My two fivers from our trip to the Sweet Sixteen--------
1. Tarik Phillip. Phillip is a warrior. Last year after watching Eron Harris loaf through a hapless, defensless loss in the NIT to Georgetown, I breathed a sigh of relief when Huggins landed a tough JUCO guard known for his defense, who had 11 steals in one JUCO game and was his conference's defensive player of the year. Brooklyn tough. Fearless. He buried the fighting Bobby Hurleys with a dagger, and his steal and behind the back pass for a Dax Miles dunk was my highpoint in game of "highs" yesterday. And, you can bet he won't back down to Kentucky on Thursday. You don't get "next" on New York City's courts if you play soft.
2. Jevon Carter. Carter's just a bit off with his offensive game right now. But, his trey yesterday that stopped a Maryland run with 4 min to go was HUGE. And his defensive game was on point yesterday. 6 steals and 3 rebounds to go with his 3 points. That is eight steals for Carter in two games.
3. Daxter Miles, Jr. I can't believe we get to watch this kid grow for three more years after this year. If Ahmad is going to be as good as advertised, then he and Miles are going to play off each other very nicely. But, back to the here and now...Miles has zero turnovers in two NCAA Tournament games as a freshman. He's scored in double figures both games. A star is being born.
4. Huggins's move to a zone vs. Buffalo coming down the stretch was a bit curious to me. Buffalo's PG Bearden was having all sorts of problems with our pressure defense (7 turnovers). We gave him a breather there, and Buffalo took advantage to knock down a few uncontested treys. However, we clamped down hard the last two minutes. Vice grip hard. That said, I'd like to see us just attack, attack, attack at the end of games now and stop milking clock so much.
5. Devin Williams is setting himself up for a monster junior year right now. He will probably have difficulty vs. Kentucky Thursday due to their size. But, he was flat out dominant vs. Buffalo & Maryland. And, his smooth jumper is going to be key vs. Kentucky. He may not be able to take it down low often, but that 15-footer will be there for him. His shot looks great right now.
6. Jon Holton showed last night how much stronger WVU can be when he is not in foul trouble. He kept many offensive rebounds alive, forced a steal, hit a three-pointer, had a sweet block and scored in double figures. We are just a different team when Holton is on his game. And, I do worry about the matchup vs. Kentucky and Holton's propensity to get in early foul trouble. He's going to need to play hard, but play smart Thursday. If Holton stays on the floor and can contribute offensively...then we can beat Kentucky.
7. How much of a breath of fresh air is it to wake up this morning to a national conversation on the nature of WVU's tough, gritty, deep and ultra-athletic WVU's basketball team? We've been to hell and back the past two to three years. From our meltdown in Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA vs. Gonzaga, to our losing season, to watching Deniz plod up and down the floor, to watching our team refuse to defend last year...now, we have this cast of characters that Bob Huggins melded together into a machine. The scary part? We're going to be ever better next year. First things first, though...I'm not ready to focus there yet.
8. Maryland fans will cry (because that's what they do) about the lack of foul calls on Nate Adrian's moving screen, and on a few of WVU's steals during our pressure defense. On the national board, one Terrapin claimed that we took a page out of Pat Riley's book: "If there is a foul every play, then the refs can't call them all". Well, my reply>>> If it's working, then it's your job to stop it. And, furthermore, Devin Williams was physically assaulted underneath last night and it wasn't called. The fact that he only went to the line three times yesterday is a borderline crime. But, the officials let them play, and I am not one to complain. But, we will hear it from Maryland fans for years about the Adrian moving screen and our "dirty" play. The best thing you can do when you hear this whine? Shrug your shoulders and say: "Oh well."
9. If Kentucky is vulnerable anywhere...it is at the guard position. Their bigs have decent handle, though, so that will give us problems. But, they can be had with pressure. They have not seen anything like what they are about to encounter on Thursday night. No one in the Charmin soft SEC has played them as tough for 90-feet as we will Thursday. Their lack of familiarity with our style of play means something. To win, WVU will need to force 20 turnovers, and at least finish +10 in that category. We will also need to pull down double-digit offensive rebounds. But, most importantly, we're going to need to be on our game shooting threes. My bottom line for threes Thursday is ten. We need at least ten. Keep in mind that no one gave us a chance vs. UK in the Elite Eight in '10. John Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, etc. NBA stars all over the floor. And we took them down...and it wasn't even close at the end. We were fearless that night. We will be fearless again Thursday...that we know for certain.
10. Bob Huggins. I've stayed quiet during the Huggins bashing that has gone on over the past couple of years. Now, at this juncture, he has a Big East Tournament title, two Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four to go along with the five NCAA Tournament appearances in his seven seasons. When he came here he said: "We're going to win, and we're going to win big". He's delivering.
***If we win Thursday night, we will have removed our biggest obstacle to the national championship. It's one game at a time. But, off in the distance, you can start to see a gleaming national championship trophy like a flash of bright sun on the horizon....
