With West Virginia’s upset of UCLA on Saturday, they are no longer on the bubble and barring a total collapse will be in the NCAA tournament. West Virginia beat UCLA for the second straight year, this time at Morgantown, and picked up the signature win they were badly searching for. Prior to their 70-65 win over the Bruins, the Mountaineers marquee win was over Villanova (nothing to brag home about).
West Virginia was predicted to finish 12th in the Big East after losing four starters and their main reserve. Few people could have imagined that West Virginia would make the NCAA tournament for the third year in a row after losing Kevin Pittsnogle, Mike Gansey, Joe Herber, J.D. Collins and Patrick Beilein. Somehow West Virginia has been able to muster an 18-5 record overall and a 7-4 record in conference play. The answer to how a team that lost 83% of its scoring production is able to play so well and (presumably) make the NCAA tournament lies in one man, John Beilein. 
John Beilein’s system is what enables the Mountaineers to overachieve with average talent. Beilein gets the most out of his players. His teams always show up to play and display a tremendous amount of heart on the court. There aren’t any highly rated recruits on the West Virginia team. West Virginia executes the motion offense, filled with cutting, curling and back door plays, to perfection. They play a tough 1-3-1 zone that confuses opponents. West Virginia plays smart basketball and this comes directly from their coach. They are 7th in the country in fewest turnovers per game (11.4) and 16th in the country in assists per game (17.2). They have one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the country (1.51)
The main weakness for the Mountaineers is their lack of strength on the frontline. They are one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, 259th in the country in rebounding margin a game. They usually struggle against physical teams such as Pittsburgh. The Panthers out rebounded the Mountaineers 35-20 in their recent 60-47 win over the Mountaineers at Morgantown.
(posted by SY)
3 comments:
I always thought SY would attempt to contrast Jimmy Beilien's Mountaineer's to the Marissa-less fifth season of The O.C. Come on 1SM. You guys need to work in some pop-culture references here to up your readership and seem hip.
Otherwise, great work team
"John Beilein’s system is what enables the Mountaineers to overachieve with average talent. Beilein gets the most out of his players. His teams always show up to play and display a tremendous amount of heart on the court."
use cliches much? just kidding, solid analysis.
Wait, SY writes here too?
1-3-1 zones are the best...that's how you make white boys effective on defense.
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