NCAA Basketball 2/11

The Mountaineers once again got off to a dismal start, only this time the opponent, Villanova, was to good to allow the Mountaineers to recover from their early trouble. To me the Mountaineers looked outclassed against a top notched team yet again. Two of those games have come at home. West Virginia's remaining games are at Pitt, at Providence, vs Seton Hall, at UConn, vs Cincy, vs Georgetown, at Villanova. It's possible the Mountaineers could have a losing record in those games if they are not really a top 10 team. It will be interesting to see how it plays out because their resume is one of a #2 seed right now, but I feel like they are more of a #4 seed team and it may play out that way if they lose a few of these down the stretch. They just don't seem to have quite enough fire power or an ability to guard to be really dangerous. It's the latter of those two that has continued to perplex me. I suppose they might not be as athletic as I once thought. Wellington Smith is a microcosm of this. A couple of years ago I would have said he was very athletic with high end potential but he would need to learn how to shoot. I remember some of his dunks and blocks bringing comparisons to Joe Alexander. He has turned into a spot up three point shooter. Really? How did that happen? I'm not sure what the answer or if there is one, but for a team ranked in the top 10 much of the year, I find it difficult to be optimistic about a deep tourney run. If nothing else, it would be nice if they swept the Panthers this year. As the chant goes, eat s___ Pitt!

The Spiders won a big road game at Rhode Island. This puts them more around a 8 or 9 seed and solidly in at this point. They continue to be a little weak on the boards and with inside scoring, but their guard play is outstanding. A team with good guard play can be dangerous in the tournament. They don't have the talent to handle a #1 seed should they draw into that 8 or 9 slot, but perhaps a 2 or 3 could go down to the hands of the Spiders. It may be the best team I have seen since coming to Richmond and Kevin Anderson the best player. I've thought that even before the season started, but at 19-6 (8-2) and tied for the conference lead, the results are beginning to back it up. They have 3 relatively easy games coming up (@ St. Bonaventure, vs Fordham, vs GW) before a real tough stretch to finish (@ Xavier, vs Dayton, and @ Charlotte). Hopefully the Spiders can win the next three and then they should really only need one of the final three to feel good about their NCAA chances.