Mountaineers Now Postgame Show: UMass Holds Off West Virginia
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:09 Welcome into the Mountaineers now post game show presented by Country Roads,
00:13 air duct cleaning, take me home, be comfort.
00:15 That's Christopher Hall, I'm Skylar Callen.
00:16 West Virginia falling to the UMass Minutemen 87 to 79 in the Basketball Hall
00:22 of Fame Classic, a quick look here at the numbers.
00:25 West Virginia, oddly enough, shot well from three point range, but
00:28 it wasn't enough.
00:29 Obviously, they went 14 of 31 from deep.
00:33 The big problem is they only went nine of 12 from the free throw line.
00:37 That's one area that everyone had their eyes on coming into this game.
00:40 UMass was one of the worst teams in the country in sending their opponents to
00:43 the charity stripe.
00:44 But they only got there 12 times,
00:46 part of because Jesse Edwards did not play much here in this game.
00:50 Due to the wrist injury and some foul trouble.
00:52 Kurt Carissa, in his Mountaineer official debut,
00:55 20 points on six of 15, shooting from three point range.
00:59 And Quince Leszczynski added another 20 points as well.
01:02 And for UMass, it was Josh Cohen leading the way with 19 points,
01:05 seven boards and two steals.
01:07 So Chris, initial thoughts here on this one.
01:09 >> Transition defense has to improve, gave up 19 in the first half,
01:15 and the 15 in the second half.
01:17 And really that's where that first half run that UMass had came from,
01:22 was in transition.
01:24 And West Virginia got out rebounded.
01:27 And when you think about it, they weren't crashing the glass.
01:30 So there's really no excuse for them not to get back on defense.
01:34 And obviously, we'll have to do a better job rebounding.
01:37 Jesse was in foul trouble.
01:38 It was obviously his worst game as a Mountaineer this season.
01:44 So there's a lot to work on defensively for West Virginia.
01:47 They gave up a lot of easy looks underneath.
01:49 Of course, I don't know how you're supposed to guard today's
01:53 college basketball game underneath, cuz all contact is pretty much a foul.
01:57 So I guess you're kind of trading off there a little bit.
02:00 But gotta stop the penetration, gotta stop the ball in transition.
02:05 And really that's it, offensively it looked a lot better.
02:08 Expect everything, got everything you expected from Kirk Caruso.
02:12 And Farrakhan came in and put in 15 points.
02:15 So really, I guess we'll just kind of start there.
02:18 I won't go on a full rant yet.
02:20 But yeah, it's just transition defense has been a problem all season long.
02:24 And it reared its ugly head again tonight.
02:27 Against a good transition team.
02:28 And that's something that they're, Big 12 is gonna run.
02:31 There's far more superior athletes in the Big 12.
02:34 And when they notice that, they're gonna get out in front.
02:35 So they gotta locate the ball, communicate, get out on the wings.
02:39 And stop the ball early.
02:41 When you're not stopping the ball early and you allow them to go to the foul line,
02:44 or inside the three point, or even at the three point line today's age.
02:47 They're gonna bury it.
02:48 And that's what they did.
02:50 And credit to UMass for taking advantage of West Virginia's weak spot.
02:54 >> I'm 100% with you.
02:55 I think the defense is really the issue.
02:57 But 44% of your shots coming from beyond the arc is not ideal.
03:02 And again, you can say, well, it's not ideal, but they hit 14 of them.
03:06 But still, the aggression just wasn't there.
03:09 They weren't looking to get inside the paint.
03:12 It was live and die by the three point shot.
03:14 And for the most part, they made their shots.
03:16 But they've gotta be able to get to the basket more.
03:19 They've gotta be able to draw more fouls.
03:21 And again, there was probably a lot of non-calls out there that probably
03:27 did not help West Virginia's cause.
03:29 As Josh Heller said in his radio post game press conference,
03:31 that he felt Jesse was getting hacked constantly.
03:34 But I think 31 threes for this team,
03:38 even if you make half of them, is way too many.
03:40 What do you think about that?
03:42 >> Yeah, I mean, you kinda nailed it.
03:43 I mean, they weren't getting the calls when they did drive the paint.
