Post by elp525 on Mar 17, 2011 8:59:47 GMT -5
March 16, 2011
Senior guard leads WVU into NCAA opener vs. Clemson
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. - To say with any kind of certainty that NCAA tournament time is Joe Mazzulla time might be a stretch. After all, he's not always unstoppable at this time of year.
The fact of the matter is, when sixth-seeded and No. 22-ranked West Virginia meets 12th-seeded Clemson today at St. Pete Times Forum (12:15 p.m., CBS), it will be the ninth NCAA tourney game for the fifth-year senior guard. In six of the first eight, Mazzulla averaged just 4.7 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds. He shot only 27.6 percent from the floor.
But few remember those games when they think of Mazzulla's contribution to WVU's amazing success during the three years he's played in the postseason (6-2 in two NCAAs and 5-0 in the NIT). And that's because one game in each of those NCAA tourneys pretty much define Mazzulla's legacy.
As a sophomore in 2008 he came within two assists of a triple-double to lift the Mountaineers past Duke and into the Sweet 16 in a game at the Verizon Center in Washington. And then last March he had 17 points and was named the outstanding player in the East Region when WVU beat Kentucky to reach the Final Four.
So, is there any common ground, any reason that the plucky guard's best games have come against the best competition and in the most pressured of situations?
"No,'' Mazzulla said. "It's just doing what Huggs asks.''
And when West Virginia coach Bob Huggins asks, Mazzulla has learned that it is best to do all he can to deliver.
"He really makes a point in big games that someone needs to step up and [the team needs] someone to feed off of,'' Mazzulla said. "I think maybe hearing Huggs talk like that and knowing he has confidence in us, it's easy for us to go out and just play.''
Teammate Cam Thoroughman, one of Mazzulla's best friends, joked that he's seen Mazzulla pack a red cape in his locker when it comes tournament time.
"I don't want anyone to jinx me,'' Mazzulla said.
Again, this isn't exactly Da'Sean Butler hitting six game-winning shots in a season like he did a year ago. Mazzulla's postseason explosions aren't nearly that predictable. In fact, they tend to come out of the blue. The game before Duke in 2008 he played 15 minutes against Arizona, scored three points and had no assists, no rebounds and a turnover. Leading up to Kentucky a year ago he'd scored 11 points and was 3-for-15 shooting in the three previous NCAA tournament games.
And then it happens.
"Sometimes it's just being out there on the court and seeing the other four guys and they're kind of looking at you,'' Mazzulla said. "You feel compelled to step up, not only for your teammates but for your coach.''
The game against Duke was the most surprising because Mazzulla was clearly not one of West Virginia's best options.
"Before the game [Huggins] came up to me and said, 'Joe, when you're in the game we're going to run 1-4 low.' I said, 'What? You're running a play for me?' '' recalled Mazzulla, who that day finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. "I got in the game, he ran 1-4 low and I think I scored on the first possession. You get that confidence and the game settles in and it's just that much easier.''
The Kentucky game was similar. Mazzulla had made one 3-pointer in two years heading into that game. He made one early against the Wildcats and set the tone.
"When you have the confidence of the coach and he says, 'Hey, you've got to do it,' then you feel an obligation to do it,'' Mazzulla said.
Of course, if Huggins goes to Mazzulla and says something like that today it wouldn't be unexpected. While Mazzulla isn't exactly the go-to guy on this team - there really is no go-to guy in this bunch - he's certainly been in battles and has earned that confidence. But in 2008? When he was a second-year sophomore playing on a team with Joe Alexander, Butler and behind point guard Darris Nichols?
"Yeah, I was like, 'We have Joe, Da'Sean, Darris and he's running plays for me?' '' Mazzulla said. "Yeah, it felt good.''
Ditto last year.
"We had Da'Sean and Wellington [Smith] and Devin [Ebanks] and those guys. But as much as they were the big stars, they looked at me to be the facilitator,'' Mazzulla said. "The great leader that Da'Sean was, he said, 'Joe, we need you to play.' Having that confidence of your teammates I kind of went out there and kind of played without any stress and had fun.''
Huggins, of course, doesn't just arbitrarily decide that this day or that one is going to be when he asks Mazzulla to step up. There's always sound reasoning.
"The Duke game we felt like he could drive the ball and we told him that,'' said Huggins, who actually spent most of his halftime that day at the Verizon Center in Washington rehashing seldom-used plays for Mazzulla with his team to take advantage of what he had seen. "They were playing some younger guards and after we moved people and got them spread he drove the ball.''
The Kentucky game was a little bit different, even though Mazzulla once again drove to the basket and shocked the Wildcats last year at the Carrier Dome. In that one he also hit an early 3-point shot - only his second in two years - and got several of his drives to the basket in transition, rather than in the halfcourt, which is his norm. His numbers weren't like the near triple-double he had two years earlier against Duke, but he was so impressive that he was named the East Region's most outstanding player.
