WVU Basketball

West Virginia senior forward Kevin Jones has apparently lost to Marquette's Jae Crowder in the running for the 2012 Big East player of the year award. 

As of now, nothing concrete has been announced.  However Adam Zangoria of SNY.tv reported via his twitter page that Crowder indeed overtook Jones in voting. 

If this is indeed the case, and Crowder is named the Big East's best for 2012, then we will have witnessed arguably the most grievous error of the college basketball season.

It's not enough to look at the stat sheet and do an apples to apples comparison of Jones' and Crowder's numbers to get a sense of who the better player is.  This would simply marginalize the overarching issue concerning who the better player is. 

What truly matters, what should ultimately decide who takes home the honors, is which player is more important to his team.

If you're arguing that the better player is the one's whose actions have the greatest immediate impact on his team's ability to win or lose, then it's Jones by a landslide.

To say that West Virginia was young this year is like saying that the Peyton Manning has been discussed in the media of late. 

Jones was one of two seniors on a 12 man roster this year.  Aside from fellow senior Truck Bryant, only center Deniz Kilicili carried upperclassmen credentials.  

It was this lack of experience that forced Jones to carry the team night after night, laboring mightily to pull the Mountaineers back from second half meltdowns that came to define the Mountaineers' season.  

Shouldering that kind of load while clamoring to stay in the top-8 of college basketball's toughest conference should warrant universal praise.  

At least Dick Vitale was feeling the love on his twitter page.

No one can argue that Crowder has had anything less than an exceptional season.  I'm certainly not trying to cook up a diatribe belittling his every contribution to Marquette's success this season.  The point isn't that Crowder wasn't good, it's that Jones was better and is arguably the sole reason that West Virginia appears to have cracked the tournament bubble. 

It's been well publicized that this is West Virginia's swan song before heading West to the Big XII.  Could this slight by the voters (the coaches) have its basis in some degree of scorn for West Virginia AD Oliver Luck flipping the proverbial bird to the Big East and its basketball-centric mentality?

Part of me wants to say yes while the other part of me wants to base it solely on the fact that Marquette had a better record than West Virginia in 2011-2012.  Either way, both excuses fail to hold much, if any, weight.

Jae Crowder is great, as is Darius Odom-Johnson who leads Marquette in scoring and 3-point percentage and therein lies the most concerning fact of all: Crowder might not even be the best player on his own team.   

With Jones, no such discrepancy exists.  He's head and shoulders above the rest of his fellow Mountaineers and has been for the entirety of the season.  

This won't affect Jones' and West Virginia's chances to make a run up the Big East tournament, it won't affect West Virginia's chances to compete in the NCAA tournament and it will have no bearing on Kevin Jones' journey to the NBA.  

It still doesn't make it right, though and it certainly isn't any way to reward Kevin Jones for having the season that he did.

There is no telling what will happen in the final week before March Madness officially begins, but there are several teams with good resumes that could make a run in the NCAA Tournament if they get in.

The "if" is the biggest part here, but teams that have the chance to make runs in March usually get it done in the conference championship tournaments, which is why the teams below are on the border, if not entirely into the NCAA Tournament.

Xavier

Undisciplined losses to teams that Xavier should have beat, has seemed to be a theme this season for the Musketeers, making them one of Joe Lunardi's Last Four Out heading into the final week of play before the NCAA Tournament.

However, the talent on this team is uncanny, and they have a real chance to claim a first-round upset if their final week goes well.

Tu Holloway is one player the tournament would love. His will and determination has been on display the last couple NCAA Tournaments, and given a chance, he may just rise to the occasion. Expect that this week in the Atlantic-10 conference tournament.

Holloway is backed by Mark Lyons and big man Kenny Frease, who are both built for tournament runs.

West Virginia

If there is one thing learn about March Madness, it is to never doubt a Big East team. They are more talented and play better competition than their opponent more often than not, which is why West Virginia will only need a moderately strong run in this week's Big East tournament.

Saturday's win over South Florida was the fourth top-50 win by the team, which is nothing more than brownie points to the selection committee. They will still need a good performance in their conference tournament.

Kevin Jones is who fuels this team, as does Darryl Bryant, but this is a team built on athleticism. It is something that can help this team claim a first-round upset in the NCAA Tournament.

Washington

The loss at UCLA does not help anybody, but if they give a decent effort in their conference tournament, there is no doubt the Huskies get in. The Pac-12 should get two to three bids to the NCAA Tournament this year, depending on how the conference tournament plays out.

