Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which needs scuba gear as it continues to ponder the depths of WVU’s sinking season. I know and have come to accept that many of you have finalized WVU’s season, while others maintain hope for more games and continued development in some sort of postseason bid.

I, on the third hand, am water, flowing right along with this, which is to say WVU’s fortunes look exceedingly bleak. At two games under .500 now, the Mountaineers need to win out to enter the Big 12 Tournament above .500. Once there, a win has to follow to guarantee an above-.500 finish — and that’s probably a necessity for the NIT because of the recent history of NIT selections.

That said, three straight wins, to match the season’s longest winning streak, on the road against Kansas and Oklahoma and then home against Iowa State. seems like a long shot. By now you should know the Mountaineers are not adept at long shots.

So, CBI you say. The more people I talk to, the more I believe WVU won’t pursue that. So you’ve got at least four and maybe five games left this season before what I think will be a few changes.

But that’s still down the road a piece and deprives Deniz Kilicli and Matt Humphrey and Dom Rutledge their finality, to say nothing of the players who might also leave as well — and I’m not being cryptic, but I think we’re being foolish to have watched the past three or four games and believe every underclassman is coming back, or will be brought back, next season.

And say what you will about some players, but a few of these Mountaineers are still trying.

It’s personnel and philosophy. Huggins ditched “pouters” Wednesday and introduced yet another version of offense. We saw screens and handoffs and presentation that put the Baylor defense in conflict. On the whole, it worked, particularly for Eron Harris. It might have been a winning idea if WVU could make shots, of which they had plenty.

It was all a ploy to weaken the common defense against the Mountaineers and they’ll need that again tomorrow at Kansas and Jeff Withey.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, keep kicking. (Special thanks to SPD for ruling that one accidental.)

WVU79 said:

Huggins was asked a question (that he didn’t really answer) about if he had anyone who could make a play off the dribble. After watching this team for most of the season, I haven’t seen anyone that has that offensive talent. How in the world can other teams find these type of players and WVU can’t?
With the current roster of such poor shooters, low basketball IQ, and generally bad overall play; the other teams in the B12 have to be confident that no matter how the 1st half goes, they are never in danger of losing the game.
The 2012-13 team will be remembered as the greatest example of how not to play basketball. The future is not bright if WVU doesn’t somehow find some players that can shoot and dish the ball in an effective manner.
In addition, as others have posted in previous threads Huggins must curb his outbursts. This has got to be used against him in recruiting circles. Based on this year’s team, the opponents are winning the better players and leaving the coffee grounds for Huggins.

Harris has flashed that ability, but no one suspected he’d be the leading scorer this season. Staten can score off the bounce a little bit, but he hasn’t been consistently available. Hinds can definitely score off the bounce, but he hasn’t advanced much as a player. There are no easy scores on the roster, which is what makes you believe there will be changes to that roster.

Rugger said:

Coffee Grounds have filed a defamation suit.

Moving on.

Jeff in Akron said:

WVU shot 19.2% from 3-point and 30.2% overall. At 52 years old and not having picked up a basketball in I don’t know how many years, I could shoot those percentages. SERIOUSLY!!!

WVU is currently ranked 283rd in field goal percentage. I have a hunch Huggins becomes a much better coach as soon as his players get that shooting percentage in the top-100. The argument that it’s Huggins’ fault as a coach that his players can’t shoot doesn’t hold water. Both Ok. State and WVU took 53 shots, the difference is Ok. State made 47.2% of their shots. You can’t win basketball games if the ball doesn’t go through the hoop, I don’t care how many rebounds a team gets, or how well you play defense.

There are players that do well in games and there are players that do well in practice. Sometimes they do both, the current roster is not part of that group.

Two out of every ten 3-pointers and three out of every ten shots…

Yeah, that has coaching written all over it!

This is in reference to the Oklahoma State loss. Plug the explanation into a lot of other games and it stands. It’s not the answer people want to hear, or that they want to continue to hear without resolution, but the game is a lot easier when the players can put the ball through the hoop. True, one must recruit better shooters or better people who will commit to becoming better players. That’s coaching, but still …

Shoot4show said:

I had a coach ask me one time, “Son, what’s wrong with you? Apathy or ignorance?” I said, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” I’m betting that’s a conversation that’s occurred more than a few times with this year’s team.

The irony of your handle does not escape me.

JC said:

Oh, and none of this travel busniess would even be an issue if there were a couple guys on the team who could make shots. That, and a guy who can dribble the ball and pass it to the other guys on the court wearing the same color………..and maybe a guy or two that is good at listening. Winning cures everything.