1. Tarik Phillip. Phillip is a warrior. Last year after watching Eron Harris loaf through a hapless, defensless loss in the NIT to Georgetown, I breathed a sigh of relief when Huggins landed a tough JUCO guard known for his defense, who had 11 steals in one JUCO game and was his conference's defensive player of the year. Brooklyn tough. Fearless. He buried the fighting Bobby Hurleys with a dagger, and his steal and behind the back pass for a Dax Miles dunk was my highpoint in game of "highs" yesterday. And, you can bet he won't back down to Kentucky on Thursday. You don't get "next" on New York City's courts if you play soft.
2. Jevon Carter. Carter's just a bit off with his offensive game right now. But, his trey yesterday that stopped a Maryland run with 4 min to go was HUGE. And his defensive game was on point yesterday. 6 steals and 3 rebounds to go with his 3 points. That is eight steals for Carter in two games.
3. Daxter Miles, Jr. I can't believe we get to watch this kid grow for three more years after this year. If Ahmad is going to be as good as advertised, then he and Miles are going to play off each other very nicely. But, back to the here and now...Miles has zero turnovers in two NCAA Tournament games as a freshman. He's scored in double figures both games. A star is being born.
4. Huggins's move to a zone vs. Buffalo coming down the stretch was a bit curious to me. Buffalo's PG Bearden was having all sorts of problems with our pressure defense (7 turnovers). We gave him a breather there, and Buffalo took advantage to knock down a few uncontested treys. However, we clamped down hard the last two minutes. Vice grip hard. That said, I'd like to see us just attack, attack, attack at the end of games now and stop milking clock so much.
5. Devin Williams is setting himself up for a monster junior year right now. He will probably have difficulty vs. Kentucky Thursday due to their size. But, he was flat out dominant vs. Buffalo & Maryland. And, his smooth jumper is going to be key vs. Kentucky. He may not be able to take it down low often, but that 15-footer will be there for him. His shot looks great right now.
6. Jon Holton showed last night how much stronger WVU can be when he is not in foul trouble. He kept many offensive rebounds alive, forced a steal, hit a three-pointer, had a sweet block and scored in double figures. We are just a different team when Holton is on his game. And, I do worry about the matchup vs. Kentucky and Holton's propensity to get in early foul trouble. He's going to need to play hard, but play smart Thursday. If Holton stays on the floor and can contribute offensively...then we can beat Kentucky.
7. How much of a breath of fresh air is it to wake up this morning to a national conversation on the nature of WVU's tough, gritty, deep and ultra-athletic WVU's basketball team? We've been to hell and back the past two to three years. From our meltdown in Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA vs. Gonzaga, to our losing season, to watching Deniz plod up and down the floor, to watching our team refuse to defend last year...now, we have this cast of characters that Bob Huggins melded together into a machine. The scary part? We're going to be ever better next year. First things first, though...I'm not ready to focus there yet.
8. Maryland fans will cry (because that's what they do) about the lack of foul calls on Nate Adrian's moving screen, and on a few of WVU's steals during our pressure defense. On the national board, one Terrapin claimed that we took a page out of Pat Riley's book: "If there is a foul every play, then the refs can't call them all". Well, my reply>>> If it's working, then it's your job to stop it. And, furthermore, Devin Williams was physically assaulted underneath last night and it wasn't called. The fact that he only went to the line three times yesterday is a borderline crime. But, the officials let them play, and I am not one to complain. But, we will hear it from Maryland fans for years about the Adrian moving screen and our "dirty" play. The best thing you can do when you hear this whine? Shrug your shoulders and say: "Oh well."
9. If Kentucky is vulnerable anywhere...it is at the guard position. Their bigs have decent handle, though, so that will give us problems. But, they can be had with pressure. They have not seen anything like what they are about to encounter on Thursday night. No one in the Charmin soft SEC has played them as tough for 90-feet as we will Thursday. Their lack of familiarity with our style of play means something. To win, WVU will need to force 20 turnovers, and at least finish +10 in that category. We will also need to pull down double-digit offensive rebounds. But, most importantly, we're going to need to be on our game shooting threes. My bottom line for threes Thursday is ten. We need at least ten. Keep in mind that no one gave us a chance vs. UK in the Elite Eight in '10. John Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, etc. NBA stars all over the floor. And we took them down...and it wasn't even close at the end. We were fearless that night. We will be fearless again Thursday...that we know for certain.
10. Bob Huggins. I've stayed quiet during the Huggins bashing that has gone on over the past couple of years. Now, at this juncture, he has a Big East Tournament title, two Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four to go along with the five NCAA Tournament appearances in his seven seasons. When he came here he said: "We're going to win, and we're going to win big". He's delivering.
***If we win Thursday night, we will have removed our biggest obstacle to the national championship. It's one game at a time. But, off in the distance, you can start to see a gleaming national championship trophy like a flash of bright sun on the horizon....
