Post by rainman on Nov 11, 2007 6:28:14 GMT -5
Huggins era tips off in Beilein style
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— They said the John Beilein era was over at West Virginia and the Bob Huggins era had started but somehow, as the Mountaineers outscored Mountain State 18-6 down the stretch to earn a 88-65 victory there were times when you really couldn’t tell the difference.
First off, there was WVU hitting 12 3-point shots and taking 29, which is vintage Beilein stuff.
Then there was the matter of this allergy that the Mountaineers have developed during the Beilein days, an allergy to rebounds that didn’t change just because Huggins came to town and said it would. When they counted them up, West Virginia had snared 38 rebounds but had given up 46, 22 of them on defense.
Very Beileinesque, indeed.
But there was one thing that let you know the changing of the guard had truly occurred.
The man on the bench — and we hope John Beilein doesn’t take this the wrong way — possessed a full head of jet black hair, combed back. His dress was more Jay Wright than Rollie Massimino, a black suit that did not come off the rack at Wal-Mart, over a sky blue crew neck shirt.
And then there were the shoes … eh, make that boots.
Around these parts when you’re talking boots you’re talking work boots or hiking boots, but these were more out of the Clint Black collection, light in color, made from rather exotic snake skin.
“Once a year,” Huggins said, referring to how often he breaks out these babies. “Boomer gave them to me.”
While he didn’t expand upon that bit of information, one suspects he’s speaking of Boomer Esiason, the former Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback turned broadcaster, and not Boomer Wells, the one-time Cincinnati Reds player.
Beilein was far more comfortable in Florsheim wingtips than snake skin boots, rest assured.
You could tell there was a difference, too, in the manner in which Huggins carried himself. He was more animated than Beilein, evidenced at times by standing with an arm wrapped around an official’s shoulder during an opponent’s free throw or yelling and wagging a finger as he gathered his players around him during a time out.
There also was a visible difference in the reaction of his players following what should have been a reason for at least an occasional smile, having finally gotten to play against someone other than themselves and having scored a victory doing it. But the ones who ventured forth to meet the media seemed to be subdued.
While Beilein would have asked them to take the moment to enjoy what they had done right until he could point out their mistakes in a film session, they already were being critical of themselves.
“It was quiet in the locker room,” Alex Ruoff said. “Everyone is thinking of their mistakes and thinking about how they are going to pay in practice tomorrow.”
When this attitude was brought forth to Huggins, his answer went a long way toward explaining much of the differences in philosophy between himself and his predecessor.
“If you lose you are sad. You’re supposed to be,” Huggins said. “If you are doing things that lead to losing, they will make you sad.”
And so, in a way, it’s a lose-lose situation unless you play almost the perfect game, which no team is going to do at its best, least of all the first time it tries out a new offense and defense in competition.
Huggins doesn’t worry as much about mistakes, understanding they will happen, but he does worry about effort and he believes he knows how to maximize it.
“Guys don’t like to run,” he said. “So when they don’t rebound, they run. When they don’t block out, they run.”
And when they are outrebounded by 16 rebounds … well, let’s just say they’ll run more today than any NFL wide receiver running his routes.
The rebounding thing never really bothered Beilein. He felt he made up for it by getting steals and not turning the ball over.
Huggins has seen up close and personal how well his team learned that lesson.
“We don’t rebound in practice,” he said. “We’ve emphasized it, but maybe not enough. You have to try in order to get one. I keep thinking they might like it if they ever got one.”
Joe Alexander seems to be his No. 1 project in this regard, considering his size and strength and athleticism. When Alexander was lackadaisical about rebounding in the first half, Huggins let him know about in no uncertain terms at halftime. He might even have given him a boot in the rear end, if he wasn’t afraid of scuffing up those fancy snake skin boots.
Whatever he did worked for Alexander was a second half force, scoring 12 points, getting four rebounds and blocking four shots.
