My Fiver on WVU's loss in the Little Apple Saturday....
1. When Austin Benigni lit us up for Navy, my first thought was of Marquis Nowell from K-State. As in, "If that little 5'10" dude from Navy can abuse our guards, what is Nowell going to do?". Your answer - 23 points, 10 assists, 7 steals. He was the difference.
2. Really cannot understand running the high post offense through Jimmy Bell or Mo Wague at the foul line. K-State's guards, Nowell in particular, were just frothing at the mouth at the prospects of our "5"'s holding the ball loosely 12 feet from the basket. He kept taking it from them, like candy from a baby. Usually led to highlight worthy run outs.
3. Erik Stevenson needs to stay on the floor. Yes, the tech called on him was a complete travesty and a joke. But, he has a tendency to reach and to hack when he's charged up and it's leading to way too much time sitting with Huggs on the bench. He's a difference maker, and we need him to log 35 minutes, not 22.
4. Hack a Bell and Hack a Wague was a genius move by K-State. We could not get into any offensive rhythm because of a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the constant march to the free throw line by Bell and Wague. Don't know if it was by design, or just a happy accident, but it was ingenious by KSU. Those two combined to go 6-18 from the stripe.
5. Thought this was a coaching clinic by Jerome Tang. WVU came out and punched them in the mouth. We were clearly the best team they have faced, and they did good just to keep within 11 at the half. In truth, we should've been up 20, in light of +21 in rebound margin through one half. But, Tang adjusted. He attacked our bigs relentlessly when they had the ball, either taking the ball from them, or putting them on the line - which was akin to a turnover. Offensively, they worked the pick and roll, made the extra pass to get us out of position, and ate at the layup and dunk buffet that we tend to offer. And, whenever KSU came out of a timeout, Tang had a play that worked to perfection. Then, juxtaposition that against our "play" we ran out of a timeout, down 64-63 with under 20 seconds to go in regulation. Shew.
We are a better team than Kansas State. One hell of a blown opportunity.
1. When Austin Benigni lit us up for Navy, my first thought was of Marquis Nowell from K-State. As in, "If that little 5'10" dude from Navy can abuse our guards, what is Nowell going to do?". Your answer - 23 points, 10 assists, 7 steals. He was the difference.
2. Really cannot understand running the high post offense through Jimmy Bell or Mo Wague at the foul line. K-State's guards, Nowell in particular, were just frothing at the mouth at the prospects of our "5"'s holding the ball loosely 12 feet from the basket. He kept taking it from them, like candy from a baby. Usually led to highlight worthy run outs.
3. Erik Stevenson needs to stay on the floor. Yes, the tech called on him was a complete travesty and a joke. But, he has a tendency to reach and to hack when he's charged up and it's leading to way too much time sitting with Huggs on the bench. He's a difference maker, and we need him to log 35 minutes, not 22.
4. Hack a Bell and Hack a Wague was a genius move by K-State. We could not get into any offensive rhythm because of a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the constant march to the free throw line by Bell and Wague. Don't know if it was by design, or just a happy accident, but it was ingenious by KSU. Those two combined to go 6-18 from the stripe.
5. Thought this was a coaching clinic by Jerome Tang. WVU came out and punched them in the mouth. We were clearly the best team they have faced, and they did good just to keep within 11 at the half. In truth, we should've been up 20, in light of +21 in rebound margin through one half. But, Tang adjusted. He attacked our bigs relentlessly when they had the ball, either taking the ball from them, or putting them on the line - which was akin to a turnover. Offensively, they worked the pick and roll, made the extra pass to get us out of position, and ate at the layup and dunk buffet that we tend to offer. And, whenever KSU came out of a timeout, Tang had a play that worked to perfection. Then, juxtaposition that against our "play" we ran out of a timeout, down 64-63 with under 20 seconds to go in regulation. Shew.
We are a better team than Kansas State. One hell of a blown opportunity.
