Joe Mazzulla has, for various reasons, earned the distinction of a go-to guy for we media covering West Virginia’s basketball team. There are times he has good games he has to speak on or occasions he makes significant contributions, even if they are hard to notice, that deserve some attention.

But the kid is really smart, really sharp and really honest and stands out in that regard on a team that has a few players who possess the same abilities. His insight and soundbytes are good for our line of work.

Monday he said something I’d thought of before, but never articulated nearly as well. And tell me you disagree with this…

“When we play a talented team, we get caught up trying to match their talent instead of trying to outplay them, instead of grinding it out and making it a battle,” point guard Joe Mazzulla said. “We played a prima donna style (Monday). I don’t think we played that way against Pitt or St. John’s. We can’t forget where we come from.”

Maybe this isn’t a secret or maybe it’s hard to admit. I’m not sure either way, but WVU just isn’t as blessed with the blend of talent and experience as a few other teams in this league or the nation.

WVU is not bereft of talent. Far from it, in fact. That said, that team can’t score like Villanova or play a zone like Syracuse or press like Louisville or match size with UConn.

The Mountaineers can come close and they’re good enough to be good at those things and beat those teams, but that’s not really the point. They don’t want to do those things. They want to do their things.

What the Mountaineers have is a collection of good to great players of different ages who combine to play an effective style. Truth be told, a lot of the teams in this league and the nation can’t play that way and can’t hang with WVU.

The Mountaineers aren’t going to outscore a lot of teams or run up and down the floor or engage in a shooting contest.  If they guard and rebound and play mean and just make the layups and two-foot jumpers that just never seem to fall, they’re hard to beat.

Don’t forget, they’re 19-4, No. 5 in the RPI, playing the second-hardest schedule in the country (for now) and still theoretically alive for a conference title, at best, and a Big East Tournament bye, at worst.

Yet when you talk of these teams at the top of the league and the national rankings, they play their way and they win their way. Villanova pressures you on offense. Syracuse will always play its zone. Pitt will guard. Georgetown will play a beautiful and efficient style of offense. Kentucky will run. Duke will shoot and score. Tennessee presses. Wisconsin screens in the halfcourt.

And the Mountaineers have their way. When they’re going, they don’t seem to care much about how talented the opposition is, but are more interested in whether the other team is willing to get down and do battle. People speak of it and revere it, but do the Mountaineers forget it?