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WVU v. Kansas State: And then there were two

January 26, 2016 by Mike Casazza
hardeasy

Life has not been easy without Statsheet.com, and I just wonder what we’d be up to if that site were still alive and we had a better idea about the officials calling these games. Fortunately, TeamRankings.com has steadied by shakes and given me my fix. I started tracking its track record with WVU at the start of the season, and it’s been really reliable. (Had WVU as a four-point favorite Saturday … and that worked out.) So here tonight, as we arrive at an interesting intersection of the season that I may have fabricated for the purpose of this exercise, I want to point out a few graphics, beginning with the one above.

WVU is past the midpoint of the schedule and isn’t at the halfway point of Big 12 play, but this is a curious game. The Mountaineers have better than a 50-50 win probability in 10 of the remaining 12 games, which is healthy, but only three are what you’d call easy games. One is tonight. The other two are at home, which ought to be easy, against TCU and Texas Tech.

But the four hardest remaining games are the next four games after this one against Kansas State, which, mind you, took WVU to two overtimes three weeks ago. So it’s certainly important to sweep this one into the dustpan. Anyhow, the site has the Mountaineers going 3-2 in the next give games, winning tonight and splitting those next four.

If that’s the outcome — and again, they’ve been about spot-on so far — then WVU’s projected to go 7-1 in the final eight games (a loss at Baylor to end the regular-season schedule) and finish either second or third in the Big 12 standings. That would help the Mountaineers a lot in the conference tournament, and let’s not forget they still haven’t won a Big 12 Tournament game.

But looks who’s the favorite to win the event!

faves

Oklahoma is the (heavy) favorite to win the league, but WVU is a slight favorite to win the tournament title. The Big 12 tourney winner is, in all likelihood, going to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s the projected path for the Mountaineers.

There’s something about this team that the computers and the algorithms truly admire — that’s probably a story by itself — and that something has WVU grouped among the handful of teams considered capable of cutting down the nets at the end of it all.

champrank
Feel free to pick away at that all you want, but you know you want it to be true.

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‘I don’t like it’

by Mike Casazza

Devin Williams has had a truly interesting season. He was dominant — All-America good — in the opening games, and that’s probably to be expected. But through the two games in Las Vegas and the Jimmy V Classic against Virginia and then all the way through Marshall and Virginia Tech to to conclude (early) non-conference play, Williams was something special: 15.5 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game and 57.3 percent shooting 12 times out.

Within those 12 games, he had 10 with at least 10 points (and two with nine points) and six double-doubles.

January and conference play have treated him differently: 10 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 36.5 percent shooting in seven games.

Within those seven games, he had three games with fewer than 10 points and two double-doubles.

We’ve heard some explanations, and Bob Huggins clearly believes his rock is getting rolled and officials aren’t adjudicating fairly or consistently. He won’t say it, but he’s saying it.

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Back again for the first time

January 25, 2016 by Mike Casazza

What a ride so far for West Virginia. A 1-1 record two weeks ago pushed the Mountaineers up from Nos. 11 and 9 in the media and coaches polls, respectively, to Nos. 6 and 7. A 1-1 run this past week dropped WVU to No. 9 in the polls released today.

That means another week and two more games in the top 10, which is still a new experience for WVU and one the players are learning from under the gun.

“There’s a target on our backs,” WVU guard Jaysean Paige said. “Everyone wants to beat a top-ranked team, but we worked hard to get where we’re at now, and now we know we’ve got to keep working hard to make sure it pays off.”

If nothing else, those words and Saturday’s performance are signs of progress. WVU’s first time out as a top-10 team was utterly forgettable, except that Huggins met with his team a day after the loss to Texas and spent 2 hours, 15 minutes of a three-hour practice reviewing everything that went wrong.

And even then, the Mountaineers only made it through the first half of the 56-49 loss.

“I knew we weren’t ready to play, but I didn’t know what to do to fix it,” Huggins said. “I tried. I tried to talk to them about how we put so much time and so much effort into this in terms of working at it and doing what you’re supposed to do as a team, but obviously it didn’t work.”

