(Football schedule is out. Ten Saturday games!)

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which grabs you by the collar and pulls you away from the Panic Button this morning.

Then again, there is no Easy Button, either. Not now.

It’s inconvenient and probably no fun to remember Pitt is very good this season. Might be as good, if not better, than anyone else and this might be the year for the Panthers because there’s no dominant team and no truly powerful offensive team that rejects the idea a team like Pitt, which isn’t even really good offensively, can make a run.

Still, for the second time against Pitt and the umpteenth time overalll this season, WVU was right there for a half and gave in during the second half. 

The Mountaineers got nothing offensively from John Flowers and his foul trouble. Deniz Kilicli gave WVU one basket and two points and fouled out. Kevin Jones was 4-for-13 and mystified Huggins with an inability to make shots he usually makes. Three parts of the plan WVU planned to follow just weren’t there. Enter the freelancing:

Huggins tried all sorts of combinations and tactics, including posting up his guards in the second half to get Pitt’s size away from the basket.

“Just trying to score,” he said. “Trying to figure out any way to score.”

This is intersting because this basically needs to be WVU’s goal the rest of the season, however long it lasts. This is a team that’s going to get 58-68 points and shoot 38-45 percent, play really hard and guard and rebound. Is it enough?

Well, Pitt’s had trouble scoring and in the past six games scored 71, 71, 57, 67, 60 and 71 points. Two of the 71-point games were against WVU, which couldn’t get past 71 in either game. WVU has just two games above 70 points in the past 10 and those came against DePaul, which is the worst defensive team in the Big East, and Notre Dame, a team with a defense WVU didn’t much respect, a team that’s much different on the road, a team that allowed 52 points to Marshawn Brooks and 93 at Providence Wednesday.

So Huggins tried and tried to get points, even with Jones, Kilicli and Flowers able to offer very little. The Mountaineers ran high screens with Cam Thoroughman and a guard with great success — just like Notre Dame did against Pitt. They posted up Casey Mitchell and Joe Mazzulla. They went with some lineups I hadn’t seen much, or at all, this season.

And now you wonder if Huggins sees a need to extend or implement some ideas. 

Casey scored again, which is something the team absolutely needs. He’s done it fairly efficiently lately with 58 points on 35 shots the past four games. Yet he doesn’t start.

Truck, meanwhile, followed his Notre Dame game with a 2-for-10 game … and he did make his first shot. Is this who and what he is now? And is one a better option for the team than the other right now? Huggins did stray from a slumping Bryant late last season and the team played well without him.

Then again, is there something to Casey’s productivity that works against his teammates? He had  22 points. No one else had more than nine. Not the first time he’s been active/productive and no one else has. Casey also has eight turnovers in those four games and just three assists. He doesn’t move the ball as well as Truck. One reason Huggins likes Truck and Joe together is because they can move the ball, which eventually creates easier shots.

Perhaps there’s room for all of them. Truck, Joe and Casey were on the floor together Thursday. Another lineup that had Truck, Mazzulla, Mitchell, Pepper and Jones was fairly effective. Those groups can do things a group that features Thoroughman/Kilicli cannot do. Then again, there are also things that group cannot do. The matchups can be a negative and matchups matter more than anything else.

And remember, the Panthers are a tough-to-bad matchup for WVU … and a lot of other teams. Figure there were  20 scholarship players available — healthy, not redshirting — last night. Put them on the blacktop and pick two teams of 10. You’re probably picking a lot of Pitt players before WVU players. The Mountaineers have players, don’t get me wrong. Pitt has more players.

That thing Huggins likes to say about getting to the point where you walk on the court, see the other team and know you’re going to be all right that night? Pitt has that. And yet, WVU was right there for a half. Again.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments  appear as posted. In other words, think things through.

