My fiver on WVU's loss to Kentucky from Saturday night --------
1. Beetle Bolden should start. The smallest kid on our team has the biggest heart. You could tell he really wanted that "W" on Saturday, and unfortunately, the burden of pulling the rabbit out of the hat during the disasterous 2nd half was put on his shoulders. I feel for him...he gave it everything he had. He just ran out of shots. That said, at this juncture, I don't see why we need to stash him as our "break glass in case of emergency" guy off of the bench. It's time that he runs down that gold & blue carpet and starts the game. Let's get him ready to run the show next year. And, he should have the eternal "green light" from this point forward to launch.
2. "Press Virginia" is suffering. If we're truly going to be "Press Virginia" - we need to wholeheartedly commit to it and do it - like we did the past two seasons. This year, we are completely wearing out our guards - Jevon Carter in particular - and thus the press suffers mightily during the final 15 minutes of the game. It was a luxury to enjoy having Tarik Phillip, Jaysean Paige and Teyvon Myers coming off of the bench the past two years - not to mention having Jevon Carter, Phillip and Paige coming off of the bench to spell Juwan Staten and Daxter Miles during Press Virginia's 1st season. Now, we have Beetle Bolden and Chase Harler coming off of the bench, and quite frankly, not playing enough minutes. (Boy, that injury to Brandon Knapper hurts more than we know from this perspective) If we're going to be "Press Virginia", then Carter and Miles both need to sit during big stretches of the 1st half, and let Beetle, Chase Harler, and Teddy Allen have some stretches where they're in charge. Yes, we could fall behind...but does it really matter anymore? I mean, is it really that great to have a lead at the half? I don't know. Perhaps it would be better if we're down 5 at the half, but have a set of fresh legs at the guard position with all of our guys for a 2nd half run. I'm beginning to think that the first 20 minutes of the game are almost irrelevant.
3. Shake it up - new starting 5. I'd go with a new starting 5 at Ames on Wednesday - Beetle Bolden at point, Jevon Carter at 2, Teddy Allen at 3, Wes Harris at 4, Sags at 5. I'd press with ferocity and give JC, Teddy and Wes a break at the 14 minute mark, inserting Dax, Lamont West and Chase Harler. I'd only play Esa Ahmad at this point when Sags needs a break, putting him at a stretch 5 spot, but he'd only play until Sags was ready to go back into the game. Logan Routt would see minutes if Sags was in foul trouble in the 1st half. Bender would not see the floor. I'd keep rotating personnel during the 1st half, no matter the score, unless someone (Beetle, JC, Lamont) gets hot. Keep rotating in & out, keep pressing. JC and Beetle will play no more than 10-12 minutes of the 1st half, and then I'd let them both basically run the entire 2nd half. Beetle, JC and Sags are the only 3 players who should see more than 32 minutes unless Lamont gets hot.
4. How do you leave Knox there? After Beetle pulled the game back to 74-74 with his fifth trey of the game...you had to know that UK would go to the guy who had scored almost half of their points to that point - Knox. And, as always, our off-ball defender left Knox to double-team the ball, leaving Knox wide open for the dagger. You know the rest. I don't know how many times over the course of this season I've watched our off-ball defender leave their man for a fairly meaningless double-team, leaving their man open...watching the ball zip to their "man" standing all alone for a routine trey. I just close my eyes, wince, and mumble words that can't be repeated under my breath before the shot even goes up. You know what's about to happen, every time you see it. It's getting old.
5. Bob Huggins. Seeing a lot of chatter on here questioning Huggs. Here's my take: It's not so much the x's and o's...or even the rotations, although they do leave a lot to be desired. We're down personnel right now. Bob Huggins isn't pulling blue chip recruits into our roster consistently, but he's making due with what he has. He's made stars out of lesser-rated recruits like Jevon Carter, Jaysean Paige and Nate Adrian. He's made due with four-star players like Juwan Staten, Elijah Macon and Devin Williams. But, this year, we lost a LOT. Derek Culver not making it in hurt. Elijah Macon not returning to provide meaningful depth, hurt. Brandon Knapper being lost for the season was an absolute killer at the guard position - HUGE loss. Then, we lost Esa Ahmad for half of the season, and his return may be more damaging than his loss...we're still trying to figure that one out. So, now, Huggins is trying to be Press Virginia, while playing Chase Harler, Magic Bender, Logan Routt, and on occasion D'Angelo Hunter at times. Lamont West is still a project right now, and Teddy Allen, for all of his positives, is still learning his way. Personnel-wise, we're not a top ten team. Hell, I'd say we probably don't have a top 20 roster. But, we're making due. That said, could you imagine how great it would've been Saturday to insert Elijah Macon into the game to spell Sags when he picked up his 3rd foul, and then insert Derek Culver for Esa Ahmad? Then, to go to Brandon Knapper to sub in for Dax when he was misfiring? We almost had that possibility. Almost.
Back to reality -- I think we just need to shake up the starting 5 a bit, put Esa Ahmad back, way back, in the role of reserve at the stretch-5 spot, and try to get this train back on the tracks. Launch away, Beetle.
