My two fivers on WVU's victories over Oakland and Pitt this past week in hoops>>>
1. The two we know. Through two games, Taz Sherman (13 of 38) and Sean McNeil (8 of 18) have attempted 56 total shots, made 21 (37.5%). They have attempted 26 threes and made 8 (31%) - Taz is 3 of 16, McNeil is 5 of 10. 26 of their 56 shots have been threes, for 46%. Overall, their shot difficulty has been a bit high. That junk zone that Oakland ran on us really threw us, and open looks were hard to come by. The Pitt game was just a frenetic mess. I like their percentage of three-point attempts, but would obviously like to see more from McNeil, and a better performance from Taz. Not too worried, as I know that Taz will come back to the mean and go on a heater soon. Better ball movement vs. zone is a must, and we need for our bigs to once again learn to kick out. We've missed some great opportunities to kick the ball back out for wide open looks in the first two games.
2. The PG we don't know. The PG competition is still open. Malik Curry had a hell of a game vs. Pitt. He looked very comfortable, going 5-5 from the floor 10pts, 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 TO. He had a bevy of nice takes to the hole, which I love to see from our PG position with the shooters we have on the floor. On the other hand, Kedrian Johnson has played extremely well on the defensive side of the floor, showcasing 7 steals vs. Pitt, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists vs. 1 TO. He had 4 steals in the opener vs. Oakland as well. Boy, I'd love to see just a bit more on the offensive end. I don't think you can really say who has the upper hand, but it is nice to know that we have two PGs who we can go with, 10 total fouls vs. 5, and both seem to be playing extremely hard on the defensive side of the floor, which we'll need. To be continued...
3. The Ace in the Hole. We really need Jalen Bridges to star on this team, and not just be content being a piece of the puzzle like last year. The first game, I thought he was passive - and confused by the zone. However, the Pitt game, he came out of his shell. He led all scorers with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 4 of 6 from "3", 6 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, 1 assist vs. 1 TO. That's what I'm talking about - extremely efficient and aggressive looking for his shot. I'm really curious to see if he keeps this up vs. Elon and into the Tournament this week.
4. The Wild Card. 29 combined minutes through two games for Isaiah Cottrell, 5 ppg, 2.5 rebounds pg, .5 blocks, 0 steals, 0-3 from "3", 4/10 from the floor. First, it's great to have him out there. Glad he made it back from injury, obviously. But, as I said in a previous post, while we don't need Cottrell to be Pittsnogle, we do need him to be better than Smalligan. And, I don't know that we're getting it right now. I'd like to see more energy, more bounce, and a couple made outside shots.
5. The Swiss Army Knife. I don't know if I've ever seen a WVU forward have a game like Gabe Osabuohien had vs. Oakland - 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 drawn charges, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal. We're just a better team with Gabe on the floor, it seems, although he'll need to (a) cut out the turnovers and (b) stay out of foul trouble. He essentially disappeared in the Pitt game due to fouls. But, we're going to need him out there this year, a lot, once competition level increases.
6. WVU is currently tied for 2nd in the nation in both turnover margin and turnovers forced. Can we keep this up? We're going to need to because...
7. WVU is tied for 341st in the nation (out of 349) with Grambling for rebound margin at -15. This is a problem. Glaring problem.
8. Kobe Johnson is one to keep an eye on. He has the measurables, the athleticism, and the ability to hit shots off the bounce, that we'll need from a scorer. We're going to need him this year, and his development into the future will be key. He had a nice "J" off the bounce vs. Pitt, and a nice take in the latter stages of the first half. Huggs is showing some belief in this kid. He doesn't need to carry much water, which is a luxury. There is a lot of potential there.
9. The 2-headed "5". Dimon Carrigan with 6 blocks in two games is a good sign. However, he needs to move his feet better on "D", as he has simply gotten stuck in the wrong spot a few times, and obviously, 6 total rebounds in 29 total minutes in two games isn't cutting it. He does seem to have good energy, and could potentially be the rim protector we'll need. With Pauly Paulicap, I thought he looked a little out of sorts vs. Oakland, but much more comfortable and better vs. Pitt, with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in just 9 total minutes. We're going to see him more and more, I believe, as the season wanes on. Between these two bigs, I hope that we can find a few double-doubles and some decent rim protection, even if it means giving a few hard fouls.
10. The Charleston Classic. #1 We need to avoid the upset bug and keeping winning. We've seen The Citadel beat Pitt, Furman beat Louisville, Oakland defeat Oklahoma State, UC Riverside take down Arizona State, Kansas City over Missouri, Navy beat Virginia, Northern Illinois beat Washington and those are just off the top of my head. Take care of Elon Thursday night, and we'll have a hell of a matchup vs. the winner of Marquette - who just took down #10 Illinois last night - or Ole Miss, who feature our old friend Jaemyn Brakefield. That game will show us a lot about this team, good or bad. But, either way, it's a long season, and ultimately, we just need to see some continued growth. However, if Taz, Sean and Jalen Bridges all get hot on the same night, we'll run anyone out of the gym. It's about to get interesting.
