After spending the last couple of weeks/games in a slump, "Good Truck" was back in a big way on Sunday against the Friars. He had 8 at halftime, despite what Huggs called "dreadful" shooting. When Truck came back after the break he exploded for another 24, including the tying drive at the end of regulation and the decisive three pointer at the end of overtime.

WVU trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but was able to cut the deficit to 6 at the break. The Mountaineers continued to trail throughout the second half, but were finally able to make a late run and tie the game to force overtime, behind Truck's contributions and a career high of 22 from the big Turk, Deniz Kilicli and a quiet 20 points from Kevin Jones (his ninth straight 20 point game). Providence's late game free throw shooting struggles didn't do them any favors either.

Despite being well known for his tendency to keep shooting the ball, even when mired in a slump, Truck was getting prodded by the Turk to keep shooting:

"He kept saying, 'Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it,' ' Bryant said of Kilicli. "Well, you know me. I was going to shoot it anyway. He didn't have to tell me.'' - Charleston Gazette

Thankfully, for Mountaineer fans and his teammates, Truck's shots were falling yesterday, leading a struggling, of late, team to victory. For that, Truck Bryant is your Smoking Musket Most Awesome Player of the Game.

Vacations are a good thing. But I suspect that knowing we’re going to get a week off could lead to a lackadaisical attitude at work the week before we leave. That certainly is my tendency.

WVU’s basketball season schedule was set well in advance of our three-game skid, but I can’t help but wonder if knowledge of this time off had any effect. We can only speculate if this explains the losing streak that preceded it, but if a team ever needed to take a break it was Huggs & Co. Thank God (and our AD’s office) for good timing.

Further evidence that the Almighty may actually be looking out for this year’s team, WVU faces Providence (current conference bottom dweller) in their return game Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island. The Friars beat Rutgers this past Wednesday night to snap their own four-game losing streak. They had been victorious in just one of their previous nine games. That could signal a sign of resurgence. Or not.

Continue reading this post »

With last night's loss to Pitt, the Mountaineers have dropped their 3rd contest in a row to fall to 5-5 in the Big East (15-8 overall) with 8 games remaining. That's still good enough for 8th place in the league at the moment, but this team was tied for second place less than a week ago. The general rule of thumb that is typically perpetuated is that you need at least a .500 record in your conference in order to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. The latest edition of Lunardi's Bracketology still has WVU at a #5 seed, but falling.

If things aren't straightened out quickly, a once promising season for an admittedly young team could go down as a forgettable one. And for season that KJ is putting together, that would be an awful way to send him out. A players only meeting was reportedly scheduled for today to discuss what this team needs to do to be able to have a successful season. As far as this blog is concerned, everyone on the team except Jones needs to take a long look at themselves and decide how they want this season to play out. And at the same time, KJ needs to continue the leadership he has displayed so far.

Continue reading this post »

I'm being a bit facetious, because the refs didn't cost us this game. But the technical on Huggins sure didn't help things. The weird thing about it was that for the first time in my memory, the ESPN commentators seemed to go out of their way to point out every time a call didn't go West Virginia's way. It was the like some alternate universe that Spock sported a goatee. So confusing.

In case you didn't get to watch the game. West Virginia was down 39-31 with 17:40 left in the second half. Truck Bryant committed a foul and Huggins screamed out his name. Unfortunately Jingleheimer Joe didn't think he said Truck, and gave Huggins a technical foul. What followed was almost a very ugly situation. The refs refused to go to Huggins and explain why they assessed a technical foul on him. This made Huggins even more mad which made the fans mad. The fans started throwing objects onto the court and I believe we were just seconds away from something truly awful happening.

Mercifully, the referees worked up enough courage to look Huggins in the eyes and explain the situation. If you're a lip reader, you could see coach saying "Truck" to the referee in much the same way one would say something to a person that doesn't speak English. As if saying the word louder will help them understand. But by that point the call was made and it wasn't going to be changed.

Pitt shook off a sloppy start and did what they needed to do to win the game. The call itself didn't change the outcome. I'm not here to call this a conspiracy. But I don't think it's too much to ask of the referees for some consistency. You swallowed the whistle Saturday and today you called a technical foul like Frank Drebin calls strikes before the ball gets to home plate. Just try to live somewhere in between those two extremes, guys. M'kay?

Here's another look at the new (soon to be opened) hoops facility with Jay Jacobs and Huggs discussing some of the features.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins gives us a quick tour of the new basketball practice facility opening soon. He also makes the first shot on the new practice floor. - MSNsportsNet

After suffering their worst losing streak in a decade (8 games), Pitt basketball seems to have pulled out the death spiral. Much of that is due to the return of point guard Tray Woodall. The Panthers are 2-1 since his return and are seeing better production from shooting guard Ashton Gibbs, the preseason Big East Player of the Year. Gibbs was forced to run the Pitt offense when Woodall went down with a groin injury, and the point was not a natural fit.

Momentum is a funny thing. Even though Pitt (13-9) has had its most disappointing season in many years, their spirits are up after beating 10^th ranked Georgetown at home this past Saturday. Nasir Robinson went 9 for 9 from the field for a season high 23 against the Hoyas. The Panthers seem to be poised to make up for some lost ground here in the second half of the Big East schedule.

