West Virginia, the patron state of burning stuff.
In anticipation of the Villanova’s trip to Morgantown on Friday, I chatted with John who covers West Virginia at Mountainlair. Below are some questions that I asked John about his beloved Mountaineers. John has some personal matters to attend to, so no return questions this time around, but thanks to John for taking the time to do this. And away we go…
Chris (I Bleed Blue and White): First things first; Bob Huggins’ all-gold getup. Yay or nay? I can’t decide if he and Bruce Pearl are on to something or if I want to set that thing on fire.
John (Mountainlair): Throw it on a burning couch! Man, that picture of him in all gold makes him look like Goldmember! I like the look he’s sporting now with the dress shirt and jacket without the tie. The pullover look was a little too casual.
Chris (IBBW): How much have the losses of Darris Nichols to graduation and Joe Alexander to the NBA hurt West Virginia? It seems like it has been a struggle to consistently score for this year’s team.
John (ML): That was really the two key players on the team last year. If either one was back this year, we would be a completely different team. Nichols was just clutch and had an unbelievable assist to turnover ratio. Alexander’s absence speaks for itself. We really lack an inside game that freed up Ruoff and Butler. Butler has been able to shine at times this year, but Ruoff’s game has been hurt because people are paying more attention to him. Our problems at the point guard position were compounded with the loss of Joe Mazzulla. Bryant is improving, but I think it’s a bit much to ask most freshman point guards to be the only option without a dropoff.
Chris (IBBW): Morgantown is known as one of the tougher venues to play in the Big East, and Villanova has typically struggled there in the past. Bob Huggins basically refuted all that when he called out the students recently. What’s going on?
John (ML): It’s happened in football and basketball. I think it’s mostly because of the success and expectations. And being spoiled by the likes of an Alexander or Slaton and White in football. You get bandwagon fans that are there to be seen more than to show support combined with higher ticket prices. Huggins has every right to complain about it. Especially with such a young team, it can make a huge difference to have that kind of home court advantage. But as of right now, there’s nothing intimidating about playing in Morgantown.
Chris (IBBW): In your most recent game against Pittsburgh, both Alex Ruoff and Da’Sean Butler were in foul trouble for much of the game, and West Virginia struggled mightily.. Is it fair to say that as Ruoff and Butler go, so go the Mountaineers? Or can players like Devin Ebanks and Darryl Bryant make up for it? and
John (ML): I don’t think Ebanks and Bryant can carry the team without Ruoff and or Butler on the floor. Even when those two aren’t on their game, they lead on the floor. Ebanks kept us in the game early against Pitt and has a world of tallent, but he’s probably a year away from being a dominant player. Bryant is fearless, but it gets him in trouble sometimes.
Chris (IBBW): At 5-6 in the Big East, it appears that West Virginia has been doing a good job of winning the games they should, but have struggled against the teams in the upper echelon of the conference. Will that change this Friday night? Let’s have a prediction for how this game goes.
John (ML): I’m hoping you guys shot your load the last two games and will have a big dropoff Friday. West Virginia has done well against teams we match up with size wise. The bigger teams have just worn us down, though. So that gives me hope. Also when the Coliseum is rocking, that’s worth 10 points. It’ll be interesting to see how Bryant deals with the quality of guard play he’s going to face. If he can hold his own I can see West Virginia winning. I’ll say WVU 70-66.
There you have it, John sees a West Virginia win on Friday night. Before Villanova caught fire, I had this game marked down as a probable loss. Villanova just seems to struggle going to West Virginia for some reason, and their hot streak has to end sometime (doesn’t it?). But how am I going to pick against our boys when they have been playing so well? With Anderson probably out, this will be tough. Antonio Pena, Corey Stokes and Shane Clark will all need to step up to account for that loss. I still think Villanova gets it done, they just seemed to be locked in. Villanova edges one out 76-70.
Pat Forde: Bennett: I would say the Big East is approximately 7,000 times better than the Big Ten. Maybe 8,000. Not to say the Big Ten is terrible, but there’s no way it’s as good as the Big East. I see one Final Four caliber team in the Ten (Michigan State) and four in the East (Pitt, UL, UConn and Nova).
