LUBBOCK, Texas — That satisfied sound in Bob Huggins’ throat? Uhm, it wasn’t there.
West Virginia may have won two Big 12 road games in three days, by double digits, with its star point guard acting like the lead in a TheraFlu commercial, yet Huggs remained in fix-it mode.
After Monday night’s 78-67 win at Texas Tech—the identical score by which West Virginia defeated TCU two days before—the coach sounded more like his team was 0-2 in the league as opposed to sitting in first place. (A full game ahead of Texas, in case you missed the double-take of a final from Austin.)
As West Virginia boarded its charter flight home to Morgantown, the RPI had climbed to No. 11, rare air to be sure. But not so rare as to obscure the failings that drive Huggins to scowl, bark and, well, teach. He’s not so delighted by a 14-1 start that he accepts occasional lapses of effort and concentration.
So a 32-29 lead at the midpoint in Lubbock wasn’t pleasing to Huggins.
“I wrote two things on the board at halftime—attitude and intensity,” he said. “When one of those starts to slip a little, we’re not any good.”
His responses to the not-good moments left press row chuckling:
After Brandon Watkins stood flat-footed as a ball rolled out of bounds, Huggins yelled: “HEY, BRANDON, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO NOT PLAY?”
After one ugly offensive sequence, Huggins lowered the decibel level only a tad while telling Jaysean Paige, who was on the floor’s opposite end: “Do that again and you’re sitting over here!”
The boom was back when Gary Browne missed an inbounds pass after a timeout: “GARY, WHY DON’T YOU LISTEN?”
Even West Virginia’s fullcourt press, which sent Texas Tech into abject panic, wasn’t suitable to Huggins.
“I thought our rotations weren’t very good. Our ball pressure wasn’t near what it has been,” he said. “We didn’t have that same kind of bounce in our step.”
Those bounceless, pressure-poor, slow-rotating defenders? They frazzled Texas Tech into a season-high 22 turnovers. They had Raiders fans praying for the ball to cross halfcourt. They had Tubby Smith praying for another Rajon Rondo.
Yet Huggins can’t compliment what was essentially a necessary piece of January business. Much tougher teams await. And the coach will only grow tougher in anticipation.
Who can fault him: That’s precisely how the Mountaineers reached 14-1, right?