On The Road Again
January 27, 2005 07:25 PM | General
January 27, 2005
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| Beilein |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two teams with fragile psyches will hook up Saturday night when West Virginia travels to Providence for a Big East game pitting a pair of teams that have a combined 1-10 record in conference action so far.
Providence (9-9, 0-5) has lost five straight and is searching for its first league win of the year after losing 78-75 to Boston College Wednesday night. The Friars’ last four losses have been by a combined 17 points to Villanova, Syracuse, Rutgers and BC.
Providence coach Tim Welsh says his team has to do a better job of closing out games.
“You do take consolation in the fact that we’ve played five league games and three of them are against top eight teams in the country,” Welsh said. “With two minutes to go in all three games we’ve been tied or behind by just two or four points, or had the lead. It shows that we can play but now we’ve got to find a way to take the next step and win.”
That Providence is struggling so mightily this year is surprising considering the Friars were picked to finish sixth and have the league’s preseason player of the year in 6-foot-7 forward Ryan Gomes, who is averaging 19.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
“He’s having a very good season and obviously there was a lot put on him,” Welsh said. “We’ve had some veteran players here and he’s trying to fit in and play with the younger kids and I think that’s been an adjustment for him and our whole ball club. But overall I think he’s had an outstanding season.”
Teaming with Gomes are holdovers Donnie McGrath and Tuukka Kotti. Sophomores Herbert Hill and Dwight Brewington join the trio in Providence’s starting lineup.
“We need to rebound the ball better and defend better,” Welsh said. “Right now we’re last in points allowed in this league. People always want to look at the offensive end of the floor but we scored 75 points (against Boston College) at home and that should have been good enough to win but it wasn’t.”
The BC loss has been a microcosm of Providence’s current woes. The Friars led Boston College by four with three minutes left in the game before relinquishing the lead.
“The shot clock is winding down and they get a baseline runner and throw it in and we never score again. We led for 37 minutes out of the 40 but that doesn’t get you much and it doesn’t make me feel any better,” Welsh said.
Like his West Virginia counterpart John Beilein, who is trying to steer his Mountaineer team out of a shooting funk that has led to a 1-6 record over their last seven games, Welsh is reverting to psychology to get his team back on track.
“All kids are fragile and they’re searching for answers,” Welsh said. “They want to know why and how and what is happening to them. It is one thing if you’re getting beat 80-60 every night, but it’s another thing when you come down to the last two minutes in every game and you don’t find a way to win. That’s my job as a coach to keep them up and keep them focused because you know if they get down it will just get worse.”
Beilein agrees.
“A win would really be something -- that would be the quickest fix,” he said. “We’ve got to keep believing in ourselves and while we’re on this trip we have an extra day because we’re going to go on to Boston (to face BC). Maybe that atmosphere of guys being away from home and the guys being together will enhance the chemistry a bit and make us believe and play for each other a little bit.”
West Virginia (11-6, 1-5) is coming off a 68-58 home loss to UConn last Tuesday. Tyrone Sally scored 16 and Patrick Beilein added 12 for the Mountaineers, which shot 29 percent for the game.
“The UConn game was one I felt we had a chance to win just like the Syracuse game before that,” Beilein said. “We’re having trouble making shots and getting key stops when we need them to happen. Usually there is a residual effect there where the key stop usually comes after a key miss and our focus isn’t quite where it needs to be. It’s something we’ve got to work on and just keep hanging in there.”
Beilein believes West Virginia’s difficult early conference schedule and the spacing between games have been two big reasons why his team has had a tough time of late.
“Our big problem has been not only who we’ve played but the way that we’ve played them,” he said. “We’ve played an awful lot of games and everybody goes through this … I’m not looking for sympathy. We’ve played a bunch of two-game preps where in our system with our lack of athleticism, compared to some of the teams in the league, every day is either important for us to rest or to put together a game plan that we truly understand.”
Beilein says the task won’t be any easier for his team Saturday at Providence facing a Friar team desperate for a victory.
“The thing we’re stressing and I’m sure Tim is doing the same is don’t give up on yourself,” Beilein said. “There is a lot to go in this season and focus on improving: Don’t focus on we lost another one.”
Despite their struggles of late Welsh says the Mountaineers have many weapons and remain a very dangerous team.
“West Virginia has got a lot of talent and they shoot the ball extremely well. They’ve had a little bit of a shooting slump the last couple of weeks although they shot the ball well against Syracuse,” he said. “They’ve got an inside presence in (D’or) Fischer who is one of the best shot blockers, Sally is a veteran player and Patrick Beilein is a deep-range three-point shooter that we have to be aware of as well.”
West Virginia leaves Friday for Providence and will face the Friars Saturday night at 7:30 pm. The game will be televised statewide on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. Mountaineers fans outside the state can also catch the game on Cox Cable New England, MediaCom in Des Moines, Iowa and through ESPN Full Court.
The Mountaineers will remain in New England and travel up to Boston to face BC on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
