‘Watch the film’
January 22, 2016 by Mike Casazza
There’s a lot to unpack here, but Jon Holton is taking cover and Connor Lammert is collateral damage as Prince Ibeh outbids Devin Williams near the rim and swats the WVU forward’s shot early in Wednesday’s game.
This was the highlight of a signature sequence early in the game. Williams got off four shots in the opening few minutes, and his attempts at offense came from different origins.
He posted up. He won a spot under the basket. He took a jumper. He drove to the rim.
Diversity was the plan, and Williams has had to craft his attacks lately while scoring has been complicated by defenders, their tactics and the assistance they get from officials.
The sum of it all has left Bob Huggins tongue-tied and Williams hamstrung, and it’s coincided with the start of Big 12 play. He did get a double-double Wednesday, his second in Big 12 play and eighth this season, but 11 points actually raised his scoring average in the conference while 4-for-13 shooting lowered his shooting percentage to a pretty concerning depth.
“He’s constantly got a knee in his behind and a shoulder in his back, and I think after a while that gets frustrating,” Huggins said.
This is a problem, one that’s as hard to deny as it is difficult to describe.
Williams is big, 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, and there is no question everything between his broad shoulders makes him who he is.
He’s the player the Mountaineers throw the ball to when they need points or when they want to tell an opponent how things are going to be. He’s an unheralded defender on the back end of the press and, according to Huggins, “one of the premier rebounders, not just in this league, but in the country.”
But big can mean bigger, and players have used different ways to combat the size. There’s now little debate that what’s between his ears will have to take Williams and the sixth-ranked Mountaineers (15-3, 4-2 Big 12) far this season.
Offense has become a struggle as mountains materialize to stand in his path to the basket.
“I’ve got to use my mind a little bit more and find different ways to score without putting my body on people so much,” Williams said.
That’s all for me today. With fingers crossed, I’m PIT-DFW-LBK, and I have no idea when or how I’m getting home. Be smart, be safe and check on your neighbors.