Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which will spend a little time on Mike Parsons today. I found there to be a lot of good questions and quality commentary in the wake of Tuesday’s news that Parsons was — I think what follows is an appropriate set of words, no matter the circumstances — going away after 35 years.

What I did not find to be good or quality was the baseless, unsupported claim this is a  blow to WVU. Here’s a very simple way to put all of this: There was no need for a person in the position Mike Parsons had. IMG College now manages the multimedia rights. That used to be Parsons’ gig as the man in charge of the Mountaineer Sports Network.

This is to say he wasn’t fired or ousted. Nor is this to say there was or is no need for a Mike Parsons.

I’ll stand in the face of the “That guy sucked!” crowd and tell you he did a lot with scheduling and contracts and television and finances and the like in the past and that he was good at his job. And perhaps the most recent state of MSN wasn’t all that it could be, but focusing on that overlooks what wonders it worked for so many years.

Did he make and have enemies? Certainly. Was MSN assailable? Of course. Doesn’t change that he was a good administrator.

But Mike, isn’t it then a blow to WVU to lose a good administrator? 

Yes and no. You’d like to have good people who are good at their jobs, but I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people are willing to argue against Parsons on both, and at there was, at minimum, a concern about allegiances. And doesn’t WVU have individuals now who handle scheduling and contracts and television and finances and things like that? Parsons did a lot of external stuff when Ed Pastilong was around. Oliver Luck doesn’t strike me as a guy who needs or wants an external guy.

If you’re not familiar with Parsons or you don’t understand the clamor about his exit, that ought to tell you enough about the situation. From a step back from the surface, it’s not that big of a deal, so much so that WVU probably isn’t going to hire another deputy AD … or anyone else in the athletic department. Closer to the source of the news, sure, it’s a big story. Guy who’s been around a while is gone. Smoke no longer billows from inside the Coliseum.

But I understand that’s a minority.

If you see this as a simple business transaction, then Parsons was fired and will get some severance upon his departure, though there are many other questions on the other side of that simple business transaction.

If you’re outraged, it’s probably because you grew to like Parsons and/or dislike Luck and you’re making another trek to the camel’s back.

I’m certain we’ll talk more about this in a bit. Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be considerate of those around you.

Rugger said:

You would think Markel would acknowledge the perfect pass from Gary “telegraph” Browne. Ingrate!

This is my fault. I believe I said in the game blog that team’s don’t really press WVU because WVU (Staten) is pretty good against the press. This was a press situation and Browne made a silly play. Perfect pass to Markel, though. Indeed.

Foul Shot said:

He has a guy there screening the D and he is looking to get on ESPN plays of the day, why not go 360?
So what is the commentary next year as Huggs is facing two straight losing seasons for the first time in his career?
8 straight more vs ranked teams, darn hoping we can get some surprise wins quickly.

WVU was ahead by two! It was a half-court break! He had a defender on his right! Hey, I get the carpe diem nature of the dunk, but there were some variables to consider. Also, that eight straight against ranked teams won’t happen. Baylor wasn’t ranked. Kansas State isn’t ranked. The next four — Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa State and Texas — are all ranked. Here’s the funny part. I rather like WVU’s chances at home against Kansas State (road teams don’t play defense nearly as well on the road as they do at home and the Wildcats played above all offensive norms in the first game). If Baylor beats Oklahoma State, WVU is in fourth place halfway through the conference schedule. And yet, given that Baylor could well be 2013 Texas and has the look of a team that doesn’t really care and can’t figure out what to do with its talent, the Wildcats would be the only good team WVU has beaten in Big 12 play.

hoot said:

said it before, sayin it again—if Huggs could wipe out some of our dumba$$plays we would have several more Ws. One would like to think that said playersare capable of better decision-making, but it is getting frustrating to watch—moreso than last year since this team has shown some signs of being lessdysfunctional.

