My Fiver on WVU's win over the Vikings of Portland State last night...
1. Mo Wague is good. Mo Wague is not doing us any good sitting on the bench in foul trouble. Gotta figure out a way for him to stop reaching and stop leaving his feet. Sometimes you just stand tall, and make the opponent hit a tough jumper over you. You don't have to try to block every shot or steal every dribble or pass.
2. Seth Wilson hunting shots is just what the doctor ordered. 12 points, 2 assists and 2 steals on 4/5 shooting from "3". What I liked was that he seemingly came in focused on 1 thing -- hunting shots. That's what we need him to do, and he can be a good shot in the arm off the bench.
3. We're moving the ball with much more purpose this year, aside from Joe Toussaint's 1000 dribbles to nowhere. Overall, a pretty efficient game offensively with 20 assists on 31 made baskets, shooting 61% from the field. Obviously, Portland State isn't a good opponent, and their hyper aggressiveness led to a lot of easy takes and slams. But, last year's team would've still had their struggles. We are better in 2022-'23, in all phases.
4. Tre Mitchell was superior to the opponent yet again, with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists a steal and a block on 6/7 shooting. It's time for him to show this vs. a quality opponent, like Florida on Sunday night.
5. Florida and Colin Castleton. I'm sick & tired of losing to Florida in basketball. It's the Curse of Brett Nelson. Ever since Jo Herber drilled that trey to beat Nelson and the Gators in Charleston, they've owned us. And, last time we faced them a couple years ago in the SEC Challenge, we made Colin Castleton look like Luka Doncic. This is a game we should win. If we contain Castleton and don't let their shooter Trey Bonham get hot, they really will struggle to score enough points to beat us. My sense is that both Florida and WVU will be teams hunting for an at-large bid come March. So, this game is a big one in that light alone.
1. Mo Wague is good. Mo Wague is not doing us any good sitting on the bench in foul trouble. Gotta figure out a way for him to stop reaching and stop leaving his feet. Sometimes you just stand tall, and make the opponent hit a tough jumper over you. You don't have to try to block every shot or steal every dribble or pass.
2. Seth Wilson hunting shots is just what the doctor ordered. 12 points, 2 assists and 2 steals on 4/5 shooting from "3". What I liked was that he seemingly came in focused on 1 thing -- hunting shots. That's what we need him to do, and he can be a good shot in the arm off the bench.
3. We're moving the ball with much more purpose this year, aside from Joe Toussaint's 1000 dribbles to nowhere. Overall, a pretty efficient game offensively with 20 assists on 31 made baskets, shooting 61% from the field. Obviously, Portland State isn't a good opponent, and their hyper aggressiveness led to a lot of easy takes and slams. But, last year's team would've still had their struggles. We are better in 2022-'23, in all phases.
4. Tre Mitchell was superior to the opponent yet again, with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists a steal and a block on 6/7 shooting. It's time for him to show this vs. a quality opponent, like Florida on Sunday night.
5. Florida and Colin Castleton. I'm sick & tired of losing to Florida in basketball. It's the Curse of Brett Nelson. Ever since Jo Herber drilled that trey to beat Nelson and the Gators in Charleston, they've owned us. And, last time we faced them a couple years ago in the SEC Challenge, we made Colin Castleton look like Luka Doncic. This is a game we should win. If we contain Castleton and don't let their shooter Trey Bonham get hot, they really will struggle to score enough points to beat us. My sense is that both Florida and WVU will be teams hunting for an at-large bid come March. So, this game is a big one in that light alone.