"The Kentucky game, his confidence had started to grow the way he played in the Big East tournament,'' Huggins said. "But if you think about it, he didn't start shooting the ball left-handed until there was probably a game left in the regular season.''
That, of course, was because of the shoulder injury Mazzulla suffered in December of 2008 that nearly ended his career. He sat out the rest of that season and redshirted after starting the first seven games (that was the only year in Mazzulla's four to date that WVU didn't win an NCAA or NIT game, losing to Dayton in the first round), then struggled mightily to shoot, even switching from his natural left hand to his right on free throws. For the most part, he didn't even attempt jump shots.
Now, though, when Mazzulla makes a 3-pointer it's not a complete surprise. Yes, he made just four in the first 28 games this season (nine times he was 0-for-1 in a game, missing one and then just giving up), but he's made four in six attempts the last three games. He has regained confidence in his shot, not just because he's made a few but because Huggins now doesn't just yank him if he misses the first or the second or even the third.
"But obviously making some helps, too,'' he said.
"It's like I told him before the Louisville game this year, when he'd made one 3-pointer all year,'' Huggins said. "I told him that was a tremendous advantage because they don't think he's going to make any. And he'd been shooting well in practice. I told him when he was open to jump up and shoot it in.''
Maybe it's a good thing or maybe not (again, Mazzulla's best games seem to come out of the blue), but he has been playing well of late. While WVU was finishing the regular season 4-1 and beating Notre Dame, Connecticut and Louisville in the process, Mazzulla had 16 points one game, 18 another and in the last dozen games he's averaged 5.8 assists.
But that has only served to focus more defensive attention on him.
Well, make that any defensive attention, which when he wasn't making shots just didn't happen.
"Marquette was the hardest I've been guarded all year and I really wasn't expecting that,'' Mazzulla said. "I'll definitely go in with a different mindset to counter that against Clemson and, hopefully, for the rest of the tournament. That was the first time I'd actually been guarded.''
Huggins, of course, sees opportunity in that defensive attention.
"That's a good thing,'' Huggins said of pulling defenses out to guard Mazzulla. "That makes it easier for him to drive it to the basket.''
So, does Mazzulla have another lights-out game in him for today or perhaps down the road if the Mountaineers advance? Don't ask him. He didn't plan on the others and he's not planning one now.
"I'm not going to go into a game looking to do that and get out of what goes on,'' Mazzulla said. "But I obviously want to be a big part of what we do, whether it's facilitating or scoring. It's just whatever Huggs asks of me. The last thing I want to do is put pressure on myself and force myself to try to play a certain way.''
Senior guard leads WVU into NCAA opener vs. Clemson
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. - To say with any kind of certainty that NCAA tournament time is Joe Mazzulla time might be a stretch. After all, he's not always unstoppable at this time of year.
The fact of the matter is, when sixth-seeded and No. 22-ranked West Virginia meets 12th-seeded Clemson today at St. Pete Times Forum (12:15 p.m., CBS), it will be the ninth NCAA tourney game for the fifth-year senior guard. In six of the first eight, Mazzulla averaged just 4.7 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds. He shot only 27.6 percent from the floor.
But few remember those games when they think of Mazzulla's contribution to WVU's amazing success during the three years he's played in the postseason (6-2 in two NCAAs and 5-0 in the NIT). And that's because one game in each of those NCAA tourneys pretty much define Mazzulla's legacy.
As a sophomore in 2008 he came within two assists of a triple-double to lift the Mountaineers past Duke and into the Sweet 16 in a game at the Verizon Center in Washington. And then last March he had 17 points and was named the outstanding player in the East Region when WVU beat Kentucky to reach the Final Four.
So, is there any common ground, any reason that the plucky guard's best games have come against the best competition and in the most pressured of situations?
"No,'' Mazzulla said. "It's just doing what Huggs asks.''
And when West Virginia coach Bob Huggins asks, Mazzulla has learned that it is best to do all he can to deliver.
"He really makes a point in big games that someone needs to step up and [the team needs] someone to feed off of,'' Mazzulla said. "I think maybe hearing Huggs talk like that and knowing he has confidence in us, it's easy for us to go out and just play.''
Teammate Cam Thoroughman, one of Mazzulla's best friends, joked that he's seen Mazzulla pack a red cape in his locker when it comes tournament time.
"I don't want anyone to jinx me,'' Mazzulla said.
Again, this isn't exactly Da'Sean Butler hitting six game-winning shots in a season like he did a year ago. Mazzulla's postseason explosions aren't nearly that predictable. In fact, they tend to come out of the blue. The game before Duke in 2008 he played 15 minutes against Arizona, scored three points and had no assists, no rebounds and a turnover. Leading up to Kentucky a year ago he'd scored 11 points and was 3-for-15 shooting in the three previous NCAA tournament games.
And then it happens.
"Sometimes it's just being out there on the court and seeing the other four guys and they're kind of looking at you,'' Mazzulla said. "You feel compelled to step up, not only for your teammates but for your coach.''