How hard Tuesday night was it to shake this thought from your head? WVU didn’t trail for the final 34:34. But Staten’s miss on the front end of a one-and-one, the shot clock violation, the blown defensive possession against Heslip and Staten’s 0-for-2 screams “THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.” And Baylor let ’em of the hook.

Sam said:

Marcus Smart is the one who grabbed the offensive rebound that led to Forte’s one made three, right? He should have fouled out. That’s three points right there, nevermind the technical foul shots that WVU would have gotten if the referees were treating both programs equally. But they weren’t. At what point does this become a genuine issue? Or will WVU forever be expected to play five against five+the referees+the Big12′s best interests?

It’s funny, but I haven’t gotten the sense that the Big 12 is anti-WVU, whereas I was shaken by how much I believed the final Big East season was conspiratorial. I didn’t even think the Big 12 officiating was all that bad before the Oklahoma State game. So to that point, I suspect it’ll be a while before it’s permissible to go totally bonkers. But I watched parts of the OSU game again yesterday and arched my brow a few times. And I watched the end of OU-OSU live Monday and saw Smart clearly send a swinging-shiver to an OU player’s face as he drove in what was OSU’s final possession. There’s something going on there, I think. It’s just really hard to watch a player act and play like that when he’s honestly a very good player, but there’s no way the officials haven’t been made aware of this. No way. I say this because what I’ve learned from a couple of conversations is that the Monday night games are usually tightly officiated because of talking points crews receive from the league. “Hey, let’s keep an eye on defenders getting under the legs of shooters…Let’s cut down on moving screens in the paint…Watch for Team X holding cutters.” And then Monday, bam, the whistles are all over it. Officials do what they’re told to do, so, no, I don’t believe Smart hasn’t been a part of that conversation yet. The flip side of that is maybe there’s a warning out to watch teams trying to fluster Smart … because WVU did that. Planned it. Executed it. Admitted it.

Parks said:

I said it in the other thread, but I really want to see how WVU responds, perticularly Harris and Williams. They were just slow to the punch after the previous Ok State game. I think if we come out with intensity and can weather the first 4-5 minutes of the game, I like our chances. Baylor isn’t as big as some of the other Big 12 teams we’ve played thus far so I think that if we can go 50/50 on the boards and Staten get in the lane we have a good chance. I think if Harris and Henderson both show we win a lot more games then we are right now but I really think tonight is on Staten. Assuming, of course, the other guys show up and play with intensity as well. I know our record isn’t as good as we wanted or maybe even to a degree thought this season, but I still get excited for every game because this year’s team has shown they have the ability to win against anyone on any given night. Makes it a lot easier to gear up for each game. Here’s to hoping the good guys get this one on the road.

A pre-Baylor comment that nailed the Staten part. This is basically a team with five pieces: Staten, Harris, Henderson, Williams, bench du jour — and Huggins said Tuesday he basically watches practice to see if it’ll be Dibo or Adrian he trusts in the game. Tuesday was Dibo. But every one of those parts except from Staten has a question mark. Can Harris play through a cold snap? Which Henderson is it? Can Williams score from two feet? Did Huggins pick the right bench guy? That’s a lot of uncertainty going into games. I think you’re seeing Huggins manage and mitigate, though. Staten has the ball a lot, even by his standards. Noreen is playing more and better. The Adrian/Dibo thing is a hunch and Huggins trusts it. It’s fluky and funny to watch, but it’s not backfiring. 

jtmountaineer said:

Have Harris and Henderson ever both shown up in the same game? Be curious if anyone wants to check stats to see if there’s ever been a game in which both have, say, scored 15 or more points.

The key to this game might be limiting their offensive rebounds. Apparently they’re really good at that, but I’ve always thought offensive rebounds can be misleading. If you get a lot of them, it likely also means you miss a lot of shots.

They have, and I’ll show you in a moment, but I think it’s time to start moving forward thinking of Henderson only as another guy. Can he be the third-best player on this team? That’s the question. I don’t see a problem with Henderson and Williams, uh, battling for that spot, and I think you could easily argue WVU is better off if Williams is the guy. Henderson is a pretty good complementary part who does well when he’s playing off others. I don’t see much happening when the action starts and stops through him — apart from the second half against Texas Tech. No denying that.

