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

Good seed, bad seed and projection misdeeds

March 5, 2014 by Mike Casazza

You know, that’s not the best celebration picture I’ve seen, but that’s a pretty good encapsulation of what happened last night and what it meant for West Virginia’s women’s team. The Mountaineers beat Kansas and clinched a share of the Big 12’s regular-season title. Baylor won last night, too, which means the Bears are co-champs and actually the No. 1 seed in the weekend’s conference tournament.

Things are less definitive for WVU’s men’s team, which can still finish as high as tied for second place in the conference standings or alone in eighth place.

Let’s begin with the most optimistic outlook, because that’s all the Mountaineers are concerning themselves with as they push for the postseason. They believe they’ll go 2-0 and then have concrete plans for the rest of the month.

“I just think if we win the next two games, we’re in,” said guard Eron Harris, whose 3-pointer at the end of regulation and two more 3s in overtime led the way to a 91-86 win against the Sooners last month to snap a 16-game losing streak against ranked teams.

“Regardless what our record is right now, we’ve got to focus and win the next two games. If we do that, we’re in the tournament. Your chances of winning the (Big 12) tournament aren’t big. It’s the best league in the nation and everyone going in doesn’t have the same chance to win. We’ve got to get these two games. These are the two most important games of the season right now, the next two games.”

Easier said than done, but it’s not easy to say what can happen the next few days, either.

Continue reading…

Help is on the way to Norman

March 4, 2014 by Mike Casazza

Out with an illness the past three games, Terry Henderson is traveling with WVU to Oklahoma.

Whether the team’s third-leading scorer starts or even plays is to be determined, but it’s obviously pointing toward him getting back on the floor tomorrow night.

The greatest

by Mike Casazza

I wondered in Sunday night’s vlog whether the WVU women’s team’s win earlier in the day against Baylor was the best in program history. I doubted whether it was, but I’m also one of those people who needs time to look and think things over and can’t put a label on things right away, which means in some manner I’m not suited for the way we are these days.

A few days later now, I’m still torn. I happen to think the unranked team winning at No. 2 Notre Dame in 2012 and ending the 21-game winning streak for a team that would play in a second straight national title game is really big. And not for nothing, but as far as building blocks go, that team had six players who helped beat Baylor and that team would end up winning 24 games, including one in the NCAA Tournament.

But who am I? What do we know? So I asked Mike Carey if that was his greatest win. He said yes, because of what it might mean later tonight.

“We’ve had some great wins for the program, but they weren’t necessarily for the conference championship,” Carey said. “I would say for having an opportunity to win a conference championship that this one is probably the best.”

We sparred a little, and he got the point. It’s great for him and for his program that it’s not an easy call.

“You’re glad you’re in that position,” he said. “You don’t want to be in a position where you get one big win and say, ‘This has got to be the biggest win we’ve ever had,’ because you’ve never had any others.”

Back to his original point: Sunday’s win is made even bigger if WVU wins tonight at home on Senior Night against sub.-500 Kansas. The Mountaineers and Baylor are tied atop the Big 12 standings. If both win, or lose, they are co-champions. If WVU wins and the Bears lose on the road against 20-win Iowa State, the Mountaineers have their first league title since 1989.

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Tom Bradley makes a mill

March 3, 2014 by Mike Casazza

Your Senior Associate Head Coach, seemingly officially hired two days before Dana Holgorsen said he’d hired the best available candidate, will make $600,000 this year and $400,000 next year. And if Holgorsen resigns, Bradley’s contract terminates either in 180 days of at the end of the second year (Jan. 30, 2016), whichever comes first. Bradley would be compensated for the remainder of his time under contract.

Plenty of different ways to read that part:

1) Bradley and/or WVU doesn’t want to see Bradley promoted if Holgorsen resigns, and actually wants to stamp out that idea right now;

2) It clears the deck if Holgorsen resigns and gets Bradley to a point where he’s set to negotiate a new contract and be elevated;

3) WVU is taking care of a guy just in case things don’t go as they hope to see them go in the next two years and makes sure he’s paid if something happens and he’s not retained.

And as for the aforementioned timeline, the contract is dated Feb. 19, and in my experience, that doesn’t mean much.

The pre-spring luncheon where Holgorsen didn’t have a ninth assistant coach and played it as though he didn’t know what to do was Feb. 21. The offer could very well have been out and a contract could have been sent to Team Bradley Feb. 19. It’s possible Bradley got it and had his people look at it and signed and returned it the two days later, which was when he was announced.

Or it could have been as it appeared and WVU’ just didn’t want to turn the luncheon into a Tom Bradley convention.

Ether way, it’s not the sort of thing I’m going to get hung up on.

Man of the (early) hour: Mike Carey

by Mike Casazza

(Pretty neat explanation of the game-winning play, which you can review in the highlights here.)

Success never comes without obstacles, right? Well, sometimes those obstacles come after the success — as if winning at Baylor wasn’t hard enough.

WVU’s women’s team did indeed beat the Bears Sunday and jumped to No. 7 in today’s poll. A day after ending Baylor’s 35-game home winning streak, the Mountaineers are ranked higher than they’ve been since January of 2011. WVU was No. 6 then and has never been above that under Mike Carey.

Yet there was a muted celebration because WVU couldn’t fly out of Waco, Texas, because of ice storm. A bus ride to Austin followed, though that was compromised because of ice. The trip took three-plus hours, which is about an hour longer than normal. Once there, the Mountaineers learned they couldn’t fly into Clarksburg because of a state of emergency. They instead headed to Pittsburgh and arrived at around 11:30 at night, but ended up having to stay there for the night because of road conditions. The made it back to Morgantown Monday morning and had to practice in advance of tomorrow night’s regular-season finale against Kansas.