Not on Wednesday. It was a different story Saturday, but it was a different experience, too. This is new for these Mountaineers. They are used to taunts and insults on the road. They did take down six ranked teams and three top-10 opponents these past two seasons. They have wanted to be up where they are now, but they hadn’t lived that life before the Longhorns and then the Red Raiders let them know what it would be like.

“It comes with games like this,” WVU forward Jon Holton said. “Every time we played Kansas in the past, they were a top-10 team and we came out and we played hard, so I guess that’s the feeling. Teams come out and try to play harder than us to beat us.”

Snow problem s’no problem

by Mike Casazza

Jonas dropped about two feet of snow on the West Virginia campus over the weekend, and it was the penultimate weekend of the recruiting calendar. The Mountaineers, of course, had some things planned, welcomed a few visitors and even received some good news in the form of two commitments.

The better news, it could be argued, is that some people couldn’t travel, and Brendan Ferns and Kyzir White couldn’t visit Penn State and both have visits planned this weekend for WVU.

As for those who did make it into town, if the fact West Virginia picked up two commitments Saturday didn’t give it away, the snow may have actually helped matters. Prospects were still able to get along, but with most businesses and other events shut down for the weekend, recruits spent more time bonding with each other, with future teammates and with the students. The impact was obvious.

“It was really cool to be among the students and just have fun,” said Adam Hensley, a linebacker commit from Centerville (Ohio). “Everyone was sledding and hanging outside and doing all this cool stuff. Just building relationships with the commits was great. It felt like I’ve known them for a long time. We just talked, connected and clicked. There was nothing awkward.”

One didn’t have to be committed to enjoy the camaraderie, either. Globe Institute (New York) cornerback Mike Daniels — the lone player who left the weekend uncommitted — felt it, too.

“The snow was hectic, but it was still fun,” he said. “We still managed to have some fun out here. It’s a great town, great people.”

 

No. 6 WVU 80, Texas Tech 76

January 24, 2016 by Mike Casazza

That game had just a pinch of everything, and I think you could capably argue it was what West Virginia needed. For starters, it was a win after back-to-back losses, and it dashed doubts that arose after Wednesday’s loss and postgame news conference. But it also required a level of intensity and execution that was not present, respectively, against Texas and Oklahoma. Both qualities were there, sometimes in abundance and definitely in time. Texas Tech made sure the Mountaineers would need both to win the game, but the Mountaineers donned both and won the game.

“It was,” WVU guard Jaysean Paige said, “an obstacle course.”

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WVU v. Texas Tech: He’s heating up!

January 23, 2016 by Mike Casazza

You are looking live at Gentleman Bob Huggins’ Saturday-morning salutation, an invitation to cozy up to the television and enjoy Mark Neely and Jerod Ward on ESPNEWS for WVU v. Texas Tech.

Interesting twist today: The benevolent Big 12 has for the past two years given WVU a Texas Tech/TCU road trip to start conference play, which gives the Mountaineers a chance to make one trip and play two games without missing any time in the classroom. But that means WVU has played the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs in gyms without student sections.

I’m not sure that means much at TCU, but it likely matters here. This is, for some reason, a hard place to play, and the fans can get into it and bother teams. But WVU’s played before 6,000 and 5,000 the past two seasons — and 8,000 in 2013, when students were on campus.

They’re in town today, and their team isn’t bad. That much we know. What we don’t know is whether we’ll see a motorcycle.

This is important.

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‘Watch the film’

January 22, 2016 by Mike Casazza
ibehibeh

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.

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Texas 56, No. 6 WVU 49

January 21, 2016 by Mike Casazza

B.Y.O.S. (Bring your own Swindoll)

No. 1, No. 2, Texas. One of those things is not like the others, and I do believe that had something to do with what happened last night at the Coliseum. I’m not sure the Longhorns are better than the Mountaineers, but they were better than the Mountaineers last night — and remember, they hit the floor like 35 minutes before the game started. WVU had a smoother set of circumstances and was never on the right road. Never had it.