Rugger said:

according to my quick research and salem arithmetic….harris/henderson have both scored 15 points or more in the same game 5 times this seasons as follows:

GA Southern 15/16 w
Presby 19/18 w
Zags 23/15 l
W&M 18/16 w
TTU 15/28 w

Most nights one is on and one is not.

And this baffles and bothers Huggins. 

jtmountaineer said:

OK, agree with every word. For you and everyone else: how much weight could/should Nate and Brandon Watkins put on without hindering their agility?

Interesting. Watkins is listed at 220, but looks to be a bit below that now. I’d say in three years he can be +/- 245 and be OK. Adrian is the one I wonder about. He’s got a big frame and wide shoulders and he’s 230 already. I wonder if he could be in that 250 range in a few seasons? And I don’t mean this as a joke, but what agility would Adrian be losing if he added that weight and muscle? If Watkins gets too big, he loses his ups and his ability to go out and get a shot or a rebound. Adrian doesn’t do a lot above the ankles. He can do a little Georges Niang, am I wrong?

Foul Shot said:

Nice win, but they really wanted to give that one away.
If they are going to design plays for Staten to take it to the hoop, he has to make the foul shots.
But, Staten is a special player, no one can contain him from going to the hoop.
Honestly, Williams, at this point, would be better off tossing it out from underneath the hoop as he constantly gets snuffed on the put back attempts. Hoping they can work on that in the offseason or that he gets stronger to make those moves.

Let’s talk about Williams: One of two things has to happen when he gets those balls under the hoop (and, by the way, he’s pretty good at that for a guy with questionable hands at this stage of his career): 1) Get that thing the hell out of the crowd 2) Get fouled. I’ve been under the basket for a few games now and believe he’s getting fouled … IF you think of fouls as what WVU is getting called for. Without the ability to play help defense as it has in the past, WVU’s defenders are routinely working the principle of verticality, which means the area from your navel to an infinite point above your outstretched arms is yours to defend. You’re allowed to jump straight up to defend it and you’re legal as long as you don’t move forward or backward or lower your arms. Dudes are arching over Williams, which impedes on his rights to the vertical space above him. That’s a foul. I don’t get it. 

jtmountaineer said:

If this game showed something unusual, it’s apparent in the score. This team has more often won with 80+ and given up 75+. Wonder if the team takes anything away from a victory in which it only needed 66 because it held the opponent so low. Could be that Baylor’s just a bad shooting team and the score means nothing moving forward.

I’m going to call that the exception and not the rule. WVU hadn’t won a game with fewer than 74 points this season and those games were against Marshall and TCU, so, yeah. Baylor looked lost and has for three weeks now. In a separate comment, ffejbboc said there’s no “fox hole mentality” among the Bears. Agreed, and hasn’t WVU’s season been a fox hole? I thought Baylor was waiting on Heslip to do something, whereas he’s not that kind of player. What’s odd to me is that Austin, who was a decent enough 3-point shooter last season, doesn’t take any 3s this season. He’s a matchup problem who looks like a guy working on his NBA game.

hoot said:

Good riddance Mike Parsons….from a purely professional standpoint, he did far more damage to the University than most people realize in areas involving MSN radio, failure to capitalize on the WVU brand, and just plain veracity. There are reasons so many people wanted him fired. Thank you Oliver Luck.

I told you we’d be back. In fairness, hoot, I’m going to have to ask you to support your claim. It’s not unique, but I feel like some blanks need to be filled in here.

