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

‘That was the play we wanted’

February 17, 2015 by Mike Casazza

So many things happened in the final 30 seconds Monday night, things we’ll attempt to cover and spotlight here, things that get lost in the shadow of Juwan Staten’s offense and defense in the last 8.3 ticks. Above them all is this: At the biggest moment of the biggest game West Virginia has played this season, an offense that can really struggle to shoot and score, an offense that puts so much pressure on everything else the team does, an offense that has had so few things go right, that same offense suddenly had everything go as planned to beat RPI No. 1 Kansas.

You think about that.

Screen, inbound, defensive indecisiveness, possible officiating oversight, left-handed layup. It was all there when the Mountaineers needed it all to be there.

In truth, it was a little more complicated than that, and it began on the possession before Staten scored, when WVU’s heretofore iffy halfcourt defense kept the Jayhawks from adding to a 61-60 lead. The Mountaineers were giving up steady drives to Frank Mason, and Perry Ellis was getting what he wanted inside. If it wasn’t going to be there for them, then Wayne Selden was ready to make a play off the bounce or on the perimeter. Kelly Oubre, who used his length to get in the paint or to shoot jumpers over defenders, was out on the perimeter waiting to strike. Jamari Traylor had the area under the basket for an offensive rebound. There was a lot going on out there, a lot for the Mountaineers to cover.

And they did.

Mason missed a layup and Nathan Adrian, who was great despite missing four open 3s, battled enough to secure a valuable team rebound.

That was the first break. WVU wanted to defend there rather than foul, and it worked.

“At worst, we were going to have to come down and make a 3,” coach Bob Huggins said. “The people they had on the floor, we talked about fouling, but they took the guys out we were going to foul at the end of the game. They had Ellis, who had just made free throws. They had Mason, who made everything he threw up. They had Selden, who is shooting in league play 50 percent from 3 and you figure he’s going to make free throws. The had Brannen Greene, who’s probably the best shooter in America. Who are you going to foul? We had to get a stop.”

Well, you’re not going to foul Greene because wasn’t in the game. It was Oubre. That’s not exactly a great trade for WVU, though. Oubre was 2 for 2 from 3-point range and was hard to keep out of the paint when he wanted to get in the paint. He’s also missed one free throw since Jan. 24.

Let’s not forget Huggins factored his team into the thought process, too.

“If you don’t have Juwan Staten, you’re probably going to foul, even though they have the people they had in the game,” Huggins said. “You’d hope they miss a free throw or you come down and try to hit a 3.”

WVU had Staten, which mattered most at the end, but that was due in large part to everything else that happened in the final moments.

Here’s how the Mountaineers remember the closing sequence.

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Apologies to Staten, but it was Irvin’s night

by Mike Casazza

And you thought West Virginia needed that one?

The Mountaineers backed way far away from the NCAA Tournament bubble Monday night. The season was validated with a signature 62-61 win over Kansas when Juwan Staten spun (a little too much, it turns out, but no one called it) and scored and then made the Perry Ellis layup on the other end harder than it had to be.

“The play he makes is an unbelievable play when he scores,” Huggins said. “But he’s the guy who runs in front of Ellis to change his steps or his rhythm. He made him kind of short-step it a little bit, and that’s why he ended up missing the shot.”

The miss left the Jayhawks (21-5, 10-3 Big 12) with 24 made baskets on 49 shots, and it stood as the only reason they didn’t shoot 50 percent. The previous four opponents all shot better than 50 percent against WVU (20-6, 8-5).

Pretty much everyone who played a moment or a lot did something to significantly impact the game, and Staten (20 points, four assists and no turnovers) won the game and the headlines after Jevon Carter once again shot WVU back into a game late.

But no one had a better night than Bruce Irvin, who partied with the students in the 10-2 run to start the game and then moved to his seat behind the WVU bench.

That’s the same bench he’s hurdling here.

WVU v. Kansas: Better late than now or never

February 16, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Time for a history lesson — and, really, barely enough time since it took me 54 minutes to start the laptop tonight — before we tip for No. 8 Kansas and No. 23 West Virginia. In 2011, West Virginia finished the regular season in impressive fashion: three straight wins, including a momentous Wednesday-Saturday at home against No. 16 Connecticut and No. 11 Louisville. Overall, it was five out of seven, and it started with a home win against No. 8 Notre Dame.

