Twin Towers
October 25, 2003 12:14 AM | General
October 25, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein says it's possible the Mountaineers could play both 6-foot-11 Kevin Pittsnogle and D’or Fischer at the same time.
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| Pittsnogle averaged 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last year as a freshman. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
The coach believes having the two on the floor could pose some matchup problems for opposing defenses.
“I think you’ll see it,” Beilein said Friday afternoon. “Will they both be in there for 40 minutes? No way – it’s not going to happen. It depends on who we’re playing, too. If we’re playing a smaller team it’s going to be harder to do that unless they can both dominate inside.”
Pittsnogle, who’s grown and inch and added 15 pounds of muscle since last season, averaged almost 12 points and 5 rebounds per game as a freshman to earn Big East all-rookie honors. Pittsnogle developed a reputation as one of the nation’s top shooting big men, connecting on 47.6 percent of this three-point attempts in 2003.
Fischer, a transfer from Northwestern State, combines a soft shooting touch with good athletic ability. The junior averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game two years ago as a sophomore. The Philadelphia resident sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules.
Like Pittsnogle, Fischer has shown an ability to step outside and shoot the three.
“He can shoot it in practice,” said the coach. “Now when the lights come on then we’ll see. But he did make them at Northwestern State and he’s made them here in practice.”
Beilein says in his 26 years as a collegiate coach this year is the first time he’s ever had two players standing 6-feet-11 or taller with the ability to shoot the basketball on the same team.
“In fact, I have to go all the way back to when I was coaching Division II that I had two big kids at one time and neither of them could shoot it,” he said.
The coach believes one of the biggest benefits to having a big lineup is the extra rebounds it can create.
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| Fischer sat out last year after transferring from Northwestern State. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“Hopefully it gives us better rebounding,” said Beilein. “What my plan is is to put the five best players out there as often as we can. If those two are consistently in the five best then that’s what you’re doing.”
Beilein is also aware that there are some drawbacks to having two centers on the floor at the same time.
“Playing two big kids is great but there are problems both ways. As coaches we always think about the problems it causes us,” he said. “You are a little slower when you get bigger and speed is important.
“We think we can get a few more possessions a game because of offensive rebounds. Now, if you have three more turnovers because of the two big guys then you’ve just negated your offensive rebounds,” he added.
Figuring out whether or not he can play two centers at the same time is just one of the many pieces of a puzzle Beilein is trying to figure out after the first week of practice.
“I’m trying to evaluate new guys,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out how far people have developed; what’s our three-point shooting like? Is it improved and what to do? We’re still in the exploratory stage and I think we’ll be this way for a while.”
Briefly ...
“We’ve had a couple of injuries but that doesn’t knock us down like last year. We’ve still got 12 or 13 guys to practice with. Jarmon was out for a couple of days and that changes things a little bit but we just say, ‘Okay Tyler (Relph) get in there.’
“(Jarmon) will be limping around today but he’ll probably be back in there because he’s a tough kid,” said Beilein.
“At least it doesn’t take us as long to set up a drill now,” he added.
Assistant coach Jeff Neubauer will cover “scoring off the dribble” and former Penn State head coach and current WVU assistant Jerry Dunn will teach drills to “develop the matchup zone.”
Wheeling Jesuit coach Jay DeFruscio will complete the clinic with a lecture on “building your man-to-man team defense.”
After lunch those in attendance are invited to watch the Mountaineers practice from 1 to 3:30 pm.
