With the basketball team taking on South Florida tomorrow, I thought we could all use a little bit more information about our opponent. So, I did what bloggers do, and asked the guys over at Voodoo Five a few questions. Ken DeCelles was gracious enough to share his insights:
TSM: What do you consider the biggest factor in the Bulls' road struggles (besides the Big East meat-grinder effect) so far?
V5/KDC: We aren't good? We haven't played well anywhere this season, and turning the ball over 15-20 times a game doesn't help. [Side note: We're all too familiar with turnovers lately, aren't we, By-Godders?]
TSM: Gus Gilchrist is a name that most of us are familiar with...who else should we be aware of and why?
V5/KDC: Jawanza Poland is a great athlete and is our best guard offensively. He's good for at least one amazing dunk and has the Dominique Jones runner in his arsenal. Jarrid Famous has done a good job in his senior season, and can score 20 points a game if he can crash the boards and score on put-backs.
More after the jump...
TSM: You mentioned Jawanza Poland staying out of foul trouble in your Providence recap, has that been a struggle for him?
V5/KDC: Very much so. He's an incredible offensive talent, but he gets a little too aggressive on the defensive end and picks up a lot of cheap fouls. This is obviously something Coach Heath and the staff can work on, its just frustrating not having your best guard out there for all 40 minutes.
TSM: With Gilchrist (6'10") and Jarrid Famous (6'11"), USF can throw some pretty decent size at the opposition, have they been an effective tandem (offensively, defensively, rebounding, etc)?
V5/KDC: If our guards can get the ball to them in the post, they are a great tandem offensively. They do have a penchant of giving up a few offensive rebounds, but they do a good job defensively down low. If Gus has a weakness, it's that he doesn't pass the ball out of double teams very well and he turns the ball over quite a bit.
TSM: What will it take to make USF consistently competitive in this meat-grinder of a league and do you you see happening soon?
V5/KDC: Having consistent PG play would help. We had it good with Chris Howard over the past couple of years, and he is missed this season. LaVonte Dority has looked ok out there in the limited minutes he's had this season, but until then we won't win many games.
TSM: How do you see this game playing out?
V5/KDC: WVU is going to take out their frustrations from the Marshall game on us. I think this one gets out of hand quickly.
TSM: I enjoy and support all of WVU's athletic teams, but I'm mostly a football guy myself. Is it signing day or August yet?
V5/KDC: I'm looking forward to football season. Recruiting has picked up for us over the past couple of weeks, just hope a couple of guys like Armwood QB Josh Grady and Melbourne Central Catholic WR Rashawn Scott pick USF on NSD.
Thanks for the insights Ken! Here's a link to my answers to Ken's questions. You can read more South Florida Bulls coverage (including the always entertaining post-game haikus) over at Voodoo Five.