03:46 Again, credit UMass for, hey, we're gonna take away the paint and
03:49 force you to hit from the outside, and West Virginia did.
03:52 The backsides, we just talked about it, you didn't play defense.
03:55 You play a little bit better defense, you stop them in transition,
04:00 you probably win that game.
04:01 I don't think there was anything wrong offensively.
04:03 They just didn't get the calls.
04:05 But they adjusted and found their shooters.
04:07 That's what you've been wanting when these teams have crashed the paint on Jesse.
04:11 Jesse did a good job at times for getting the ball out to the open shooter.
04:15 And we've talked about in the post game, hey, Jesse,
04:17 can't force it, just find the open shooter.
04:18 Well, now you got more shooters and you did it without recall in battle as well.
04:22 So I'm not too worried offensively, it's gonna be sluggish.
04:26 It did start off a little rough.
04:28 It was a little surprising, Chris only had three turnovers.
04:31 I felt like he had more.
04:32 I think all three turnovers were just preventable too.
04:36 I don't think it was anything UMass did, but it was just first game seven assist,
04:39 three turnovers, can't ask for more than that in your first game back.
04:43 So offensively, I was not concerned, 31 attempts, you hit 14.
04:46 That's a good solid number right there.
04:49 So I'm not worried about it, especially when they take away the paint.
04:52 That wasn't a concern for me.
04:53 It's rebounding and obviously the defense was just really bad.
04:57 >> And when they went to that two, three zone in the second half,
05:00 that's when West Virginia made that 16 to two run to creep back into it.
05:03 And they eventually tied it up.
05:06 I believe they even had the lead at one point, right?
05:08 They maybe took the lead by one or so, but I mean-
05:11 >> I don't think so in the second half,
05:12 they didn't take the lead.
05:13 >> Okay, they just tied it up.
05:15 But to me, I feel like they've got to go heavy zone.
05:19 And I know you don't really want to do that.
05:21 But I mean, when you lack the size that you lack and
05:26 you lack the rebounding that you lack, I think you've got to be able to put more
05:30 bodies down there.
05:30 And when you're playing a two, three zone,
05:33 you automatically have three guys near the basket.
05:35 I think they've shown that they can play well in a two, three at times.
05:41 I mean, credit the one kid for UMass today was a Davis that hit those two,
05:44 NBA range contested threes.
05:46 I mean, if he makes that, hat off to the kid.
05:49 I mean, there's nothing you can do about it.
05:51 But if that's how you're gonna make teams beat you,
05:55 I think that's kind of what they have to live off.
05:57 And look, Jesse Edwards, this is what he's done for his whole college career,
06:00 is play in a two, three zone.
06:02 So assuming he's healthy, I think it makes sense to center your defense around what
06:07 his strength is, especially considering how you've played in these first ten games.
06:13 >> Yeah, they tried to two, three zone in the first half.
06:15 Obviously, it didn't work.
06:17 But once they got tired legs there in the second,
06:21 outside of Robert Davis Jr., they struggled from the outside.
06:24 And death taxes and West Virginia's opponent,
06:28 somebody just going off from three point range this year seems to be a theme.
06:33 But- >> It's an every year thing, really.
06:36 >> It's unbelievable, this kid's a freshman.
06:38 I think he made more threes a day than he had all season.
06:42 So I mean, what do you do at that point?
06:44 [LAUGH] >> Put your hands up in the air and
06:47 say what the hell?
06:48 >> And then again, you got guys that came back with eligibility, and
06:52 they were able to match it at times to keep that game within reach.
06:56 And they did come back from the three point line.
06:59 So they mixed it up defensively.
07:01 I think they just kind of got the groove there in the second half when UMass got a
07:05 little bit more tired.
07:06 And I've said it on here many times, between football and basketball,
07:11 sometimes the best defense is good offense.
07:14 And you saw that in the second half when West Virginia started making shots,
07:17 kind of put the pressure on UMass a little bit until West Virginia started missing
07:21 again, and they just kept getting more opportunities.
07:23 Some of the second chance opportunities really hurt West Virginia down the stretch.
07:26 So yeah, it just really right now all comes down to rebounding and defense.
