Ordinary Afternoon
March 22, 2008 10:53 PM | General
March 22, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cam Thoroughman doubled his scoring total, Coach K said the MVP of the game was West Virginia’s other Joe – Joe Mazzulla - the team’s regular starting center thought it best that he sit ... and oh by the way, the Mountaineers are going to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.
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| Joe Mazzulla and Cam Thoroughman embrace after West Virginia's 73-67 victory over Duke Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It’s just another ordinary afternoon of basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Let’s deal with Cam Thoroughman first.
The seldom-used forward made one basket (in 10 attempts) this year in 14 appearances, but he got two big ones in the second half of West Virginia’s 73-67 victory over No. 9-ranked Duke Saturday afternoon in one of the biggest games of his life.
Throughman admitted that he was mildly surprised when West Virginia coach Bob Huggins motioned for him to go into the game when Da’Sean Butler picked up his fourth foul.
“I really wanted to get the chance to go in,” Thoroughman said. “I’m just always ready.”
Huggins was a little more precise.
“I was out of options,” he admitted.
Two weeks ago Huggins said Thoroughman was contemplating getting season ending knee surgery to correct a problem that has been bothering him all season.
“Cam’s knee has popped out two or three times this year,” Huggins said. “He’s going to have surgery to get it fixed. But we felt like there was a time when we could use him because he is physical and he’s aggressive and he does – for being a short guy that can’t jump – he does rebound the ball pretty well.”
Even during the stretch of games when Thoroughman wasn’t playing, Huggins talked to him about the possibility that he might see action if the team got into serious foul trouble. That came midway through the second half when Butler and Smith picked up their fourth fouls and Huggins wanted a more aggressive player in the game to fight on the boards.
“We had Da’Sean and Wellington on the bench with four fouls, we were already small – we were playing with three guards. Cam’s smart," Huggins said. "He really, really understands how to play and I think that’s his greatest asset is he really has good basketball knowledge.
“You can tell him things and you can make adjustments with him.”
Thoroughman’s second basket gave West Virginia an 11-point lead with 3:11 remaining. However, it was his two huge offensive rebounds when the Mountaineers were leading by 10 that enabled them to work clock and stay comfortably ahead.
“I think it speaks for itself,” said guard Alex Ruoff of Thoroughman’s performance off the bench. “You can tell he’s a blue-collar player. He doesn’t mind getting in there and mixing it up. He had huge rebounds today which really helped us.”
West Virginia pounded Duke on the glass 47-27 by simply outworking the Blue Devils.
“If you want to understand how we’re out-rebounding people just look at Joe Mazzulla and Cam Thoroughman as examples; both are undersized and both were getting a lot of rebounds,” Joe Alexander said. “The way we rebound is by outworking people.”
You could sense that the game might be unusual at the start when Huggins chose to start Wellington Smith instead of regular starter Jamie Smalligan.
Huggins did that at Smalligan’s urging.
“Jamie sent me a text last night that read, Coach it’s a better match up if I don’t start. How many teams have guys like that?” Huggins said. “Here’s a senior guy who said basically, Coach I just know it’s a bad match up for me. And he started every game of the year.”
Mike Krzyzewski was just as impressed with the toughness of Mazzulla, who nearly produced a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
“The MVP of the game was Mazzulla,” Krzyzewski said. “He had nearly a triple-double and played really strong and got them multiple exchanges on the offensive end.”
Krzyzewski admitted that Joe Mazzulla looked more like Joe Frazier in person than what he saw of him on tape.
“He’s better than Bobby thought,” Krzyzewski said. “We knew he was good being more of a driver; tough, really good athlete and a tough kid. But it seemed for a while there he just got so many rebounds ... like if they played lacrosse he would be the guy on the face off. Whenever there was a loose ball or a scrum, all of the sudden – look, No. 3. And he was the story.”
Krzyzewski made it a point to congratulate Mazzulla personally after the game.
“That kid was fabulous,” he said. “He looked like a mini Jason Kidd out there getting rebounds, assists and points. Not to overshadow the other kids on the team but the star on that court today was No. 3.
“I told him that when we shook hands,” Krzyzewski added. “To see a kid who doesn’t start give that kind of performance in the NCAA Tournament is remarkable. That’s what makes the tournament so good, too – you get to see these kids do that.”
West Virginia fans will get the opportunity to see them once again in Phoenix on Thursday night against Xavier.