I’m not so confident that WVU’s mojo is in tact right now. Over the past three games we’ve beaten a good Cincinnati team, been thrashed by a bad St. John’s team, and screwed by the refs against a great Syracuse team. My confidence is boosted by the fact that Huggs is at the helm. But there is just no telling what the response will be from a team of freshman, two inconsistent seniors and one Player of the Year candidate.

We’re playing Pitt tonight at home in a packed Coliseum. Given both WVU and PItt's impending conference moves, this season’s basketball games against could be our last for a while. Although, there is no reason the teams couldn’t find non-conference room for this ongoing matchup – they play over thirty games a year. If Truck Bryant can shoot like he did in the second half against Syracuse, that frees up our interior for penetration and liberates the other guards from carrying more weight than they are able.

I’m expecting a big win tonight. Why? Because KJ is a beast and I hate Pitt.

Tip off is 7:00 p.m. on ESPN. LET’S GO MOUNTAINEERS!

My balloon has popped. Last weekend I was all geeked-up about how great our basketball team was looking. I foolishly started dreaming that maybe…just maybe…we miraculously could pull off the double conference champs (football/basketball) before we blew this Big East doughnut shop.

Now I’m back to hoping that we win 20 games and get a top 8 seed in the Big East tournament. That way Truck Bryant can get more rest for his weary legs and weary confidence before we go back to Madison Square Garden. And as for the Top 25? Probably not this regular season.

I love Truck Bryant. As George W. Bush used to say, "Ah preesheate him." I’ll hang in there with him til’ the end because he’s been an incredible Mountaineer during his time at WVU. But no kidding, this is one painful cold streak he’s on. Darryl is 13 for 49 (27%) over the past three games. And it’s not just his poor shooting; Truck looks disheveled. At times it seems as if he’s dribbling the ball like they used to back in the 60’s and 70’s – hand way on top where it looks like he could lose control any time.

Kevin Jones couldn’t carry the load alone against St. John’s. No one else came to play and Huggs dropped another "we sucked" on the team. KJ had help from the freshman guards against Cinci last Saturday and we squeaked out a win. But, If Truck, Deniz, and the freshman all don’t show up and play well on Saturday in Syracuse, this is going to be downright embarrassing. I mean, "we’re Clemson" embarrassing.

Now here’s some good news: it appears that 7-foot Orange sophomore Fab Melo won’t be playing. Jim Boeheim announced Thursday that Melo’s academic situation is preventing his speedy return. The center has missed the past two games, one of which was their only loss to Notre Dame. The Cuse is 21-1.

Here’s some bad news: The Carrier Dome will be packed and loud. There is nothing going on in Syracuse this weekend, it is cold and snowing. The school announced that as of Thursday it had sold 27,500 tickets, which would be the highest attended NCAA Division 1 basketball game this year. It is conceivable that by game time they will exceed the attendance that they had for three of their football games this year.

How will our guys respond to the environment? Can Truck snap out of his funk? Will KJ silence the crowd and show the nation that he’s the leading contender for Player of the Year honors? Let's hope for some good news.

Tip time is Saturday 1:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

Maybe it’s the homer in me that has me punchy today. Perhaps it has something to do with my perception of a backlash against the Big East’s dominance in basketball (akin to why polls show that SEC football is now a hater favorite). Maybe I’m just disappointed and feeling that Coach Huggins and Kevin Jones aren’t getting their due.

How are we not in the Top 25? We just beat last week’s media darling (Cinci), Kevin Jones is the front-runner for Big East Player of the Year, we have the 9^th most difficult schedule (SOS) in the country, the 14^th highest RPI, and we’re tied for 3^rd place in the nation's toughest conference.

Yet, in spite of this, WVU is still "others receiving votes" behind a Louisville team with four conference losses, a Kansas State team we beat on the road, and Harvard (#121 SOS & #48 RPI). We're not as good or experienced as Syracuse, but not in the Top 25? Then Monday Penn State grad Dana O’Neil at ESPN feels compelled to take a shot at us. I know that Truck played his worst game this past weekend, but is that all this Pissy Lioness took from the game? Did she not see KJ’s dominance? What about the freshman output and Huggs’ coaching?

Coach Huggins has commented a different times this year that NBA scouts come to our games to look at supposed first-round picks from other teams and not his guy. Inevitably, they and media members who get to see KJ play come to the conclusion that this guy is a flat-out stud. However, a very few national media outlets are singing his praises, even though he stands a good chance of being only the third player in Big East history to finish the season leading the league in scoring and rebounding. Props to ESPN's Jason King - he knows what we're talking about.

I hope our players are feeling what I’m feeling today. I hope they feel disrespected and that they believe their accomplishments are being minimized by people with little regard for WVU. I hope they go into Madison Square Garden tonight with an Orange-Bowl-sized chip on their shoulders.

If that’s the case, St. John’s basketball is going to be the latest piece of collateral damage for a chippy WVU team and fan base that simultaneously hates being treated like a mangy dog but loves playing as the underdog.

WVU plays St. John's tonight at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU.