Postgame Thoughts: @ West Virginia

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

Did I mention turnovers?

Honestly, I have not seen such a horrid ball handling performance in all my years of watching VMI basketball. Such a performance is not acceptable at any level of basketball, let alone in Division I. I had no idea that the effects of losing Glasgow would be this bad. There is not a single exceptional ball handler on this team and that's just the unfortunate reality.

Looking at the box score (and ignoring a couple stats) you might think we won the game. Incredibly, despite being far outmatched length-wise and physically, we won the rebounding battle 44-36. It's obvious that the gang-rebounding strategy is working, and the guys are giving full effort in that regard. A +8 advantage against a Big 12 team would lead you to think that we could dominate any SoCon school on the glass. Not to mention that we held WVU to 7 second-chance points, and had 12 of our own. Three-point shooting was solid at 35%, as was free-throw shooting (90%).

But never mind that, because rebounding and three-point shooting ain't the problem. Turnovers are the problem, and the turnovers are derived from a lack of a true point guard. QJ, the natural shooting guard, has been thrust into a foreign position and it's understandable that he would need time to adjust, but his performance tonight was truly unacceptable. Eleven turnovers and five assists is not what you need from a PG. And you might consider Brian to be the man for the job but his shooting is so awfully inconsistent (1 for 9, 3 pts) that you are left with no reliable options. Eleby has been seeing more action, but turned it over six times as well. I might actually prefer a guy like Tim Marshall, who unlike QJ, gives you quality defensive night in and night out, and has a better FG% as well. Who would've thought before the year that the loss of DJ would not be our Achilles' heel? Dare I say, we are doing just fine without him in this regard.

To be fair though I must concede that it is West Virginia, who has one of the most suffocating defenses in the nation with long, tall, and athletic guards who pressure the ball (in pairs) on every possession. But coming into the game, the Mountaineers were forcing "only" 22 turnovers per game. Tonight we had 36...the previous record wasn't even close (25, back in 2008 against Winthrop, the game after we lost Reggie Williams temporarily to injury. Appropriately, we scored 41 points that night).

So the truth of our passing inability cannot be masked by WVU's solid defense. Turning the ball over 36 times will not win you a single game, whether you are playing in major college basketball or for the local rec league middle school team. If I can harp on any positives, I thought that Anglade had a decent game on both sides of the ball, Trey's effort was 100% as always, and Hinton was much improved from the debacle at UNCW, with 10 points, 5 boards, and no turnovers. Christian Burton was impressive in limited action, going 2-for-2 from the field (one three) and five points. Most notably, Tim Marshall came off the bench and scored 8 points with two assists. Perhaps Tim deserves a spot in the starting lineup, because his play has been much more consistent than that of Brian, and more focused than that of QJ. He never turns it over and plays solid defense, which cannot be said of most of those on our team right now. Timmy is averaging 11.2 PPG and shooting 52% from long range (53% overall).

Cut out the turnovers, make smart passes, know your assignments, and everything after that will fall into place. It's still early and QJ is still developing as a point guard, but if progress is not made before conference play, we are in deep trouble.