But regular seasons hit lulls. There are 31 games, and while we marvel at the physical abilities and capabilities, we can lose sight of the mental necessities and how vital that part of competition is. It’s just hard to stay on the top shelf all season, and when you play with and require the level of intensity the Mountaineers flex, sometimes it’s just not going to be there. When things are coming easy and there’s praise with every dribble, it’s harder to access those things, oftentimes because you just think they’re with you.

Obviously, that’s not the case, and the verdict last night was that that’s a lesson learned.

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WVU v. Texas: Who will be the big shot?

January 20, 2016 by Mike Casazza

Yo, I’m going to be out of town this weekend. I think. I should be able to get to PIT. I’m not sure about getting back to town Sunday. But quite likely I’ll be gone when that big storm rolls through here. If the roads are a beyond-defense mess, I’ve got a torch and a pitchfork in my garage. I’d be happy to tell you where the key is. (So would Texas, which needed a police escort to get here and didn’t arrive until 6:15 p.m. This is nuts!)

Moving on, the crowd’s going to be … not as inspired to make this trek as it was for last week’s game against then-not-struggling Kansas. And Cam Ridley isn’t someone you need to worry about tonight, which is great news for Devin Williams, who’s had issues with Ridley and his size for as long as they’ve run into one another in the Big 12.

The 6-foot-10, 290-pound Ridley is out with a broken foot. He’s averaged 8.9 points and 7.6 rebounds in five games against WVU and made — deep breath — 26 of 37 shots. He played 25 and 8 minutes the first two times these teams plays, but he had 12, 17 and 19 points in games the past two years and shot 20-for-26 in those three games.

“Wait until you see Prince Ibeh,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said. “He plays real big. He’s a great shot-blocker. He’s struggled to make shots. But he’s as good a shot-blocker, probably the best shot-blocker in our league.”

Connor Lammert is also still around, and he’s 6-10 and 235 pounds, “a pick-and-pop guy,” who can hurt you on the perimeter but also spring guards for drives. The Mountaineers have not yet seen Shaq Cleare, the Maryland transfer who’s played more in the absence of Ridley. He’s never rebounded a lot, but he’s always shot a high percentage.

“It’s not like they don’t still have size,” Huggins said, knowing that trait above all else led to the losses — and the sweep in 2014 — in the 3-4 Big 12 record against the Texas.

Williams is averaging 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds and just 21.8 minutes per game in Big 12 play. He’s had single-digit points and rebounds twice, and he was noticeably ineffective (with an explanation) Saturday in the loss to Oklahoma.

“We’ve just got to keep Devin on the floor,” Huggins said. “Devin’s one of the premier rebounders, not just in this league, but in the country. Him playing 15 minutes is detrimental to the way we rebound the ball.”

And yet, despite the presence of all those big guys, the eye on Williams and what he can or can’t do in the absence of Ridley or the presence of the officials, the bump in playing time for Elijah Macon and the overlooked strides of Esa Ahmad, we ought not look in the frontcourt. This might be about the guards.

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Shane Lyons and his fingerprints

by Mike Casazza

(I thought this posted yesterday. It did not, and I don’t know why. Carry on!)

Here’s something interesting regarding Joe Wickline, Matt Caponi and WVU.

The new offensive coordinator signed a two-year contract last week that will pay him $425,000 in the upcoming season and $450,000 in 2017. It’s guaranteed, too, meaning he’s getting all the money if WVU decides to go in a direction that doesn’t involve Wickline. The new safeties coach signed a one-year deal for $200,000.

Included in both deals, though, is a rare liquidated damages clause. Wickline and Caponi will pay WVU a quarter of his salary if he leaves during the length of the contract. That fee jumps to 100 percent if he takes a new job in the Big 12.

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Second sentence, third paragraph. That’s the need for and the essence of this inclusion. And it’s an inclusion because it’s new to WVU pacts. I have to think it’ll be a part of all future contracts.

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