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

Getting some help (and asking for some)

January 17, 2017 by Mike Casazza

From time to time, some of West Virginia’s players will log big minutes. Rarely, though, does it happen in succession like this. I have to think you wouldn’t necessarily figure Phillip as one of those large-chunk candidates, and certainly not before Adrian or Jevon Carter and sometimes Dax Miles.

That’s the trick and the treat of the Mountaineers, I suppose.

Nathan Adrian is The Guy, but he does it not with overwhelming stats but rather with almost subtle ways.

“I think he’s a heck of a player,” said Bob Huggins, who has been ranked for 27 straight weeks in the media poll and 47 straight weeks in the coaches poll and has been in the media’s top 10 for 28 weeks with the Mountaineers. “If he’s not one of the best players in this league, I don’t want to see the guys better than him.”

Adrian is not a mascot .. but isn’t he the team’s mascot? How about the personification? Here’s a team that’s No. 5 nationally in points per game, and its leading scorer is No. 15 in the Big 12. There have been only four 20-point  performances, but 11 players have 10 or more points in a game and four starters and two subs have led the team in scoring. Clutch time engineer? Who knows — and that’s not a bad thing.

“We don’t have that one guy,” Carter said after the 74-72 win. “Most teams have a guy they go to when times get hard. With us, we can honestly go to anybody.”

Leading scorer Esa only took two shots and missed both of them, and he finished with four points and five turnovers. Dax Miles shot 3-for-11 and was 0-for-6 from 3-point range. Nate Adrian, burdened by foul trouble and illness, played just 20 minutes — 15 fewer than he was averaging in conference play.

Myers finished with a career-high 16 points. Carter had 15. Phillip added 12. After WVU fell behind 45-41 and called a timeout with 15:04 remaining, those three scored 27 of the team’s final 33 points. Myers and Phillip both had seven points and Carter had 13.

“We try to emphasize we have the best guards in the country, and I think we do have the best guards in the country,” Myers said. “Whoever’s got the green light at the time, just go for it. If you’re hot, you’re hot. If not, you’ve got your teammates behind you.”

Now, if I can ask a favor from my teammates here, I need some help. This happened last night:

That was my critically acclaimed role in the Bob Huggins “Men of March” episode. I forgot this was coming. If you’d asked me when it was airing, I would have guessed March. Then around 9:40 p.m., my phone went nuts. I don’t have CBS Sports Network. So, does anybody have a copy of this? Maybe we can do a G&B of what I’m told is, like, 40 seconds.