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View Full Version : Huggy's Having Effect



Mudge
01-20-2008, 04:17 PM
I know DBR loves to kick Bob Huggins for a being an underachieving scumbag, but watching his Kansas State team (now coached by his former assistant from KSU and Cincy) run #9 Texas A&M off the floor yesterday made me think about how his former assistants are doing, as compared with some of K's assistants:

1) KSU is tied for first in the Big 12 (supposedly the best b-ball conference this year) after they pounded TAM yesterday, and will only get better, given how young they are and how little their players have played together. They are coached by Huggy's former assistant, Frank Martin, in his first head coaching job.

2) Mississippi State, is ranked #18, and now picked to win the SEC West (though yesterday's upset to Auburn puts them in second) after being picked in the preseason to finish last in the SEC West. They are coached by Andy Kennedy, in the 2nd year of his first (permanent) head coaching position. (He was an interim coach for one season at Cincy, when Huggins was forced out, and coached an injury-decimated team without a starter over 6'6" to an excellent result in Cincy's first season in a brutal, loaded Big East conference.)

3) Mick Cronin, at Cincy, has the Bearcats in 2nd place in the Big East, with wins over Pitt, Syracuse, Villanova, and Louisville, and a close loss to Memphis; this team was awful to start the season (they opened by losing at home to Belmont Abbey), but it's hard to deny that Cronin is getting a very low-talented team to play well against a brutal schedule (with Xavier, Memphis, Illinois State, and NC State on the o-o-c schedule). This is Cronin's second year in his first Div. I head coaching job.

4) And then there is Huggy Bear himself: he is 14-4 and tied for second in the Big East (with, ironically Cincy), in his first year with WVU, with a team that was widely thought to have little chance of doing well this year, as previous coach John Beilein was said to have left the cupboard pretty bare, when he left.

Contrast Huggs' progenies, at the moment, with K's; does Huggins deserve the scorn that has been directed his way for underachieving? He doesn't have a national title, but he has been to the Final Four, unlike some coaches who come in for great praise from DBR (e.g.- Steve Robinson at FSU, which despite what DBR says, has had great basketball tradition, when Robinson wasn't ruining it... DBR's ACC bias comes out, whenever they talk about FSU or VPI's basketball success or pedigree-- both of these schools have had a lot of success before they entered the ACC, certainly more than Clemson). And Huggins seems to have assistants that are creating success in their new perches.

pamtar
01-20-2008, 05:01 PM
Harvard is 6-12, 1-1 in the Ivy. Mike Brey and Notre Dame are 13-4, 3-2 Big East.

David Henderson, Quin, and Tim O'Toole, dont have jobs. I cant think of anyone else.

On the other hand Duke is 15-1 so Dawkins, Wojo, and Collins are doing pretty good!

mapei
01-20-2008, 06:05 PM
I don't think Huggins deserves to be slammed as a coach of the game of basketball, if you separate the basketball completely from the university environment. But he totally deserves to be the poster child for college basketball as academic farce or worse.

Mudge
01-20-2008, 06:27 PM
I don't think Huggins deserves to be slammed as a coach of the game of basketball, if you separate the basketball completely from the university environment. But he totally deserves to be the poster child for college basketball as academic farce or worse.

Fair point-- it's hard to argue that-- he definitely undercut the University of Cincinnati's efforts to market itself as a serious academic institution.

rthomas
01-20-2008, 06:30 PM
I'm was not really happy that Beilein left WVU and Huggy entered the picture. And at this point, I'm still not 100% convinced. I don't think that Huggins has an offense; it's mainly pass the ball around until someone is open and then take a shot or drive one-on-one.

On the other hand, I think Huggins has instilled a much better defense than Beilein had. Plus, Beilein did not leave the cupboad bare; we won the NIT against Clemson last year and basically have the same players that won that game.

As far as academics, with the players that Beilein recruited, they will be OK. With Huggy's recruits, we'll see.

throatybeard
01-20-2008, 08:24 PM
2) Mississippi State, is ranked #18, and now picked to win the SEC West (though yesterday's upset to Auburn puts them in second) after being picked in the preseason to finish last in the SEC West. They are coached by Andy Kennedy, in the 2nd year of his first (permanent) head coaching position. (He was an interim coach for one season at Cincy, when Huggins was forced out, and coached an injury-decimated team without a starter over 6'6" to an excellent result in Cincy's first season in a brutal, loaded Big East conference.)


That's Ole Miss, not Mississippi State. MSU is coached by Rick Stansbury.

Ole Miss has two losses in the SEC. MSU has none.

Mudge
01-20-2008, 08:38 PM
That's Ole Miss, not Mississippi State. MSU is coached by Rick Stansbury.

Ole Miss has two losses in the SEC. MSU has none.

You are correct-- a slip on my part, as I meant to type Mississippi, not Mississippi State... all the rest still applies.