Time to switch the focus...

[bbwvfan]

... to men’s basketball.

I’m a sexist pig. I don’t watch the women play. I find it brutal to watch...

With the exception of the Youngstown St and St. John’s games, I’ve watched every other game to date. I have no feel for this team. I’m happy to see them 10-1... ranked in the top 25... impressive RPI ranking. So... I realize there is a lot of good stuff going on.

Yet... I don’t think they’re very good. Hard for me to be convinced... despite all of the reasons I should be.

Big test this weekend in Cleveland. Ohio St looks tenacious on defense... plays fast and hard. A loss won’t break the season. A win would be huge!

I’m looking forward to watching the game. I think it will give us some type of feel for how competitive we’ll be in the Big 12 this year.

I know DAD is taking his boy to the game. I wish I was taking mine too...

 

[WVUDAD]

... to men’s basketball.

I’m a sexist pig. I don’t watch the women play. I find it brutal to watch...

With the exception of the Youngstown St and St. John’s games, I’ve watched every other game to date. I have no feel for this team. I’m happy to see them 10-1... ranked in the top 25... impressive RPI ranking. So... I realize there is a lot of good stuff going on.

Yet... I don’t think they’re very good. Hard for me to be convinced... despite all of the reasons I should be.

Big test this weekend in Cleveland. Ohio St looks tenacious on defense... plays fast and hard. A loss won’t break the season. A win would be huge!

I’m looking forward to watching the game. I think it will give us some type of feel for how competitive we’ll be in the Big 12 this year.

I know DAD is taking his boy to the game. I wish I was taking mine too...

I can't wait to go see this team live, this game will tell a LOT!! The games I have seen, typical of young teams, has hot and cold times, look great for a while, then horrible for a while. As the young players mature, this team is going to be a monster!! I was there several years ago when WVU gave OSU their worst home loss ever, and hope to see a similar result this time, BUT this OSU team looks complete so far. I was hoping some of you other guys would be there so we could all shake hands!

 

[Slaton10]

Stil not quite sold on this group...but they have the skills to be really good...need to gel

 

[GoldRusher]

Same here bb,
JMO but I still think that its and inconsistent team lacking a "money" guard. I've never been sold on Haley and I think McCabe is a solid guard but unfortunately in the wrong program/system to fit his strengths. Our bigs can go with about anyone imo. I like Mathews but without that guard spot being there every game I find it hard to buy in completely.
The good news is CBB is crazy this year and there doesn't seem to be a dominant "great" team out there so.. I'm holding out hope that we can develop enough throughout the season to be a factor come tourney time but... we may all see things in a new light after the next couple games..

 

[bbwvfan]

Same here bb,
JMO but I still think that its and inconsistent team lacking a "money" guard. I've never been sold on Haley and I think McCabe is a solid guard but unfortunately in the wrong program/system to fit his strengths. Our bigs can go with about anyone imo. I like Mathews but without that guard spot being there every game I find it hard to buy in completely.
The good news is CBB is crazy this year and there doesn't seem to be a dominant "great" team out there so.. I'm holding out hope that we can develop enough throughout the season to be a factor come tourney time but... we may all see things in a new light after the next couple games..

I feel sorry for McCabe. I honestly have zero idea why Huggins recruited him. He is fading away in our program as his skillset does not match the way Huggins wants to play the game.

I agree with you... there does not appear to be a dominant team at this time. But, just like every year there has been a tournament to decide a champion... its winner will be one that has great guard play. We do not have great guard play.

So... I'm expecting it to be a good year... just not a great one...

 

[Anotherwvufan]

I’ve made most of the home games this year. Jealous of you guys who get to see them in Cleveland.

What I see is the best group of basketball players WVU has had in the past 40 years. We have at least 7 different playrts capable of being the offensive focus of the team. Athletically, this team can match up with anyone in the country. Our newcomers are all better than the returning players, who are pretty good to start with. The team is close knit and Huggs feels he has something big. I could see this group in the final 4.

