INDIANAPOLIS - All things considered, it was one of those issues that was probably media-generated. Someone dug up an old quote or perhaps just an old, clouded memory and somehow tried to make it into controversy.
INDIANAPOLIS - All things considered, it was one of those issues that was probably media-generated. Someone dug up an old quote or perhaps just an old, clouded memory and somehow tried to make it into controversy.
Hey, it's the Final Four. It's like the Super Bowl in many ways - everyone has an angle and everyone wants controversy.
In this case it was Joe Mazzulla following West Virginia's 2008 NCAA tournament win over Duke in Washington. The West Virginia point guard, giddy with a spot in the Sweet 16 and a win over one of college basketball's big boys, slapped the floor at the end of the game. Afterward he might even have said something about Duke being overrated.
Of course, it became an issue this weekend in the lead-up to West Virginia's national semifinal game against Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a stretch, sure, but it still became an issue.
And as much as Mazzulla tried to avoid the questions, he just couldn't.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,'' he said Friday about the floor-slapping. "You don't think you get a chance to play Duke that many times in your career. They're obviously a team with such great history and tradition. You get caught up in the emotions. It was more a spur-of-the-moment-type thing.''
Duke's players remember the game. Five of this year's Blue Devils played that day at the Verizon Center in a game WVU won 73-67. Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas were and still are starters, although neither was particularly effective that day. Nolan Smith and Brian Zoubek played bit parts. Jon Scheyer was a sophomore guard who came off the bench to play 29 minutes and score 15 points.
While Scheyer admits that losing the game - or any game, for that matter - tends to stick with a player, anything Mazzulla might have done or said doesn't particularly stick with him.
"I definitely remember the game. You do remember parts of what people say,'' Scheyer said Friday. "But for us, we know we were a different team, first of all, and they were a different team. They had a lot of different guys. For us, we're really not using that as a payback-type thing. For us, of course we want to beat a team that knocked us out two years ago. Who wouldn't? That's our approach.
"But [comments] don't bother me. You know, people are going to say what they say. For the most part, I think our team is not paying too much attention to the things they said afterwards.''
INDIANAPOLIS - All things considered, it was one of those issues that was probably media-generated. Someone dug up an old quote or perhaps just an old, clouded memory and somehow tried to make it into controversy.
Hey, it's the Final Four. It's like the Super Bowl in many ways - everyone has an angle and everyone wants controversy.
In this case it was Joe Mazzulla following West Virginia's 2008 NCAA tournament win over Duke in Washington. The West Virginia point guard, giddy with a spot in the Sweet 16 and a win over one of college basketball's big boys, slapped the floor at the end of the game. Afterward he might even have said something about Duke being overrated.
Of course, it became an issue this weekend in the lead-up to West Virginia's national semifinal game against Duke at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a stretch, sure, but it still became an issue.
And as much as Mazzulla tried to avoid the questions, he just couldn't.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,'' he said Friday about the floor-slapping. "You don't think you get a chance to play Duke that many times in your career. They're obviously a team with such great history and tradition. You get caught up in the emotions. It was more a spur-of-the-moment-type thing.''
Duke's players remember the game. Five of this year's Blue Devils played that day at the Verizon Center in a game WVU won 73-67. Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas were and still are starters, although neither was particularly effective that day. Nolan Smith and Brian Zoubek played bit parts. Jon Scheyer was a sophomore guard who came off the bench to play 29 minutes and score 15 points.
While Scheyer admits that losing the game - or any game, for that matter - tends to stick with a player, anything Mazzulla might have done or said doesn't particularly stick with him.
"I definitely remember the game. You do remember parts of what people say,'' Scheyer said Friday. "But for us, we know we were a different team, first of all, and they were a different team. They had a lot of different guys. For us, we're really not using that as a payback-type thing. For us, of course we want to beat a team that knocked us out two years ago. Who wouldn't? That's our approach.
"But [comments] don't bother me. You know, people are going to say what they say. For the most part, I think our team is not paying too much attention to the things they said afterwards.''
Truth be told, there were some comments from West Virginia players after that game in 2008. Joe Alexander talked about Duke being Duke and people treating the Mountaineers "like we're this mid-major school playing all these big schools and upsetting them.''
Mazzulla, also fed up with all the hype surrounding Duke, talked about the Blue Devils being a great team with a great coach. "But when you have the media coming up to you and constantly asking you about Duke's tradition ...'' Mazzulla said.
And, of course, he was right. He might have even used the "O'' word at some point. But be honest. That year the Blue Devils probably were overrated. It was a team that relied almost exclusively on the 3-point shot and didn't rebound worth a lick, yet Duke was a No. 2 seed.
But hey, none of that means a thing today, save for in the minds and writings of a few who want to make it an issue.
"We were a totally different team and they're a totally different team,'' West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They were much smaller in Washington. They were really a 3-point shooting team. I think that's when they caught fire and really started playing well. They made a lot of 3s. We were so dependent on Joe Alexander to make plays for us and score the ball. So I think both teams are considerably different this time around.''
Still, Duke is the higher seed. The Blue Devils are favored, and the questions about Duke and its history keep coming, just as they did two years ago.
And so, if West Virginia wins, don't discount the very real possibility of another floor slapping, to which Mazzulla smiled ever so slightly.
"Depends on how the game goes,'' he said.
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
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