Washington is as athletic as any team in the country, which is why this is a lethal team in the NCAA Tournament.

The team is six to seven players deep with talent throughout, but the athleticism is what would scare a team in the first round of March Madness.

They are no guarantee to get in, even though they are atop the conference standings. But given the opportunity, this team can be lethal in March.

What a difference a week makes.

With nearly three-quarters of the regular season completed, the general consensus around the West Virginia basketball team has for the most part been job well done.

Senior forward Kevin Jones has been a beast, leading the Big East in both scoring (20.9) and rebounding (11.4), in the process putting himself in the conversation for player of the year.

Freshmen point guards Gary Browne and Jabarie Hinds have each established themselves as quality crunch-time players, and the bench has been surprisingly competent, with eight players averaging at least 12 minutes a night.

Not that things have been all sunshine and roses for the Mountaineers.

Truck Bryant is second on the team in scoring, averaging just over 17 points per game, but is shooting just 37 percent on the season. He has been known to disappear for large chunks of time, a habit he shares with fellow starter Deniz Kilicli.

Despite those hiccups and the inevitable inconsistency that comes from playing six newcomers, the team still stands at 15-7 on the season and from a distance seem like a safe bet to make the tournament.

Yet anyone who has followed the team over the past week knows that safe is hardly the right word to describe West Virginia right now.

The trouble started last Wednesday night when the Mountaineers turned in their worst performance of the season, looking sluggish and disinterested for the majority of their 78-62 loss to a 9-12 St. Johns squad that started five freshman.

Three days later the referees teamed up with No. 4 Syracuse to hand West Virginia a 63-61 defeat, and a team that was near the top of the Big East a week ago now finds itself in the middle of the pack.

A loss on Monday night against Pittsburgh would plunge them even further.

As if the Backyard Brawl needed any extra pressure.

Monday marks the 183rd all-time meeting between West Virginia and Pittsburgh and carries with it much more weight than just the bragging rights that both fanbases cherish so dearly.

The Mountaineers need this game to turn the tide of the last week and return its focus to moving up the Big East standings. On the other hand, Pittsburgh needs a win to keep their season afloat.

Picked in the preseason for a fourth place Big East finish, the Panthers backed up the hype by starting conference play 0-7 and find themselves just one game out of the Big East basement. They have won two in a row; however, and even if their season is a lost cause they would love nothing more than to prolong the West Virginia slump.

And that's why this has become such an important game for West Virginia.

After all, good teams, teams that can win in March, take care of business in these kinds of games. Especially when the game is at home, on national TV, and can effectively end their most-hated rivals' season. 

Are the Mountaineers one of those teams? For most of the season the answer appeared to be yes. In the last week, its been a no.

The prospect of beating Pittsburgh is usually more than enough to make the Backyard Brawl one of West Virginia's most meaningful games every season, but the events of the past week have raised the tension level even more.

And the way the young Mountaineers react to that pressure will go a long way to telling us how many more meaningful games they will play this season.

Goaltending or no-call, that is the question.

The Syracuse Orange men's basketball team survived a scare at the hands of West Virginia Saturday afternoon, a game decided only when the final horn had sounded and time had expired.

With the shot clock turned off and 26.3 seconds to play in a Syracuse-led 63-61 ballgame, West Virginia's Truck Bryant attempted an early three-point shot, only to have the try miss the backboard, rim and net entirely. After Mountaineers forward Deniz Kilicli recovered the air ball, Kilicli put up a quick two-point try with 11 seconds remaining.

That's when Mountaineers-Orange turned into controversy central.

Syracuse's Moussa Keita went for the block, contacting the basketball on its upward trajectory around the time when the ball first hit the backboard.

Whether or not the ball hit the backboard—and where exactly it hit the backboard—before Keita's block attempt is all the difference between goaltending and a no-call.

Officials on the floor no-called the sequence, ultimately resulting in the ball bouncing out-of-bounds and being awarded to West Virginia with 6.2 seconds remaining in regulation for one last attempt at tying or winning the ballgame.

The Mountaineers were unable to produce in that final 6.2 seconds of play and the Orange escaped with a two-point victory, 63-61.  

NCAA Basketball Rule 4, Section 34 is entitled "Goaltending," and defines goaltending as it relates to this play:

When the entire ball is above the level of the ring during a field-goal try and contacts the backboard, it is considered to be on its downward flight. In such a case, it is goaltending when the ball is touched by a player.

