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

A dash of Ruoff

February 19, 2009 by Mike Casazza

A mini-resurgence by Alex Ruoff has him closer to WVU’s 3-point record, but also his exit. The Mountaineers, in their second season with Bob Huggins, are somewhat fortunate to lose just one player, but what a loss it will be because Ruoff is a far more complete player now than many people ever predicted. And what a chore for incoming freshman Dalton Pepper, who is the lone guard in the recruiting class (so far?) and accepts he compares at least favorably to Ruoff.

“We’re about the same height and right now he’s probably stronger than me. He’s a really good player with good skills and he’s a good player to be compared to. He’s a good shooter, but I’m probably just a little more athletic than him and maybe a little better at ball-handling.”

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Someone find me Joe Herber

by Mike Casazza

I need to talk about the vun-thee-vun today. It wasn’t long ago when WVU used the 1-3-1 zone as a staple defense and not as a tourniquet, as was the case last night. The gentle German rather liked talking about the intricacies of the bizarre defense which, frankly, fascinated me in both principle and application. Virtually no one played the 1-3-1 and the Mountaineers were even more unique in the way they played it.

Too concerned about shooters and not nearly concerned about opponents back-cutting their way to easy layups and kickouts, WVU was down 23-14 and allowing Notre Dame to shoot 10-for-12 (!) from the floor. Bob Huggins had to call two timeouts before his team scored two baskets and it looked, for some long and tense moments, as if the Irish were going to fight their way to 100 or so points.

Enter the 1-3-1.

And given that not everyone playing for Bob Huggins these days is all that familiar with what is essentially a junk defense – it’s a good bet some in the crowd of 13,126 know it better than WVU’s freshmen – well, someone had to take the reins.

“I was yelling at guys, trying to teach it as we went along,” Ruoff said. “We just kind of threw it in there, no rules. And I’m back there playing the back position, which I never did before. I think coach Beilein might have been proud of me.”

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Luke enjoyed his trip, thank you

by Mike Casazza

Maybe it’s because he wore No. 44 in the Coliseum, or because he attends Notre Dame or perhaps because most of the 13,126 in attendance last night thought he possessed some sort of immunity to over the back calls, but Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody got it as bad last night as any opponent has in quite some time.

Notre Dame got as close as four points the final four-plus minutes, which also featured a scrum between Harangody and Cam Thoroughman as both battled for a loose ball. The two fell to the floor and the crowd cried for blood. His right elbow bloodied, Harangody was called for a foul, then more unprintable names by the student body.

“It’s surprising what they get away with here,” Harangody said of assuming the role of Public Enemy No. 1. “That pumped me up. It was fun playing here.”

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Spain: Big country, bigger man

February 18, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Check out No. 76. He blocks out a defender and may very well block out the sun … or at least grow to that point, which is the beginning of a trend, it seems, at WVU. A junior in high school, he’s already 6-foot-6 and 345 pounds, to say nothing of the Mountaineers’ first committment for the 2010 class.

Another thing that Spain hopes to bring to West Virginia is his versatility. This past season the junior played both ways for the Petersburg football team and it ended up paying dividends.

“They like him both on offense and defense, but I think they are leaning towards offense, but they really like the way he plays defense too. He will be the only senior on my offensive line this season so I’m looking for him to step up,” Scott said. “This year, I really want him to bring a ‘meanness’ to the field and he’s got that in him. I’m going to cut him loose.”

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‘Elbow up’ reserved for baseball

by Mike Casazza

I guess I missed this indiscretion by John Flowers Friday night, but it appears it happened and it’s certainly happening all across the country, even in the Big Eleven with an otherwise finesse team like Michigan.

The Big East is a pretty physical league, in cause you’ve been living under a rock, and these things will happen. Retaliation happens, too. League officials are paying particularly close attention so the rash does not spread.

“I’ll tell you exactly what I’ve told my staff,” Hyland said. “The first thing the official looks for, to determine if it’s excessive, is whether the elbow is going at the same speed as the rest of the player’s body. If it’s faster than the trunk of his body, or if it could cause injury, and it makes contact, the only foul the official can call is flagrant. Two shots and ejection.”

Dennis Dixon would like to speak

by Mike Casazza

I keep coming back to it, but the biggest thing Pat White has going for him is he isn’t traveling an unpaved road. Other similarly skilled players, like former Oregon star Dennis Dixon, have been through it recently. The mysteries and the guesswork are somewhat removed.

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Officiating continues to mystify

February 17, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Jim Calhoun was somewhat perplexed by the officials — and Mike Kitts, in particular — last night.

“Did I like it? Do I think it’s right? No,” he said. “I don’t think 26-27 games in you should be changing the way the … that’s it. I’m not commenting.

“If it’s going to be called that way, just let us know before. Back in the ’90s I saw this kind of game all the time. … If you didn’t see it you should probably be writing about tennis tonight.”

Imagine

by Mike Casazza

While counting to six, seven or eight a few times last night, wondering if three-seconds would ever be called and watching DeJuan Blair control the formidable UConn frontcourt, another case of what-might-have-been occurred to me. Blame N.C. State for this.

Huggins wouldn’t have taken the Kansas State job and coached there in 2006-07. And had he been hired in the spring of 2006 at his alma mater?

Then Pitt’s Blair (from Huggins’ pal J.O. Stright’s Pittsburgh AAU team) would have been a Mountaineer. Michael Beasley would have signed with Huggins at WVU, rather than at K-State. It also would have been no stretch to see O.J. Mayo joining Huggins and Beasley at WVU, rather than USC.

Please, don’t hurt yourself.

Thr truth about Bird and Huggs

by Mike Casazza

The well-traveled, now clarified story about the surprisingly on-scholarship Josh Sowards and Bob Huggins.

The Mountaineers were almost finished with an 80-53 basketball victory and Coach Bob Huggins was emptying his bench, giving his regulars a chance to leave to applause and his bench-warmers a shot to take some shots.

Sowards, the Daily Mail’s two-time Putnam County Player of the Year at Hurricane High, was not included in either group. The 6-foot-7 walk-on realized this and decided to take action. He got off his seat, walked toward the scorer’s table and took off his warmup.

“Huggs,” he said, “I’m going in.”

Sowards then knocked down a 3-pointer and celebrated with the friendly faces afterward.

‘The way it should be’

February 16, 2009 by Mike Casazza

“The students were great tonight. Honestly, that’s the way it should be. One of the reasons I was so excited to play hard was because we had a great crowd. I just love to hit a great shot and have people yell and cheer for me and my teammates. That’s the thing that got me and everyone else going tonight.” — Da’Sean Butler only minutes after scoring 43 points against Villanova.

Sixty-five seconds remained Friday night in a game WVU clinched a while earlier and Bob Huggins took a few steps onto the court and pointed to the student section. It wasn’t the first time he’d targeted them recently, but this was different. He got their attention, then clapped, as if to say, “Thanks, let’s do this again real soon.”

It was one of those special and far too infrequent electric evenings inside the Coliseum. A 9 p.m. tip on a Friday night for a national audience provided the proper mix for a effectively hostile environment. What ended with students rushing the court — sorry, still not sure about that — began with a perfect blend of circumstances.

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