Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which suddenly realizes it’s going to be busy throughout March. Barring a brutal collapse, WVU is in the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday’s innovative win against Notre Dame wasn’t one that makes the resume looks good, but it wasn’t a loss that makes it look bad. WVU (18-8, 7-6 Big East) needed that game because it couldn’t afford to lose it. The big plus for the Mountaineers throughout this season is they haven’t lost to anyone they shouldn’t have — Kentucky and Davidson in nonconference play are acceptable losses (and believe they regret both deeply) as are UConn, Pitt twice, Louisville, Syracuse and Marquette in the Big East. Taking care of business in America’s best league isn’t a bad thing and WVU avoided one-trick-pony status by beating Providence and Villanova.Â
Now, all of that said, there’s a lot left in the season. A three-game road trip — classic trap game against Rutgers, emotional showdown against Cincinnati and a who-knows-what game against South Florida –Â this late in the schedule is a lot to ask and things could go in a bunch of different directions. Back home, WVU gets DePaul, which could be winless in the league and the most desperate team in the country, before a big-time rematch against Louisville on ESPN with the College Gameday crew on hand. So, yeah, we’re late in the season, but we’ve got a lot left to see. Can’t wait.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, you can’t take it back.
Alli said:
I hope we keep the 1-3-1 for these particular situations. I wonder if Huggs will now go over it more in practice after this game?
We thought and asked the same about the press WVU showed against St. John’s. Haven’t seen it since, but it’s there. The same probably goes for the 1-3-1. The twist here is Huggins wasn’t even thinking about it until he was watching tape of last year’s game against Notre Dame and saw the 1-3-1 was effective in one stretch. The Mountaineers then practiced it for 10 whole minutes Tuesday. I suppose the good thing is both are in the pocket, just in case, and WVU has already tested both with pretty good results. When things get tough again — and you know they will — it’s something to think about. By the way, it’s not a great idea to throw a random zone at WVU right now. Not with Ruoff shooting, Butler scoring and Ebanks and Jones rebounding. Playing three zone teams — Syracuse, Louisville and Providence — in a row had its benefits. Â
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