The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

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

24

April 5, 2010 by Mike Casazza

The topic just came up in an interview with a radio station in a far-away city: Poor Da’Sean Butler.

That people with no connection to a team and a player can feel so bad for WVU and its star is pretty striking. Not to get into too much sentiment that I’m sure others share, but it’s difficult to stomach. Actually, it’s not fair. It’s not.

And, right or wrong, I fear there’s an indelible image from that game that will be how people remember WVU’s postseason performance. I hope I’m wrong because that wouldn’t be fair either.

Twenty-four things I’d rather remember from the 24 days of tournaments.

Perhaps this is the contrarian view

by Mike Casazza

And perhaps it helps with the hurt. It took a really bad night to see WVU was really good to get as far as it did.

The numbers were not pretty. The shooting percentage was low again. The total points didn’t rival the average again. Yet none of that was new for the Mountaineers, who for quite some time had joked that their best chance to score was to miss a shot and score on the rebound and said through smiles that their defense needed to be good because their shooting was not.

The laughs stopped in the 78-57 loss to Duke in the national semifinal. On offense the Mountaineers were themselves – which is to say, very average – but decidedly different on defense and rebounding.

With those two strengths unable to support the known weakness, WVU had no chance to beat the blue-hot Blue Devils. Fans could sadly see how commendable the team’s past performance really was to make it so far.

Terrible news

April 4, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Da’Sean Butler has a torn left ACL, a sprained MCL and two bone bruises.

It’s in the past …

by Mike Casazza

… but if you care to review:

– Duke really did beat WVU in every way WVU could be beaten.

– Da’Sean Butler’s exit was not ideal.

– The Mountaineers had a devil of a time against Duke.

Happy Easter, folks. Try to enjoy the day. Spring football starts Tuesday!

It’s that time

April 3, 2010 by Mike Casazza

In what is probably going to be considered good news for WVU among its fans, Les Jones and Michael Stuart — as well as Jamie Luckie — are on whistles for the first game. This being Quick Draw’s last Final Four, he’s probably not in the second game because he could be saved for Monday night’s finale. Jones, you’ll remember, was part of the crew the Big East asked not to work the conference tournament. I fear someone’s going to throw a shoe at Stuart the next time he’s in the Coliseum

Also of note, Pitt assistant/throw-ice target Tom Herrion has interviewed for the Marshall job. So, too, have seven others here this week. It’s now 8-7 in the first game of Jack Bogaczyk’s 12th Final Four. John Wooden’s record is in peril.

Open post on 3 …

Deep breaths, everyone. Eight more hours

by Mike Casazza

Of the 70,000 or so in the stands tonight, a number will be rooting for WVU and then a number for Duke, but a large number will not be rooting for Duke. They’d get behind anyone other than, perhaps, the land-grant university of Iran. The Blue Devils remain an unlikeable program, so much so that the Indianapolis Star explored the topic with that front-page fiasco.

Well, we can’t change the collective opinion here, so just enjoy it.

In the meantime, share your thoughts, questions and concerns.

And now, the pink elephant

by Mike Casazza

Surely you remember this:

As a reporter was leaving, the reserve Cam Thoroughman asked if Duke point guard Greg Paulus was one of the eight McDonald’s all-Americans. When told yes, Thoroughman said: “Oh my God. Are you kidding?”

No joke. And for the rest of the college basketball off-season, no-names like Thoroughman have made once-mighty Duke a punch line.

This wasn’t the moment WVU arrived — is it tonight? Has it already happened? — but it was certainly the moment WVU announced it believed it belonged and it was going to act that way.

The one where WVU bumps into Beilein

by Mike Casazza

No intro. Why bother when Joe Mazzulla says this:

“It was kind of like meeting up with your ex-wife you didn’t really get to finish things off with,” Mazzulla said.

Good Friday notes

April 2, 2010 by Mike Casazza

No Feedback. Time is cramped and the Internet is spotty. Anyhow …

– Truck broke a sweat in the shoot-around, but looked affected by his foot. He was getting intense therapy during the locker room interviews. I, too, would be “shocked” if he played.

– Jon West says his dad is not coming to the game.

– WVU has never played a game in April.

‘It doesn’t rain inside’

April 1, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Da’Sean Butler and I have three of these four things in common. Both attended WVU, both love the New York Knicks, both love the Cleveland Indians and both are deadly with a spin move.

OK, OK. He’s not an Indians fan. He just wears the hat, though for good reason.

“I always root for the underdog, no matter what,” Butler said. “Any team having like a 10-102 season, I like them. I’m willing to watch them play and hopefully catch them when they’re winning.”

It’s the anti-bandwagon and this probably, in some regard, explains the style with which he’s carried the flag for WVU toward this stage. No matter the circumstances, he insists the Mountaineers are the underdogs and denied respect and attention.

And, true to form, he caught WVU during some bad moments.