No plans? Five dollars will do the trick.

Spring begins, if only in earnest

March 2, 2014 by Mike Casazza

And because it’s only the first day, and I didn’t wedge it into the vlog, here’s your opening day depth chart…

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WVU v. TCU: If these Washingtons were Benjamins

March 1, 2014 by Mike Casazza

I suppose it’s fair to mention that history is on the line because TCU, while infested by injury bugs, is so close to being historically bad. So close.

The Horned Frogs have a 15-game losing streak, all of it in Big 12 play, after going 9-3 in non-conference competition. The .750 winning percentage outside of league play was the best since going 11-3 in the 1999-2000 season.

A WVU win today would make TCU just the third team to start 0-16 in Big 12 play. The 1998-99 Baylor team and the 2003-04 Texas A&M squads started and finished 0-16. TCU could be the first to go 0-18. This is the third season with 18 games — and the Big 12 has been a thing since the 1996-97 season — and teams have gotten close to 0-18 twice, including 2-16 TCU last season. Texas Tech was closer at 1-17 a year before.

But wait, there’s more. The conference record for consecutive losses is 20 games (Baylor, 2004-06), though the Horned Frogs, with four games remaining, are unlikely to tie or set that one because of a probably cozy home opener next season. The record 19 straight Big 12 losses (that same Bayor team) could happen in January. TCU has lost all 17 of its  Big 12 road games, and hasn’t won a conference road game since Feb. 20, 2012, but is a long way from Colorado’s 35-game Big 12 road losing streak (2006-10).

Nevertheless, WVU can and honestly ought to keep all those things going today and has to be counting this one when Bob Huggins maintains confidence that his team can make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

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Friday Feedback

February 28, 2014 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which is afraid it has some bad news for you today. WVU released its spring football schedule yesterday and it’s not good for Tier 4. I’m bummed, man.

Ten of the practices are closed. No public, no media, which means no watching, no interviews and, I’m sorry, no reports. I don’t know how to commentate on what I can’t see. It’s like covering a game and not knowing who’s playing.

One of the open practices is actually the spring game and another is the opener Sunday, where we’re allowed to watch for 30 minutes. Dana Holgorsen will speak to us before that practice, which seems weird because he did that last Friday, but, whatever. I need the head coach, right? I’ll do something Sunday night, for sure, but it’s going to be tough after that.

Four of the open practices are open to the public, which I still think is really cool, but one is the spring game. I’m looking at this schedule and I realize I have 41 days to cover before the spring game and only four chances to see the team and six opportunities to talk to the head coach and his assistants and players.

Given my job, and my interest in seeing this team work toward being better, which I’ve thought for a while would happen, it bums me out I can’t see it and share it with you. Not going to apologize for that, either.

And here’s the weird and awesome part: The schedule is actually Exhibit A through Z for what I was talking about in my opener on Scoop & Score yesterday … before the schedule came out. Beyond that, though, I’m glad I got Stephen Nesbitt and Geoff Coyle on there for the spring preview round table. Here’s the link to the podcast and that’s probably the most you’re going to hear me talk about spring football this year. And I hope you enjoy it because I think it was pretty good. Actual opinions are found within and they aren’t weak. Listen to it. Share it. Debate it. Comment on it.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be real.

Patchy said:

Hallelujah! Gibby is an acquaintance/friend but Bradley is a friend of a friend and universally respected (or as much as is possible in this game). He was, in Herman Wouk’s phrase ‘the last captain of the Caine’ and, while nominally given control of the program for a spell, was only commissioned to drive the ship into the scrapyard.

His radio work for the Steelers network has been impressive both for the Xs & Os and for his insight into the mentality of the coaches before, during and after games.

The word panic is not in his vocabulary and hopefully his sense of calm borne of experience will be a steadying influence on the rest of the program including the offense and, yes, the head coach.

Opinions vary on Bradley, but I’m on this side of the line. Given the reality of the situation and considering plausible outcomes, getting Tom Bradley has to be close to ideal. But we can disagree. And we will …

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Terry Henderson update

February 27, 2014 by Mike Casazza

As we suspected, he’s been sick a while and may still be out a while longer.

“None.”

by Mike Casazza

It started during the player introductions and you can hear some of the jeers steered his way as Eron Harris was Public Enemy No. 10 Wednesday night. (Aside: Music! Iowa State, you’re better than that!) I think the noise affected him, and possibly only inspired him, though perhaps to a detriment in the first half. Asked afterward what impact the crowd had, he said “None,” and stared ahead and waited for the next question.

I’m telling you, he’s unrelenting.

And so, too, is that Iowa State offense. West Virginia’s defense is a mess right now, and has been for a few weeks, save one exception against the Cyclones. But WVU has to go punch for punch with these teams and that’s difficult when Terry Henderson is home with an undisclosed illness for an unspecified period of time. When the opponent is Iowa State, at home, the Mountaineers have to play much, much better than they did and just can’t miss repeated open shots and wave a red cape at driving defenders.

Nothing new there, much as there was nothing really new about last night’s 83-66 loss. But that’s three straight losses, each by double figures, each when shooting at or below 40 percent, each when allowing the opponent to shoot better than 50 percent.

I’m on the road and in the air and then on the road again today, but Scoop & Score goes on as planned. Stephen Nesbitt and Geoff Coyle joined me yesterday for a taped edition that previews spring football at WVU. Some above average questions and many compelling and pointed answers can be found live at 9 a.m. I’ll post the podcast later. (Give me a break on the audio … we streamed calls from four locations. And I was in a Fairfield Inn. Not ideal!).