WVU Faces the Bulldogs
December 20, 2006 12:09 AM | General
December 20, 2006
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Win or lose tonight against The Citadel and next Thursday night against Maryland Eastern Shore, John Beilein’s objective is to get his team ready to face Connecticut in the Big East opener at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 30.
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| West Virginia forward Joe Alexander is averaging 12.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“We’re just trying to get better in practice,” Beilein said. “We’ve been shooting all year at being a better team in February and to be a better team by next year at this time. Whether it’s Big East play or not you must improve as the season goes along.
“That’s our focus no matter whether we win or lose these next two games,” Beilein said.
West Virginia (8-1) is facing a Bulldog team that is 2-9 and coming off an 82-63 loss to Western Carolina on Monday night. The Citadel’s two wins this year have come against Ohio Valley and Asbury. The Bulldogs were 10-21 overall and 1-14 last year in the Southern Conference.
Making things even more difficult for the Bulldogs is the fact that West Virginia enters the game having the nation’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense giving up just 50.9 points per game. In WVU’s eight victories this year the Mountaineers are permitting only 48.4 points per game.
“It’s a bit misleading,” admitted Beilein of his nation’s gaudy defensive average. “We play a shorter game the way we move the ball and throw three or four passes every time down the court. If they don’t have the ball they can’t score points.”
And Beilein believes that number will probably rise once West Virginia gets into Big East play.
“It’s good that we’re in there but I don’t think any of my teams have been characterized as incredible defensive teams,” Beilein said. “Right now our numbers suggest that but I would assume that will change when Big East starts.”
Despite being extremely young with just two seniors on the roster, Beilein has been pleased with his team’s ability to absorb the offense. Much of what the team did last year hasn’t been revealed in the first nine games.
“They know almost the whole package,” Beilein said. “We’ve done very little of it in games with the teams that we’ve played. When we get into the second semester there will be things that people haven’t seen.”
The objective is to create an element of surprise.
“They can’t cover everything,” Beilein explained. “How many coaches will go back to last year and look at it in detail and say this is what they ran last year. They will certainly do some of that but we hope that we’re a difficult prep that they can’t cover everything.”
Wednesday night’s game against The Citadel will tip at 7 pm.
Briefly:
“The big thing is whoever is 10 and right now it looks like it is Wellington (Smith) in most games we’ve got to keep him motivated and tell him that he’s got to be ready,” Beilein said. “You absolutely have to be ready for injuries and foul trouble.
“We could have a situation where two minutes into the game Joe Alexander gets his second foul. We still have a nine-man rotation for the rest of the half but Joe Alexander isn’t one of those nine guys now,” Beilein said.
Beilein is confident Smith will be up to the task.
“He’s got a good attitude and I sense that as hard as it is for a freshman to do this he’s looking at long range, too,” Beilein said.
“I think we would be doing a disservice to number 11 and the number eight, nine and 10 that they’re all sharing 20 minutes,” said Beilein. “It just doesn’t make sense.
“The other part of the equation is if we have injuries or sickness he’s ready to play,” Beilein said. “Right now I don’t see any need in it. He’s a great kid and he can be a great five-year player here.”
“You can’t explain it,” he said. “If you look at a kid’s SAT scores – not that his were bad – or his coaching … you can look at 10 elements and bring them in and see where they are going to fit and how quickly the learning curve is but there is no predetermining for that. You just don’t know how kids are going to react to college basketball, to West Virginia basketball, or being away from home.”
Butler is certainly one of the rare freshmen making a smooth transition in his first season.
“What has been so good about Da’Sean so far is that he has been yelled at in practice and he’s responded positively,” Beilein said. “He’s been thrown into the middle of tight games and he’s responded to that – it’s rare that a freshman assimilates so quickly to your system and he’s been able to do that.”
“His role has been outstanding right now,” Beilein said. “If he gets three offensive rebounds and he’s been getting two or three a game he will be on course to get 75 offensive rebounds,” Beilein noted. “Compare that to Kevin Pittsnogle who had 55 last year (53 actually). Rob knows what he brings to this team and it may not all show up in the stats but he brings some intangibles right now that the team needs.”
