From Buffalo to Morgantown today and then tomorrow it’s back to upstate New York and the Sweet Sixteen in Syracuse. Time is tight, but I’m assuming there are things you’d like to discuss. Fire away. I’ll handle what I can.
Meanwhile, a look at Sunday’s victory:
- Da’Sean Butler, he of the six game-winners, has a new favorite shot this season.
- Cam Thoroughman figured prominently in the key sequences of the victory.
- The Mountaineers tried to tell people they were going to be fine against the press.
OK Mike. I saw DaSean kick the ball out to Joe as time was expiring on the shot clock. Joe shot and missed. But the ball was on the rim.
Do you think Joe will knock down a couple of outside jumpers before this tourney is over?
Eh, that was more a product of the situation. It looked good, but I don’t think they’ll be running plays through and for him and I doubt he forces anything. It’s not who he is or what they are. That said, if he’s left open continuously and it’s at the expense of teammates or if he’s against the shot clock, I think he can shoot and score. This is his time of year.
Mike, you know anything about Washington yet? I only watched the end of their game against Marquette, so all I know is that Pondexter looks really good. Do they have anybody else, or is he the man? If so, I assume Ebanks would take him.
Two man scoring operation with Quincy Pondexter and Ike Thomas. Teams like that generally don’t do well against WVU. See: Ohio State.
Squads like Xavier and Dayton or, more recently, Villanova or Purdue that don’t lean on one or two guys and can get points from various spots on the floor are harder to guard. That goes for everyone, not just WVU. But if WVU can but Ebanks and/or Butler on the go-to guy or guys, the Mountaineers have a better chance against the rest of the team.
That said, the Huskies are No. 12 in PPG and WVU is not. They’ve been getting some nice numbers from secondary guys, too.
They like to think of themselves as a defensive team that gets scores off stops. I don’t think their defense is quite that good … which is to say they’re better offensively.
They started 9-2 outside the Pac 10, then started 3-5 in the conference. Since then it’s 14-2 and, really, they’ve only begun to define themselves. They’re shooting better than 40 percent from 3 the past five games after not approaching that sort of success up to that point.
Better shutdown defender: Devin Ebanks or Pac Man?
The job Ebanks did on Evan Turner in the second half becomes more astonishing by the day. What an advantage it is for WVU to be able to use one guy to take the other team’s best player almost entirely out of the game.