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

Almost forgot about this

December 10, 2012 by Mike Casazza

The Charleston Newspapers are going behind a pay wall at the beginning of next year. We’re probably going to have different opinions on the purpose and the usefulness of this, but haven’t we always bickered and begged to differ from time to time for as long as we’ve been here?

As for the way things have been and will be here, this blog will remain free, though the Daily Mail articles I link to will be behind the wall. I knew this day was coming a while back and that’s why I tried to do some new stuff over the summer and then through the football season. The articles, I like to think, drive the coverage, but I’d like to think there are plenty of reasons for you to stick around here once we do move to the deluxe apartment in the sky.

And believe me, I realize as much as anyone else that there’s a big difference between what we’re giving away for free and what will be premium content now. I’ll still try to make the free stuff as good as I can.

Hope that answers that oft asked question. If you have others, this should handle all of that.

‘… actually a pretty nice little Saturday.’

by Mike Casazza

My wife popped out of a little boutique Saturday afternoon. It was at that moment when she’d just gotten to her phone for the first time all day. I don’t know why she chose to do it, but she paid a tax. She  looked completely spooked.

“Tommy Tuberville went to Cincinnati?”

And so it began.

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Sshhh … I’m taking a break

December 7, 2012 by Mike Casazza

Didn’t want to mention this in the preceding days because it tends to illicit a sort of hysteria, even in my own home, but I’m leaving town for three days and will be back Monday.

Meantime, I have very little to offer you apart from the capable services tomorrow of Michael Carvelli pinch hitting for the WVU v. Virginia Tech game. He’s an active Twitterer during games, but I encourage you to add some color, too.

And then there’s this: Stedman Bailey didn’t win the Biletnikoff Award last night. It went instead to Marquise Lee, who had a better all-around football season … but I’m not positive he had the best season for a receiver. Bailey caught more touchdown passes than any other player ever in a BCS conference.

It was a tricky group of finalists. Bailey, Lee and the, I think, underrated Terrance Williams all led the nation in a significant category, but Lee had the USC brand to help and he played the whole season. I tend to think some of his return exploits probably helped, if even subconsciously.

Never fear, though, for Bailey might win it next season.

“I was able to look around at some records, some national records, some NCAA records and some of those are within reach with another year,” he said, without prompting. “That’s something to think about, too.”

 

Marshall, WVU cross that line

December 6, 2012 by Mike Casazza

West Virginia won a festive Capital Classic Wednesday night, 69-59, after 45 fouls, five technical fouls, one flagrant fouls and five ejections. The Thundering Herd lost Robert Goff to an ejection and probably a game after he appeared to kick WVU’s Juwan Staten late in the game. Their tussle brought four WVU players from the bench and Aaric Murray, Eron Harris, Terry Henderson and Jabarie Hinds were each ejected.

Since the ejections weren’t for fighting, each is eligible to play Saturday against 7-0 Virginia Tech.

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WVU v. Marshall: It’s on you

December 5, 2012 by Mike Casazza

I have zero confidence in the alleged wireless internet side the Charleston Civic Center tonight. I’ll give it a whirl and see if we can have some sort of a live blog tonight, but I’m making any promises.

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Breaking: Deniz Kilicli has two hands

by Mike Casazza

Bob Huggins was asked this week what he thought was affecting Deniz Kilicli five games into the season and Huggins matter-of-factly pointed out Kilicli is struggling with being the man in the middle.

Not in the middle of the offense, mind you, though that’s certainly an issue, but in the middle of the defensive game plan the other team assembles.

There is no Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones, Truck Bryant, so on and so forth. And really, if you were prepping for WVU so far this season and you studied film and the roster, who would you aim to stop? That’ll change over time, but right now, you remove Kilicli, right?

Then Huggins went a scoop deeper into the explanation. Kilicli also hurries when he’s pressured, abandons what he knows he can do and instead does what he’s most comfortable doing — which is to say what the defense expects. This is worth watching tonight when WVU plays Marshall at the Civic Center.

