Kamikaze Man
December 15, 2005 10:04 PM | General
December 15, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There isn’t a time when Mike Gansey goes crashing to the floor after a driving lay up or disappears into the crowd diving for a loose basketball that John Beilein doesn’t hold his breath and cringe.
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| Mike Gansey's reckless playing style keeps Coach John Beilein on pins and needles.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Like the old comic book character Daredevil, Gansey spends about as much time in the air as he does on the ground. The 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pound-but-probably-more-like-185-pound forward isn’t the biggest guy on the floor, but he certainly plays a big-man’s game with the recklessness of a kamikaze pilot.
In last Saturday’s blowout win against Duquesne, Gansey took off toward the basket for an electrifying dunk only to wind up landing awkwardly on his back. He laid on the ground for what seemed like an eternity before picking himself up to go to the foul line. Those paying their hard-earned money to watch him play games at the WVU Coliseum breathed a huge sigh of relief when he finally got up. Many more episodes like that and Gansey is going to send his old coach to see his cardiologist.
“There wasn’t anyone that looked at that one and said, ‘Oh boy.’ On the other hand he’s played four years of basketball and never missed a game,” Beilein shrugged. “I think when he was at St. Bonaventure he led the team in stitches.”
Beilein says he’s too occupied during games to start counting Gansey’s minutes -- even the blowouts.
“You can pay attention (to limiting minutes) but good players -- I don’t care who they are -- play,” Beilein said. “Gerry McNamara … do you think (Jim) Boeheim pays attention to his minutes? It’s 39 and a half no matter who they’re playing. Good players by the time they’re seniors can play those types of minutes.”
Of course McNamara doesn’t play above the rim like Gansey does or is often asked to guard 6-foot-7-inch forwards either. But Gansey sometimes gets breaks during practice.
“Taking charges and diving on the floor … some of those drills he kinds of tells me to get out of those because I’m constantly on the floor,” Gansey said.
Because Gansey isn’t a 225-pounder and his style of play tends to wear him down during the season, Beilein does pay close attention to Gansey’s weight.
“If it starts to drop then we worry a little bit. He eats like a horse and he just burns it off,” Beilein said.
The coach has introduced the team to nutritionists in an effort to make sure his players eat the proper foods needed to help them get through a grueling regular-season schedule. Gansey was skeptical at first but he admits its working.
“Coach does a great job of bringing in nutritionists to teach us how to take care of our bodies and that helps a lot,” he said. “Guys are like, ‘Why is this guy in here telling us what to eat?’ But it works wonders down the road.”
Gansey has also been working wonders. He is the team’s top scorer averaging 19.8 points per game, and he is shooting an incredible 61.2 percent from the floor.
“I’m making shots and I’ve been working hard and shooting extra,” Gansey said. “My 3-point shooting has been a little bit better this year and it’s a credit to my teammates. Playing with Kevin (Pittsnogle), they’re going to key on him and that gives me some opportunities. I’m just putting the ball in the hoop and my teammates are giving me the ball.”
The Mountaineers (6-3) so far have had a pretty effective two-man game going with Gansey and Pittsnogle, West Virginia’s 6-foot-11-inch shooter extraordinaire who is averaging 18.1 points and shooting 49.2 percent from the floor. The two have combined to average nearly 40 points per game -- or roughly about half the team’s scoring this year.
“Kevin and I are making shots. It’s not like there are designed plays for us,” Gansey said. “Other guys are getting us the ball. Every night other guys are going to score a certain amount of points and it just so happens that so far Kevin and I have been scoring a lot. Who knows maybe next game Joe (Herber) or Frank (Young) will score 20 points?”
The game the two are playing right now is reminiscent of Pittsnogle’s freshman year when he teamed up with slashing forward Drew Schifino, who either drove to the basket and scored or kicked the ball back out to Pittsnogle for wide open 3s.
“(Mike is) doing like Drew and I did back when I was a freshman,” Pittsnogle admitted. “He’s kicking it to me and I try to look for him on backdoor cuts. I’ve only played with him for one year so we’re still getting used to it.”
“We play really well together because he’s constantly screening with me and we’re always on a side together,” Gansey said. “Maybe we’re looking for each other, I don’t know?”
Beilein admits his strongest teams traditionally got its scoring from forwards and the center. The benefit with Gansey and Pittsnogle this year is that if defenses pay too much attention to them then that opens up the other side of the floor.
“They’re really tough to get on one side of the floor and then have shooters on the other side,” Beilein said. “They’re playing pretty well together but if you give just a little bit too much attention to them then they will find the shooters on the other side spotting up.”
Pittsnogle believes another player is eventually going to have to step up and score more, particularly when West Virginia gets into its conference schedule. And Pittsnogle believes the Mountaineers have several candidates capable of picking up the slack.
“I think we can keep it up but we need that third guy to step up and average 10-12 points to help our team come along,” he said.
As for Gansey, the way he’s playing right now about the only thing that can stop him is the unmentionable. “We’re very lucky to have him and he makes me a much better coach than I am,” Beilein said.
Here is to hoping that Mike Gansey has all soft landings the rest of the way.
