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

Think fast!

March 16, 2017 by Mike Casazza

 

On one end of the floor today will be the team that hastens the pace of the game, that toys with teams by taking control of the tempo.

And on the other end will be West Virginia.

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The underdogs vs. the overdogs

by Mike Casazza

 

West Virginia remains right around a two-touchdown favorite in today’s first-round game against Bucknell. The numberFire.com prediction gives the Mountaineers a 76-percent chance of winning. (Hmm. Notre Dame has a 65-percent chance of beating Princeton, and WVU has a 73-percent chance of getting to the Sweet Sixteen.)

Don’t tell that to the Mountaineers, who find themselves without nearly the amount of buzz they generated before the start of the tournament last year.

“I like being an underdog,” said Mountaineer guard Teyvon Myers. “I mean, I love being an overdog too because I like being on TV all the time and having people talking about us. But I really love being the underdog.”

(No, by the way, I didn’t correct Myers on “overdog.” In my mind I kept hearing Boon whispering to Otter in “Animal House” to “forget it; he’s rolling.”)

“People look at that loss we took last year [against SFA],” Myers continued. “They see we just lost in the [Big 12] championship and then they beat us down. But I feel like the guys are ready. We took the opportunity to get better every day in practice. I feel everyone is locked in. I feel that’s going to carry us to where we need to go — into the second round.”

Find a rhythm, give them the blues

by Mike Casazza

 

Esa Ahmad is keeping his back warm and loose to combat back spasms. Daxter Miles is … well, Miles is Miles, in that he does his own thing to have himself ready for a game, where he does his own thing to impact outcomes.

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Thinking of a master plan

by Mike Casazza

This came late in yesterday’s live blog:

Elijah Macon insisted he’ll front Nana Foulland and make him use his left hand.

“Out of all the film I’ve watched I’ve seen him shoot it one time with his left hand,” Macon said.

And what of that shot?

“He made it,” Macon said. “But it didn’t look comfortable.”

The right hand/left hand stuff will not shatter the Earth. Nana Foulland shoots 63 percent from the floor. He’s a post player. He’s going to hang around the rim. He’s going to go over his left shoulder. But what’s also apparent about Foulland is that he’s allowed to hang around the rim and go over his left shoulder.

Defenders have played behind him, which lets him use that left shoulder as the fulcrum for his offense. West Virginia has a different plan today. Macon said he’ll play in front of Foulland and deny passes.

“I’m going to sit on his knees the whole game,” Macon said, insisting he’ll play in front of Foulland and stay between him and the ball so he can’t catch easy entry passes into the post.

When the Mountaineers scrimmaged in the preseason against Purdue, Macon tried that against 7-2, 290-pound center Isaac Haas, who ended up averaging 12.8 points and shooting 58.9 percent for the Boilermakers this season.

“I want to say he only had six or eight points, so I know we can do it,” the 6-9, 240-pound Macon said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but if we front him, we can take him out of the offense. I feel like if we front him, I don’t think he’ll work for position. But who knows?”

‘I do know change is going to come.’

by Mike Casazza
w3st
Sometimes you have to tiptoe around a story. It’s not that topics are taboo or that you don’t know your way around a player or a locker room after 34 games with the player or the team. It’s that some subjects are just difficult to bring up with someone, no matter how obvious.

Slumps are one of those subjects.

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His first shining moment

by Mike Casazza

Part of the fun of watching the NCAA tournament, whether as a participant, a reporter or a spectator, is getting to know players who aren’t ordinarily in the spotlight. Certainly, Bucknell is not accustom to the spotlight. But Matt O’Reilly might look familiar. That’s him at the top in a commercial you may have seen before.

“I ended up having an opportunity to be in a Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial that aired during the NCAA tournament and aired during all the college tournaments and the NBA finals, which was pretty cool,” O’Reilly said.

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2017 NCAA Tournament: Media day

March 15, 2017 by Mike Casazza
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BUFFALO, New York – Welcome to the KeyBank Center, downtown in The City of Good Neighbors. We’re shoulder-to-shoulder with West Virginia, Bucknell, Notre Dame, Princeton, Villanova, Mount St. Mary’s, Wisconsin and Virginia Tech.

It’s media day today. Here’s your relevant viewing schedule.

Practice Times
Princeton – Noon to 12:40 p.m.
Bucknell – 12:45 to 1:25 p.m.
Notre Dame – 1:30 to 2:10 p.m.
West Virginia – 2:15 to 2:55 p.m.

Press Conference Times
Princeton – 11:20 to 11:50 a.m.
Bucknell – 12:05 to 12:35 p.m.
Notre Dame – 12:50 to 1:20 p.m.
West Virginia – 1:35 to 2:05 p.m.

Let’s roll!

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Bob Huggins has met, lost to and been Cinderella

by Mike Casazza
CHRISTIAN TYLER RANDOLPH | Gazette-Mail WVU's Devin Williams (41) hangs his head as Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks bring the ball up court for the final position as time expires in the second half in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on Friday March 18, 2016.

 

This is NCAA tournament No. 23 for Bob Huggins. He’s reached two Final Fours, two Elite Eights and two Sweet Sixteens. He’s also lost on the opening weekend a not-too-sweet 15 times, and he’s 16-6 in the opening game (and 7-9 in the second game).

Those 15 losses?

When he as at Akron: No. 5 Michigan in 1986.

At Cincinnati: Wisconsin in 1994, No. 8 UConn in 1995, No. 18 Iowa State in 1997, West Virginia in 1998, Temple in 1999, No. 18 Tulsa in 2000, No. 2 Stanford in 2001, UCLA in 2002 (in a double-overtime classic), Gonzaga in 2003, No. 13 Illinois in 2004, No. 7 Kentucky in 2005.

At WVU: Dayton in 2009, No. 11 Kentucky in 2011, Gonzaga in 2012 and Stephen F. Austin last season.

Nine of the 16 losses were to ranked teams. Some of the unranked teams were or still are good programs. Huggins had some really good, highly ranked teams that didn’t get through the first two weekends, and of the teams that beat Huggins, the ones that look weird are … well, the Mountaineers were nice in 1998. I guess Dayton and Stephen F. Austin look out of place.

Bucknell would look out of place, too, and Huggins doesn’t dismiss the possibility. He nearly did the unthinkable in 1986, and that set the stage for his career in the NCAA tournament.

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Let’s talk about practice

by Mike Casazza

West Virginia’s home away from the KeyBank Center is Daemen College, in Amherst, New York. The Mountaineers are working out there — one day more than expected, it turns out — and they’ll have a shootaround today at the arena they’re to play in tomorrow.

These practices are not merely important. They’re scrutinized.

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Bracket time!

by Mike Casazza
bracket

Here’s the link to our annual bracket competition.

And here’s a warning/reminder: I’m going to keep this post up top throughout the day and the early part of Wednesday. It’s going to be above other posts, because I want this to be what visitors see so they join. So when you visit, you’ll see this, and many of you will think, “Nothing new?” when in reality a new posts or new posts will be below it.