Harler credits deep rotation to Best Virginia success
By Joseph Smith
An old adage alleges that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. For Best Virginia, there isn’t too much concern amongst the team about the strength of their chain.
That’s because, according to WVU basketball alum and Best Virginia head coach Chase Harler, there are “no liabilities” on the roster.
“We got guys that can score and we got no liabilities on our team,” he said. “Everyone brings something different to the table -- I think we rebound the ball very well, and to be honest, we pass the ball extremely well.”
Best Virginia is back for yet another rendition of The Basketball Tournament, seeking to earn the championship and the million dollar prize with a team mostly made up of former Mountaineers. In a 94-69 win in the first-round of action against Brotherly Love, the program utilized its deep bench in the victory.
While Brotherly Love had just two bench players who contributed 14 points, Best Virginia had five reserves who combined for 43 points -- nearly half of the points the team put on the scoreboard. All 10 players who suited up for Best Virginia would end up scoring five or more points in the win.
“Having a ten man roster helps, and everyone gets to play,” Harler said.
“With this team, being able to rotate in and out players, I feel like we’ll always be in the game,” said Marcus Keene, who contributed 12 points as a starter on Saturday. “We just have to be smart on the offensive end.”
Harler said the deep roster allows him to keep different lineups on the court throughout the game, and makes it so the team can utilize whoever the hottest scorer is in the moment -- resulting in a balanced scoring effort like the team saw in the win over Brotherly Love.
“Today we did a pretty good job of subbing, and getting guys in there together that we wanted to,” he said. “We played off the hot hand too…everyone stepped up and did something for us.”