MORGANTOWN -- If a mass of talent equaled wins on the basketball court, West Virginia's men's team may be looking at one of its best seasons ever in 2001-02.
Reality, however, rarely plays out so evenly once March rolls around, as many of the deeper squads and top-notch players are turning in their uniforms while others are playing for the elusive and numerous awards.
And too often, it is those squads chock full of talent and playmaking ability that never jell and wither down the stretch.
With that weighing heavily on his mind, Gale Catlett has been preparing the Mountaineers for their final exhibition game of the season this evening at 7 p.m. vs. the EA Sports All-Stars at the Coliseum.
Catlett has no doubt his talented group has the potential to play with the best of the Big East, but fears the squad's tendency to practice poorly may hurt down the stretch.
"I don't know exactly what it is," said Catlett, "but this team has had a few rough practices. We're not making the progress I'd like to see. This week was just average at best which concerns me since I've never had a team that could just go through the motions and then flip on the switch for the games. Maybe this one will be able to do that, I don't know.
"It's not bad attitudes or anything that's hurting us. Maybe it's just a lack of concentration, but I think it's something we'll have to worry about a lot when we're playing in the Big East."
If Catlett does dress a lot of players this year, the veteran head coach will likely find more insight into that this evening. The EA Sports squad has already beaten Rutgers and recently lost to Tennessee by just four points and should provide a more Big East style of play -- a fact that couldn't make the coach happier.
"I think this team is pretty good," said Catlett of the touring EA group. "We'll try to divide the time differently (Friday) and employ a few less experiments. We're at the point now that we need to trying and get down a rotation of some kind. We need to find out who we have that can score in the clutch or make the big blocked shot or steal or rebound.
"I think that tonight we'll find out more about our rebounding and get to see some zone defense, which we need to find out about quickly."
The Mountaineers will have senior guard Lionel Armstead back on the floor this evening. Armstead missed the last week of practice due to a death in the family.
Chris Moss is one Mountaineer who can't wait to get the season underway when the squad travels to Albuquerque for the Hispanic Fund Classic next week.
The 6-8 senior frontcourter has developed over time into one of the players Catlett sees the most from day in and out -- and he's assuming a more important role in bringing the youngsters up to speed.
The question is whether Moss' recent anxiety is due to the nearing of the fall cage season or the knowledge that maybe this year's squad could be a real delight for fans to watch.
There's no doubting his confidence in teammates, that's for sure.
"I think we have a lot of positive capabilities," said Moss. "It's just a matter of getting the job done. We need to just get out there and play."
In the first WVU exhibition, the Mountaineers had little trouble exploiting an overmatched opponent, but the veteran Moss felt that the team's defensive performance left a lot to be desired.
"That's the worst is that we didn't get it done like we should," said Moss. "We allowed too much penetration and need to improve our pressure."
Instead, Moss said he expects the '01-02 team to be intimidating with its defense, a sentiment which was echoed by junior forward Josh Yeager.
"We can definitely get up and down the court and press when we need to," said Yeager. "The coaches have really been stressing the transition game from offense to defense and I think it's going to be lots of fun to see what we're made of."
