WVU's Dynamic Duo
January 27, 2003 05:34 PM | General
January 27, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It may not be Baylor-West, Kareem-Magic or Jordan-Pippen, but West Virginia University’s outstanding tandem of Drew Schifino-Kevin Pittsnogle is starting to attract some attention around the Big East.
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| Kevin Pittsnogle's 26 points Sunday were three shy of the WVU freshmen record. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“They’re great for this system,” remarked Rutgers coach Gary Waters after he watched both of them carve up his defense for a combined 58 points on 22 of 33 shooting Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
The two have either been first or second in scoring in each game for West Virginia this season, and both are in line for record-setting seasons.
Schifino’s average of 20.6 points per game ranks him seventh in the Big East. If he maintains his current scoring pace, he will become just the second player in the three-point era (guard Greg Jones in 1983 is the first) to have averaged better than 20 points per game for a season at West Virginia.
Pittsnogle has a chance to become one of the school’s most prolific scoring freshmen. Right now, his average of 12.9 points per game positions him third on the freshmen scoring list behind center Warren Baker (16.6 ppg in 1974) and guard Jonathan Hargett (13.8 ppg last season).
His 26 points against Rutgers on Sunday tied Lester Rowe for the fourth-most by a freshman in school history. Baker scored 29 twice against Virginia and Lehigh in 1974, and obscure guard Aundrae Davis tallied 29 against Duquesne in his only season at WVU in 1985.
Forward Damien Owens scored 27 as a freshman against George Washington in 1995, and guard Mike Boyd scored 27 twice as a freshman in 1991 against St. Joseph’s and Virginia Tech.
Pittsnogle and Schifino provide the perfect compliment to each other in Beilein’s motion offense. If the defense over compensates for Schifino’s ability to slash to the hoop and doubles down on his penetration, that leaves Pittsnogle free for a wide open look at a three-point shot.
If the defense sticks tightly to Pittsnogle that leaves Schifino free to beat his man on the base line.
“I’m feeding off him and he’s feeding off me,” said Schifino. “When I drive I look for him and he looks for me. I think we’re playing real well together.”
This cat and mouse game has helped Pittsnogle make 31 of 57 three-pointers for 54.4 percent.
“It surprises me why teams still let him get open shots,” said Schifino. “But it’s difficult to guard him because when I penetrate the big guy is going to come off and help on me. They’ve got to respect me slashing to the hoop and they’ve got to respect his jumper.”
Schifino takes the majority of the shots – most of the difficult variety – and has made 47.9 percent of them against players sometimes six to seven inches taller than his listed height of 6-foot-3.
“Drew, in some mystical way, just gets to the rim,” said Beilein.
There wasn’t anything mysterious about Schifino’s prep career. He was listed on the AP Pennsylvania all-state team and was a national top 100 recruit.
Unlike Schifino, Pittsnogle quite have the same prep credentials, though several schools were interested in his mobility, soft hands and great shooting touch (Pitt’s Ben Howland was among those courting him).
In West Virginia, most prep observers thought Marshall signee Mark Patton was clearly the better of the two players when they faced each other at last year’s high school state tournament.
At best, it looked like Pittsnogle was going to have to work hard in the weight room to see significant playing time down the road for then-coach Gale Catlett, who preferred his big men in the paint.
Gary Waters made mention to that during his post-game remarks, “With the other staff he wouldn’t have been the same.”
But Pittsnogle’s fortunes changed the minute John Beilein came on the scene. Beilein had different intentions for the 6-10, 245-pound shooter, who he tried unsuccessfully to recruit while at Richmond.
Schifino says in pickup games this fall Pittsnogle really didn’t stand out.
“I knew he could shoot and that he had to get stronger, but I didn’t think he was going to be how he is right now,” said the sophomore. “No one thought he could play like he is right now.”
Said Waters after being informed that Beilein inherited Pittsnogle from the previous coaching staff: “That’s a God blessing for them. Pittsnogle is going to be a great player here.”
When pressed Beilein admitted just as much, “With the way we play he’s the dream guy that you have there.”
“I’ve always known that I could shoot the ball pretty well,” Pittsnogle offered, “I just try and come out here and put it to use the best way I can.”
Beilein says the real beauty in Pittsnogle’s game is that he has the medium jumper in his arsenal as well. “He’s a very good middle range shooter, which a lot of people don’t have,” says the coach.
Schifino fits Beilein’s system, too. He has the uncanny ability of putting the basketball on the floor and creating shots in traffic. He can post up smaller guards and is too quick for bigger guards and forwards.
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| Drew Schifino has reached 30 points in a game twice this season. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
On Sunday, Waters, predominantly a man-to-man coach, tried just about everyone on Schifino before deciding to use a matchup zone to try and stop him. At times, it looked like Schifino could score every time down the floor.
“They’ve got a great knowledge of what they want to do on offense,” said Waters. “They’re cutting the game in half by moving it and passing it. In a game you’re not going to get 20 minutes on offense because they’re cutting it down to 10 because they’re moving the ball. On every possession, 20 seconds is going off the clock so that makes you work (harder) on defense.”
Freshman Joe Herber and sophomore Tyrone Sally have also blended in nicely, as has freshman point guard Jarmon Durisseau-Collins. Earlier this year Sally had three straight games of 20, 25 and 15 points and is averaging 9.2 points per game.
Herber does all of the dirty work, guarding the opposing team’s power forward on defense and helping handle the ball on the perimeter. Because of the wear and tear of guarding the Mike Sweetneys, Darius Rices, Ontario Letts and Craig Smiths of the Big East, Herber’s shooting touch has suffered. But he still leads the team in assists with 62, defensive rebounds with 63, and minutes played with 586.
Durisseau-Collins needs to improve his shooting, but he handles the basketball like a young John Linehan from Providence once did and has turned the ball over just 15 times in 17 games – a phenomenal figure for a freshman playing in the Big East. By comparison, freshman Jonathan Hargett turned the ball over 106 times in 26 games last year.
These five players may not be the most physically imposing group in the Big East, but they are well-suited for Beilein’s system.
“How do you define talent?” Beilein asked Sunday. “Is talent a guy that can go one-on-one and score? Is talent a guy that knows how to play basketball? I think we’re starting to get a team that knows how to play the game. That’s how I define talent. You can go and watch the AAU tournaments and sometimes it’s such a poor indicator of who is going to be a good college player.”
Drew Schifino and Kevin Pittsnogle have come to the forefront because of their ability to feed off each other on offense, but the team is also winning because of the sacrifices made by Sally, Herber, Durisseau-Collins, and the inspired play off the bench from Josh Yeager, Chaz Briggs, Patrick Beilein and Nick Patella.
Basketball is a team game, and this group of players is coming to understand that quicker than even Beilein expected.
“Did I believe that these guys were going to play this unselfishly when we walked into the gym in October? I really didn’t know,” said Beilein.
In four short months this team, predominantly freshmen, sophomores and walk-ons, has molded into a dangerous opponent for Big East teams, particularly at home.
Once Beilein blends in last fall’s recruiting class, along with multi-talented 6-11 center D’or Fischer, even bigger things may be brewing on the horizon.
Stay tuned.
