Tough Stretch
February 03, 2004 11:40 AM | General
February 3, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach John Beilein is well aware of the fact that his Mountaineer team has its work cut out for it this week.
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| Mountaineer coach John Beilein is impressed with Seton Hall's versatility. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
First, West Virginia (11-7, 3-4) faces Seton Hall Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum with the Pirates fresh off a 55-46 win over Providence to improve to 14-4. On Saturday, the Mountaineers travel to Connecticut to battle an 18-3 Huskies team that blew out Syracuse, 84-56 in Hartford Monday night.
“We really have it in front of us this week these two games,” said Beilein. “We’re in the part of February right now where you can’t look into March yet; you’ve still got to focus on that next game.”
Despite losing 73-58 to Villanova last Saturday to drop to 3-4 in conference play, Beilein says there were positives coming out of that game.
“I was able to watch the whole game while we were waiting for us to go home,” he said. “Villanova has only got five losses the last few years in that building and we were able to pin one of those on them (last season). Coming out of it there was this missed hook shot, or missed pass where if we just would have ball-faked it we would have had a back door layup. All of these things we’ll learn from.
“If you don’t lose you don’t learn,” he added. “We’re going to learn a lot from that game.”
Last Saturday Beilein used a different starting lineup consisting of Tyrone Sally and Joe Herber at forwards, D’or Fischer at center, and J.D. Collins and Patrick Beilein at guards. The coach says he’s still searching for the right combination.
“Last year we were so consistent with what we did because we liked it,” he said. “This year we’ve just been trying to take a different approach of what is going to be good for us to get off to a good start? People are trying to counter us and we’re trying to counter them.”
Will Beilein used the same starting five Wednesday against Seton Hall? “I’m not sure,” he said. “I have to watch more Seton Hall film.”
According to the coach, getting quality minutes is more important than who starts.
“I don’t think it’s a huge thing because the same guys are playing minutes out there regardless of who starts,” said Beilein. “The next game both big guys may have to play more. It just keeps changing but I don’t think it affects preparation. We’ve got smart kids and team orientated kids. Although they’d all love to stat I know that they understand that not starting doesn’t mean you’re not a good player. We believe in the guys coming off the bench very much.”
Some have pointed out that Kevin Pittsnogle’s play has fallen off from a year ago. The 6-foot-10 sophomore forward is averaging about four points per game less than his freshman season totals, but is being asked to do much more by playing multiple positions this season. Beilein says he’s happy with the way Pittsnogle has progressed so far.
“I don’t see what some people see as him playing poorly,” said Beilein. “In Big East play he’s shooting 40 percent. It’s more a fact of who we play sometimes and what we do. I don’t think mentally he’s affected at all. He is just trying to do his best and help the team.”
Even though his minutes have been reduced, Pittsnogle is still getting his shots, according to Beilein.
“There are games where he plays 15 minutes and gets eight shots. That’s pretty darn good,” he said.
On Wednesday, Beilein believes West Virginia will be facing one of the hottest teams in the conference in Seton Hall.
“They are like us in that they’re not real big but they’re strong,” he said. “All of their kids are 6-5, 6-6 and 215 and 200. In watching the tapes from both games last year it seems to me that it wasn’t a matter of our lack of hustle. There were a lot of 50-50 basketballs that could have gone either way and they seemed to get those about 75 percent of the time.
“They’re a blue collar team,” he added. “We can’t play pretty and hope to beat them.”
The coach says this Pirate team might me better than last year’s that swept the Mountaineers and advanced to the NIT.
“They’ve got a great, versatile lineup,” he said. “If you look at what they’ve done winning in the conference … winning against Providence and Syracuse … they’re a pretty darn good team. Beating Boston College here is one thing but beating Seton Hall is going to be a really tough task. We’re looking forward to playing them, that’s for sure.”
Tip off for Wednesday’s game is 7 pm. There is no live television but fans can follow the contest through Yahoo! Sports and MSNsportsNET.com. The game has been deemed a Kroger Plus Card Night. Show your Kroger Plus card at the gate and get a free ticket with the purchase of one adult ticket.