“He’s the one everyone wants to stop, but quite frankly, Deniz doesn’t use everything that he has,” Huggins said. “I think, hopefully, that’s kind of sunk in with him now that he’s spent more time working on some other things that he’s pretty good at.”

The Big 12 awards are out!

by Mike Casazza

I suppose you could say Kansas State did very well for itself with four of the 11 superlatives, but Tavon Austin has nothing to feel badly about this afternoon.

P.S. #FreeKarlJoseph

The Good and the Bad of WVU v. Kansas

December 4, 2012 by Mike Casazza

Bad: That game!
Least enjoyable of the season, on my side of the glass. The Marshall game was entertaining and alluring. JMU was a little less than that, but you saw the defense flex a little after the offense sputtered. Maryland was oddly interesting and I liked watching Stefon Diggs.

Texas was one of the best games I’ve seen in person. Texas Tech, for me, was compelling because it was so unexpected — the style of defeat, more than the actual defeat — and then Kansas State forced all of us to ask some serious questions.

TCU, I’m sorry to say, was a blast for me — the momentum changes, the deadline writing, the fun finish — and Oklahoma State had by far the best postgame of the season. Oklahoma was a good game and Iowa State had a nice, easy story.

That thing Saturday was a mess and the Jayhawks offered the least resistance of any opponent, by far, this season. I honestly thought they’d be more competitive and that the coaches would be more imaginative, though credit WVU for minimizing the likelihood and the danger of both.

I also felt like TFGD and this would suffer as a result, but I was happily mistaken. Remember this?

2:59
Interesting that someone would bring the “D-Fence” sign to a WVU game.

3:00
Which makes me think . . . “D-Forest” sign?

Good: Excellent question
Now let me ask you a question: Which do we prefer?

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Aaric Murray is a 5, plays like a 6

by Mike Casazza

Not sure how you feel about this, but Aaric Murray’s 13-9-2 line against VMI was about what he expected because he said that’s about as good as he is right now. “On a scale from 1 to 10,” said the 6-foot-10 center, who transferred last year from La Salle, “I’m a 6.”

He has 10 potential, if you listen to his teammates and his coach, but he needs time to get there. That could happen, and pretty much has to, in these next four games — v. Mashall, home against 7-0 Virginia Tech, v. Duquesne at the Consol Energy Center and v. Michigan at the Barclays Center, all in 10 days. Games are great for conditioning and an increasingly effective Murray is great for wins.

Murray has been around long enough to understand what WVU Coach Bob Huggins wants to do on offense and how Huggins wants Murray to play on defense.

He just can’t do it yet. Murray broke his right hand last year and hardly practiced with the Mountaineers.

His abilities haven’t quite caught up with his potential.

That’s been further slowed by his conditioning. His inactivity last season was followed by back problems over the summer that prevented him from starting the preseason in shape.

“I need to work on my stamina so I can be consistent every play,” he said. “If coach needs me to be in there, I need to be able to stay in there and not need oxygen, not need a mask to breathe.”

In case you’re wondering, a 10 sounds pretty fun …

So, WVU players really like Juwan Staten

by Mike Casazza

The Mountaineers named Staten, who sat out last season after transferring from Dayton, as a team captain this season.

Staten, the Atlantic 1o’s leader in assists in 2011, made that sort of impression despite not traveling, let alone playing with the team. People know a transfer is gone a lot, but they overlook all the formative things that happen during those absences. They don’t realize how much film and scouting reports and practice and simple camaraderie a player misses when he’s not around.

He must has otherwise managed the situation perfectly to be named a captain, though, and he looks and sounds like the kind of player WVU has not had at that position in a few years.

“I felt last year that we kind of lacked that guard that kind of brought everyone together,” Staten said. “I want to go out there and be a leader every time I step out on the court. I feel like I know what’s going on and it’s my job to help people who don’t and make sure the team gets into plays when we need to and gets into sets when we need to and plays defense when we need to.”

Teammates feel and play more confident with Staten and they just seem to really like and obviously respect him and what he’s thus far achieved at WVU. His beginning here is certainly going better than his end at Dayton.