The game against Duke was the most surprising because Mazzulla was clearly not one of West Virginia's best options.
"Before the game [Huggins] came up to me and said, 'Joe, when you're in the game we're going to run 1-4 low.' I said, 'What? You're running a play for me?' '' recalled Mazzulla, who that day finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. "I got in the game, he ran 1-4 low and I think I scored on the first possession. You get that confidence and the game settles in and it's just that much easier.''
The Kentucky game was similar. Mazzulla had made one 3-pointer in two years heading into that game. He made one early against the Wildcats and set the tone.
"When you have the confidence of the coach and he says, 'Hey, you've got to do it,' then you feel an obligation to do it,'' Mazzulla said.
Of course, if Huggins goes to Mazzulla and says something like that today it wouldn't be unexpected. While Mazzulla isn't exactly the go-to guy on this team - there really is no go-to guy in this bunch - he's certainly been in battles and has earned that confidence. But in 2008? When he was a second-year sophomore playing on a team with Joe Alexander, Butler and behind point guard Darris Nichols?
"Yeah, I was like, 'We have Joe, Da'Sean, Darris and he's running plays for me?' '' Mazzulla said. "Yeah, it felt good.''
Ditto last year.
"We had Da'Sean and Wellington [Smith] and Devin [Ebanks] and those guys. But as much as they were the big stars, they looked at me to be the facilitator,'' Mazzulla said. "The great leader that Da'Sean was, he said, 'Joe, we need you to play.' Having that confidence of your teammates I kind of went out there and kind of played without any stress and had fun.''
Huggins, of course, doesn't just arbitrarily decide that this day or that one is going to be when he asks Mazzulla to step up. There's always sound reasoning.
"The Duke game we felt like he could drive the ball and we told him that,'' said Huggins, who actually spent most of his halftime that day at the Verizon Center in Washington rehashing seldom-used plays for Mazzulla with his team to take advantage of what he had seen. "They were playing some younger guards and after we moved people and got them spread he drove the ball.''
The Kentucky game was a little bit different, even though Mazzulla once again drove to the basket and shocked the Wildcats last year at the Carrier Dome. In that one he also hit an early 3-point shot - only his second in two years - and got several of his drives to the basket in transition, rather than in the halfcourt, which is his norm. His numbers weren't like the near triple-double he had two years earlier against Duke, but he was so impressive that he was named the East Region's most outstanding player.
"The Kentucky game, his confidence had started to grow the way he played in the Big East tournament,'' Huggins said. "But if you think about it, he didn't start shooting the ball left-handed until there was probably a game left in the regular season.''
That, of course, was because of the shoulder injury Mazzulla suffered in December of 2008 that nearly ended his career. He sat out the rest of that season and redshirted after starting the first seven games (that was the only year in Mazzulla's four to date that WVU didn't win an NCAA or NIT game, losing to Dayton in the first round), then struggled mightily to shoot, even switching from his natural left hand to his right on free throws. For the most part, he didn't even attempt jump shots.
Now, though, when Mazzulla makes a 3-pointer it's not a complete surprise. Yes, he made just four in the first 28 games this season (nine times he was 0-for-1 in a game, missing one and then just giving up), but he's made four in six attempts the last three games. He has regained confidence in his shot, not just because he's made a few but because Huggins now doesn't just yank him if he misses the first or the second or even the third.
"But obviously making some helps, too,'' he said.
"It's like I told him before the Louisville game this year, when he'd made one 3-pointer all year,'' Huggins said. "I told him that was a tremendous advantage because they don't think he's going to make any. And he'd been shooting well in practice. I told him when he was open to jump up and shoot it in.''
Maybe it's a good thing or maybe not (again, Mazzulla's best games seem to come out of the blue), but he has been playing well of late. While WVU was finishing the regular season 4-1 and beating Notre Dame, Connecticut and Louisville in the process, Mazzulla had 16 points one game, 18 another and in the last dozen games he's averaged 5.8 assists.
But that has only served to focus more defensive attention on him.
Well, make that any defensive attention, which when he wasn't making shots just didn't happen.
"Marquette was the hardest I've been guarded all year and I really wasn't expecting that,'' Mazzulla said. "I'll definitely go in with a different mindset to counter that against Clemson and, hopefully, for the rest of the tournament. That was the first time I'd actually been guarded.''
Huggins, of course, sees opportunity in that defensive attention.
"That's a good thing,'' Huggins said of pulling defenses out to guard Mazzulla. "That makes it easier for him to drive it to the basket.''
So, does Mazzulla have another lights-out game in him for today or perhaps down the road if the Mountaineers advance? Don't ask him. He didn't plan on the others and he's not planning one now.
"I'm not going to go into a game looking to do that and get out of what goes on,'' Mazzulla said. "But I obviously want to be a big part of what we do, whether it's facilitating or scoring. It's just whatever Huggs asks of me. The last thing I want to do is put pressure on myself and force myself to try to play a certain way.''
