West Virginia Scouting Report | The Boneyard

West Virginia Scouting Report

Hey Adrien!

Hey Adrien!

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I'm Day 2 in a work conference and starting to lose steam. Decided to instead distract myself and do some research for West Virginia.

Schedule analysis:
  • 7-1, best win: beat Clemson 66-59.
  • All other wins against KenPom 100+ teams. Next “best” win: 60-53 win over Oakland (KP 121)
  • Only loss: 71-82 to Marquette.
  • Last three games: EKU, Bellarmine, Radford

Roster makeup: They always play three guard/two forward lineups.
  • Their guards range between 6’1 190 to 6’4 190
  • Their forwards range from 6’7 225 to 6’10 245, with only one of these forwards, Jalen Bridges, being an offensive threat.

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Offense: 61st in KenPom efficiency:
  • Taz Sherman is their stud (21 ppg, about ⅓ shots from three, about six FTAs/game, so he attacks the rim)
  • Jalen Bridges is their only stretch forward (8.5 ppg, about ½ shots from 3), so that makes an interesting defensive assignment where we can maximize our rim protection.
  • They play slow. Average offensive possession length is 18.8 seconds (312th fastest)
  • They don’t shoot threes. 32.6% of their shots are from deep (290th most)
  • They do a good job limiting turnovers. 16.7% of their possessions result in turnovers (61th least)
  • They rebound well. “A missed shot is our best offense,” something I believe Huggins once said. Their offensive rebounding rate is 54th in the nation.

Defense: 54th in KenPom efficiency:
  • They are 2nd in the nation in turnover % (28.9). Great game to see what the team has learned from the VCU game. The team is diverse in how they cause turnovers as they are top-15 in block, steal and non-steal TO rate.
  • When they aren’t causing turnovers, teams make shots (their opponent opposing fg% is just 239th best in the nation).
  • They don’t get defensive rebounds. Their defensive rebound rate is 312nd best in the nation.
 
Last edited:
HooperScooper said:
What I'm most worried about is this being the team's first real road game. Seems every season the first real road game is disappointing. Obviously it's going to be tough without Sanogo and Martin but I hope the boys are ready.
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Hooper you know it's going to be rocking there. It will be a very tough game. They should be ready big game everyone should be pumped for this game.
 
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man, u r gooood. looking at ur stuff on wv, it feels like if there is any chance of a blowout, we'd be the ones hanging it on them. mebbe a vcu type game? iffn we put the biscuit in the basket better than we did in that one......?
we can have jet mode, them? statistically, notsomuch. another fun game.

oops, forgot to mention my learning in this that pauly paulicap is on their squad. his name was fun last year. still is.
 
I like the energy and intensity that I saw last night. Granted, it was Grambling, but still, I felt like everyone was out there hustling. I feel like it won’t be the prettiest game, but it will be good preparation for the grind of the Big East and the postseason.
 
If Tyler Polley scores 12+ we’re going to win the NC and will overcome the Sanogo and Martin injuries unblemished the rest of the year.

If he doesn’t, Nelson is right and we should wrap up the season.
 
I’m kinda expecting to lose 60-45.


Also… wasn’t Dimon Carrigan in the same HS class as Jalen Adams?
 
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Our guys will be ducking for cover when they hear the cannon get fired during warm ups.
 
8893 said:
I have a feeling that Andre is going to be a huge factor in this game.
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Me too. Here's why:
  • His vision and passing will help navigate the full-court press.
  • WVU's inability to rebound on the defensive end will allow some big put-back opportunities for Jackson.
  • If we play Jackson at the 3, he has a major size advantage to take over interiorly on the offensive end.
What do you think, @Dove...is Andre the answer?
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Me too. Here's why:
  • His vision and passing will help navigate the full-court press.
  • WVU's inability to rebound on the defensive end will allow some big put-back opportunities for Jackson.
  • If we play Jackson at the 3, he has a major size advantage to take over interiorly on the offensive end.
What do you think, @Dove...is Andre the answer?
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I’m having daydreams of him rocketing passes up the court to Hawkins waiting on the wing for a three.
 
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first real road game (with fans) for this squad since covid. lots of these guys have never been in this type of environment. anything can happen.

that being said, i would feel really good about our chances if we had one of tyrese and sanogo. without either, it's pretty scary.
 
All but 1 of their games (7 of 8) have been between 65 and 70 possessions, whereas we've had a few games in the 75+ range (and 2OT was insane 96 poss).

It's an indication that their press makes teams take a decent amount of time to get into the normal half court offense and then as mentioned their own offense is very methodical.
 
8893 said:
I have a feeling that Andre is going to be a huge factor in this game.
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Kenny11 said:
If they full court press, my bold strategy would be to not pass or dribble directly into a trap, as tempting as it may be.
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As WVU presses almost all the time, UConn can't have the same five guys on the court for all 40 minutes. That said, what are your ideal 5 to be out there most of the game in order to have success in breaking the press?

Mine: Cole, AJax, Whaley, Hawkins, give Diggins some run to experience it, and if he does well, give him all the minutes he can take. If he fails, then it's Gaffney. I'm not super confident on our ability to dribble out the press all night, so my inclination is to inbound to AJax as often as possible and have him pass to whomever the open tree is who can catch. Thankfully with Akok and Johnson as subs, we're not short on trees. I'd probably use Whaley as much or more than Cole as the inbounder.
 
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I love hearing they struggle with rebounding. We gotta impose our will on the Oboards, just like they'll make us suffer with the press. Shoot 3s, and go get the misses.
 
We need to get stops and defensively rebound so they can't set up the press. That's the key to the game IMO. I can't imagine we're going to be breaking the press efficiently.
 
When we faced pressure, there were several instances when our inbounder paused before taking the ball to start the 5 seconds, even though we had a completely open guard right there to give the ball to. I assume the strategy was to get our other players in position to help with the press. The problem was that the pause also let the defense set up the press, and in my mind, it was a net negative. I'd advocate getting the ball to a guard asap after a made basket if a clean pass is available, just like off a defensive rebound. Be alert quickly after made baskets and don't let the defense set up if that is possible on particular plays.
 
storrsroars said:
As WVU presses almost all the time, UConn can't have the same five guys on the court for all 40 minutes. That said, what are your ideal 5 to be out there most of the game in order to have success in breaking the press?

Mine: Cole, AJax, Whaley, Hawkins, give Diggins some run to experience it, and if he does well, give him all the minutes he can take. If he fails, then it's Gaffney. I'm not super confident on our ability to dribble out the press all night, so my inclination is to inbound to AJax as often as possible and have him pass to whomever the open tree is who can catch. Thankfully with Akok and Johnson as subs, we're not short on trees. I'd probably use Whaley as much or more than Cole as the inbounder.
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Nobody on our team is breaking the press on their own so just run out the normal lineups and pass the ball instead of dribbling into corners
 
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