My fiver on WVU's victory over Wichita State to win the Cancun Invitational -------
1. Defense -- is this our identity? It's amazing to see, but this team this season has defined itself - thus far - by making the opposition miserable on offense. Wichita State shot 30% from the field, 24% from three-point range, and it was due in large part because our defense was forcing them outside of their comfort zone on offense. They were often starting their offense with just 15 seconds left on the shot clock, and often initiating their play from half court. We took them out of their comfort zone, made them hurry, forced them to take contested shots with the clock dwindling. It's what we've done since a relatively poor - but familiar - showing against Akron in game 1. We are really turning up the heat with our denial man, and we're damn lucky that we can run guys into the game in waves because it takes a ton of effort to do this.
2. Sean McNeil clearly came out looking to score and he did. 8 points in his 11 first half minutes, including two beautiful treys. Then...he sat the second half. It's a good thing I'm not WVU's head coach, because I would've made the mistake of playing McNeil for at least 15 game minutes of the second half, at the expense of Knapper and/or Harler. McNeil is a scorer and his help will be needed as the competition level increases throughout the season.
3. Gabe Osabuohein needs to forget about scoring -- just get out there, grind, grab rebounds, get some steals, then set non-moving picks on offense. Put backs are fine for Gabe. But, otherwise, he needs to use the John Flowers model from Flowers's first two seasons. Just get in and do the dirty work. The offense will come later.
4. Two key plays: 1st-- 5 min to go, Wichita State cut the lead to 6, and Chase Harler drills a trey to push the lead back to 9. 2nd -- 3 min to go, once again Wichita State cut the lead to 6, and this time Emmitt Matthews Jr. swishes a smooth trey from the corner to put the lead back at 9 and pop the Shockers' balloon. The best part was that neither guy hesitated. Catch, shoot, swish.
5. We're coming around. This basketball team was dead in the water last year. Yes, we made strides toward the end of the season, but the Coastal Carolina game proved that this team needed some serious change and some serious work. Here we are. We are 6-0 and the Cancun Challenge champions. We pummeled Pitt in their house. I'm not ready to say that we are 100% back quite yet -- but the instruments just picked up a heartbeat for these guys. We are alive & kicking. We are a handful. With this defense we're exhibiting, with the wave of athletes we are running at teams, with a five-star power forward who is relentless as any player in the country... We are right where we need to be. We are a team who once again will cause opponents to wince a bit when they know we're coming.
1. Defense -- is this our identity? It's amazing to see, but this team this season has defined itself - thus far - by making the opposition miserable on offense. Wichita State shot 30% from the field, 24% from three-point range, and it was due in large part because our defense was forcing them outside of their comfort zone on offense. They were often starting their offense with just 15 seconds left on the shot clock, and often initiating their play from half court. We took them out of their comfort zone, made them hurry, forced them to take contested shots with the clock dwindling. It's what we've done since a relatively poor - but familiar - showing against Akron in game 1. We are really turning up the heat with our denial man, and we're damn lucky that we can run guys into the game in waves because it takes a ton of effort to do this.
2. Sean McNeil clearly came out looking to score and he did. 8 points in his 11 first half minutes, including two beautiful treys. Then...he sat the second half. It's a good thing I'm not WVU's head coach, because I would've made the mistake of playing McNeil for at least 15 game minutes of the second half, at the expense of Knapper and/or Harler. McNeil is a scorer and his help will be needed as the competition level increases throughout the season.
3. Gabe Osabuohein needs to forget about scoring -- just get out there, grind, grab rebounds, get some steals, then set non-moving picks on offense. Put backs are fine for Gabe. But, otherwise, he needs to use the John Flowers model from Flowers's first two seasons. Just get in and do the dirty work. The offense will come later.
4. Two key plays: 1st-- 5 min to go, Wichita State cut the lead to 6, and Chase Harler drills a trey to push the lead back to 9. 2nd -- 3 min to go, once again Wichita State cut the lead to 6, and this time Emmitt Matthews Jr. swishes a smooth trey from the corner to put the lead back at 9 and pop the Shockers' balloon. The best part was that neither guy hesitated. Catch, shoot, swish.
5. We're coming around. This basketball team was dead in the water last year. Yes, we made strides toward the end of the season, but the Coastal Carolina game proved that this team needed some serious change and some serious work. Here we are. We are 6-0 and the Cancun Challenge champions. We pummeled Pitt in their house. I'm not ready to say that we are 100% back quite yet -- but the instruments just picked up a heartbeat for these guys. We are alive & kicking. We are a handful. With this defense we're exhibiting, with the wave of athletes we are running at teams, with a five-star power forward who is relentless as any player in the country... We are right where we need to be. We are a team who once again will cause opponents to wince a bit when they know we're coming.