07:30 And I think now that you kind of got the whole collective together,
07:33 you'll start to see a little bit more improvement, a little bit more
07:35 communication.
07:36 You wonder what the new guards, some of that communication wasn't lacking since
07:39 that was their first game back all season.
07:43 I think it's not quite there yet, but I mean, when you start season four and
07:48 six, you're really putting yourself against the ropes if you want to get to
07:52 March.
07:53 But what we saw tonight, I think you see flashes of what this team can be,
07:59 offensively at least.
08:01 Noah Farrakhan had a really good game, as you mentioned, his debut.
08:04 Kirk Creaser did everything that you imagined that he would do.
08:07 He didn't have Raekwon Battle tonight.
08:09 He was out with an illness.
08:10 So but that's my question right here is, even with Raekwon Battle, how much do you
08:19 think is really going to change?
08:21 Because to me, he's a great offensive player and he's an average defensive
08:26 player.
08:27 I think until they figure out the defensive end and rebounding, it might just be the
08:32 same show every single night to where you're just going to have to outscore
08:36 people.
08:37 Yeah, it might be.
08:38 It's going to be interesting lineups.
08:41 I'm trying to think here what Kobe had minutes wise.
08:45 He only played 16 minutes tonight.
08:47 So you're already finding, and he's been playing over 35 minutes a game, I
08:51 believe.
08:52 So and you're already finding like, all right, so you're already getting a little
08:57 heavy at guard.
08:58 So the lineups are going to be interesting.
09:00 Rofree minutes went down tonight as well.
09:04 So yeah, the lineups for what's been moving forward will be, you know, you
09:11 didn't have enough bodies and now you got a lot of guards.
09:14 So just kind of, you know, if you're looking around the big 12, you're probably
09:17 not going to get three or four guards or four guards on the line in the lineup.
09:22 I don't see Jeter Saharis getting to play for either.
09:25 So they're going to have to figure something out defensively.
09:27 Rebounding is it's been a Achilles heel with his team.
09:31 They haven't gotten out rebounded every game, but teams that they should
09:35 obliterate it on the board were right there with them.
09:37 So they've got to do something.
09:38 That's the big area.
09:40 And, you know, a night when you get everybody back and Jesse has an off night,
09:44 that was killer.
09:46 You really needed him on both ends of the floor, but non-existent really.
09:50 Again, you know, some of those calls down underneath, you got in foul trouble
09:55 because they just wouldn't make contact with them.
09:57 So, I mean, I don't know what you do when you don't get those calls on both
10:01 ends of the floor.
10:01 You get your big and foul trouble is going to hurt.
10:06 You know, he can take up two guys blocking him out as big as he is.
10:10 I don't really know the answers.
10:12 That's when you need, that's when it hurts when you don't have depth in the front court
10:15 is when someone else can come back and step in and kind of, you know, don't have that
10:20 huge drop off as they've had because Sluski is not a five.
10:24 It's just bottom line.
10:26 He's barely a four.
10:27 Let's be honest about it.
10:28 He's really tall.
10:31 But he's had a great, he's had a great season as well.
10:33 But defensively, he struggled at times as well.
10:35 So, don't know really the answers.
10:37 I was going to have to kind of figure that out, especially in transition, because guys
10:42 are not getting back.
10:43 They're getting caught flat footed and getting ran right by.
10:45 And that should not be happening at this level.
10:47 No, I mean, especially with the talent.
10:50 Like, I think even with the two guys that they got back tonight, you would still think
10:55 the talent from top to bottom is still in favor of West Virginia.
10:59 But you've got to be able to execute.
11:02 I mean, I think that's the biggest thing.
11:04 And I don't want to say it's necessarily a lack of effort defensively.
11:07 I think it's just a maybe a lack of focus.
11:11 I don't really know what it is.
11:13 I would have to go back and rewatch it.
11:15 But this was not a good performance.
11:17 A lot of it just has to go back with kids aren't being taught how to play defense.
11:20 That's really what it is.
11:23 So much focus is on offense.
11:25 From the time they first pick up a basketball, because this is this new age of kids coming
11:31 in, all they do is watch the NBA and they see Steph Curry and James Harden and even
11:37 the Lamello ball.
11:37 I mean, just the way he cherry picked in high school.