Parks said:

I think Parsons had some really good ideas (a lot of bad ones too) but the people he had surrounding him for a lot of his years with the university and the deals they struck pretty much doomed him. Unfortunately, he fought for his precious product to not evolve or change much. I think ultimately that’s what did him in as far as the public is concerned. MSN was a great idea and university-ran multimedia can be successful if done right but through the years it became apparent that things weren’t being done right and they weren’t going to be allowed to be done right. I’m not going to go out and celebrate that he’s gone but I’m not going to really miss him either. He’s been a bystander for many years now anyways.

As I understand things, Parsons knew in May he was done. Then that wasn’t true and I was warned not to write it, which, obviously, was accurate advice. So I guess he was brought back and then found out again he wasn’t coming back next year. And then a settlement agreement was agreed upon? Lots of tentacles. But what about this: An athletic department made a change. Sometimes you need and want new ingredients. 

The 25314 said:

It’s sucks that you can’t fire anyone anymore. Parsons was actively subversive of his boss, perhaps to the point of insubordination. Yet, he gets paid more to leave than if he were to stay.

He refused to even consider outsourcing media rights. It was all about him, not the University.

Who handles media rights is not a right or wrong issue on which you have the moral responsibility to stand your ground. We’re talking about a business decision. Yes, you can have your opinion, but once your boss makes the decision, it’s your responsibility to accept the decision and do your best under the new paradigm. Not leak information, and wage a war against your employer. Instead, Parsons, like Kerin and Stewart before him, acts like he’s entitled to his job. He wants to be painted as a wronged loyal Mountaineer. And he was loyal…as long as he had unquestioned and unchecked absolute control.

You know what? I’m with you on the main point. And many of the things you lay down to support your claim, especially as they relate to the Tier 3 saga and for leaving so much money on the table through the years, which seems to be the greatest crime he’s accused of, at least echo what I’ve heard. But here’s the off part: If there’s a problem, solve it, don’t appease it. So why the appeasement? Does Parsons, in a matter of speaking, know where the bodies are? Let’s not ignore the presence of the ongoing lawsuit Tier 3 lawsuit.

Parks said:

See, that article Mike, proves the teachers were right. Algebra will one day be needed in our adult lives. Nice breakdown of the numbers.

While I think the offense should and needs to go through Staten, I wonder how well Harris does take it. Eron clearly knows how to say the right things, and I do think he’s genuine in those words but I fear his emotions would get the best of him if night in and night out, he’s second fiddle. I agree with you though, imagine if teams stopped making containing Harris their priority and instead focused a lot of attention on Staten..Harris, Henderson, Dibo and Adrian would all benefit greatly on the perimeter. Will be interesting to see what Huggs’ gameplan is come Saturday.

Eh, I don’t think there’s a switch to be flipped. Whatever change is entirely upon Staten to be more aggressive. As that relates to Harris, honestly, I hope he hates it because that can be constructive. A smart player would push to make the most of his opportunities and try harder in other areas to impress his point guard. Harris doesn’t really rebound and he can struggle on defense. Maybe those areas are ratcheted a little. But to be clear, I don’t suspect a more assertive Staten causes a chemistry problem. Chemistry seems to be what these guys like most about themselves. 

jtmountaineer said:

I think that KSU loss left a horrible taste in the team’s mouth, even more so than the Texas loss because that one blurred a little bit with the OSU game before it. Coming off the Baylor road win, I think we’re going to be ready for the KSU rematch at home.

WVU believes the very same.

Mack said:

Would it be unreasonable to compare Juwan Staten to Chris Paul? I feel ridiculous doing so but at the same time I feel that it’s fair.

Unreasonable. He does fill a stat sheet and he does run a lot of things, but we can do better. 

Simple Jack said:

I think staten is a bit like Chris Paul- small, talented, good stats, but never really tearing up the wins and loss column

I suppose that’s fair. Paul was a great college player and you knew he’d be a great pro. Staten look like he has the capacity to be a great college player. I’m not convinced about the next step. How about this? He’s better than WVU has had in a long, long, long time.

Gordo said:

I think Juwan Staten is like Chris Paul about as much as I think Lisa Kudrow is like Jennifer Anniston.

Enjoy the weekend!