And then WVU lost to Marquette in the Big East Tournament, Dalton Pepper happened against Clemson in the NCAA Tournament and Bob Huggins lost to John Calipari two days later.

In 2012, WVU lost seven of 11 at the end of the regular season — it was seven of nine before a timely visit from DePaul and then a gritty 50-44 win at USF, which won 22 games, including one in the NCAA Tournament — then lost to UConn in the final Big East Tournament game and then to Gonzaga in Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2013, WVU lost the final six games of the regular season, all by double figures, and then lost to a poor Texas Tech team at the merciful buzzer in the Big 12 Tournament to end the season 13-19.

In 2014, WVU was 15-10 after crushing No. 11 Iowa State at the Coliseum, and then lost three in a row and four of six to end the regular season. Every loss there was by double digits, and the Mountaineers, who managed to end the regular season by beating No. 8 Kansas (sans Joel Embiid), added two more double digit losses to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament and then Georgetown in the NIT.

People — not necessarily yoooou people — like to give Dana Holgorsen grief for late-season collapses, and it’s certainly something that arches a brow, perhaps even a Thing, but we need to turn the spotlight here, no? WVU’s lost three of four and five of 10 and, counting tonight, has five more games against ranked teams. The exception is Texas which is where all WVU’s hexes live.

We’ve been over contributing factors to what we’re seeing this season. It’s a young team. The press can tire a defense. The weight of the offense is a lot to bear. Travel isn’t fun. The schedule is ridiculous. This team might not be that good. Good, sure. But good enough to bear all its burdens and power across the finish lone? Eeeeh.

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Audible

by Mike Casazza

The original plan for the afternoon was to talk about scheduling and late-season trending, trending, trending, but that’ll wait until the live post. And thank FOTB @smartfootball for that.

Take a guess what I’ve been doing this afternoon. This all-22 (you get a view of all 22 players on the field) is so enlightening. When we do the G&B, we’re at the mercy of television cameras and that angles they choose and take. It works … but all-22 works so, so, so much better. I’ve tried and tried and tried to get this for the G&B. I can’t say how, except that I haven’t offered money, and now I might rethink that. (Aside: I don’t have it as easy as Mr. Brown.)

Just for fun, here’s the G&B for Alabama and here’s the G&B for Maryland. I’ll mow through both of these. I’m pushing through Alabama now, but I want to take a closer look at Maryland, because that’s the game I threw shade at Maryland’s corners (or maybe that’s just the game White was too damn good), and now I want to see if I was onto something or not.

And now, the bad news

by Mike Casazza

Supposing it’s as fair as it is obvious to point out the schedule continues to do West Virginia no favors — more on that later — let’s then agree that the worst part of the present for the Mountaineers is that 52 hours after a humbling 20-point loss at Iowa State they are made to play host to Kansas, which is No. 1 in the RPI, holding a two-game lead in the standings and on the way to an 11th straight conference title … which is insane because, if you believe the hype, half this league would make the Eastern Conference playoffs. (Jokes aside: The collective winning percentage is 66.5, which would be the best in college basketball since the 1983-84 season and the fourth-best mark since 1925-26.  All 10 teams have beaten at least one ranked opponent, the first time this league’s done that. It’s not bad.)

So that’s bad news, and it’s compounded by the fact WVU can’t really rely on much of a home-court advantage these days because teams aren’t scared of the Coliseum and that this is a 9 p.m. game that was already going to have thinned attendance before Octavia.

If we’re speaking Resumese, a home loss is worse than a loss, and though it’s somewhat mitigated because it’d be against Kansas, it’s also heightened because the Mountaineers still have to go to Phog Allen.

But here’s the bummer, as told in two parts. Maybe it’s then the bummers. Whatever.

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No. 14 Iowa State 79, No. 21 WVU 59

February 15, 2015 by Mike Casazza

To review:

-No Brandon Watkins
-Sprained thumb for Devin Williams, followed by foul trouble
-10 for 36 / 2 for 15 shooting for people not named Staten, Browne or Connor
-Outrebounded
-More turnovers committed than created
-Third time in four games shooting below 40 percent
-Fourth straight game — and eighth straight half — opponent shot better than 50 percent
-Outscored 21-6 at the free-throw line and 23-8 in fastbreak points
-Thirteen players play, one scores in double figures
-Five opponents score in double figures
-One opponent doesn’t miss a shot, another doesn’t miss a 3-point shot

Hard to win that way, especially on the road, where WVU isn’t the Big Bad it was presented to be earlier this season, and especially in Ames, where opponents have lost 21 straight and 14 in a row in Big 12 play.

