Winning championships is cool. It’s the goal. It’s what schools sell kids on and it’s how kids pick schools. I doubt very much a string from the net at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off has ever tickled a prospect’s fancy, but playing for a team that’s going to go places and compete for hardware matters.
So good for West Virginia and those players Sunday night. And good for Devin Williams and Juwan Staten for making the all-tournament team … with dispatched UConn guard Ryan Boatright, who was in the middle of it all in the title game and then after.
How he made it out of there without a T or without being sent a row deep I don’t yet understand, but that’s one feisty kid who was seriously irritable last night and, as such, not exactly pleased to be mugging with Williams (who will absolutely forgive and forget and put his arm around his foe afterward) and MVP Staten (he’ll just pick his spots in a game and make you look silly) afterward.
The Don Juan Pond isn’t that salty. Maybe Boatright, who has a history with the Mountaineers, didn’t get the whistle he deserved and maybe no one put him in his place, but there’s proof again that living well is the best revenge.
The Mountaineers, meanwhile, are 5-0 and just played three pretty good games against increasingly competitive opponents in four days. I don’t know if they know what they’re doing yet. Let’s assume they don’t, because WVU is getting better in a hurry and is still making mistakes, but fewer every time out. That’s going to continue. So they’re learning really hard, if that makes any sense, and effort and tenacity will sometimes trump skill and knowledge.
Seriously, if things get real and there’s a book and bat near you, which one are you grabbing?
The skill and knowledge are going to get there. The effort and tenacity have their feet on the ottoman, though, and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. UConn is the defending NCAA champion, if you haven’t heard, and, yeah, sure, that roster isn’t the same. But there’s pride and there are expectations there, and the Huskies were completely disheveled by the Mountaineers.
This might be just a hot start to a long season. This might be the start of something special. Neither is my point. What I mean to say, what I feel pretty comfortable saying right now, is that win or lose, you’re going to know you played WVU.
I stay dumbfounded. Got my SUV surrounded by the girls that crowd around it. And it’s true, don’t it sound big? As they knocking on the window, they just wanna get close, texts on their iPhone. My edits are in [brackets].
6:58:
I’m preparing myself for heartbreak by watching my Sounders fumble their way against the Galaxy.
7:04:
It’s hard to believe our last quality win over a non-conference team was against Marshall in Jan 2012 (they had a Top 50 RPI).
7:11:
Prepared for a 40 minute parade celebrating UConn’s tourney run. And some casual swearing.
7:15:
On pace for a foul every 8 seconds
7:16:
I can miss a dunk just as good as he can!
7:21:
As my friend just pointed out, Bob Huggins looks like Big Bird. Who knew?
7:24:
At one point just now Huggins looked like he belonged as a backup dancer in the “Gangam Style” video.
7:27:
Holton. Never. Stops. Moving.
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