Huggins approach to Allen is nothing new
If you think what’s unfolded with freshman Teddy Allen is odd, well you’re both right and wrong.
The situation, as you likely know, is that after scoring 57 points in 59 minutes over a three-game win streak to open Big 12 Conference play, Allen has played all of ten minutes over the next three.
That includes not even seeing the court against Kansas and head coach Bob Huggins has made it clear that the same is likely to unfold against Texas Saturday.
The decrease is playing time is directly related to as Huggins has put it, “attitude.” He has since elaborated on his weekly radio show that it comes down to listening.
“I think like most 18-19 year olds, you have some success and you don’t know how to handle it,” he said.
So back to our starting point.
Yes, the situation unique in the sense that coaches typically don’t sit freshmen that have had the impact Allen has had particularly on the offensive end. That only being magnified by the lack of being able to score in the half court in consecutive losses to Texas Tech and Kansas.
But if you’ve paid attention to West Virginia basketball, and Huggins in particular, this isn’t anything new at all. It’s happened in the past with players like Juwan Staten, Elijah Macon, Lamont West and Sagaba Konate just to name a few and each have come back better players for it.
“Done it to a lot of guys,” he said.
It’s something that has worked much more than it hasn’t during his time in Morgantown because it hits right at the ultimate goal of all basketball players. They simply want to be on the court.
“We weren’t headed down the right path so when you’re not headed down the right path you’ve got to change it somehow. And the one thing everybody understands is playing time,” Huggins said.
And while he recognizes it sounds cliché, it’s something Huggins truly believes in.
It’s how he was raised himself.
“My responsibility is to try to help them not just be better players but grow up as people,” he said. “That’s how I grew up. I grew up the son of a coach, I grew up watching my dad try to help us grow up.”
Huggins reiterated that Allen, or nobody on this current team for that matter, is a problem off the floor but it’s a lesson that sometimes is best taught tough. The veteran head coach likens it to taking the keys from a teenager that loves to drive his car everywhere.
“It bothers them. They have a tendency to get back in line,” he said.
Huggins is on his way to the college basketball hall of fame for a reason. His players often talk about their love for him for a reason as well. It isn’t easy but it’s effective. And perhaps more importantly this helps not only Allen but sends a message to the rest of the team as well.
Get in line.
I asked the head man during a media session how Allen has responded since having his playing time taken away and Huggins didn’t hesitate in his response.
“He doesn’t have a choice. That’s the good and bad about being part of a team. You don’t have a choice,” he replied.