Karl said:

Admittedly, I don’t follow WVU baseball that closely, but I was surprised to read all of the comments in your chat about Greg Van Zandt possibly being on the way out. I remember reading about Pat White’s not so flattering assessment of him, but doesn’t he have a decent record? I saw this clip of some pretty impressive hitting down in Tampa a while back, so he must be able to coach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoE3fHi97hg

And we’re off!

WVU79 said:

I would like see WVU baseball do well on the national scene but from what I have heard concerning Van Zant that may not be possible. Does anyone on here know what type of coach he is? How does WVU’s facilities compare to other schools in the Big East or the top 25 baseball rankings?
My son is a member of current UVA’s baseball squad so I am somewhat knowledgeable of how much money and effort it takes to fund a very good program (several millions). Plus success breeds success, as an example: UVA made it to the College World Series in 2009, to begin the 2010 season the capacity of the baseball stadium was approx 2,600; but during the 2010 season they added 2200 bleacher seats to increase the capacity to over 4800. They sold out all of the tickets to their last 4-5 weekend series, then sold out the Regional and Super Regional. One other point to mention is that 10 years ago UVA was on the verge of eliminating baseball because there was no interest, but with the influx of $ that changed.
With Oliver Luck in charge of the dollars, I will be interested to see in what direction the baseball program goes.
Anyone have any idea of if there is any interest in having a top 25 program?

Good perspective here. I really can’t give you great insight here, except I am sure, obviously, WVU would love to have a top-25 program. I’d have to think the money would be there if the demand was there. I also think it’s a little unfair to hold baseball to this sudden standard where, because of some changes in the athletic department, baseball has to be very good very fast. WVU’s facilities are probably right there with a lot of the other Big East programs. I’ve seen some better and some worse in my travels for basketball and football. What WVU and the Big East cannot control is the climate. Baseball is better — and easier — in the SEC and the Pac-10 and even some ACC schools. The problem with that is I just put all those Big East schools on the same level and WVU baseball is not on the same competitive level. It’s not a regular contender for the Big East. It doesn’t occasionally win the league. It doesn’t make the NCAA field or merit considersation. It’s an odd analogy, but soccer is kind of like baseball relative to the climate and year-round play and a recruiting base. WVU’s soccer programs are in a better position right now and recruit nationally and even globally. This is just me, but I think this is one Mr. Luck is trying to wrap his brain around right now.

Parks said:

I just think you have to go back to the first few weeks OL took over when he looked at the baseball field in disgust. If I remember right he was shocked to find that the visiting team had no locker rooms, there was inadequate space to bring in flocks of fans to the game and little publicity for the program as a whole. I think some of the things said by OL were taken as direct hits at the football program, but I see a much bigger plan in place for the entire athletic department. He will get it fixed and we will compete in EVERY sport nationally. It’s not enough to just have one of two horses to ride on, even if football is the biggest money maker. He wants revenue to come in from every sport and he wants the state to get behind it all. I applaud this and can’t wait to see the changes in the future for all of our athletic teams.

Yeah, that did happen. Good catch.

The 25314 said:

Better post-WVU game rant, Craig Esherick or Jim Boeheim?

You should have asked him how many games Syracuse would have won without Gerry McNamara in 2006.

Even if I ask you to narrow down the field of Boeheim rants, Esherick wins it and can even slow up the last several meters. That was surreal. You always remember your first meltdown. Sadly, I didn’t see the latest Boeheim blowup. That was happening as we were talking to WVU’s players. I only learned about it the next day when I was reading in the airport. Pity.

Dave said:

Talked about this with a friend and while we both see Boeheim’s side the fact is that reporters need to write about “here and now” and not always about historical context.

In one sense, a coach can use history to demand certain criteria in a contract through the negotiating process, as such fans can demand that level of performance. But previous performance is not always indicative of what happens in a small window. I don’t think that Boeheim is a better/worse coach during any 6-game period than outside of it, at the same time writers have to write in such context regardless of whether thinigs are going well or not.

