COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Brady Manek is known for his Larry Bird-like looks and his ability to use his 6-foot-9 frame to launch one 3-pointer after another, which makes him a match-up nightmare for Oklahoma’s opponents.
What the Sooners’ senior forward is not known for is his ability to rebound the basketball.
That’s not to say Manek can’t do it, but through four seasons, he’s had just one in which he averaged more than six boards per game.
Keep that in mind, as we rewind the Sooners’ 75-71 victory Saturday against No. 9 West Virginia to just under four minutes remaining in the game.
Oklahoma is up, 62-60, when Sooners guard Austin Reaves basically just threw up a long 3-pointer just to see what would happen … he missed it.
Manek rebounded it and found teammate Elijah Harkless, who was wide open for another 3-pointer.
That was missed, too, but Manek somehow — against what was supposed to be one of the top rebounding teams in the Big 12 in West Virginia — came up with yet another offensive rebound.
This time, Manek found Reaves, who nailed a 3-pointer with 3:41 remaining that gave O.U. a 65-60 advantage that the Mountaineers just could not overcome.
“That’s, huge,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “We tried to go a little bit bigger to prevent that. It didn’t work. You can’t continue to give your opposition as many shots as they want.”
In that moment, the Mountaineers needed Oscar Tshiebwe.
The other 39 minutes, 30 seconds of the game, a great argument can be made that Tshiebwe’s walking away from the program had no great effect on his teammates he left behind.
The 6-foot-9 forward certainly would not have scored enough early to keep WVU in it during a first half in which the Mountaineers (8-3, 1-2 Big 12) fell behind by 18 at the break.
He wouldn’t have been able to help the Mountaineers shoot any better from 3-point range to start the second half, in which WVU erased the deficit over the first 11 minutes.
But, in that one small moment, which was barely enough time for the ESPN2 announcers to sing the praises of Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger, the Mountaineers needed Oscar Tshiebwe on its roster. In that moment, WVU needed Tshiebwe on the floor.
He’s not, of course, the forward having announced he left the team for personal reasons two days before the game against the Sooners.
It’s timely now, only because the wound is still fresh, but is West Virginia better off without Tshiebwe in the lineup?
Many will say, “yes,” because the Mountaineers just erased a big halftime deficit and nearly beat Oklahoma on the road without him.
“Our different style is tailored more towards our guards now,” said WVU guard Taz Sherman, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half. “We can get more dribble penetration now that we don’t have two bigs that are kind of similar on the blocks at all times. We can get to our screens and into our motion offense faster and we can spread the floor more.”
All of that is true, but WVU also got outscored on second-chance points, 13-2, by one of the least physical teams in the Big 12. The Mountaineers got out-rebounded, too.
That probably doesn’t happen with Tshiebwe out there.
To be honest, I think this is a question that can not be answered with just one game.
Let’s wait and see what happens when the Mountaineers don’t shoot 9 of 14 in second-half
3-pointers. Let’s wait and see if WVU can live by no longer dominating on the offensive boards as they have so many times before.
And let’s also wait and see if Jalen Bridges (19 points in his first collegiate start) turns out to be an impact player. Let’s give the players a chance to adjust to new roles.
But, there are going to be moments in other games when you catch yourself thinking, “If only Oscar had stuck around …”
That’s just normal. Huggins can’t afford to think that way, though. He’s got to find a way to get this turned around.
If nothing else, though, the Mountaineers proved without a doubt they are not lost without Tshiebwe.
Are they better off without him? Maybe behind the scenes they are, but on the court — where it counts the most — it’s just to early to say.
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