1. Beetle Bolden should start. The smallest kid on our team has the biggest heart. You could tell he really wanted that "W" on Saturday, and unfortunately, the burden of pulling the rabbit out of the hat during the disasterous 2nd half was put on his shoulders. I feel for him...he gave it everything he had. He just ran out of shots. That said, at this juncture, I don't see why we need to stash him as our "break glass in case of emergency" guy off of the bench. It's time that he runs down that gold & blue carpet and starts the game. Let's get him ready to run the show next year. And, he should have the eternal "green light" from this point forward to launch.
2. "Press Virginia" is suffering. If we're truly going to be "Press Virginia" - we need to wholeheartedly commit to it and do it - like we did the past two seasons. This year, we are completely wearing out our guards - Jevon Carter in particular - and thus the press suffers mightily during the final 15 minutes of the game. It was a luxury to enjoy having Tarik Phillip, Jaysean Paige and Teyvon Myers coming off of the bench the past two years - not to mention having Jevon Carter, Phillip and Paige coming off of the bench to spell Juwan Staten and Daxter Miles during Press Virginia's 1st season. Now, we have Beetle Bolden and Chase Harler coming off of the bench, and quite frankly, not playing enough minutes. (Boy, that injury to Brandon Knapper hurts more than we know from this perspective) If we're going to be "Press Virginia", then Carter and Miles both need to sit during big stretches of the 1st half, and let Beetle, Chase Harler, and Teddy Allen have some stretches where they're in charge. Yes, we could fall behind...but does it really matter anymore? I mean, is it really that great to have a lead at the half? I don't know. Perhaps it would be better if we're down 5 at the half, but have a set of fresh legs at the guard position with all of our guys for a 2nd half run. I'm beginning to think that the first 20 minutes of the game are almost irrelevant.
3. Shake it up - new starting 5. I'd go with a new starting 5 at Ames on Wednesday - Beetle Bolden at point, Jevon Carter at 2, Teddy Allen at 3, Wes Harris at 4, Sags at 5. I'd press with ferocity and give JC, Teddy and Wes a break at the 14 minute mark, inserting Dax, Lamont West and Chase Harler. I'd only play Esa Ahmad at this point when Sags needs a break, putting him at a stretch 5 spot, but he'd only play until Sags was ready to go back into the game. Logan Routt would see minutes if Sags was in foul trouble in the 1st half. Bender would not see the floor. I'd keep rotating personnel during the 1st half, no matter the score, unless someone (Beetle, JC, Lamont) gets hot. Keep rotating in & out, keep pressing. JC and Beetle will play no more than 10-12 minutes of the 1st half, and then I'd let them both basically run the entire 2nd half. Beetle, JC and Sags are the only 3 players who should see more than 32 minutes unless Lamont gets hot.
4. How do you leave Knox there? After Beetle pulled the game back to 74-74 with his fifth trey of the game...you had to know that UK would go to the guy who had scored almost half of their points to that point - Knox. And, as always, our off-ball defender left Knox to double-team the ball, leaving Knox wide open for the dagger. You know the rest. I don't know how many times over the course of this season I've watched our off-ball defender leave their man for a fairly meaningless double-team, leaving their man open...watching the ball zip to their "man" standing all alone for a routine trey. I just close my eyes, wince, and mumble words that can't be repeated under my breath before the shot even goes up. You know what's about to happen, every time you see it. It's getting old.
5. Bob Huggins. Seeing a lot of chatter on here questioning Huggs. Here's my take: It's not so much the x's and o's...or even the rotations, although they do leave a lot to be desired. We're down personnel right now. Bob Huggins isn't pulling blue chip recruits into our roster consistently, but he's making due with what he has. He's made stars out of lesser-rated recruits like Jevon Carter, Jaysean Paige and Nate Adrian. He's made due with four-star players like Juwan Staten, Elijah Macon and Devin Williams. But, this year, we lost a LOT. Derek Culver not making it in hurt. Elijah Macon not returning to provide meaningful depth, hurt. Brandon Knapper being lost for the season was an absolute killer at the guard position - HUGE loss. Then, we lost Esa Ahmad for half of the season, and his return may be more damaging than his loss...we're still trying to figure that one out. So, now, Huggins is trying to be Press Virginia, while playing Chase Harler, Magic Bender, Logan Routt, and on occasion D'Angelo Hunter at times. Lamont West is still a project right now, and Teddy Allen, for all of his positives, is still learning his way. Personnel-wise, we're not a top ten team. Hell, I'd say we probably don't have a top 20 roster. But, we're making due. That said, could you imagine how great it would've been Saturday to insert Elijah Macon into the game to spell Sags when he picked up his 3rd foul, and then insert Derek Culver for Esa Ahmad? Then, to go to Brandon Knapper to sub in for Dax when he was misfiring? We almost had that possibility. Almost.
Back to reality -- I think we just need to shake up the starting 5 a bit, put Esa Ahmad back, way back, in the role of reserve at the stretch-5 spot, and try to get this train back on the tracks. Launch away, Beetle.