I long ago accepted that reporters and coaches will only be able to agree on one thing: They’ll never fully agree on how the job is to be done with one working with the other. And that’s fine. Just the way it is. I’ve been lucky to work with some coaches who get that and don’t let it be an issue.

rekterx said:

Great video.

Who wants to bet that the reporters that Boeheim went after and couldn’t answer, or give precise answers, to his questions were the reporters he was referring to in general?

Mike, you had be wondering about the Beilein reference for a while.

Wondering when it was coming or wondering why he dropped that name?

Jeff in Akron said:

I believe there are times when a coach has to stand up for his players and that may require him getting a T. Saturday’s game against Notre Dame was a perfect example of that scenario.

Huggins works the officials as good or better than most coaches. Sure he got the T, but the officials went to the scorers table and reviewed the play after the T. They stood by the call, still, WVU got a “payback” call on the next posession. That killed what appeared to be the start of a ND run, and put momentum squarely on WVU’s side. Huggins can blister an official, if he is right, he’s right. Further, what official wants to be the center of one of Huggins’ blasts?

I have to believe that pays dividends for WVU at times. With the state of officiating in the NCAA this year being what it is, any edge Huggins can get in that area is going to pay dividends. To be fair, there were two fouls on the play that Huggins was livid over. A no call on both?! If your getting the shaft and you don’t stand up for yourself/team, who’s fault is it?

I underestimated the effect Huggins has on officials up until the postseason last year. I got to sit close to the  bench at the NCAA games and it was uncanny. He’d pick out something or someone and work it and work it and before long he got the calls. I’m sure it’s like that across the board, but I’m sure Huggins is one of the best, too. We saw a little of that Saturday. It fired his team up, but I think the way the  game was being called changed a little bit, too, as you noted. I also think the issue during the fracas began with the no call on Mazzulla clearly being fouled, but was also aboyt the tangle between Deniz and two Notre Dame players under the basket. One pushed Kilici down and one appeared to throw an elbow — or, of course, simply flap an arm as he tried to protect himself. I think that necessitated the replay.

Mr. M said:

The Gods owe Cam (if not us Mountaineer fans) at least one good scoring game — like 12 points or something. And while praying to them, might as well ask for a double double. Amen.

Amen!

overtheSEC said:

I agree, M, but Cam doesn’t make 100% of the shots he doesn’t take. He followed up his “offensive explosion” of 10 points on 5 for 7 shooting, with games in which he’s attempted 3, 1, 4, 2, and 3 shots from the field.

Testify!

The 25314 said:

Cam plays because “he does what he does” and doesn’t try to prove what he can’t do.

Idea: a video featuring all of Cam’s missed layups over his career to the tune of Yackety Sax.

I was thinking of you when he tipped in Mazzulla’s layup at the first-half buzzer. It was “what he does” and also a layup. Neat to see.

rekterx said:

Cam just needs to hit the winning shot in a big game and his legacy will be perfect.

I think everyone on the team would agree with you on that and would acccept that outcome.

Parks said:

I do think he is the basketball version of Owen for us. Just does what he does and every so often he explodes into something you can’t help but love (and it doesn’t have to be scoring).

We can gree this year’s Cam is a different and better player than last year’s Cam. This year’s Cam would have been a tremendous asset on last year’s team. He happens to be on a team that on some nights needs more than what he offers in the minutes he plays.

5th Year Senior said:

Let’s role-play for a second, you play bracketologist and tell us WVU’s seed in the NCAA tournament and can WVU win more than one game in the NCAA tournament?

Today, I’d say they’re a 6, 7 or 8 seed. There just aren’t 30 or so better teams based on the criteria and I imagine they’ll settle in that area, too. Success in the tournament depends on the matchup. I think WVU can win games, but it depends who the opponent is. If the Mountaineers get a really good offensive team, that’s trouble. If they get a team that plays slow and wants to execute in the halfcourt, WVU has a good shot. Hard to predict. And then you throw  in WVU’s players, who themselves are hard to predict, and it’s just tricky.

glibglub said:

The program cover puts me in mind of an old Star Wars movie poster. That’s why, had I been the graphic artist, I would’ve put Jamie Dixon not in the unseemly squatting position, but in the classic Princess Leia pose (hand on hip, right leg extended, pant leg slit up to the thigh). To each his own, I guess.

