Mr. Big Stuff
January 25, 2007 01:49 AM | General
January 25, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The biggest guy on the basketball court wound up getting West Virginia’s lunch money back from Marshall.
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| Jamie Smalligan scored 7 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out a pair of assists against Marshall Wednesday night in Charleston.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
In a two-minute span, 7-foot center Jamie Smalligan nailed a 3-point basket, pulled down a pair of rebounds, picked up a rabbit-ear technical foul, and went baseline for a dunk at a point in the game when his team desperately needed a spark.
Smalligan admits he learned a valuable lesson last Saturday when Cincinnati pushed West Virginia all over the court in the Mountaineers’ 96-83 overtime loss.
“Cincinnati basically out toughed us,” Smalligan said. “They pushed us to the wall and we didn’t fight back like we should of – like we need to -- to win tough games.”
Marshall watched the Cincinnati tape, how the Bearcats bumped and pressured West Virginia’s 3-point shooters and dared them to drive to the basket. If he got the chance, Smalligan wasn’t going to let that happen again Wednesday night in Charleston. His opportunity came midway through the first half when starting center Rob Summers got into foul trouble.
“I told Da’Sean (Butler), ‘We’ve got to go in there and help pick it up for everybody,’” Smalligan said.
Smalligan’s big pick-me-up came with 1:32 left in the half and the Mountaineers trailing 24-17. Holding the basketball on the wing beyond the 3-point line, he took one giant step around Marshall center Jean Bro Grebe and flew straight to the basket for a two-handed stuff.
The play woke up the partisan West Virginia crowd and more importantly, it got his teammates to realize that driving to the basket isn’t necessarily a bad thing to do once in a while.
“He came up real big tonight, especially with the dunk that got the momentum going our way,” said forward Joe Alexander, who wound up scoring all 13 of his points in the second half.
Frank Young, whose own broad shoulders were ridden for most of the game, believes Smalligan’s performance was by far his best of the season.
“He really gave us a big boost off the bench,” Young said. “With Rob getting into foul trouble we needed that out of him tonight. That’s been the story the last few years. If somebody goes down or gets into foul trouble somebody always steps in.”
Just after Smalligan’s big 3 from the top of the key took away one-third of Marshall’s lead, he got a technical foul for celebrating a Chris Ross turnover. It wasn’t profane and it wasn’t unsportsmanlike; it was Smalligan simply showing his teammates that it was time to get serious.
“I’d never say anything to disrespect the school or anything like that,” Smalligan said. “I didn’t touch him. He dribbled the ball off his foot and I got excited about the stop and I said ‘yeah.’ He misunderstood me I guess.”
The referee wasn't the only guy in a foul mood. Smalligan’s coach John Beilein wasn’t the happiest person in the arena either. He thought his team was challenged a little bit in the Cincinnati game and they didn’t respond to his liking. So he challenged them a little bit in practice. And he challenged them again in the locker room at halftime on Wednesday night.
Smalligan was one of those who obviously was paying attention.
“If we can get those nine rebounds from him; get a little jump hook from him and of course his 3s really gave us a lift at halftime,” Beilein said.
Smalligan’s stat line is buried deep in the box score well below Frank Young’s career-high 25 points. The East Grand Rapids, Mich., resident finished the game with seven points, nine rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of action.
But anyone who saw the big guy's performance knows every single point and rebound he got had a profound effect on the game.
Smalligan's effort might turn out to have a profound effect on West Virginia’s season. At the very least, it shows the Mountaineers have got a lot to fight for.
