Post by elp525 on Mar 8, 2011 8:43:37 GMT -5
Tuesday March 8, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
NEW YORK - For the past few games of the regular season, West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins subtly campaigned that his team had the Big East Conference's best defensive player.
After that player, John Flowers, blocked six shots, took a charge and turned a steal into a four-point play in a 72-70 victory against Louisville on Saturday, Huggins was asked to update his theory.
"I don't think it's much of a theory," he said. "He's the best defender in the league. He's the most versatile defender in the league."
Some of his peers disagree, and Monday the Big East's coaches voted Syracuse forward Rick Jackson the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
The No. 20 Mountaineers can only hope Flowers responds to that disappointment in this week's Big East Tournament as well as he did to a prior setback that came to define his career.
Back in 2008, WVU played and lost an NCAA Sweet Sixteen game against Xavier. Flowers was a freshman on that team and he sat on the bench and watched all 45 minutes of a game that went to overtime and went against the Mountaineers largely because they couldn't defend the Musketeers in the game's key moments.
"I don't think he really knew what it took to play defense for Huggs," said senior point guard Joe Mazzulla of Flowers.
"I think he learned when he didn't get in the Xavier game it was going to take something else.
"I think he's really matured and from that point on he started to take defense seriously and commit himself to the game."
Flowers defended across the floor as a senior this season. He was No. 2 in the Big East with 2.4 blocks per game, 12th in rebounding (6.6) and added 23 steals.
Defense is nothing new, though. He averaged 6.4 blocks per game as high school senior for St. Mary's Ryken, in Waldorf, Md., in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference that always produces Division I players.
"It's a different level here than in high school," he said. "I think I always had the potential to play defense, but I didn't have the opportunity to show it like I do now."
Flowers averaged 12.4, 16.9 and 14.4 minutes per game his first three seasons, but is at 30.8 this season. He's started all 30 games after starting 12 his first three WVU seasons combined. In those seasons, Flowers blocked 83 shots. He already has 73 this season.
"I realized I had to go out and make myself better," Flowers said. "Ever since then, I've done what Coach has asked me to do."
The 6-foot-7 Flowers would have been the second WVU player to win the defensive award since the school joined the Big East in the 1995-96 season. Damian Owens won in 1998 largely because of his skill as a perimeter defender and for setting the school record with 97 steals.
Jackson led the conference with 2.5 blocks per game and was No. 1 in rebounding (10.7 per game) and defensive rebounding (7.2). Yet Jackson played in the middle of the 2-3 zone and didn't do nearly as much man-to-man guarding against the assortment of players Flowers did.
"How many other guys can guard Preston Knowles for a good portion of the game and then guard Terrence Jennings?" Huggins said of what Flowers did against Louisville. "There aren't a lot of guys that are that versatile and can not just guard them, but do a good job on them."
That's the value of Flowers.
He can handle a 6-foot-1 guard who prefers the perimeter and then switch to a 6-10 forward who beats up opponents in the post. Flowers embraces the variety and he's sure to see more of it at Madison Square Garden.
The 20th-ranked Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7 Big East) have a bye today and play in a 9:30 p.m. second-round game Wednesday.
"Some games you've got to be physical with the big guys down low who are 6-9, 6-10. Some nights you've got to have quick feet and stay in front of your man and contest his shots," Flowers said. "It's tricky. Some nights their best player might be a big man. Some things their best player might be a guard. Some nights it might be both. You've got to stay on your toes and get ready."
Flowers did struggle at times with fouls, although Mazzulla said "a lot of his fouls come from helping out his teammates." Flowers fouled out of five games, and WVU was 1-4. In the team's 10 losses, he played fewer than 30 minutes six times. When he was clear of fouls, he was effective.
"Look what he did to Marshon Brooks, who's pretty good," Huggins said. "That was John. That was John the whole time Marshon Brooks was in."
Brooks, Providence's 6-5 scoring machine, set the Big East's single-game (52) and single-season (468) scoring record this season. He was best in the Big East and No. 2 nationally with 24.8 points per game. He managed 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting in a 93-63 loss to the Mountaineers.
WVU had five days between a win at Georgetown and the Providence game. Flowers watched so much film and was told so many times that Brooks was hard to stop that he couldn't wait to give it a shot. He even fired himself up by calling Brooks "Kobe" throughout the game.
There might be a rematch Wednesday. WVU is the No. 6 seed and plays the winner of tonight's game between 11-seed Marquette and the 14th-seeded Friars.
Flowers, who is No. 5 on WVU's career blocks list and can move into third place with seven more, doesn't shy away from his assignments before or during the game.
One reason he's so good is one reason he's sometimes in foul trouble. He takes chances and doesn't avoid them and isn't worried about the outcome.
"A good defender is going to get scored on, going to get crossed up, going to get dunked on," he said. "It's part of the game. If someone does score on me, I can't take it too hard. But I'm not going to run out of the way. I'm going to jump for the block.
"I got dunked on against Pittsburgh. Everyone was talking about it. Stuff like that, I don't care about. It's part of the game. If I blocked it, it would have been a big play."
