I haven't watched West Virginia play yet, but they must be pretty darn good. My first clue was the fact that they beat us in that closed scrimmage by over 20 points. That is pretty scary. No one else has been able to do that. And they dominated Baylor tonight as well. They have also beaten Virginia.
West Virginia
- Thread starter sporre
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It was a morning scrimmage at WVU and Cline and Smotherman did not play, but yes that was alarming when first reported. WVU's only loss is to Temple. Temple has somehow beat both WVU and Florida State (who has beaten Duke, Virginia, and Minnesota, among others) but lost at home to New Hampshire, George Washington, and by 21 points in a neutral game vs. Villanova. WTH?! College hoops is wacky. Teams have to show up for EVERY game!
The scrimmage was at Ohio Dominican University. WV has 2 losses (Temple and Texas Tech).
WVU is probably the last team I would want Purdue to see in the tournament. Matchup nightmare.
I don't think pre-season closed scrimmages are something to base much off of.
But yes, WVU is good - and they are always very solid at home. People have been pretty skeptical of Baylor. All it takes is a good night by one team and a bad night by one to create a game like that - particularly with the 'bad night' team being the road team. They've lost to a couple not great teams and have had some close calls on the way. Not sure they're unbeatable. But yes of course they are good.
the tourney is ALL about matchups. It is rare that there is a team who can beat every other style of team. Most teams don't match-up with WV, just as most teams didn't match-up with Arkansas in the mid '90s. We don't match up well but I think we can put 5 players on the floor that are disciplined enough not to totally berserk when they throw that press at them. If we could maintain self-discipline and got refs that call the game as it is called today ... we could be OK ... teams with a lot of younger players will struggle more against them. Just my guess.
That's right, I forgot about the Texas Tech loss.
Oh, I thought I remembered reading that they went to Morgantown but I will take your word for it.
Absolutely. And I think it was absolutely genius for Painter to schedule that scrimmage.
LOL ... I agree and excitedly await the comments regarding the words "genius" and "Painter" in the same positive sentence.
Add Creighton to that list as well...have watched them four times now, and they are impressive and a difficult matchup for just about anyone, never mind Purdue.
So - My curiosity is fueled by this thread. The teams with super-athletic guards - quick, aggressive on D and penetrators on O .... are consensus bad matchups. And there are many of them. Is our team makeup not a good match for more than it is a good match with? II KNOW KNOW KNOW we need more athletic guards ... duh ... but is the age of the big man going away? We struggled years ago when no real center would ever come here ... now we're getting plenty and still don't match-up well with a lot of teams.
I think the only way to guarantee a favorable matchup against any team is if you have a roster full of McDonald's all Americans at every position, which means you have to have consistently fantastic recruiting like Duke. Even they have up-and-down years.
They are relentless, swarming, rough, and deep. If you can avoid the pick six type of turnovers you can compete though. I think we will get the opportunity.
I would love to see the match up!!!!! Means we have probably reached the Sweet Sixteen......more likely the Elite Eight!!!
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