11:40 Like, they don't care about defense.
11:41 It's just defense doesn't get you stats.
11:43 Right.
11:44 So.
11:44 And I think they have to.
11:47 You know, we've talked we talked about under Huggins over previous years when they played
11:51 physically on the defensive end and they would call foul after foul.
11:55 And he's like, you just have to adjust.
11:56 It's different every night how they're going to call a game.
11:58 So they just have to adjust defensively to you.
12:01 Can't let them go right by you because they're calling fouls either.
12:03 So you're going to have to get in front of them.
12:05 They really got to clean up a fish.
12:08 They really got to stop these rules.
12:09 So it's so bad right now.
12:11 For me, it's such a hard watch anymore because inconsistency.
12:16 There's two things that frustrate me more than anything in today's age in sports.
12:20 They can call holding on every play.
12:22 And then when you play an aggressive defensive team, they can call foul every trip down the
12:26 floor.
12:26 Well, a thousand found a hold the whole if you call it, they're not going to stop doing
12:30 it.
12:30 Right.
12:30 You keep getting penalized.
12:31 They're going to stop doing it.
12:33 If they keep fouling, call the damn foul and move on.
12:35 Like that's on them.
12:36 That's not on the official to what we got to hold back on foul calling because they're
12:40 going to follow.
12:41 It's a silly nonsense way to look at it.
12:44 So that's not what you must did it all.
12:46 I thought you must played well defensively, but I just don't think the whistle favored
12:50 West Virginia.
12:50 Not the reason they lost, but you have to, you have to adjust to how they're calling
12:55 the game that night.
12:56 And they just did a very poor job defensively of Justin and to from someone that watches
13:02 and covers the NBA.
13:03 And I know this sounds crazy for those that maybe don't follow the NBA as much, but the
13:10 officiating in the NBA is actually really damn good.
13:12 Like, it's like, there's a lot of hate on NBA, but there's always a little traveling.
13:17 No, it's not.
13:18 There's a lot.
13:20 The gap between college and NBA is why anyone that doesn't like the NBA, go to an NBA game.
13:30 It's have a full appreciation of the NBA when those guys can take three trips out, three
13:36 steps down the floor and they're down to four.
13:38 And the guy's a seven foot center and he can, he can, he can handle the ball better than
13:43 your, you know, better than average point guard in college.
13:48 It's just a completely different game.
13:50 Yeah.
13:51 I mean, it's, it's more watchable because of there's not the tiki tack files.
13:55 They don't, if you get a found the NBA, NBA, you're going to have to earn.
13:58 And I think that's kind of the way they have tiki tack files in the NBA.
14:02 There's some, the thing is, you know, I'm not trying to hold these guys to be perfect
14:08 because that's impossible, but you have to have consistency and you need consistency
14:13 night in, night out.
14:14 Like you can't play one night and it'd be physical.
14:16 And the next night they're going to call every touch call.
14:18 So that's really my issue.
14:20 I don't think, you know, I know the NF, I saw an article earlier this, you know, I think
14:25 the other day, actually that the NFL, how they have all these oversight on officials,
14:29 because obviously gambling is, has become very big.
14:33 It's on your phone.
14:34 You can do it anywhere now.
14:35 And they have all this oversight on these guys.
14:37 And I don't think that in the case is the case at all.
14:39 It's just, they're making rules, but these guys in very tough positions and make calls
14:44 and a reminder, there's still the cylinder rule.
14:47 Yeah.
14:48 The rule that has no boundaries.
14:51 They never call it.
14:54 They never call it now.
14:55 That was a big thing during press Virginia.
14:57 It's still out there, but they've even added to that.
14:59 So you're, you're putting these guys in positions and make ridiculous calls.
15:03 So it's not really on the officials.
15:05 Surprisingly, it's on the NCAA.
15:07 Shocking.
15:07 So they need to do everything else.
15:10 I don't want everything else.
15:12 I need to do.
15:13 That's something they really need to clean up because the rule, like you need a team
15:16 of lawyers to figure out every rule in the NCAA.
15:19 And one of them should not be the NCAA rule book on the floor.
15:23 Like that's, it's crazy how these things are written, how they're interpreted and
15:27 are interpreted differently by different officials.
