The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

WVU 83, Lafayette 56

My first impression Sunday was, “It’s going to be a long year at Robert Morris.” But if you step back and look at two games and the things that did and did not overlap, you do begin to get a better understanding of this WVU men’s basketball team.

Friday night was hard to watch, but … but … I thought the Mountaineers at least got Devin Williams shots where they want him getting shots and that he couldn’t possibly go 0-for-11 every game. I thought Jon Holton was doing 115 mph in a 70 and would be reminded you steer easier and bang into fewer guard rails if you slow down a little. I thought the shooters, whoever they were, passed up looks out of nerves and would soon pull the trigger. I thought Juwan Staten knew he was the best player on the floor and proved it when it mattered. I thought the pressure defense and the rebounding mattered.

Sunday? Williams got shots and made shots. Holton slowed down and was probably the best player on the floor, though Staten seemed content to let someone else hold the conch. The shooters, whoever they were, took the shots and Jaysean Paige and Jevon Carter combined to make five 3-pointers. Now, this is not a good shooting team (yet? [Do I dare say yet?]), but WVU has taken 66 more shots than its opponents in two games and wildly outrebounded the opposition. The Mountaineers allowed just nine offensive rebounds and seven second-chance points in the two games while getting 56 offensive rebounds and 39 second-chance points of their own.

Translation: These guys look like they can succeed with those misses. I don’t know how long WVU can keep up this pressure ploy. I know they won’t dominate everyone on the board. I think teams with good guards can handle the press better and make WVU pay. I think teams can probably fluster Holton and Williams if they’re big enough to go bully to bully. I wonder if Huggins really has 12 guys, or even 10, he can roll in and out to make it work.

It might keep up. Opponents might continually capitulate. Holton and Williams might be tough guys. Huggins might have the roster he needs. It’s too soon to say for sure, but … but … the defensive capacity is there and it looks like it’ll be so much better than last year. Holton and/or Williams inside (we haven’t seen Watkins, and Macon missed last night’s game) make Staten and Dax Miles and Paige and Tarik Phillip dangerous defenders. (I hear BillyDee Williams is a good press guy because he chases and jumps and can make open 3s.) Those guys float around and go after passes because they know if they miss, someone is going to stand between the ball and the basket. That’s new, right?

But here’s the takeaway, for me at least: WVU was 1-10 last season when it shot under 40 percent. WVU is 2-0 this season when it shoots under 40 percent. But Caz, look at the opposition. I know, I know. And I did. WVU will not go 39-0 and WVU better make jumpers sooner rather than later because there are pack-line teams and there are zone teams waiting in Puerto Rico. But for now, the Mountaineers are at least empower by knowing they don’t have to score 83 points to win a game.

“We didn’t guard before like we guard now,” WVU men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins said. “We can turn people over and create offense from our defense.”

The opposition must be considered, and the Mountaineers started with a come-from-behind win against the team picked to finish sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and followed it by routing the team picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League. Lafayette also played up the road at Robert Morris and won by 27 points last Friday.

Yet WVU has taken 66 more shots than its opponents, scored 51 points off 44 turnovers and outrebounded the other team by 35, which is to say things are sort of going as Huggins predicted in the preseason.

“We want to get a lot more shots than what our opponent does,” said Huggins, who Friday tied former Temple coach John Chaney for 16th place on the all-time Division I wins list and then moved into 15th place Sunday with win No. 742. “(Sunday) we did it the way you’re supposed to do it. They had 20 turnovers. We had six. We outrebounded them by 19. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

(Also: Charge calls are a mess. Had to say it.)