I thought the same, at first. We headed in different directions upon the Leia/Dixon pose, however.

hershy112 said:

This game is almost identical to the one in Morgantown. I thought we played decently well in the first half, then came out in the second half and couldn’t hit anything and Pitt was hitting everything.

Surprised? You are who you are.

Dave said:

I know the in-conference record is not very good, but nationally, I still think we should be ranked and there is no way we should be on the bubble.

Wins over Georgetown, Purdue, ND, and Vandy who are all locks, in addition to wins over Oaklad (1st in their league), American (2nd in their league), and Cleveland State (1st in their league) provide a better resume than the likes of many in the lower part of the top 25.

When you consider that we’re down 4 players, have no inside game, and those who we thought would spark the offense are erratic at best, it’s amazing that we’re where we are overall.

As for the game, it’s got to be incredibly frustrating to basically know that there is no way to tell what a foul is and what is not. Seriously, two guys can wrestle one another to the ground with no call, yet someone else gets called for a tap 40 feet away from the basket? Players seemingly lurch forward mid-air and no call to mess up their own shot? And if it’s a mystery that players on defense can “lose” a 6′10″ 280lb center (according to the announcers), then why can’t 3 officials see him at the top of the key push one player into another mid-shot and knock him to the ground?

I hope that it’s not another year where the majority of BE teams lose in the tourney early due to their “physical” play, but the league tends to condition them that way.

My only thought on the officiating was it was uneven, though consistent. They didn’t allow much outside and allowed a lot inside, but it was that way through the game. I was OK with it. Otherwise, Dave nails it.

jtmountaineer said:

Is there any easy, consistent explanation for our second-half collapses? We usually score less; they always score more. I liked it better last year when we sucked in the first half and showed resolve enough to come back 13 times. I don’t remember this year’s team coming back, only surrendering leads.

As was said earlier, Pitt is a better team, but still. They weren’t in the first half.

No easy explanation, but last night WVU looked just bothered. Like, “Again? Seriously?” and resigned to the eventual outcome about 10 minutes into the half. The energy just wasn’t there and that got my attention. It’s unlike those guys.

brightside said:

Could the season-long second half slumps simply be a result of our lack of depth? We play 8 guys, but really only 7, as Deniz and Pepper seem to alternate games getting little-to-no burn, for various reasons. Hard to guard and hard to get good lift on tired legs. Not making excuses or ripping them for poor conditioning, just pointing out that the league is a grind and we’ve gone through it with 7.5 contributing players.

It’s not the total answer, but I have to believe it’s part of it. When your shots come up short, you can’t finish close shots, can’t rebound and defend consistently, it’s energy and fatigue. There’s a mental part, too. Again, they knew they were in that familiar funk and that puts a lot of pressure on shot-making. When that’s not there, you have to put that much more into defense. It’s taxing. As for the rotation, it isn’t much different than what most teams will rely on, but you’re asking players to play very hard for long stretches and sometimes out of position or against much bigger and stronger opponents. It’s as hard as it sounds.

rekterz said:

Our best play in the second half of the season has occurred with CM on the bench. After the second half of the ND game and the games we played when he was suspended, I was surprised to see him enter the game so quickly last night.

I’m studying this theory now and there may be something to it — I just can’t openly accept the top offensive threat is a detriment. Not yet, at least. I think he had to get in last night because Pitt will stand on the 3-point line and shut down the driving lanes and prevent any entry passes. If Mitchell gets some 3s, Pitt has to extend or chase and that opens the space WVU needs for the close shots it desires.

The 25314 said:

Talk about Bradenton, Florida being 1,052 miles from Pittsburgh.

… fine. Enjoy the weekend.