In other words, a ball on its physically upward trajectory is considered on its downward flight if it contacts the backboard while the entire ball is above the level of the ring—not most of the ball, not even with the ring—the entire ball, entirely above the ring.

Further complicating matters, this provision pertains to the ball contacting the backboard, not the defensive player contacting the ball. The ball may strike the backboard even with (but not above) the ring and continue upward so that the defensive player contacts the ball while it is entirely above the ring. This scenario would be a legal play and a no-call would be correct.

Nonetheless, replays indicate the ball first contacted the backboard entirely above the ring and was then contacted by the defensive player.

Of the three officials, only one was in the best position to see this sequence, and even that angle was not optimal.

The endline official (lead) cannot see through the backboard and the table-side (trail) and center officials are too high due to their duties in regards to judging player activity on the floor to see whether the ball has changed direction—thereby indicating it hit the backboard—before being contacted by the defensive player. 

Perhaps demoralized, perhaps too excited for their own good, West Virginia ran a broken play and was unable to put up their desired final shot attempt, missing a potential buzzer-beating three-ball and losing to Syracuse.

In the end, what doomed West Virginia wasn't one missed call near the end of regulation—one call that may or may not have sent the game to overtime. Syracuse would have had about 10 seconds to win had the officials called goaltending.

It was their field goal percentage of 40.7 percent, compared to Syracuse's mark of 46.0 percent.

It was their 12 missed three-point attempts and a game-ending stretch in which the Mountaineers missed four consecutive tries, unable to put points on the board since Kevin Jones' three-point jumper with 1:45 left on the clock.

It was Kilicli's 1-of-5 performance at the free-throw line and West Virginia's 14 turnovers to Syracuse's six.

After the game, West Virginia point guard Gary Browne might have said it best: "We beat ourselves." 

Still, when in doubt and for those without the proper perspective, popularly vacuous convention is to blame another person's single mistake for one's collective shortcomings.

The call was missed—officials occasionally make mistakes, though far less often than players miss shots and commit turnovers. Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins decently questioned the call, even though the officials most certainly would not have changed it and the game continued.

Huggins and officials Karl Hess, Brian O'Connell and Gene Steratore—yes, that same Gene Steratore of the NFL—acted as professionally as possible in the wake of that penultimate game-ending situation.

Before the jokes begin, yes, there is such a thing as goaltending in football.

ESPN play-by-play commentator Beth Mowins reflected the officials' and coaches' sense of professionalism, stating matter-of-factly what happened during play and deferring to her analyst when he proceeded to lose his mind.

That analyst, ESPN's Tim Welsh, shamefully shed any and all sense of decorum, spewing gems such as, "Call missed...inexcusable," and "you just can't miss that call."

Welsh notably did not comment on the play until he saw the slow motion replay from the most advantageous angle, a good 15 seconds after the ball was awarded to West Virginia out of bounds following the goaltending no-call.

It would have been one thing if Welsh declared the call missed in real-time, before replays were shown.

It is quite another matter for a professional sports commentator to revile an official's real-time call after the fact, using evidence gained only after consulting replay.

For non-reviewable plays like goaltending, referees, umpires, judges and linesmen don't have the luxury of hovering over a monitor, asking a replay technician to zoom, reverse, slow or change camera angles.

Officials get one shot at getting the call right—one shot, in real-time, from one angle.

Perhaps Welsh should take a page from ESPN colleague Pat Forde, who wrote, "Quit screaming about the officiating," and quoted SEC commissioner Roy Kramer, who "said something profoundly true: 'It's amazing how much better the officiating is when you don't care who wins.'"

After all, hindsight is 20-20.

Gil Imber is Bleacher Report's Rules Featured Columnist and owner of Close Call Sports, a website dedicated to the objective and fair analysis of close or controversial calls in sports.

Anyone who follows the West Virginia basketball team knew that sooner or later, this game was coming.

Teams that prominently feature five freshman might on occasion put together a nice run of games, but a 15-5 start left Mountaineer fans very excited at the future of the team but wondering when this current team was going to lay its first egg of the season.

After their 78-62 loss at St. Johns (who, incidentally, was starting five freshman of their own) on Wednesday night, its safe to say that egg has been dropped. 