Many of Huggs past teams have centered around one guy. DeSean Butler, Devin Eubanks, Javon Carter. Now we have 7 which can cause troubles. We have seen Kentucky flounder with a team of future NBA players.

Too much talent is a good problem to have. Huggs needs to get it all to mesh. We should have more 30 point blowouts at this point. Playing down to the competition seems to be the MO of this team.

I look forward to seeing them play against one of the best teams in the land.

 

[WVUDAD]

My son had to work,......so I am here with my daughter in law!!! What a great arena!!

 

[WVUDAD]

There are way more WVU fans here than OSU fans!

 

[bbwvfan]

DAD you got to see a great Mountaineer moment.

Could hear WVU fans making their noise on TV.

Honestly, I didn’t think we had a chance to win the game before it was played. Our 3 pt defense was terrible in the first half. But, McBride and Harler played great games for us today. And Gabe was terrific on defense.

Great win!

 

[WVUDAD]

DAD you got to see a great Mountaineer moment.

Could hear WVU fans making their noise on TV.

Honestly, I didn’t think we had a chance to win the game before it was played. Our 3 pt defense was terrible in the first half. But, McBride and Harler played great games for us today. And Gabe was terrific on defense.

Great win!

I was optimistic coming into the game when I saw the crowd was mostly WVU fans, the team looked great warming up, Huggins was loose and glad handing a ton of folks. When we started out with 6 fouls before OSU had one, I was getting hacked off!! They were calling fouls for the least touch on us, but letting OSU's guards tackle ours, one play early in the first half, the OSU guy put his shoulder down and was pounding McCabe right in front of our bench, Huggs was going nuts, I figured the T was coming. When Oscar got his third foul, then we were down 9 points, I figured it was over, OSU is VERY quick on defense!!! Much faster in person than on TV! I started regaining confidence in the second half as we were outscoring them and chipping away at their lead. I knew we had the game with about three minutes to play, OSU was getting tired, and starting to panic, they were markedly slower and selecting poor shots. I was glad we got to go, what a GREAT arena to see a CBB game in!!! I had planned to stay for the Marshall game, but with all the rain, I didn't want to drive home in the dark and rain, My eyes SUCK under those conditions!! Great day to be a Mountaineer!!! IF Huggins could manage to figure out how to coach free shots, WVU would NEVER lose!!!!!

 

[WVUDAD]

BB, we have a great guard in the making, I saw some great play from McBride yesterday, he is growing by leaps and bounds. I think WVU will be a good team this year, capable of beating anyone, but the youth will cause some losses. IF, IF, IF, Huggs can keep them all together, next year I expect greatness!! HOWEVER, IF they grow quickly, this has the potential to be a special year, I am really looking forward to Saturday's game!!

 

[bbwvfan]

It was nice to see McBride make some shots. IMO, seeing the first 3 go in gave him some confidence. He was feeling it after that.

Looking forward to watching them play in the Phog on Saturday.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

Ohio State is overrated. The officials took out our best rebounder with fouls yet we were still able to pull off an impressive victory. Northern Iowa gave us a tougher fight. Yesterday it was Miles, next week it may be Culver, Oscar, Matthews, Haley, or McNeil who leads this team to victory. I have never seen a WVU team with this many scoring threats. The senior leadership of Harler , Routt and Haley helps keep this team focused. Miles and Oscar are two of the best Freshman we have seen at WVU. The sky is the limit for this team. I would not be surprised by a final 4 run or better. No need to wait until next year. This is our year to excel.

Next week we go to Kansas in what is likely our toughest match up of the year

 

[WVUDAD]

Ohio State is overrated. The officials took out our best rebounder with fouls yet we were still able to pull off an impressive victory. Northern Iowa gave us a tougher fight. Yesterday it was Miles, next week it may be Culver, Oscar, Matthews, Haley, or McNeil who leads this team to victory. I have never seen a WVU team with this many scoring threats. The senior leadership of Harler , Routt and Haley helps keep this team focused. Miles and Oscar are two of the best Freshman we have seen at WVU. The sky is the limit for this team. I would not be surprised by a final 4 run or better. No need to wait until next year. This is our year to excel.