Put simply, WVU wasn’t anywhere near good enough to end those streaks and redirect its season.

“I think we’re down,” said Williams, who hyperextended the same thumb a few more times in the game, finished 1 for 4 for four points and found foul trouble his team could not deal with early in the second half. “I think our spirits are really down in the locker room.”

The Mountaineers, who entered the game tied with Iowa State in the standings, shot below 40 percent for the third time in four games and, more alarmingly, let a fourth straight opponent shoot better than 50 percent. Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State shot at least 54.9 percent in all eight halves and combined to shoot 57.3 percent overall.

In his first 265 games as WVU’s head coach, Bob Huggins had seen only 39 opponents shoot at least 50 percent.

“Our deal is to do it defensively,” WVU guard Gary Browne said. “We’re definitely struggling a little bit defensively. The only way we’re good defensively is forcing turnovers, stealing the ball and rebounding the ball. If we don’t do those things, we don’t win the games.

WVU v. Iowa State: Why can’t we be friends?

February 14, 2015 by Mike Casazza

When last we visited the hostile Hilton Coliseum, it was as rowdy and effective as ever, as expected, and it began from the jump. Actually, make that before the jump. This was WVU v. Iowa State The Sequel — Double Dragon II, if you will — after Dustin Hogue kicked Kevin Noreen (or “kind of threw his foot out,” if you ask the Cyclones) and Eron Harris walloped Monte Morris late in WVU’s blowout win at home. Harris was dogged throughout the rematch — he said it wasn’t a factor, but he was 4 for 14 and looked clearly bothered — and the Mountaineers had no answer for a big first-half run and then some bigger Naz Long 3-pointers.

I won’t use this as the stage to forward the Mountaineers/Cyclones Rivalry, unless you consider what I just did forwarding, but there is some mud involved when these two schools get together. The football haves have been wacky and the basketball teams have played close and, shall we say, competitive games.

“I don’t know if they’ve been close — they scored 103 on us last year at their place,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said.

True. But that was Good WVU. And that was followed by Good Iowa State. The other three games have been dramatic. So let’s say they bring the best out of one another, one way or another.

“One thing about playing a Bob Huggins team is you know it’s going to be a tough game,” Hoiberg said. “They’re going to be physical, so you have to be ready to match up against. The only way you’re going to win the game is to match their toughness. I think our guys take pride in that.”

I still think Kansas has more of Iowa State’s attention, especially this season, but the Cyclones also know and appreciate WVU because there are some similarities. Hoiberg remembers one of his first scouting trips with the Minnesota Timberwolves was at the WVU Coliseum.  (Aside: Exactly when isn’t so easy to recall and Hoiberg has to flip through his memory. “When did I have heart surgery?” is his mental bookmark.)

It was the WVU v. Pitt game in the 2005-06 season, and it was raucous.

“I think they were throwing stuff on the floor, so I got a taste for how passionate that fan base is,” Hoiberg said. “Obviously, I’ve been in Ames for pretty much my entire life, so I know how passionate our fan base is, too. They’re a lot alike in that regard.”

When I was getting familiar with the Big 12 and the people who cover it or know it, a bunch of those people remarked that Ames is the conference’s town that’s most like Morgantown, and I’m inclined to agree. The fans, the campuses, the way the city sort of exists around the university, it’s all pretty even. Heck, the basketball teams are coached by graduates and both teams play in a Coliseum, something only Kansas State can say (and I’d say Manhattan is probably most like Ames and Morgantown).

These Coliseums are similar. WVU’s seats 14,000, Iowa State’s seats 14,384. The students are on the floor, though here they sit behind the baskets. The seating sort of recesses up and away from the floor, too, which seems to add a vastness to the places. It’s not like other Big 12 venues, and that distinction brings these two together.

