Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which wasn’t very surprised by Wednesday night’s game and isn’t changing the prospects for the remainder of the postseason. West Virginia’s 31st game was noteworthy only because it was a loss in the Big East Tournament and the first is the past 12 games in March.
Apart from that, the 31st game wasn’t much different from the 21st or many others to come before or after that.
West Virginia’s loss in the second round – and its first game – of the Big East Conference tournament was its 11th of the basketball season.
In the previous 10 defeats the Mountaineers averaged 39.2 percent shooting.
Slot that in the national rankings this season and it’s right below Arkansas-Pine Bluff and right above Eastern Michigan. When the Mountaineers (20-11) are off, they’re awfully off. What they do in losses would qualify as the 323rd-best shooting percentage among 335 Division I teams.
Coach Bob Huggins arrived at his press conference following the 67-61 loss to Marquette on Wednesday night, having just looked at a boxscore.
Take a wild guess what his Mountaineers shot in defeat – 39.2 percent.
“It’s been a year-long problem,” he said. “We just don’t make open shots. I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve said it and said it and said it. We just don’t make open shots.”
That’s what distinguishes the very good postseason teams. The ones that go far generally make open shots — and see WVU v. Kentucky as a prime example. What continues to perplex everyone about these Mountaineers is how they’ll have it for one half or one game or even one week and then have no clue where it went or how to find it again.
How long the Mountaineers play the rest of this season might depend on how well players shoot, but their longevity is more likely to be shaped by how — or if — they can cover up the shooting numbers that are probably going to be poor. WVU didn’t do that Wednesday night and careless turnovers, bad transition defense and a negative rebounding margin made the lengthy field-goal droughts stand out even more. Shooting can rescue you and abandon you in March. Fundamentals never fail.
Onto the Feedback. As always comments appear as posted. In other words, stay committed.
glibglub said:
I dunno, Ford Childress kinda sounds like an ill-fated sedan concept.
Let’s begin there this week.
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