Yep, and some of those trips would be easier if propelled by two or three or five straight wins, but what if the travel keeps it from happening? Or happening consistently? I’m not saying it’s the cause of every issue, but it has definitively played a part. 

ccteam said:

I agree that Huggins doesn’t do his team or himself any favors when he agrees with the excuses. This conference is not better than the Big East. If his team faces mismatches on the wings, it should have its own to exploit on the inside. The travel is hard, but what good does it do to dwell on it? He is searching for answers because he doesn’t know what to do with this team. Maybe the real answer is their just not good enough.

 I think there’s some confusion of excuse and explanation, but either can be used in excess. As for the other issue, are we sure he’s had the talent on hand this season to exploit when exploited? I would argue no.

Karl said:

I’m as disappointed as anyone with the way this season has played out — especially given how our football season went — but man, I can’t believe some of the career obits I’ve been reading about Bob Huggins (not on this thread, in general). This will be only the third losing season in Huggins’ 28-year career. The third! Losing is an aberration to Bob Huggins.

If he made some mistakes in building this team, in teaching this group how to play at a major college level, he’s going to have a long, long offseason to reflect and stew over it. He will make practice miserable. He will drill kids until they either get it, or quit. He will do what is necessary. That’s what makes this guy a 700-game winner. These Big 12 programs better enjoy it while it lasts.

… wait, let’s do this again. Click here then read.

Karl said:

I’m as disappointed as anyone with the way this season has played out — especially given how our football season went — but man, I can’t believe some of the career obits I’ve been reading about Bob Huggins (not on this thread, in general). This will be only the third losing season in Huggins’ 28-year career. The third! Losing is an aberration to Bob Huggins.

If he made some mistakes in building this team, in teaching this group how to play at a major college level, he’s going to have a long, long offseason to reflect and stew over it. He will make practice miserable. He will drill kids until they either get it, or quit. He will do what is necessary. That’s what makes this guy a 700-game winner. These Big 12 programs better enjoy it while it lasts.

Yyyyyyes!

TAW74 said:

Beilien seemed to do OK with his recruiting and left the nucleus for the Final Four team.

More players have left the program in the past few years than remain.

Huggins gets paid a lot of money to recruit players that can win. That typically doesn’t happen by constantly demeaning them on the bench or from behind a microphone.

I’m tired of the melodramatic BS. Just play like a college team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that’s the temperature of a large portion of the population.

hershy112 said:

This blog should be renamed Groundhog Day. At least the comments section…

This wasn’t an easy F Double. This hasn’t been an easy year, come to think of it.

Wayne said:

Mike,
Do we get refs at the Coliseum that don’t work many other Big 12 games because of the geography?

I think there’s probably a “Who can get there easiest?” component to it, but these guys want to be paid their three grand and they want to be on TV and they want postseason assignments.

pknocker40 said:

Rutledge fouls 94 feet from the basket –

Huggs: “DOM!!! You’re supposed to be running ba-DOM! DOMMMM!!!! #$@!”

I just want to know who’s been doing these guys’ homework.

I caught that. So good. Nique had a quietly bad night in the most subtle of ways. 

Rugger said:

“After (Baylor) switched, I looked over to Huggs and he was looking back at me. He wasn’t really giving me a sign to do anything, so I looked up at the clock and knew that I had to make a play.” — Juwan Staten regarding WVU’s last possession

I’m not convinced everybody knew the score, either. Not trying to make a major issue out of it because everything fell apart at the end, and because players often have their heads somewhere else after a loss, particularly one like that, but it was curious, to me, to say the least.

Rugger said:

I couldn’t get the game last night but why was Staten on the floor when we needed a 3 to tie? Had all other guys who have made a three in their career fouled out?

He’s actually been pretty good lately — 25:4 assist:turnover ratio the past six games! — and much better on defense. And obviously he wasn’t meant to shoot a 3 there. I credit him for talking afterward. I didn’t see Bert Smith, Mark Whitehead and Tom O’Neill in front of reporters Monday night.

Gordo said:

What strikes me about the individuals on this team is how basketball dumb they are. I don’t care how much time is on the clock, the play Staten needs to make is passing it to someone else. Please tell me he has enough self-awareness to realize he is one of the last people on the floor that should be taking that shot. You don’t have to look at the coach to figure that one out.

Valid comment and concern. Time was tight, though he did take a lot of time advancing the ball, too.

Mack said:

The idea of Staten driving to the basket there, to me, is idiotic. It’s a three-point game and, if memory serves, WVU had about 8 seconds left when they started the play. Someone’s gotta chuck up a 3. WVU has a better chance of “miracle’ing” a 3 in than it does of scoring, fouling, rebounding, and scoring again.

Bingo. The deliberate dribbling before everything deteriorated disarmed many things after Baylor switched up on defense. It’s often the act before the act.

jtmountaineer said:

I’ll say the offense ran much more smoothly, or maybe just less chaotically, without Jabbarie in the game. I like him and think he has skills, but he does not operate well within the confines of an offense. He has what I’d call playground skills, and it was a little eye-opening last night to see the team run much better through Eron, Deniz, and Staten. Wasn’t always pretty or effective, but it was an improvement.

