just go from drill to drill for three hours. For a defensive drill you have to stay in your defensive stance the whole time and you’ve just got to work,” Alexander said. “When you don’t they will get on you every single time. It’s not like they’ll get on you and then you can kind of slack off for a little bit. They are on you every time.”
Alexander says the brutal practices test each player equally both mentally and physically. That is saying a lot coming from a guy that admitted that after just two days of practice under Huggins his body was as sore as it had ever been.
“It’s definitely both mental and physical,” Alexander says. “We have to get in better physical shape so we are able to do this and since we’re not there yet we have to keep pushing ourselves mentally to get where we need to be.”
Alexander says that while much is being made of all the new principles the team is learning this preseason, in actuality many of the basics were learned throughout the summer.
“It’s not all new. We had a short amount of time at the beginning of the summer to work with Huggins so we learned a lot of it then,” Alexander said. “It doesn’t feel like the year is starting right now. It feels like we have already been together for a year. We’ve been together all summer so I feel like we have really gelled.”
The former Mt. Airy Gazette Player of the Year has embraced his new coach and believes he can flourish in this wide-open free flowing system.
“For his style you have to be able to move fast. You have to be athletic basically. I do feel a little bit freed,” Alexander said. “It’s not like a puzzle I have to solve where I have to do all these little things a certain way. Basically all I have to do is work hard and hustle and I’ll be good. There is more of a sense of freedom I guess.”
Not that Alexander is throwing former coach John Beilein under the bus. He fully recognizes that the things learned under Beilein will only add to his arsenal as he gets set to suit up for Huggins.
“He was trying to teach me good stuff that would have helped me and it did help me. I learned a lot. I know how to read a screen when I come off of it,” Alexander said. “That is something we worked on a lot last year so I probably wouldn’t have been as good at doing that if I hadn’t been through that last year.”
Alexander describes how he has blended many of the teaching principles from both coaches to make himself a better player.
“A lot of drills that we run now, Coach Huggins will emphasize certain parts of it and won’t mention certain parts that were really important to us last year but I still do those parts instinctively now and it helps me,” Alexander said. “I don’t know if Huggins even realizes it but its just little things like which hand to put the ball in when you’re on a certain side and things like that.”
The freakishly athletic forward believes being able to play for two highly successful coaches in one college career is an opportunity that most players simply don’t get.
“I think any basketball player would probably benefit from having two different styles of coaches coach them rather than just one,” Alexander said. “You get the goods from both but for me personally I think Huggins is a good fit.”
More than anything else, Alexander is just looking to get the season started. The transition has been enjoyable for him and he hopes the fun times with players and coaches alike keep rolling along well into March and beyond.
“So far it has been fun and we just started. The summer was fun also,” Alexander said. “We are learning a lot of new stuff and we have hope that we are going to have a winning team and a bright future. It’s been fun already and it will be great when the season starts.”
