Post by rainman on Dec 9, 2007 10:13:20 GMT -5
Alexander takes game on shoulders for West Virginia
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— That the play had no affect on the outcome made no difference, for one of the major reasons that it wasn’t anything more was the way Joe Alexander had taken the basketball game on his shoulders for West Virginia.
The day had started as something of a disaster for Alexander, a minute and 18 seconds having messed up a play so badly that his coach, Bob Huggins, had taken the hook to him. And, when he came to the bench, Huggins looked angry enough to make it a left hook.
If there is such a thing as tough love, this was it for moments later, as Huggins was about to send Alexander back into what would be a 92-68 victory over Duquesne he put his arm around him and chatted warmly with him.
That his wonderfully talented forward responded with a career high 26 point performance that included six rebounds, five assists and a perfect 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line serves to show that Huggins knows exactly which buttons to push with Alexander.
But now we got back deep into the game, to a time when Alexander was in the process of scoring 10 consecutive West Virginia points. The Mountaineers had the ball out of bounds on the side near half court.
Alexander broke toward the basket, guarded by 6-10 Shawn James.
First, a word about James. Earlier this year, facing Oakland – Michigan, not the Raiders — James broke the Duquesne record for blocked shots in a game when he got his eighth. While that might be impressive standing alone, it must be understood that he did so with 7:26 left to play... in the first half.
He wound up with 12 in that game and came into this game as the nation’s leader in blocked shots, averaging 9.6 per contest.
Alexander was well aware of that situation and had addressed it after the Auburn victory, stating that he planned to dunk on James when the two went head to head.
That moment arrived on the inbounds play as the ball found its way into Alexander’s hands.
“It wasn’t a play to set me up for a dunk. In fact, I didn’t think I’d get the ball,” he said.
But get it he did while in stride.
WVU has this new physical test they do where players take a five-yard run and then see how high they can jump. The measuring device is 12 feet high. Alexander’s test saw him soar 4 or more inches above the 12-foot mark, almost two and a half feet above the rim.
To say James had no chance is to put it mildly.
In truth, he had no chance all night. “He wasn’t much of a presence out there,” said Alexander.
He was credited with one block for the entire game, that being something of a phantom block on a shot by Alex Ruoff, one that only the scorekeeper seemed to see.
The crowd, of course, erupted.
Alexander would later deny that it was important to him to pull off such a dunk.
“Important, no. Fun, yes,” he said.
This entire season is becoming fun for Alexander as he has built something of a special relationship with Huggins. It was no secret that last year the chemistry between he and Coach John Beilein was shaky. Beilein was always on him in practice and it reached the point, many believe, where he wore Alexander down, cut his confidence and led to a miserable second half of the season.
Asked about it, Alexander said:
“Everyone has his own game the game you work on by yourself in the gym. It’s what you’re comfortable with. If you can’t do what you worked on you are not going to be any good,” he said.
Huggins, on the other hand, offered Alexander exactly what he wanted and needed – freedom.
“I didn’t know what we’d get with him when he first came,” Alexander explained. “After a couple of days, once he told us what he wanted, which was for us to be tough and to play hard every day in practice, I knew he was the right man for me. He delivered on everything he said.
“When Coach Beilein would get mad, he wouldn’t get in your face. Hugs gets in your face on a daily basis.”
That apparently was what Alexander craved, someone to push him, not pick at him.
“Joe just wants to be good,” Huggins said. “It’s a matter of breaking old habits and creating new ones, but old habits are hard to break sometimes.”
Huggins knows there will be mistakes. There has to be, considering what he asks him to do. “We ask him to bring the ball up court against pressure. We ask him to rebound. We ask him to play their post player. We run plays for him. We ask him to do a bunch, but we wouldn’t ask him if we didn’t think he was capable of it.”
Against Duquesne, after a slow start, Alexander did it all and the Mountaineers are now 7-1 because of it.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— That the play had no affect on the outcome made no difference, for one of the major reasons that it wasn’t anything more was the way Joe Alexander had taken the basketball game on his shoulders for West Virginia.
The day had started as something of a disaster for Alexander, a minute and 18 seconds having messed up a play so badly that his coach, Bob Huggins, had taken the hook to him. And, when he came to the bench, Huggins looked angry enough to make it a left hook.
If there is such a thing as tough love, this was it for moments later, as Huggins was about to send Alexander back into what would be a 92-68 victory over Duquesne he put his arm around him and chatted warmly with him.
That his wonderfully talented forward responded with a career high 26 point performance that included six rebounds, five assists and a perfect 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line serves to show that Huggins knows exactly which buttons to push with Alexander.
But now we got back deep into the game, to a time when Alexander was in the process of scoring 10 consecutive West Virginia points. The Mountaineers had the ball out of bounds on the side near half court.
Alexander broke toward the basket, guarded by 6-10 Shawn James.
First, a word about James. Earlier this year, facing Oakland – Michigan, not the Raiders — James broke the Duquesne record for blocked shots in a game when he got his eighth. While that might be impressive standing alone, it must be understood that he did so with 7:26 left to play... in the first half.
He wound up with 12 in that game and came into this game as the nation’s leader in blocked shots, averaging 9.6 per contest.
Alexander was well aware of that situation and had addressed it after the Auburn victory, stating that he planned to dunk on James when the two went head to head.
That moment arrived on the inbounds play as the ball found its way into Alexander’s hands.
“It wasn’t a play to set me up for a dunk. In fact, I didn’t think I’d get the ball,” he said.
But get it he did while in stride.
WVU has this new physical test they do where players take a five-yard run and then see how high they can jump. The measuring device is 12 feet high. Alexander’s test saw him soar 4 or more inches above the 12-foot mark, almost two and a half feet above the rim.
To say James had no chance is to put it mildly.
In truth, he had no chance all night. “He wasn’t much of a presence out there,” said Alexander.
He was credited with one block for the entire game, that being something of a phantom block on a shot by Alex Ruoff, one that only the scorekeeper seemed to see.
The crowd, of course, erupted.
Alexander would later deny that it was important to him to pull off such a dunk.
“Important, no. Fun, yes,” he said.
This entire season is becoming fun for Alexander as he has built something of a special relationship with Huggins. It was no secret that last year the chemistry between he and Coach John Beilein was shaky. Beilein was always on him in practice and it reached the point, many believe, where he wore Alexander down, cut his confidence and led to a miserable second half of the season.
Asked about it, Alexander said:
“Everyone has his own game the game you work on by yourself in the gym. It’s what you’re comfortable with. If you can’t do what you worked on you are not going to be any good,” he said.
Huggins, on the other hand, offered Alexander exactly what he wanted and needed – freedom.
“I didn’t know what we’d get with him when he first came,” Alexander explained. “After a couple of days, once he told us what he wanted, which was for us to be tough and to play hard every day in practice, I knew he was the right man for me. He delivered on everything he said.
“When Coach Beilein would get mad, he wouldn’t get in your face. Hugs gets in your face on a daily basis.”
That apparently was what Alexander craved, someone to push him, not pick at him.
“Joe just wants to be good,” Huggins said. “It’s a matter of breaking old habits and creating new ones, but old habits are hard to break sometimes.”
Huggins knows there will be mistakes. There has to be, considering what he asks him to do. “We ask him to bring the ball up court against pressure. We ask him to rebound. We ask him to play their post player. We run plays for him. We ask him to do a bunch, but we wouldn’t ask him if we didn’t think he was capable of it.”
Against Duquesne, after a slow start, Alexander did it all and the Mountaineers are now 7-1 because of it.