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
NEW YORK - For the past few games of the regular season, West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins subtly campaigned that his team had the Big East Conference's best defensive player.
After that player, John Flowers, blocked six shots, took a charge and turned a steal into a four-point play in a 72-70 victory against Louisville on Saturday, Huggins was asked to update his theory.
"I don't think it's much of a theory," he said. "He's the best defender in the league. He's the most versatile defender in the league."
Some of his peers disagree, and Monday the Big East's coaches voted Syracuse forward Rick Jackson the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
The No. 20 Mountaineers can only hope Flowers responds to that disappointment in this week's Big East Tournament as well as he did to a prior setback that came to define his career.
Back in 2008, WVU played and lost an NCAA Sweet Sixteen game against Xavier. Flowers was a freshman on that team and he sat on the bench and watched all 45 minutes of a game that went to overtime and went against the Mountaineers largely because they couldn't defend the Musketeers in the game's key moments.
"I don't think he really knew what it took to play defense for Huggs," said senior point guard Joe Mazzulla of Flowers.
"I think he learned when he didn't get in the Xavier game it was going to take something else.
"I think he's really matured and from that point on he started to take defense seriously and commit himself to the game."
Flowers defended across the floor as a senior this season. He was No. 2 in the Big East with 2.4 blocks per game, 12th in rebounding (6.6) and added 23 steals.
Defense is nothing new, though. He averaged 6.4 blocks per game as high school senior for St. Mary's Ryken, in Waldorf, Md., in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference that always produces Division I players.
"It's a different level here than in high school," he said. "I think I always had the potential to play defense, but I didn't have the opportunity to show it like I do now."
Flowers averaged 12.4, 16.9 and 14.4 minutes per game his first three seasons, but is at 30.8 this season. He's started all 30 games after starting 12 his first three WVU seasons combined. In those seasons, Flowers blocked 83 shots. He already has 73 this season.
"I realized I had to go out and make myself better," Flowers said. "Ever since then, I've done what Coach has asked me to do."
The 6-foot-7 Flowers would have been the second WVU player to win the defensive award since the school joined the Big East in the 1995-96 season. Damian Owens won in 1998 largely because of his skill as a perimeter defender and for setting the school record with 97 steals.
Jackson led the conference with 2.5 blocks per game and was No. 1 in rebounding (10.7 per game) and defensive rebounding (7.2). Yet Jackson played in the middle of the 2-3 zone and didn't do nearly as much man-to-man guarding against the assortment of players Flowers did.
"How many other guys can guard Preston Knowles for a good portion of the game and then guard Terrence Jennings?" Huggins said of what Flowers did against Louisville. "There aren't a lot of guys that are that versatile and can not just guard them, but do a good job on them."
That's the value of Flowers.
He can handle a 6-foot-1 guard who prefers the perimeter and then switch to a 6-10 forward who beats up opponents in the post. Flowers embraces the variety and he's sure to see more of it at Madison Square Garden.
The 20th-ranked Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7 Big East) have a bye today and play in a 9:30 p.m. second-round game Wednesday.
"Some games you've got to be physical with the big guys down low who are 6-9, 6-10. Some nights you've got to have quick feet and stay in front of your man and contest his shots," Flowers said. "It's tricky. Some nights their best player might be a big man. Some things their best player might be a guard. Some nights it might be both. You've got to stay on your toes and get ready."
Flowers did struggle at times with fouls, although Mazzulla said "a lot of his fouls come from helping out his teammates." Flowers fouled out of five games, and WVU was 1-4. In the team's 10 losses, he played fewer than 30 minutes six times. When he was clear of fouls, he was effective.
"Look what he did to Marshon Brooks, who's pretty good," Huggins said. "That was John. That was John the whole time Marshon Brooks was in."
Brooks, Providence's 6-5 scoring machine, set the Big East's single-game (52) and single-season (468) scoring record this season. He was best in the Big East and No. 2 nationally with 24.8 points per game. He managed 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting in a 93-63 loss to the Mountaineers.
WVU had five days between a win at Georgetown and the Providence game. Flowers watched so much film and was told so many times that Brooks was hard to stop that he couldn't wait to give it a shot. He even fired himself up by calling Brooks "Kobe" throughout the game.
There might be a rematch Wednesday. WVU is the No. 6 seed and plays the winner of tonight's game between 11-seed Marquette and the 14th-seeded Friars.
Flowers, who is No. 5 on WVU's career blocks list and can move into third place with seven more, doesn't shy away from his assignments before or during the game.
One reason he's so good is one reason he's sometimes in foul trouble. He takes chances and doesn't avoid them and isn't worried about the outcome.
"A good defender is going to get scored on, going to get crossed up, going to get dunked on," he said. "It's part of the game. If someone does score on me, I can't take it too hard. But I'm not going to run out of the way. I'm going to jump for the block.
"I got dunked on against Pittsburgh. Everyone was talking about it. Stuff like that, I don't care about. It's part of the game. If I blocked it, it would have been a big play."
