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

On parallels and getting punked

February 26, 2016 by Mike Casazza

(For the record, we’d all be OK if this didn’t follow the alleged Scottie Reynolds-Corey Fisher track to completion. Google that one on your own.)

Bob Huggins always had a thing for Northeast ballers back in the Big East days. I suppose he still does, given the roots of Tarik Phillip, Jaysean Paige and Teyvon Myers, but it was a strong lean not long ago. They had an edge to them, a confidence and a competitiveness that made for some good WVU teams. He relied on Larry Harrison and Billy Hahn and their expertise, the latter for Philadelphia guards because Hahn was once the head coach at LaSalle and the Mountaineers would one day sign Aaron Brown and Dalton Pepper, .

So that arched the brow when Huggins made an interesting parallel a few weeks back. Jevon Carter and Dax Miles are West Virginia what Reynolds and Fisher were to Villanova. “I really, honestly thought, with the way they played a year ago, I thought in time they would be like the old Villanova guards, and to this point they haven’t. But I think they’re certainly capable of it.”

Continue reading…

And now, the other side

February 25, 2016 by Mike Casazza

I wrote today about the situation with West Virginia football, repeating and elaborating on what I’ve said and what we’ve discussed before. Namely, I think Shane Lyons has stepped into the batter’s box and taken his stance, but I also think that in the absence of edicts we’re not quite sure we know what’s good, what’s acceptable and what’s not over at the Puskar Center. The headline is, “Uncertain times for WVU football,” and that’s fair.

But the timing was curious. For starters, it’s February. There’s a lot of time between now and the start of the season, when contract talks would be a distraction, but the conversations are done.

You wonder if there’s any sort of future together. You wonder if negotiations ever really started and progressed if they ended so soon. You wonder how close Lyons was to guaranteeing no money and how adamant Holgorsen was about getting much more than that.

Of course, there’s another side of this that we ought to cover, because what I think is only one side of the story, and what I think really only matters a little.

Continue reading…

Mission: Watchable

by Mike Casazza

This, from CollegeInsider.com, is enjoyable.

Mountaineers at the combine

by Mike Casazza

Today is the day things get going with the first round of workouts, and tomorrow is when the made-for-TV stuff truly begins, but the NFL combine is underway in Indianapolis. West Virginia sent six players to the event, and some of them have been measured and vetted, because yesterday was the first of four days reserved for measurements, medical exams and interviews.

Here’s what we know so far about the WVU contingent — you can check back for updated results — as well as what the word is about those players:

Where to start?

February 24, 2016 by Mike Casazza
miles_MMORAES-2

There’s the big question, right there. Teyvon Myers or Daxter Miles? Who starts? Who comes off the bench?

Bob Huggins, we know, is fully committed to the bench. He believes he has 10 or 11 guys who can go and that the cumulative strength of those 10 or 11 across 40 minutes will break opponents. It is hard to argue that.

Continue reading…

No. 14 WVU 97, No. 17 Iowa State 87

February 23, 2016 by Mike Casazza
adrian_MMORAES-5
Those two teams really do bring something out of one another. They seem to do something entertaining when they get together, and I could live with a 3-6 or even a 2-7 matchup in Kansas City.

In a game it had to have, if only for its own good, West Virginia scored 1.26 points per possession and had scores on 55 percent of its trips to its side of the court. The 97 points were a Big 12 season-high and the most in a conference game since scoring 102 against Iowa State two seasons ago.

But that’s limiting the conversation.

Continue reading…

WVU v. Iowa State: True colors

February 22, 2016 by Mike Casazza
2016-02-22 19.28.01

You are looking live at pregame warmups at the Coliseum, where tonight we are treated to another color-coordinated affair. Saturday was a gold rush and tonight is for blue. WVU will again wear the appropriate color, when in the past we’ve seen WVU wear white or gold when the crowd was supposed to wear gold or blue. And I’ve yet to see striped uniforms for a Stripe the Stadium or Stripe the Coliseum game, and that is so wrong. It’s the little things.

But that picture is a little more meaningful because it’s Jevon Carter and Jaysean Paige getting up some shots 90 minutes before the game. And why is that significant?

Continue reading…

Let’s meet again this evening

by Mike Casazza

I’m out of pocket today, but I’ll be at the Coliseum tonight for WVU v. Iowa State. New polls come out this afternoon, and it’ll interest me to see if the Mountaineers remain higher than the Cyclones. Meantime, Chuck McGill has you covered with a tale about WVU’s rebound against an opponent that may or may not have Jameel McKay.

No. 3 Oklahoma 76, No. 10 WVU 62

February 21, 2016 by Mike Casazza

Unlike the game, in which West Virginia was outscored 24-10 in the final 7:56, this news conference gets pretty good toward the end.

Continue reading…

Here’s your headline

by Mike Casazza

You probably already knew the story, but now it’s out there for you and your reactions after WVU’s athletic director revealed no more talks will occur.

Lyons said previously negotiations needed to bring the two sides to an agreement on additional years and guaranteed money for those new seasons. Those discussions never reached a reached a suitable conclusion.

WVU has also made no moves to further secure its coaching staff. The university responded to an open records request last week that sought contracts for assistant coaches. No assistants have been granted extensions. Multiple sources said that was a major factor in cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell leaving last week to take a job at Virginia Tech.

Mitchell had one year at $275,000 remaining on a two-year contract. His status, though, is in line with how Lyons wants to treat staffing.

“That’s going to be my philosophy,” Lyons said. “Coordinators are multi-year and assistants are year-to-year. If you look at the national trend, that is very consistent.”