Having succeeded in inspiring Alexander, the rest of the team better hope Huggins doesn’t shoe up for practice wearing a free pair of Nikes today.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— They said the John Beilein era was over at West Virginia and the Bob Huggins era had started but somehow, as the Mountaineers outscored Mountain State 18-6 down the stretch to earn a 88-65 victory there were times when you really couldn’t tell the difference.
First off, there was WVU hitting 12 3-point shots and taking 29, which is vintage Beilein stuff.
Then there was the matter of this allergy that the Mountaineers have developed during the Beilein days, an allergy to rebounds that didn’t change just because Huggins came to town and said it would. When they counted them up, West Virginia had snared 38 rebounds but had given up 46, 22 of them on defense.
Very Beileinesque, indeed.
But there was one thing that let you know the changing of the guard had truly occurred.
The man on the bench — and we hope John Beilein doesn’t take this the wrong way — possessed a full head of jet black hair, combed back. His dress was more Jay Wright than Rollie Massimino, a black suit that did not come off the rack at Wal-Mart, over a sky blue crew neck shirt.
And then there were the shoes … eh, make that boots.
Around these parts when you’re talking boots you’re talking work boots or hiking boots, but these were more out of the Clint Black collection, light in color, made from rather exotic snake skin.
“Once a year,” Huggins said, referring to how often he breaks out these babies. “Boomer gave them to me.”
While he didn’t expand upon that bit of information, one suspects he’s speaking of Boomer Esiason, the former Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback turned broadcaster, and not Boomer Wells, the one-time Cincinnati Reds player.
Beilein was far more comfortable in Florsheim wingtips than snake skin boots, rest assured.
You could tell there was a difference, too, in the manner in which Huggins carried himself. He was more animated than Beilein, evidenced at times by standing with an arm wrapped around an official’s shoulder during an opponent’s free throw or yelling and wagging a finger as he gathered his players around him during a time out.
There also was a visible difference in the reaction of his players following what should have been a reason for at least an occasional smile, having finally gotten to play against someone other than themselves and having scored a victory doing it. But the ones who ventured forth to meet the media seemed to be subdued.
While Beilein would have asked them to take the moment to enjoy what they had done right until he could point out their mistakes in a film session, they already were being critical of themselves.
“It was quiet in the locker room,” Alex Ruoff said. “Everyone is thinking of their mistakes and thinking about how they are going to pay in practice tomorrow.”
When this attitude was brought forth to Huggins, his answer went a long way toward explaining much of the differences in philosophy between himself and his predecessor.
“If you lose you are sad. You’re supposed to be,” Huggins said. “If you are doing things that lead to losing, they will make you sad.”
And so, in a way, it’s a lose-lose situation unless you play almost the perfect game, which no team is going to do at its best, least of all the first time it tries out a new offense and defense in competition.
Huggins doesn’t worry as much about mistakes, understanding they will happen, but he does worry about effort and he believes he knows how to maximize it.
“Guys don’t like to run,” he said. “So when they don’t rebound, they run. When they don’t block out, they run.”
And when they are outrebounded by 16 rebounds … well, let’s just say they’ll run more today than any NFL wide receiver running his routes.
The rebounding thing never really bothered Beilein. He felt he made up for it by getting steals and not turning the ball over.
Huggins has seen up close and personal how well his team learned that lesson.
“We don’t rebound in practice,” he said. “We’ve emphasized it, but maybe not enough. You have to try in order to get one. I keep thinking they might like it if they ever got one.”
Joe Alexander seems to be his No. 1 project in this regard, considering his size and strength and athleticism. When Alexander was lackadaisical about rebounding in the first half, Huggins let him know about in no uncertain terms at halftime. He might even have given him a boot in the rear end, if he wasn’t afraid of scuffing up those fancy snake skin boots.
Whatever he did worked for Alexander was a second half force, scoring 12 points, getting four rebounds and blocking four shots.
Having succeeded in inspiring Alexander, the rest of the team better hope Huggins doesn’t shoe up for practice wearing a free pair of Nikes today.
