MORGANTOWN — Bob Huggins has this maxim that he likes to put forth when someone mentions that his team can learn something from a defeat.
“You should be smart enough so you don’t have to lose to learn anything,” Huggins will say.
See, the man and losing do not get along very well.
It’s almost an allergy.
Exposed to losing, he breaks out in anger.
Such was the case last week when he pushed his team maybe a little too hard, had them playing four games between Dec. 23 and Jan. 1, two of them conference games, the other two against nationally ranked opponents.
By the time they got to the fourth game it was hardly a Happy New Year, having little bounce or energy against the nation’s No. 4 team on its home court, Purdue. The result was an ugly 77-62 defeat, one that showed every wart this West Virginia team has had but managed to cosmetically cover up.
Turnovers and defensive mistakes cost the Mountaineers. The lack of good guard play stood out above all else.
Huggins says, “I haven’t seen my point guards in a while,” referring to Truck Bryant, who has been playing through injury, and Joe Mazzulla, who is resigned to play despite painful, restrictive shoulder problems that apparently will be with him for as long as he has shoulders.
There has been a lot of criticism of Bryant in the media and on talk shows lately as he has nine assists against 10 turnovers in his last four games, playing no more than 23 minutes in any game.
He accepts it for what it is.
“Everyone picks on the point guard,” he said. “As the point guard, I’ll take responsibility.”
Until he proves to Huggins that he can run the team the way the coach demands it be run, his time will be cut short, and that really does hurt the whole team. It makes Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks do double duty, bringing the ball up the court.
Bryant has sympathy there.
“It makes it hard on Da’Sean. He’s usually scoring, but now he has to bring the ball up the court, him and Devin. I know after a game they’re tired,” Bryant said.
The problem existed before WVU lost, as have the turnovers and the weaker defense, but it wasn’t magnified until the Purdue defeat.
See, while you may not really learn from losing, there are benefits to dropping a game here and there.
While Huggins would never accept it, certain intangible things occur when a team loses that actually can be beneficial in the long run.
To start with, the pressure of being undefeated is removed. In this day and age — in any day and age, come to think of it — going undefeated is an unrealistic goal that can be harmful to a team. Jerry West didn’t do it. Wilt Chamberlain, as much as he towered over basketball when he was at Kansas, didn’t do it.
Now, there’s no need to worry about that.
Then, too, there is a tendency for a team that keeps winning to get too full of itself, to think it is better than it really is. Winning does breed winning, but a little humility keeps you hungry and driven.
In basketball, you see, they don’t remember the January wins and losses, nor do the February wins and losses last long.
Basketball championships are won in March. They are won by team who often have numerous losses on their resume, for losses tend to build character and strength so long as they don’t become habitual or acceptable.
Huggins, of course, argues that each game won helps your final seeding in the tournament.
“The way it is set up the best team is supposed to have the easiest path to the championship,” he said, referring to putting No. 1 against No. 64 in the NCAA first round.
But there is nothing to indicate that a No. 2 or No. 4 seed can’t play itself into position to win the tournament, and if it does, those losses in the middle of the regular season are not losses at all, only reminders of what it takes to win.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
Bob Herzel
HERTZEL COLUMN: Huggins and losing don’t mix
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