West Virginia's Upset Strategy Against Kentucky: Press, Press, Press
By PATRICK MAKSMARCH 23, 2015
West Virginia's Jevon Carter, left, and Jonathan Holton, center, are part of a tough defense that smothered Maryland on Sunday, forcing 23 turnovers. West Virginia plays 36-0 Kentucky next.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The following dynamics have been unable to unnerve Kentucky this season: luck, divine intervention and the bloating pressure of a 36-0 mark that grows greater the deeper the top-seeded Wildcats advance into the N.C.A.A. tournament.
First, there was Hampton Coach Edward Joyner Jr., who said, "I've got Jesus on speed dial" before feigning a phone call after his team won a play-in game to face Kentucky.
"Hey, Jesus," he said. "They want to know how much of a mountain and what our odds are." The Pirates were dismantled, 79-56, on Friday in Louisville, Ky.
Next, there was Cincinnati, which used its length and athleticism to scrap against Kentucky for about 30 minutes Saturday before unraveling late, 64-51.
Now, on Thursday night in Cleveland, Kentucky will play fifth-seeded West Virginia (25-9),
The Mountaineers forced 23 turnovers, and they battered Melo Trimble, Maryland's star freshman, who played fearlessly until a teammate's kick in the head left him unable to return.
They dismantled Dez Wells, the senior forward who has steadied the Terrapins this season. He turned the ball over eight times and struggled to find his shooting touch.
It was a punishing victory met with a raucous celebration near the team's locker room. The pep band's rendition of "Country Roads" rang through the arena.
After the contest, Huggins was asked if the Mountaineers would be physically and psychologically prepared for the Wildcats. In a throaty voice, he said, "Well, 36 people haven't been."
He continued: "I don't know. We're going to have fun trying."
In its last two games, West Virginia has caused 40 turnovers with a smothering press defense that is almost frightening to watch at times.
"We tried to simulate the speed, and the pace they would come at us, but it's hard to simulate that," said Buffalo Coach Bobby Hurley, whose team committed 17 such blunders in a 68-62 loss to West Virginia on Friday.
The Mountaineers play as if they are in a fight in a dark alley, and their fans gladly egg it on by repeatedly crying, "Press." The Mountaineers swarm, trap, jab, club, bother and bruise their opponents up and down the court, underneath the basket and on the baseline. Their goal seems to be annihilation.
Devin Williams (5) and Jonathan Holton of fifth-seeded West Virginia fenced in Buffalo's Shannon Evans on Friday in front of their coach, Bob Huggins. Credit Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It is a cacophonous and chaotic scene - one that Huggins calculated at the beginning of this season would lift a once-proud program from mediocrity and back into the tournament's round of 16 for the first time since 2010.
"Everywhere we go, people say, 'Well, it's not pretty,' " Huggins said. "I think it's beautiful. I love it."
It is a feisty style of play that fans fittingly call "Press Virginia," as the team fields as many as 11 players who rotate in and out as if in a hockey game. They are a relentless bunch who have overcome a lack of star power with a devotion to on-court anarchy.
Because of this, the Mountaineers enter their bout with Kentucky seemingly undaunted by the challenge that awaits them at Quicken Loans Arena.
"Since we started, we played the underdog role," the senior guard Juwan Staten said. "They didn't think we'd get past Buffalo. We got past Buffalo. They didn't think we'd get past Maryland. We got past Maryland. I'm pretty sure nobody in the world thinks we're going to get past Kentucky besides the 1.2 million that's in West Virginia."
Devin Williams, a muscular 6-foot-9, 255-pound sophomore forward whose protective goggles make him a sight to behold underneath the rim, said: "It's another team. They put their drawers on the same way we do. So that's pretty much it. We've just got to prepare and get our minds right."
The senior guard Gary Browne added, "We don't care what other people say, to be honest with you."
The ball getting caught up in the legs of Maryland's Melo Trimble as he was harassed by West Virginia's Daxter Miles Jr., left, and Jevon Carter on Sunday.
Credit Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Huggins holds an 8-2 record against John Calipari, the Kentucky coach, who has had stops at Massachusetts and Memphis.
"John and I go back 30, 40 years," Huggins said. "We know each other really, really well, and we've played against each other a bunch of times, coached against each other a bunch of times."
The last time the teams played was in 2011, with Kentucky winning, 71-63. In 2010, the second-seeded Mountaineers upended the No. 1 Wildcats, 73-66, in the tournament's round of 8.
Huggins told TNT after Sunday's win that he and Calipari had joked about being placed in the same bracket.
"I mean John and I tease each other a lot, but I've got great respect for him and for what he's done and what he's been able to accomplish, Huggins said.
Huggins added: "He'll have them ready. He always has them ready."
Yet if neither destiny nor a higher power has been able to unseat Kentucky, then maybe brute force and an unusually fearless style of play will.
