It's a winnable game but they play a full court 1-3-1 press and they are gonna trap you hard. They are a very good team. They play very tough defense and they can score but they really only have one big guy just like auguste so they don't have size. Basically if we can control our turnovers then we have a very good chance. Breaking the press is extremely important to scoring on their D.
I've watched them quite a few times, due to my boss being a WVU fan, and I agree with your final assessment, but a few changes.
They don't really play a zone press. They have one of their bigs guarding the ball out of bounds (to start, the Adrien kid). They man press, but they jump at EVERY opportunity, whether it is in the half-court or full.
They have a good amount of size, just not one overwhelming kid that going to get 20 and 10 (although, Williams has the potential). Williams is a load. He's very Tyler Hansborough esque. Plays hard, pounds you down low. And has some touch.
Adrien and the other starter (kid from Ohio, can't remember his name), are both probably around 6'9. Decent players, but the hit the glass hard.
They're bigs FLOP all the time, and then look completely shocked when called for a foul.
They are literally 10 deep.
When I watched them early in the year, their guards couldn't throw the ball in the ocean. Lately, they've been hitting some outside shots. But, the majority of their offense still comes off of turnovers and offensive boards (they may lead the country in both categories).
I actually, out of all the potential 3's, would want to play them or Utah for us (although, I can see Auguste fouling out in 10 minutes against Utah's big, not going to try to spell his name).
I don't think they rebound as well as UNC (they just play in a conference where boxing out is optional), and they are a below average shooting team. They rely on turnovers, which is something we don't do very often. They'll speed us up at times, we just have to be better.
They are really a poor man's UNC rebounding combined with a better Louisville pressure, with really poor shooting rolled in.
This could actually come down to how the game is officiated. If they actually call it close, we're going to be fine. In the game at least. If they get away with some of the stuff I've seen previously (Louisville type stuff), then we're going to be in trouble.
I think they end up wearing us down in the end, WVU by 8'ish. But I'd love to be wrong.