It wasn't just the score that should worry Mountaineer fans, it was the way they lost. They scored just 20 first half points, trailed by as many as 21 and for the first time looked like an inexperienced team playing in the toughest conference in the country. And apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed.

"We were not ready to play. We did not have two good days of practice." Head coach Bob Huggins said about his team, who was coming off an emotional overtime win over Cincinnati.

That lack of preparedness laid out by Huggins was evident during the game, where center Deniz Kilicli appeared to be playing with concrete in his sneakers—the freshmen seemed afraid to shoot, and the one player who was definitely not afraid to shoot, Truck Bryant, was 4-13 from the floor.

Now that the question of when that first stink-bomb is going to hit is out of the way, a bigger one has emerged: can West Virginia bounce back and save their season? Unfortunately, next week isn't going to get easier.

It starts on Saturday in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse, who might very well be the best team in the country, and is a double-digit favorite over the Mountaineers. 48 hours later, West Virginia will welcome Pittsburgh into the Coliseum for a game that the Panthers desperately need if they want to make the tournament come March. 

At 15-6, West Virginia would no doubt love to wake up on Tuesday morning with a record of 16-7. If that happens, the team will be, barring a gigantic collapse, dancing come tournament time. That will hopefully allow the freshman to gain confidence as the season finishes up, and might even let Huggins smile once and a while. (Okay, that was a lie, we all know that Huggins will be fired before he smiles).

I'm willing to write off Wednesday's game as a fluke, one that happens over the course of a Big East season, especially when you are as inexperienced as the Mountaineers are. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to give the rest of the season a pass.

With a fairly favorable schedule remaining that features only three more games against teams currently in the top 25, West Virginia has a great opportunity to not only establish themselves this season, but wherever they end up playing next year.

And for Mountaineer fans, as well as Bob Huggins' sanity, let's hope this week was the last egg they will lay this year.

For West Virginia basketball fans, watching the team through ten games has been a little bit like reading a "Where's Waldo?" book.

With six true freshman and eight new players in total, it's been a challenge at times just figuring out who is on the court, let alone keeping track of the game. Head coach Bob Huggins hasn't helped the fact by managing his team like a hockey coach, constantly making substitutions, sometimes as many as four at once. 

There seems to be a method to his madness however, as the team has sprinted to an 8-2 start and seems to be slowly rounding into shape. More importantly, an identity seems to be forming.

Obviously, any success this Mountaineer team might achieve hinges on the success of their three returning players, Kevin Jones, Truck Bryant and Deniz Kililcli. For West Virginia to be dancing come Tourney time, the trio will all need to play 30+ minutes a night, score about 70% of the teams points, and grow huge bushy beards. (Actually, that last one only applies to Kililcli, but his beard is so amazingly horrendous that it had to be mentioned somewhere.)

With that in mind, here is a look at the new guys, and where they fit on the roster.

Group One, Bench Players: Tommy McCune, Paul Williamson, Dominique Rutledge

Just because a team dresses 12 players doesn't mean they all need to get significant minutes. In fact, history has shown us that the best teams usually operate with an eight to ten man rotation, and these three seem the most likely candidates to lose minutes when the Big East slate begins.  

Rutledge, a JUCO transfer, just doesn't seem to have a fit the way the roster is currently constructed, and McCune, despite having all the looks of a solid wing player, has looked timid on the floor, and has made a whopping one field-goal this season.

Williamson, on the other hand, has some upside. A walk-on from Harts, West Virginia, Williamson has established himself as not only a fan favorite, but perhaps the best outside shooter on the team. While he probably lacks the other skills necessary to be a starting 2-guard, he could see some decent minutes as a change of pace scorer.

Group Two, Glue Guys: Kevin Noreen, Pat Forsythe, Keaton Miles

None of these players will ever be a star, but each one of them puts something on the table that is essential to a top-25 team.

Noreen and Forsythe both provide some much needed size inside, and seem to have the rebounding gene that is essential for any big man on a Bob Huggins coached team.

Forsythe has actually surprised me more than any of the new players, looking much more capable than I originally expected. And since Huggins has a tendency to come down hardest on players he feels have the most potential, the fact that he has turned Forsythe into one of his most common targets leads me to believe that he has a higher ceiling than Noreen. Kevin seems reluctant to shoot, despite an incredible scoring pedigree (averaged 38.6ppg in High School.)