"I wish I could sit here and tell you we're definitely going to win - I can't do that," Huggins said. "But I can tell you that we're not going to be scared."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/sports/ncaabasketball/west-virginias-upset-strategy-against-kentucky-press-press-press.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0
By PATRICK MAKSMARCH 23, 2015
West Virginia's Jevon Carter, left, and Jonathan Holton, center, are part of a tough defense that smothered Maryland on Sunday, forcing 23 turnovers. West Virginia plays 36-0 Kentucky next.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The following dynamics have been unable to unnerve Kentucky this season: luck, divine intervention and the bloating pressure of a 36-0 mark that grows greater the deeper the top-seeded Wildcats advance into the N.C.A.A. tournament.
First, there was Hampton Coach Edward Joyner Jr., who said, "I've got Jesus on speed dial" before feigning a phone call after his team won a play-in game to face Kentucky.
"Hey, Jesus," he said. "They want to know how much of a mountain and what our odds are." The Pirates were dismantled, 79-56, on Friday in Louisville, Ky.
Next, there was Cincinnati, which used its length and athleticism to scrap against Kentucky for about 30 minutes Saturday before unraveling late, 64-51.
Now, on Thursday night in Cleveland, Kentucky will play fifth-seeded West Virginia (25-9),
The Mountaineers forced 23 turnovers, and they battered Melo Trimble, Maryland's star freshman, who played fearlessly until a teammate's kick in the head left him unable to return.
They dismantled Dez Wells, the senior forward who has steadied the Terrapins this season. He turned the ball over eight times and struggled to find his shooting touch.
It was a punishing victory met with a raucous celebration near the team's locker room. The pep band's rendition of "Country Roads" rang through the arena.
After the contest, Huggins was asked if the Mountaineers would be physically and psychologically prepared for the Wildcats. In a throaty voice, he said, "Well, 36 people haven't been."
He continued: "I don't know. We're going to have fun trying."
In its last two games, West Virginia has caused 40 turnovers with a smothering press defense that is almost frightening to watch at times.
"We tried to simulate the speed, and the pace they would come at us, but it's hard to simulate that," said Buffalo Coach Bobby Hurley, whose team committed 17 such blunders in a 68-62 loss to West Virginia on Friday.
The Mountaineers play as if they are in a fight in a dark alley, and their fans gladly egg it on by repeatedly crying, "Press." The Mountaineers swarm, trap, jab, club, bother and bruise their opponents up and down the court, underneath the basket and on the baseline. Their goal seems to be annihilation.
Devin Williams (5) and Jonathan Holton of fifth-seeded West Virginia fenced in Buffalo's Shannon Evans on Friday in front of their coach, Bob Huggins. Credit Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It is a cacophonous and chaotic scene - one that Huggins calculated at the beginning of this season would lift a once-proud program from mediocrity and back into the tournament's round of 16 for the first time since 2010.
"Everywhere we go, people say, 'Well, it's not pretty,' " Huggins said. "I think it's beautiful. I love it."
It is a feisty style of play that fans fittingly call "Press Virginia," as the team fields as many as 11 players who rotate in and out as if in a hockey game. They are a relentless bunch who have overcome a lack of star power with a devotion to on-court anarchy.
Because of this, the Mountaineers enter their bout with Kentucky seemingly undaunted by the challenge that awaits them at Quicken Loans Arena.
"Since we started, we played the underdog role," the senior guard Juwan Staten said. "They didn't think we'd get past Buffalo. We got past Buffalo. They didn't think we'd get past Maryland. We got past Maryland. I'm pretty sure nobody in the world thinks we're going to get past Kentucky besides the 1.2 million that's in West Virginia."
Devin Williams, a muscular 6-foot-9, 255-pound sophomore forward whose protective goggles make him a sight to behold underneath the rim, said: "It's another team. They put their drawers on the same way we do. So that's pretty much it. We've just got to prepare and get our minds right."
The senior guard Gary Browne added, "We don't care what other people say, to be honest with you."
The ball getting caught up in the legs of Maryland's Melo Trimble as he was harassed by West Virginia's Daxter Miles Jr., left, and Jevon Carter on Sunday.
Credit Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Huggins holds an 8-2 record against John Calipari, the Kentucky coach, who has had stops at Massachusetts and Memphis.
"John and I go back 30, 40 years," Huggins said. "We know each other really, really well, and we've played against each other a bunch of times, coached against each other a bunch of times."
The last time the teams played was in 2011, with Kentucky winning, 71-63. In 2010, the second-seeded Mountaineers upended the No. 1 Wildcats, 73-66, in the tournament's round of 8.
Huggins told TNT after Sunday's win that he and Calipari had joked about being placed in the same bracket.
"I mean John and I tease each other a lot, but I've got great respect for him and for what he's done and what he's been able to accomplish, Huggins said.
Huggins added: "He'll have them ready. He always has them ready."
Yet if neither destiny nor a higher power has been able to unseat Kentucky, then maybe brute force and an unusually fearless style of play will.
"I wish I could sit here and tell you we're definitely going to win - I can't do that," Huggins said. "But I can tell you that we're not going to be scared."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/sports/ncaabasketball/west-virginias-upset-strategy-against-kentucky-press-press-press.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0
