2005 Guardians Classic
November 20, 2005 07:29 PM | General
November 20, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University men’s basketball coach John Beilein says playing No. 2-ranked Texas in a semifinal-round game in the Guardians Classic affords his program an opportunity for national exposure.
An ESPN2 nationally televised audience will get an opportunity to watch Beilein’s No. 14-rated Mountaineers Monday night.
“It’s a great situation because you play great teams on neutral floors,” Beilein says. “Where do we have an opportunity to play a Kentucky, an Iowa or a Texas? They’re not always as willing to come to West Virginia and we’d be willing to play all of them home and home. As a result this is one way where we can play where the playing field is more level than it as at other times.”
Beilein understands his Mountaineer team will have a difficult task taking on a 2-0 Texas team that has a plus-22.5 rebounding advantage in its pair of wins against Southern and Samford.
“This is as good a team on film that I’ve seen,” Beilein said. “Over the long run if they have the chemistry and they stay injury free how far can they go? You don’t know – it’s the bounce of the ball. I’ve seen a lot of good teams and they rank up with the really, really great teams I’ve played against in my years as a coach.”
Beilein says Texas has a trio of players that will probably wind up playing in the NBA in 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound junior forward P.J. Tucker, 6-10, 237-pound sophomore forward LaMarcus Aldridge and 6-2, 190-pound sophomore guard Daniel Gibson.
“Gibson will be a pro, Aldridge will be a pro and Tucker will be a pro,” Beilein said. “Two of those guys (Aldridge and Gibson) would have gone last year had it not been for injuries.”
Texas coach Rick Barnes is also expected to start a pair of seniors in 6-8 forward Brad Buckman and 6-1 guard Kenton Paulino.
Barnes has directed Texas to seven straight NCAA tournament appearances and has won a school-record 29 contests against nationally ranked competition. Beilein has been just as impressive against ranked foes, capturing a school-record eight victories against ranked teams last season.
Barnes says West Virginia’s style is difficult to prepare for.
“The fact that they stretch you out so far and shoot the three and they’re so interchangeable,” Barnes said. “That system is set up that if you’ve got one guy that breaks down they’re going to exploit it. You’ve got to have a lot of defensive discipline to play against them.”
According to Barnes, it’s somewhat of a misnomer to describe Beilein’s system as a version of the Princeton motion offense.
“I know a lot of people talk about it being a Princeton style of offense and I’ve watched a lot of tape of it and I think it is the John Beilein offense. He’s added a lot more that he’s done and he changes defenses,” Barnes said.
West Virginia (2-0) is expected to use the same lineup that produced victories over Louisiana Monroe and Wofford to advance to the Guardians Classic semifinals. Senior center Kevin Pittsnogle will start at center. The 6-foot-11-inch Martinsburg native will be joined in the front court by a pair of undersized forwards in 6-foot-4-inch Mike Gansey and 6-5 Frank Young.
Six-six Joe Herber and 5-11 J.D. Collins are expected to start in the backcourt. Collins, a Houston native, will get an opportunity to go up against his home state university.
“Playing against Texas I know is going to be a great highlight in his career,” Beilein said.
Beilein admits his objective for this tournament is to measure where his veteran team is at early in the year.
“At this time of the year when you watch some of these preseason games they’re not stellar performances in basketball. There are a lot of mistakes being made,” Beilein said. “I won’t be deterred or encouraged either way: we’ll just press on.”
Beilein says a win either day in the Guardians Classic will be a big boost to his program.
“A win or two goes a long way in the RPI line because when they look down the line and they’re comparing conferences: Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 against the Big East … well here’s what happened in that match up,” Beilein said. “Winning a championship will be incredible and winning the consolation game may be incredible. We don’t know which way it’s going to go?”
Tip off for Monday night’s game is 7 pm. Brent Musberger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews will handle the broadcast for ESPN2.
Briefly:
The Longhorns will be the highest ranked team West Virginia has faced since losing to No. 1 Connecticut on Jan. 9, 1999 at the Coliseum.
