WVU is currenty sitting at 10-3. Kevin Jones is playing on a Player of the Year (POY) level in the Big East (20.4 ppg, 11.5 reb). Truck has found his shot at the #2 spot (17.7 ppg) and there's a lot of talent in that freshman class.
I think we're better than a bubble team. With a win over a 10-1 K State team and the OT loss to Baylor, this team has proven they can play with anybody.
Syracuse is the class of the league, but there's a drop off after that. Despite the early rankings, some of those teams have under-performed. *Pitt should be dropping from the rankings this week.
So here's my thought's on how the Big East schedule shapes up
at Seton Hall - Could be a key game for both teams SH is playing very well, slight edge to WV
at Rutgers - W
Georgetown - Hope the coliseum is rocking for an upset, L
at UConn (Hartford) - L
Rutgers - W
Marshall (Charelston) - Beat Cinci, stayed with Syr. tough game, L
Cincinati - Playing better since the brawl, but edge to WV
at St Johns - W
at Syracuse - L
Pitt - Haven't got their act together yet, W
at Providence - W
Notre Dame - Other than Pitt, playing has been poor w/or without Abromaitis - W
Louisville - Winnable game but Louisville will be the favorite -L
at Pitt - L
at ND - ND tough at home, but I hate ND - W
Marquette - Playing well, surprised they dropped to LSU after beating Wisc - L
Depaul - W
at USF - W
That would put us at 21-10 and my early guess would be about an 8 seed.
This team is getting better every game. They seem to have good chemistry, more important in basketball. Role players seem to be accepting and embracing their roles. Kevin Noreen has giving a lot of good minutes and continues to develop. Aaron Brown is a very good shooter coming off the bench. Rutledge is very athletic. So there are role players for all the looks Huggs wants or needs.
Now that the BE schedule has started we're really going to separate the haves and have nots.
4 comments:
Still seems a little optimistic to me. I'm impressed with how they've played to this point, but they haven't gained any ground other than looking like they have potential to be a good team. They've lost a game they should have won and won a game they probably should have lost. (oddly, to two different KSU's) All the other games have gone as expected. It looks to me that you have them losing one game (Marshall) they'll be expected to win and winning 3 or 4 games they'll be expected to lose. I'd be shocked if the W/L turns out that well. Winning at St. John's, against Pitt and twice over ND doesn't seem probable.
I hate to be a pessimist, but as good as the young guys have looked, they haven't really done anything. In almost all of the wins, the point production is minimal. Yeah, they're playing well in roles, but there are gonna be teams in conference that are coached well enough to force those guys to have to score for WVU to win. I expect they have enough talent to maybe win a game or two they aren't expected over a Louisville, Georgetown, Pitt, Marquette. But I also expect they are going to look awful and lose a few games they should win. (Seton Hall, Rutgers, Marshall, Cincinnati could be problems)
If they are able avoid the letdowns, the valuable experience of the OT games in the preconference schedule will have been a key factor.
While optimistic, the team I've seen so far has the potential to play with the best and can definitely do some damage in conference play. The other night was against a very good 'Nova team. They will feast one the lower tier of teams, fare very well against the middle of the pack, and may pull off a few surprises against the upper echelon of the league. For as young a team as we have, I think that will be very good for our future prospects.
While optimistic, the team I've seen so far has the potential to play with the best and can definitely do some damage in conference play. The other night was against a very good 'Nova team. They will feast one the lower tier of teams, fare very well against the middle of the pack, and may pull off a few surprises against the upper echelon of the league. For as young a team as we have, I think that will be very good for our future prospects.
Optimistic, yes, but then again... given the way this team has played in its ooc games, and that their performance the other night was against a pretty solid 'Nova team. I would think this very young team should do well against the lower programs in the league, more than hold its own aginst the middle of the pack (which this year includes pitt) and may even have some surprises for the upper tier of teams in the conference. Again noting the youth of this team, I think the 'Eers have some very promising years ahead of them, regardless of how the hostage (lawsuit) situation plays out.
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