I guess I’m probably only surprised because it went the way we thought it might go, with West Virginia back peddling out of the NIT last night with a loss that follows recent form, when you thought there might be a better response. But that’s a 3-7 finish with each loss by 10 or more points and defense and rebounding bedeviling the team toward the game as they did toward the end of the schedule.

But I actually am surprised about something that’s stuck with me for a while: The Mountaineers have spent a lot of time for a long time on the back foot. When they’re the more forward of the two teams, they can be pretty good. But so often they are the ones in the counter punch position and it’s hard to win games when you’re battling back, or conditioned to be the one to battle back.

Again, I think that’s the legacy of this team. It was not good with adversity within games. To me, that’s a little odd because maybe up until last night — when that little speck of light at the end of the tunnel started to get a lot bigger and, hey, is that a train whistle? — I thought the team submitted consistently good to great efforts. Shots didn’t go, but I thought they played hard. But WVU wilted last night, though I don’t think that’s hard to understand, either. And the more I think of it, I think in recent games — Texas and Oklahoma especially — the petals started showing. The end started arriving before the buzzer did for this bunch, and that was the cumulative effect of a season going wrong as it went along toward the end.

When you don’t defend and you can’t keep the other team from getting multiple shots, or at least keep the team from thinking it can, you put a lot of pressure on offense. I don’t know if Georgetown didn’t get tape or watch tape until halftime last night, but it took the Hoyas until the second half to go, “Wait … those guys can’t guard the paint. Let’s go inside and let’s push the pace on offense.” And whn it happened, the Mountaineers shook.

But it was a theme. WVU was already complicating offensive operations by relying on jump shots so much, and in the end the guys just couldn’t withstand the additional pressure brought on by their additional misdeeds.

But that’s that and attention now turns to the women’s team and, I guess, spring football. I do have three questions for you:

1) Did Bob Huggins “fix it?”
2) What is the most must-fix issue, be it individual or collective, or both, for the 2014 season?
3) What do you expect form Jonathan Holton?

I’ll give you mind, just to be fair.

1) Yes, but I think he glued together a broken coffee mug. It looks better, it still leaks, but it’s not in pieces. The chemistry and camaraderie is better. The talent has improved. There are better parts in place. But youth and inexperience both waned. I think an offseason will help. I think it’s disingenuous to say the team got better all season, but I think the team is better this season. It’s highs were higher and its lows were not as low as what we witnessed last season.

2) I’m not trying to single out Eron Harris, but I think he just has to become a better defender. He needs to have a second purpose if he’s going to play 34 minutes because it sure looked like teams found out ways to quiet him on offense at the end of the season. He can have eight- and 12-point games Everyone can. He can’t give up open shots and easy scores on defense on those nights.

3) I think he’ll start next season, which makes the bench better, but beyond that, I just don’t know.