15:29 Like that should not be the case.
15:31 It should be clear cut black and white.
15:32 This is what the rules are.
15:34 Let's call it the way you see it.
15:37 We're not doing the, Hey, they, they found a trip down the floor.
15:39 We're just going to randomly call it, call it if it's a foul and that team will have
15:43 to adjust.
15:44 So to wrap us up here, three non-conference games left before we get into the meat and
15:52 grind at the big 12 schedule.
15:53 You got Radford coming up on Wednesday at the seven o'clock on ESPN plus, then you have
15:58 Toledo next Saturday, and then you have a week off in between games before you take
16:03 on Ohio state in the legends of basketball showcase.
16:06 So, I mean, ideally you'd like to go three and oh here, but let's keep it realistic.
16:12 If what does West Virginia need to go in these three games to kind of stay somewhat alive,
16:19 even if it's a long shot for the NCAA tournament.
16:22 Three and oh, I mean, you got to start winning games.
16:25 You can excuse this one because everyone got back for the first game, but now let's go
16:29 next game Wednesday, I believe.
16:32 Yeah.
16:32 Got to get it going.
16:34 Good Radford team too.
16:35 Yeah, got to get it going.
16:37 Got to get it rolling.
16:37 Got to win your game.
16:38 I mean, at this point, you got to win all your home games.
16:40 And that's just kind of the hole that they were put in.
16:44 And they're going to have to fight back.
16:45 I feel a lot more confident in this team after seeing Curve play again.
16:50 I wasn't not surprised by it, but I want to see what battle can do and, you know, can
16:54 they fix their defense?
16:55 But I think that's their first thing they got to do when they get back to Morgantown.
17:02 I was like, hey, let's look at the defense.
17:03 Stop standing flat footed.
17:05 Get out there on the ball.
17:07 It just baffles me that they wait for the ball to pass them by before they react.
17:12 I don't know how many times you've watched basketball.
17:16 That's your effort there.
17:18 So not effort, but that's how you execute your defense.
17:20 So I don't think it's an effort problem.
17:23 I just think a lot of it is just they really haven't been taught how to play defense.
17:27 I know, Patino, before we played St.
17:29 John's was going off about his defense saying the same thing.
17:32 Kids aren't taught defense.
17:33 Like I thought these guys are not played defense.
17:35 They just have no clue how to play defense.
17:37 And it sounds so silly, but it's true.
17:38 Just watch college basketball.
17:39 Just kids have no clue how to move their feet.
17:43 Footwork in every sport.
17:45 You know, if you're teaching a kid footwork's the main thing you should be working on.
17:49 Keep your feet under yourself.
17:51 That way you can move quickly and get vertical and stay in front of the ball, make it a tough
17:55 shot.
17:55 And that's basically all you can do defensively.
17:57 You're not going to really lock anybody down.
17:59 Just make sure that they get a tough shot and avoid the contact.
18:03 Yeah, so we got a few days here.
18:06 We'll see if Ray Kwan makes his Mountaineer debut on Wednesday.
18:09 I would assume he would, but we'll see.
18:11 Again, West Virginia taking on the Radford Highlanders Wednesday at 7 o'clock on Big
18:16 12 now on ESPN Plus.
18:18 And that's again at 7 o'clock.
18:20 A big one there for West Virginia.
18:22 You got to get back in the one column.
18:23 And as you said, maybe go three in these next three games.
18:27 So we'll have the coverage for you for that.
18:29 No shows tomorrow as it's Sunday.
18:32 And then we'll have between years on Monday, Tuesday.
18:34 No between years on Wednesday since it's signing day.
18:36 But we will have the National Signing Day special.
18:39 It'll be me, Chris, Eugene, and a couple of signees that will be on there for you.
18:44 So we'll dissect that whole 2024 football recruiting class and see what the Mountaineers
18:51 will be bringing in on the football side of things.
18:53 So that'll do it for us here tonight on the Mountaineers Now postgame show presented by
18:57 Country Roads Air Duct Cleaning for Christopher Hall.
18:59 I'm Skylar Callahan.
19:01 Thank you guys for watching, and we'll see you Monday on Between Years.