Miles has started every game this season, and has been a very solid defender, but a black hole on offense, shooting just 27 percent and averaging less than two points per game. Considering he is spending most of his time on the floor with four players who are not afraid to shoot the rock, Miles defense is the reason he is starting. Judging by his play against Texas A&M CC, where he dunked from about one step inside the foul-line, I think he has some potential to grow on offense.

Group Three, Impact Players: Gary Browne, Aaron Brown

Now we're getting to the guys who have a real impact on the way the season plays out.

Point guards probably have the toughest transition to make between high-school and college, but through 10 games Browne has shown himself to have a very good handle on the position. Maybe even better than the teams starter (we will get to him in a bit). Playing about 22 minutes a night, Browne is scoring just under six points a night while giving out close to four assists. More importantly, he looks comfortable on the floor and rarely gets rattled, a trait that can't be under-estimated for a freshman.

The same can be said for Aaron Brown, who is lurking as a potential tremendous sixth-man, someone capable of coming of the bench and providing instant offense. With Jones and Bryant taking so many of the shots Brown hasn't had a chance to run loose yet, but when he does he has the potential to be a double-digit scorer.

Group Four, The Potential Star: Jabarie Hinds

Remember what I said about Gary Browne and Aaron Brown, that even as freshmen they act like they belong on the court? I'm a believer that having the level of confidence needed to play that way is a huge indicator of what a young player could become, and Hinds has that in spades.

Considering he has started all 10 games, Hinds numbers, eight PPG, four assists, and two rebounds are fairly pedestrian. Those stats can't explain the way he plays though, always running, trying for steals, trying to make something happen. More importantly, he carries that swagger that says he honestly believes he is the best player on the court at any given time, a trait that can be invaluable in the right player or a train-wreck in the wrong guy.

So far, Hinds seems to be the right player, and if that continues he could become a star, not only in the Big East or Big 12 depending on how everything shakes out, but on the National level.

There are still many questions that West Virginia needs to answer.

Do they have enough size to compete in the Big East?

Is it really possible a team can be this bad from the foul line (62 percent on the year)?

Can they make it through a season without Huggins strangling Kilicli on the sidelines?

Those questions will be answered over the course of the season, but for now, the new look Mountaineers seem to be taking shape.

The time has come upon us, when we think about books, clothes shopping and the joys that come with the beginning of the school year.

Of course I'm not talking about class, I'm talking about sports.

If there is something college aged kids love, it's sports...and maybe alcohol.

But in an attempt to keep this article "G-rated," I will disregard the latter and discuss my thoughts on this year's Mountaineer basketball team.

Despite losing many of their elder teammates at the conclusion of last season, West Virginia still has a plethora of talent available on their platter.

One would think this is a good thing, until they come to the realization that only four of those players have actually played in a college basketball game, ever.

Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins has a lot of work to do as he guides his team into the regular season.

Luckily, he's got the chance to start early and will do so when his team plays in a scrimmage against Illinois in a game near Venice, Italy.

Not only that, but his team will also take on two professional European teams during their time on the Mediterranean coast—all valuable practice for a group of players with six incoming freshmen.

Senior leadership will be hard to come by, as forward Kevin Jones and guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant are the only two seniors—and starters—returning to the team. Forward Deniz Kilicli played off the bench most of last season and forward Kevin Noreen was redshirted after playing only a few minutes.

The only two other players with any college experience are transfers Juwan Staten from Dayton and Aaric Murray from La Salle; but they both must sit out the season before they are eligible to play.

Bob Huggins is taking it in stride.

"At least they're not throwing it out of bounds," Huggins said during an interview after Friday's afternoon practice.

Huggins' team is starting extra early this year with additional exhibition games in the preseason. Normally, teams would not be permitted to play exhibition games before the start of the season against other American or collegiate teams, but the NCAA made an exception for the scrimmage against the Illini in Italy.

It's likely the Mountaineers will be relying heavily on the leadership of the more experienced players this year as the new freshmen develop and learn the Huggins offense.

With the WVU coach starting so many young players, it's likely he will develop this group to play a much faster style of offense; as Huggins used to run with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

A slow, grind-it-out offense is not what Huggins is accustomed to, despite having relatively good success with it during his last few seasons at West Virginia.

More national media coverage than ever will make things even more interesting.

To see how Coach Huggins rebuilds an entire team throughout the season will be one of the best stories this year in Morgantown.

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Daniel Kablack is a College Basketball & College Football Writer for BigEastVoice.com