1. The two we know. Through two games, Taz Sherman (13 of 38) and Sean McNeil (8 of 18) have attempted 56 total shots, made 21 (37.5%). They have attempted 26 threes and made 8 (31%) - Taz is 3 of 16, McNeil is 5 of 10. 26 of their 56 shots have been threes, for 46%. Overall, their shot difficulty has been a bit high. That junk zone that Oakland ran on us really threw us, and open looks were hard to come by. The Pitt game was just a frenetic mess. I like their percentage of three-point attempts, but would obviously like to see more from McNeil, and a better performance from Taz. Not too worried, as I know that Taz will come back to the mean and go on a heater soon. Better ball movement vs. zone is a must, and we need for our bigs to once again learn to kick out. We've missed some great opportunities to kick the ball back out for wide open looks in the first two games.
2. The PG we don't know. The PG competition is still open. Malik Curry had a hell of a game vs. Pitt. He looked very comfortable, going 5-5 from the floor 10pts, 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 TO. He had a bevy of nice takes to the hole, which I love to see from our PG position with the shooters we have on the floor. On the other hand, Kedrian Johnson has played extremely well on the defensive side of the floor, showcasing 7 steals vs. Pitt, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists vs. 1 TO. He had 4 steals in the opener vs. Oakland as well. Boy, I'd love to see just a bit more on the offensive end. I don't think you can really say who has the upper hand, but it is nice to know that we have two PGs who we can go with, 10 total fouls vs. 5, and both seem to be playing extremely hard on the defensive side of the floor, which we'll need. To be continued...
3. The Ace in the Hole. We really need Jalen Bridges to star on this team, and not just be content being a piece of the puzzle like last year. The first game, I thought he was passive - and confused by the zone. However, the Pitt game, he came out of his shell. He led all scorers with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 4 of 6 from "3", 6 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, 1 assist vs. 1 TO. That's what I'm talking about - extremely efficient and aggressive looking for his shot. I'm really curious to see if he keeps this up vs. Elon and into the Tournament this week.
4. The Wild Card. 29 combined minutes through two games for Isaiah Cottrell, 5 ppg, 2.5 rebounds pg, .5 blocks, 0 steals, 0-3 from "3", 4/10 from the floor. First, it's great to have him out there. Glad he made it back from injury, obviously. But, as I said in a previous post, while we don't need Cottrell to be Pittsnogle, we do need him to be better than Smalligan. And, I don't know that we're getting it right now. I'd like to see more energy, more bounce, and a couple made outside shots.
5. The Swiss Army Knife. I don't know if I've ever seen a WVU forward have a game like Gabe Osabuohien had vs. Oakland - 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 drawn charges, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal. We're just a better team with Gabe on the floor, it seems, although he'll need to (a) cut out the turnovers and (b) stay out of foul trouble. He essentially disappeared in the Pitt game due to fouls. But, we're going to need him out there this year, a lot, once competition level increases.
6. WVU is currently tied for 2nd in the nation in both turnover margin and turnovers forced. Can we keep this up? We're going to need to because...
7. WVU is tied for 341st in the nation (out of 349) with Grambling for rebound margin at -15. This is a problem. Glaring problem.
8. Kobe Johnson is one to keep an eye on. He has the measurables, the athleticism, and the ability to hit shots off the bounce, that we'll need from a scorer. We're going to need him this year, and his development into the future will be key. He had a nice "J" off the bounce vs. Pitt, and a nice take in the latter stages of the first half. Huggs is showing some belief in this kid. He doesn't need to carry much water, which is a luxury. There is a lot of potential there.
9. The 2-headed "5". Dimon Carrigan with 6 blocks in two games is a good sign. However, he needs to move his feet better on "D", as he has simply gotten stuck in the wrong spot a few times, and obviously, 6 total rebounds in 29 total minutes in two games isn't cutting it. He does seem to have good energy, and could potentially be the rim protector we'll need. With Pauly Paulicap, I thought he looked a little out of sorts vs. Oakland, but much more comfortable and better vs. Pitt, with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in just 9 total minutes. We're going to see him more and more, I believe, as the season wanes on. Between these two bigs, I hope that we can find a few double-doubles and some decent rim protection, even if it means giving a few hard fouls.
10. The Charleston Classic. #1 We need to avoid the upset bug and keeping winning. We've seen The Citadel beat Pitt, Furman beat Louisville, Oakland defeat Oklahoma State, UC Riverside take down Arizona State, Kansas City over Missouri, Navy beat Virginia, Northern Illinois beat Washington and those are just off the top of my head. Take care of Elon Thursday night, and we'll have a hell of a matchup vs. the winner of Marquette - who just took down #10 Illinois last night - or Ole Miss, who feature our old friend Jaemyn Brakefield. That game will show us a lot about this team, good or bad. But, either way, it's a long season, and ultimately, we just need to see some continued growth. However, if Taz, Sean and Jalen Bridges all get hot on the same night, we'll run anyone out of the gym. It's about to get interesting.