Next week we go to Kansas in what is likely our toughest match up of the year

Ohio State is ALWAYS overrated, but WVU beat a really good team yesterday!! Don't take anything away from the Mounties!! Look at who this OSU team has beat, they may not be the #2 team, but based on their resume, they are top 10!!

 

[Slaton10]

Ohio State is overrated. The officials took out our best rebounder with fouls yet we were still able to pull off an impressive victory. Northern Iowa gave us a tougher fight. Yesterday it was Miles, next week it may be Culver, Oscar, Matthews, Haley, or McNeil who leads this team to victory. I have never seen a WVU team with this many scoring threats. The senior leadership of Harler , Routt and Haley helps keep this team focused. Miles and Oscar are two of the best Freshman we have seen at WVU. The sky is the limit for this team. I would not be surprised by a final 4 run or better. No need to wait until next year. This is our year to excel.

Next week we go to Kansas in what is likely our toughest match up of the year

Uhh...not so sure I agree overrated....they looked more than capable...

 

[bbwvfan]

Uhh...not so sure I agree overrated....they looked more than capable...

I agree with you and DAD. The OSU is a hell of a basketball team!

I was not thrilled with our first half defense. But, our constant pressure seemed to wear down the Buckeye guards. They were not getting dribble penetration... they weren’t hitting their 3’s... in the 2nd half.

In some ways, the wasting away of our opponents in the 2nd half is similar to the Final 4 team.

 

[WVUDAD]

I agree with you and DAD. The OSU is a hell of a basketball team!

I was not thrilled with our first half defense. But, our constant pressure seemed to wear down the Buckeye guards. They were not getting dribble penetration... they weren’t hitting their 3’s... in the 2nd half.

In some ways, the wasting away of our opponents in the 2nd half is similar to the Final 4 team.

Our depth can wear down most opponents, so I think we will see that same thing happen a lot this year. I didn't look at the box score today, but I'm thinking there were 10-12 wvu players in the game, maybe 7 or 8 for osu??? I'm getting excited about the season. As miles and oscar mature, we will see some great wins!!

 

[GoldRusher]

I have to admit, and I haven't did this in a looong time but I lost my cool early on yesterday and got so pissed at the ticky tack garbage that the refs were calling on our bigs (who happen to be from OH) that I had to get away from the television. I can take losing a game or a bad call here and there but that sh*t was ridiculous, the officials were just cheating everyone else out of a chance to enjoy the game win or lose, even the announcers commented on how the "flow of the game" was just "off". It was obvious that the officials were trying to make themselves part of the game, just a very poor showing. Ohio State didn't need their help, that's a good team,but they couldn't help themselves and I lost it .

I ended up in a local restaurant a little later and bout fell in the floor when I looked up at one of their big screens and saw that we were in it and then went up 2 with a couple minutes left. I was stunned boys....

 

[mad2mc]

I tuned in late so I luckily missed all the fouls. Oscar was on the bench with 3 fouls. Pleasantly surprised to see we were still in it. Good job by Huggins rotating players in at the appropriate times. He didn’t really have a short leash on anyone and didn’t make it look like I was watching a hockey game with all the changes. I got that empty feeling of ‘here we go again’ when OSU cut into the 9 point lead with under 5 minutes to go. The team played through the storm, took good shots, and didn’t let OSU dictate tempo. I think McBride was a little amazed about his own play. I showed when he hit a little floater shot late in the game and threw up his hands in amazement.

 

[WVUDAD]

Our depth can wear down most opponents, so I think we will see that same thing happen a lot this year. I didn't look at the box score today, but I'm thinking there were 10-12 wvu players in the game, maybe 7 or 8 for osu??? I'm getting excited about the season. As miles and oscar mature, we will see some great wins!!

Just got around to looking, WVU played 12 guys, OSU 8 plus a guy who went in for one play.