Post by rainman on Oct 13, 2007 6:37:05 GMT -5
Huggins: WVU to be better late in season
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Bob Huggins, West Virginia’s new coach of men’s basketball, said Friday his team will be better late in the season rather than early.
“Some teams will be better early than late,” he explained. “Those teams are more experienced.
“Our process is slower because we are teaching all of the players. It’s what you have to do when taking over a new program.”
Next year it will be easier and quicker because some of the veterans will help the coaches by helping teach the younger players.
Huggins and his assistants have to spend so much time teaching all of the players they inherited from coach John Beilein, who’s now going through a similar process from scratch at Michigan.
“Right now guys are not sure which direction to go. So we can’t go as fast in getting things done. I just haven’t seen enough of the players (to make firm judgment),” said Huggins, an outstanding player at WVU in the mid-1970s who assumed the coaching reins in early April.
“We’re going to try to put them in position where they can be successful. Two hours (a week) work (since Aug. 20) just is not enough. So we really haven’t seen them in enough situations.”
In a press conference prior to Friday’s opening practice session, Huggins told media representatives: “It’s kind of hard to answer questions on what a player can do at this point.”
He did say he thinks his pupils are making progress and that this team is more athletic than the one he took over a year ago at Kansas State and wound up winning 23 games.
“I want to win every game,” said Huggins, who’s within 10 of 600 career wins after 25 years of coaching in collegiate circles. “But, historically, the top three or four teams (in the 16-team Big East) have gone far in the NCAA tournament.
“That will be our goal.”
He noted that WVU is going to stress movement on the court and also defense.
“Anyone that plays defense can get to the ball,” he said. “How you do it can be different.”
Huggins reiterated that he has played several different styles of basketball during his career. It’s something he learned from his father, Charlie, who won three state championships in Ohio as a high school coach.
“You can’t live 18 years in a house (with a coaching dad) and not learn something,” he said. “My background is much of what I learned from him.”
He thinks there are different personalities based on the various coaches in the Big East.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Bob Huggins, West Virginia’s new coach of men’s basketball, said Friday his team will be better late in the season rather than early.
“Some teams will be better early than late,” he explained. “Those teams are more experienced.
“Our process is slower because we are teaching all of the players. It’s what you have to do when taking over a new program.”
Next year it will be easier and quicker because some of the veterans will help the coaches by helping teach the younger players.
Huggins and his assistants have to spend so much time teaching all of the players they inherited from coach John Beilein, who’s now going through a similar process from scratch at Michigan.
“Right now guys are not sure which direction to go. So we can’t go as fast in getting things done. I just haven’t seen enough of the players (to make firm judgment),” said Huggins, an outstanding player at WVU in the mid-1970s who assumed the coaching reins in early April.
“We’re going to try to put them in position where they can be successful. Two hours (a week) work (since Aug. 20) just is not enough. So we really haven’t seen them in enough situations.”
In a press conference prior to Friday’s opening practice session, Huggins told media representatives: “It’s kind of hard to answer questions on what a player can do at this point.”
He did say he thinks his pupils are making progress and that this team is more athletic than the one he took over a year ago at Kansas State and wound up winning 23 games.
“I want to win every game,” said Huggins, who’s within 10 of 600 career wins after 25 years of coaching in collegiate circles. “But, historically, the top three or four teams (in the 16-team Big East) have gone far in the NCAA tournament.
“That will be our goal.”
He noted that WVU is going to stress movement on the court and also defense.
“Anyone that plays defense can get to the ball,” he said. “How you do it can be different.”
Huggins reiterated that he has played several different styles of basketball during his career. It’s something he learned from his father, Charlie, who won three state championships in Ohio as a high school coach.
“You can’t live 18 years in a house (with a coaching dad) and not learn something,” he said. “My background is much of what I learned from him.”
He thinks there are different personalities based on the various coaches in the Big East.
