Basketball Notebook
February 25, 2008 11:24 AM | General
February 25, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There were plenty of positive signs in West Virginia’s 27-point home victory against Providence Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Wellington Smith has grabbed 28 rebounds and blocked 14 shots in his last four games.
Allison Toffle photo |
One, Joe Alexander had a strong, 21 point, seven rebound performance. The 6-8 junior wanted the ball in the post and made several tough shots when the Mountaineers needed them.
Two, Alex Ruoff found a way to score 14 points without making a bunch of jump shots. Ruoff got a couple of baskets in the paint and even managed to post up his man for a score.
And sophomore Wellington Smith continues to get better. Smith scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in just 17 minutes of action. West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is seeing a much more confident player in Smith.
“Larry (Harrison) has spent a whole lot of time with him and has been really trying to help him,” Huggins said. “Obviously before when he got into the game all he did was hunt 3s. I think now Larry has got him to where he’s attacking the rim. He’s putting pressure on the rim. If we can keep him out of foul trouble we’re so much better off when he’s on the floor. Look at his stat line. He played 17 minutes and he had 10 points and five rebounds.”
Smith is beginning to remind Huggins of some of the other exceptional defenders he’s had in the past at Cincinnati.
“He’s a lot like a lot of the guys I’ve had. He’s a lot like a Jason Maxiel or an Eric Hicks. Eric Hicks isn’t any bigger – he’s thicker – but he’s not any taller than Wellington and he’s the all-time shot block leader (at Cincinnati),” Huggins said. “He blocked more shots than Kenyon (Martin) did. He did a great job getting to the ball. You can’t play for us unless to can get to the ball.”
In his last four games Smith has scored 14 against Rutgers, eight against Seton Hall and Villanova and 10 last Saturday against Providence. He has also grabbed 28 rebounds and blocked 14 shots in those four games.
Smith now leads the team in blocks with 41.
“Wells has quick ups. He gets to the ball fast,” Huggins said.
If Smith and Alexander can keep from fouling so much Huggins would like to play them more together.
“I’m looking forward to being able to play both of those guys at the same time. It’s hard now because you have to have one of the two of them on the floor because even though they’re undersized they both block shots and they create a presence around the rim,” Huggins said. “I can’t afford to have both of them in there and have both of them in foul trouble like they were (against Providence).”
Huggins believes another summer in the weight room will make Smith and Alexander even more formidable in the paint next season.
“You think down the road when you have those two guys together and they’re going to be so much stronger in another year. They’re going to be very strong guys. They’re both fast-twitched guys so they’re going to get stronger faster,” Huggins said.
Briefly:
“Lately we’ve had J.B. going against Alex which I think helps them a great deal. I don’t think anybody realizes how much Jarrett Brown has helped us,” Huggins said. “One, he’s a great human being but also he comes in and practices and makes us better. We’re so short on bodies, particularly strong bodies. He’s made us a much, much better basketball team and I don’t think there is any question about that.”
“We’ve played well enough defensively to win almost every game in league play. We struggle to score with the ball sometimes because we don’t get any easy baskets,” Huggins said. “We’ve really tried to make a conscious effort to push the ball a little more.
“There is going to be a day when we’re going to finally make some shots,” Huggins said. “The Auburn game every time Alex Ruoff got his feet down and was set he made it. We keep waiting for that. Darris hasn’t shot it very well and Da’Sean hasn’t shot it very well.
“We’re guarding well enough and when we make shots I think we’re capable of beating anybody,” Huggins said.
“Alex has a tendency to stand around and shoot shots,” Huggins said. “I thought he moved without the ball better than he has in a while. He was more assertive trying to rebound the ball. He actually scored once in the post. I thought (Providence) may have been his best game all-around. He did a better job guarding the ball.”
RealTimeRPI.com has the Mountaineers 35th heading into Wednesday night’s game at DePaul.
“They want to play in the NCAA Tournament and I think they understand that we’ve got to win games to do that,” Huggins said. “I thought from the beginning of the (Providence) game until the end of the game that was as intense as we’ve played all year.”