Harris is going to be good. He’s already good, but he’s going to get much better because, by all indications, he wants to. I remember hearing in the post-game a few weeks ago that Da’sean’s been working with him individually, which makes me smile. In this season, we take the smiles where we can get them.

And Jabarie’s cameo included a turnover for a layup and a forced shot that went for a score, probably exactly what Huggins was hoping Hinds wouldn’t press into during the game. I wonder if this was meant to happen sooner. And this has nothing to do with anything, but when Huggins talks about “wonderful kids,” he does with Jabarie in mind. He’s always great to deal with before or after games. This can’t be easy on him.

Karl said:

I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Bob Huggins has recruited poorly, if you’re going by what the recruiting services say. Since 2010, McCune, Noreen, Hinds, Elijah Macon and Coattrill were all rated 4-star players by Scout and/or Rivals. Hinds, in particular, was seen as a big get. Macon didn’t make it, but he’s supposed to be in next season’s class.

Whether or not these players actually amounted to anything, or whether the recruitniks had them all wrong, is another story. The point is, plenty of other teams and “experts” saw something in them, too. They had other options and yet they came to WVU and Bob Huggins.

That’s fair. Huggins has beaten some good schools for these players. Who’s to say Jabarie Hinds 2013 wouldn’t have happened at UConn? Also, keep in mind that Tom McCune was a four-star who just got kicked off the team at Oakland.

Mack said:

My honest opinion . . . Geno will fool some team desperate for a quarterback to draft him in the first round . . . and he will end up getting the coach and possibly the GM fired within three years. I just don’t think he’s an NFL quarterback. He seemed to fall apart mentally in 2012. There’s no question that when he was on he was the best quarterback in WVU history. I just don’t think he’ll ever be good for a full NFL season.

I do like Tavon though. Tavon is the type of gamebreaker that can be the final piece of the puzzle for a team that is on the verge.

“And with the third pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select Geno Smith.” He’s not slipping past the Jets at N0. 9, either.

ffejbboc said:

Darius Reynaud was Tavon Austin before Tavon Austin. He was a RB in HS who was turned into a slot with good hands, excellent quickness, elusiveness and superior return skills.

DR is basically doing the same thing for the Titans that Austin will do for some future NFL team. Tavon will probably be more of a featured offensive player than DR is at Tennessee, and will get a few more sweeps and designed run plays.

Nice comparison, though probably not entirely accurate. Tavon has superior with-the-ball skill and speed and the game is better suited for a talent like that today than it was five years ago. I kind of feel like Reynaud was one of just a few similarly sized and skilled players at that time. He’s still making a living, though. There are a lot more Reynauds out there now and Tavon is said to be the best of the bunch.

StraightOuttaNorthCentral said:

“I’ve played in three different systems in [my sophomore year],” Smith said

Fixed.

Noted.

Mack said:

The three different systems didn’t make any sense, did it?

No. I would have guessed 11 or 12.

AnxiousEER97 said:

That “three different systems” thing was an odd reference. Maybe he’s referring to the UConn game from his sophomore season. That game is a classic.

The one where WVU had three clearly distinguishable offenses (spread, QB run, power I)? Time capsule stuff there.

I love you, Doug! said:

Tangent to current thread (I also had wondered if Tavon now goes ahead of Geno) regarding Pat White’s comeback attempt: I heart Pat, even though he’s been all over the map since he got cut from the Dolphins (maybe I’ll play baseball, maybe I’ll be a hip-hop producer, maybe I’ll act, maybe I’ll coach) but it occurred to me that the current NFL climate might be more hospitable for him than it was when he was drafted.

He was drafted to be a wildcat QB, which essentially is just a running back taking a direct snap by himself in the backfield. No deception there. Now, the vogue is the read-option, with a running back or two at the QB’s side, giving him choices and deceptive power and it’s what he ran at WVU.

In short: Pat bombed in 2009 Dolphins’ offense, but might he prosper in 2012 49ers offense?

I’m skeptical. He’s not going to be as fast, as instantaneous, as instinctual as he was in his prime. His related skills, not frighteningly sharp in the first place, can’t be as good. And teams still tackle. But I am intrigued.

glibglub said:

Note the way a purple highlighter is deployed in conjunction with references to the color purple. It is clear this unfortunate individual suffers from the same psychopathology as Digger Phelps.

Ah, Richard in Michigan. An exclusive club.

Rugger said:

I like the employment of Gold and Blue highlights and the omission of anything gray.

A stroke of ingenuity. Er, several strokes.

Jeff in Akron said:

They don’t have newspapers and letters to the editor any more?! When did that happen, and where have all my letters been sent?!

Enjoy the weekend!