“I can completely understand the comparison,” Georges Niang said. “To me, it feels liek arenas aroudn the Big 12 are comewhat circular and compact. West Virginia’s is more wide open, just liek how ours iw wide open. Both do a great job filling it up. West Virginia has some wild fants. They feel liek it’s the only show  in town and they’re really poassionate about their sports. Our fans are the same way.”

Here’s expecting more of the same today…

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Come again?

February 13, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Oh, hey, one more legislative item today, one I had only heard about and didn’t know was this far down the road … because I didn’t think freshman ineligibility could become a Thing.

Think again! Think again?

Several conference commissioners say it’s time to consider making freshmen — or at least some of them — ineligible, again, for the first time since the NCAA rule changed in 1972.

One-and-done players in men’s basketball are the main reason some commissioners want this discussion to occur, and it’s not clear whether freshman eligibility interest would decrease should NBA commissioner Adam Silver get his way by pushing the NBA’s age limit from 19 to 20 years old.

“I’ve had conversations with several commissioners about (freshman ineligibility),” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said. “We are pushing, and I think you will see much more serious conversations about it in the coming months and year.”

The joke’s on who?

by Mike Casazza

It was 6 degrees outside before I left for the airport this morning, and hours from now West Virginia’s baseball team opens its season. The Mountaineers are on the road at No. 24 Clemson for a three-game homecoming for former Tigers outfielder, pitcher and assistant coach Randy Mazey, who later in the season will play host to a three-game series against the Charleston Southern program of which he was once head coach.

WVU lost just about all its pitching — seriously, it’s ridiculous how little Mazey returns — and a lot of the aluminum from the Big 12’s top hitting team last season, the one that was picked to finish in seventh place in the preseason poll and did just that on the way to a 28-26 record. This season, the Mountaineers were picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, and understand the Big 12 has four teams in the preseason top 10.

And perhaps then you can understand why Mazey just doesn’t understand it.

“I can’t figure that out,” WVU head coach Randy Mazey said. “I think somebody’s playing a joke on me, honestly.”

Mazey’s concerns begin on the mound. He used 13 pitchers last season and they combined for 478 1/3 innings. He brings back just two pitchers, 21 appearances and 61 1/3 innings.

“That’s got to lead the nation,” said Mazey, who’s 61-52 in two seasons at WVU. “I can’t imagine anybody returns less pitching than we do. So picturing us anywhere other than the bottom couple of teams is crazy.”

While we’re discussing rule changes today, four years ago college baseball took some of the life out of its bats, and power and scoring have dropped noticeably ever since. This season, we’re getting new, more lively baseballs.

Here’s terrible news for Big 12 teams

by Mike Casazza

A year ago, college football and some of its most curmudgeonly coaches were messing around with the idea the sport was being played too quickly, and it was suggested that was one reason why people were getting hurt. OK. But what was being discussed was a 10-second rule that would keep teams from snapping the ball and thus mitigate an advantage offenses held over defenses.

That never happened, and in this round of postseason discussions about rule, sport and culture changes, we haven’t heard much about that at all. That’s a relief to the Big 12, one would think, because so many of its teams go so fast, and so many teams understood the purpose of that proposed change.

The Outlier is not yet out of the woods, though. We might be losing the pop pass and some of our packaged play concepts.

The NCAA rules committee has proposed changing the illegal man downfield penalty — Rule 7, Article 10 in the NCAA book — shortening the distance linemen can move downfield before the ball is thrown to 1 yard, which matches the NFL rule.

“I think it’s a rule that the defensive coaches are going to be very excited about,” Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said Thursday. “Specifically, the ones that are keying hard on the offensive line for their run-pass reads. I think that’s a big one right there for them.”

And, of course, offensive coaches — who fought off a proposal by the rules committee to slow down up-tempo attacks last year — see it differently.

“It’s the continuation of a trend where defensive people try to change the rules rather than try to stop the advances in offense,” said new Montana coach Bob Stitt, who used spread schemes at Division II Colorado School of Mines that were considered among the most creative in college football.

I don’t have as big of a problem with this, because offenses are so bold with this rule and basically dare officiating crews to call it, and it can be extremely advantageous if it’s allowed to get out of control — which does happen. And truth be told, there will still be teams that test the limits of a new rule, should one come. But I doubt many offensive coaches will like this, throughout the Big 12 and beyond, because so many teams have either featured or developed and thus thrived off of plays that put linebackers and safeties into conflict.