Huggins: Attitude a factor in team’s continuing woes
Bob Huggins sat at the podium, appearing bewildered and beaten down.
Following Wednesday’s 72-62 loss to Oklahoma, which pushed West Virginia’s skid to four-straight games, the Mountaineers’ veteran coach conveyed obvious frustration as he spoke to reporters. The situation was turning things from bad to worse, with no obvious answer in sight.
And here he was, the man tasked with finding that answer.
He exhaled and leaned into the microphone.
“When your attitude goes, your game goes,” Huggins said. “You can see that from the NBA down. We have guys who aren’t the same people. For that matter, I’m not sure I am.”
The Mountaineers opened the season with a multitude of successes, dropping only one of their first 13 games. But once conference play hit, the losses began piling up.
It started with a loss to Texas on New Year’s Day, which was quickly ignored after wins against Kansas State and Oklahoma State. But, since Jan. 15, a West Virginia win has yet to be seen.
Wednesday’s loss pushed West Virginia to a conference record of 2-5 — ranking second to last behind only Kansas State — and an overall record of 13-6.
With attitude concerns seemingly growing by the day, Huggins finds himself in a bind.
“Honest to god’s truth is, you cut it out, which I really don’t want to do,” Huggins said on finding a fix. “But if that’s what it takes, it’s what it takes. We did that before here, and it worked out pretty good. And the guys that got cut were guys who had bad attitudes but were very talented guys. They destroyed the core of our team. You can’t do that.”
The roster has not changed much, sans the departure of Taj Thweatt, who rarely saw the floor. The starting lineup has shifted only once, solely due to an injury to Sean McNeil. But if West Virginia continues to slide, Huggins may have some difficult decisions to make — both on and off the court.
According to the most recent update of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, which came on Tuesday, the Mountaineers are a No. 11 seed and trending down. The Mountaineers have 12 games to play between today and the start of the Big 12 Tournament.
“All I know is, I’m gonna do my best,” Huggins said. “I know how important Mountaineer basketball is to the people in the state of West Virginia … I understand how important it is and I understand how much they plan their schedules around it. And I apologize to them.”
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