Welcome to the Friday Feedback, back in its wheelhouse after 41 of the past 80 days were spent on the road and 35 of the first 73 days of 2013 were spent in Central Standard Time. It’s my least favorite time zone.
You thought that ESPN graphic detailing WVU’s travel was played? You should have seen the one Justin Jackson and I were pushing upon waitresses at Gordon Biersch Tuesday night. It was as if Lordy Rodriguez had graced the eatery with his presence.
But it is, at long last, done. In the past. Yet we’re going to look in the rear view mirror today, probably because I had to drive four hours to an airport yesterday so I could get home in a manner that would allow me to keep my job.
I need not tell you this Big 12 experience settled in way, waaaay below expectations. I knew this, of course. We all knew this. I just don’t think the reality hammered away as hard as it did Wednesday night.
I mean, do you realize what happened in the final 20 seconds off that game? Let’s review:
– Deniz Kilicli goes 1-for-2 at the free throw line to leave the score tied 69-69.
– Texas Tech calls timeout.
– WVU completely disassembles Texas Tech’s play.
– Josh Gray unbuckles the perimeter defense and drives and tries a layup.
– Aaric Murray rotates and swats that shot.
– That block goes right to Jamal Williams like a textbook pass to a positioned shooter in the corner.
– Williams shoots a 3.
– Williams misses.
– Dejan Kravic tips in the offensive rebound to win the game.
Every one of those nine things triggers a distinct emotion in postseason play. Every one of them. The missed free throw sets up a fantastic finish and teases overtime, which are two tantalizing treats for a crowd. The spectators buzz throughout the timeout and seem to unite in witnessing something special.
The deterioration of a play ups the anticipation for what you know is going to be a 1-on-1 situation between a dribbler and a defender. A crossover and a drive brings gasps from the crowd. The blocked shot triggers shouts before everyone realizes the extremely unlikely good fortune of a great defensive play turning into a disastrous one when that shooter winds up to win the game.
The time the ball is in the air is silent until it’s overwhelmed by the groans of a miss. And then you have the shrieks and shouts when the tip-in wins the game.
That should have been awesome, but I can’t remember being more disappointed by the end of a game. All of those events, gathered into a single conclusion, were meet with indifference. It was calm. I can’t imagine Bob Huggins was more mad after the game than I was, albeit for vastly different reasons.
Seriously, imagine if all of that happened inside Madison Square Garden. That timeout would have been the best. The defense would have been met with a cheer. The drive, the block and the open shot would have produced three loud and distinct responses. And the game-winner … actually, that’s hard to explain if you haven’t experienced it. MSG is just different in the way the wonderful fans treat those things.
The whole thing left me empty, but that’s just me and my warped view. A day later I’m reading the local paper and a story on the new teams and the new fans visiting the Big 12 Tournament refers to the University of West Virginia and UWV and I couldn’t help but remember that the Neertainmounts used to get the back page of the New York tabloids.
It had finally come home for me.
It was all so clear, never as impossible to ignore as it was after the early exit from the conference championship: This Big 12 thing wasn’t nearly as cool as it was supposed to be. The Mountaineers were the outsiders, not the outliers. They were the norms, not the exceptions. They were susceptible to the transitional elements we all ought to have realized were so powerful.
And the worst part is that the football and the men’s basketball teams might be a year away from getting it right. It might be longer.
There’s a lot left to reconcile with this Big 12 move and somewhere a long I-70 yesterday I got to thinking about something. Huggins says his team wasn’t ready for the Big 12. I think it’s fair to say Dana Holgorsen has agreed, in less definitive statements, the same could have been said of his team. Both of those programs could have used another year in the Big East to prepare the rosters in terms of both personnel and depth.
How much damage did WVU do by rushing out of the Big East? There’s the hefty buyout and the, um, lost seasons. And, again, they’re quite likely a year away still. How much of the novelty will be left or how hard will it be to restore that luster?
I don’t think it’s wrong to say WVU would have been in a better position if it was entering next year. Some things, like travel, would still be a factor, but other variables could have been more ready.
But here’s the crazy part: The Mountaineers absolutely did the right thing. They had to do it and their most powerful appeal to the Big 12 was that they could be there for the 2012-13 year. We’d be having a very different conversation today if WVU didn’t jump. Instead of living in a world with Texas and Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State, which, don’t get me wrong, isn’t a bad deal, you’d be in limbo with Cincinnati and UConn, Houston and SMU.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t break stride.
Mack said:
In 2011, I said that no conference would be better for the WVU fans than the Big East was at that time. One year in, Mr. Casazza, was I right?
Uh, I already answered that.
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