Taking Up The Slack
January 14, 2004 01:09 PM | General
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Now that Drew Schifino is no longer a West Virginia Mountaineer, the first question that comes to mind is where are all of the points going to come from?
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| Tony thinks sophomore Kevin Pittsnogle is a player who could add more points to his scoring average following the departure of Drew Schifino. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
I don’t think that we’re going to see one individual player all of the sudden double his scoring average. I think that you’re probably going to see several players increase their scoring average by a few points apiece. There may be certain nights when Joe Herber does get 15 but I think, overall, everyone is going to be responsible in some way for making up the difference.
A player like Frank Young, who has showed some early flashes that he can be a shooter, will see a lot of playing time along with Jerrah Young. I think the two Youngs will get significant amounts of playing time as the season progresses.
In the middle, D’or Fischer is going to have to become more of an offensive force. He is a pretty good weapon inside that West Virginia hasn’t had for a long, long time. I also believe Kevin Pittsnogle is going to get his opportunities and his continually improving inside game will make him a consistent offensive contributor.
John Beilein said on his Monday night statewide call-in show that he hasn’t given up entirely on the notion of playing both D’or Fischer and Kevin Pittsnogle at the same time. Beilein makes the point that it is very difficult playing both of them because of the disadvantage it puts you on the defensive end – particularly when a 6-foot-7 guy goes out on the wing and shoots it over you or drives by you. I think they’re going to tinker with it some more, though.
What has transpired over the past few days with the Drew Schifino situation at West Virginia University is not an isolated incident in college basketball. Penn State’s second-leading scorer and a guy who was playing more minutes than anyone else on the team, Deforrest Riley-Smith, left at the break because he felt he wasn’t getting enough shots. At the time Riley-Smith left Penn State the Nittany Lions were 5-5. Since then, Penn State has won three in a row over Bucknell, Minnesota and Ohio State.
Unfortunately the NBA mentality of getting your shots – whatever that means – has worked its way down into the college ranks. What ever happened to winning being the most important objective?
Tonight’s game against Virginia Tech is a big game because, to borrow a tennis term, West Virginia has got to be able to hold serve on its home floor. With a game coming up at Providence, a team that handled West Virginia very easily in last year’s Big East tournament, the Mountaineers have got to be able to go back out on the road 2-1 in league play.
Every single conference game is going to be important, but the fact that there is only one division is going to ultimately help West Virginia this season. We’ve got two against St. John’s, two against Tech and two against Villanova. I also think it benefits West Virginia that the Mountaineers only play Notre Dame, Connecticut, Pitt and Syracuse once.
With the students back in town for tonight’s game, it should be a big help for the team against Virginia Tech. I look for a spirited and enthusiastic student section tonight to greet the Hokies.
I had a chance to watch both Pitt and Syracuse play on Big Monday and I was impressed with both teams. Despite the fact that Brandin Knight and Ontario Lett are gone, I don’t see a whole lot of difference in the Panthers this year. They are big, they’re physical, they’re strong, they bump you and they’re just a very experienced team. Pitt has literally reloaded and they’re very good.
Watching Syracuse later that night, I was shocked with the way Craig Forth played. That may have been a one-night aberration, but the way he was attacking the basket and passing the ball was something he has not done in the past. I was really impressed with the way he played. Syracuse plays like a team that won it all last year and they’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence.
Overall I think the league is a little better than it was last year. I think Connecticut is better; Pitt is right there; Syracuse is kind of an unknown to the extent that they have only played one difficult game so far this year at Missouri. I believe Providence is a good team who got beat at the buzzer by Texas but beat Illinois.
Notre Dame has already gone out on the road and beat Villanova and took Pitt down to the wire. The Irish are a solid but rebuilding team: they’re not as good as they were last year but they’re solid. And Rutgers has proven to be a handful at home. Overall the Big East is a very solid basketball league and has a team in Connecticut that could win it all.
Hope to see you at the Coliseum tonight and have a great week.
