Knock-down, tough-guy Mountaineers live up to Huggins' image
By Dennis Dodd | CBSSports.com Senior Writer Follow DennisPHOENIX -- Sometimes the best analysts are in the stands. Chris Davis is a former litigation lawyer who recently moved with his wife, Lori, from West Virginia to Phoenix because it's, well, Phoenix.
In an almost-empty U.S. Airways Center, during the Mountaineers' Wednesday practice, Davis broke down his alma mater's transformation.
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| According to WVU's Joe Mazzulla, Huggins is a 'yell first and second' kind of coach. (US Presswire) |
Yeah, but what does it have to do with West Virginia basketball?
"They're killers now," Davis said. "They've kind of become that, you know?"
The Mountaineers' transformation from hug-it-out Beileins to bone-crushing Hugginses hasn't been quite that drastic, but the message has gotten across. Ask Duke, which retreated quicker in the second round than a perimeter-oriented bunch of jump shooters without any inside muscle. Which, of course, they were exposed to be.
"Yeah, we were (tougher than Duke)," backup guard Joe Mazzulla said flatly.
The stories of how much tougher have grown in the four days that have followed. Forward Joe Alexander reportedly told Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, "You shouldn't shoot it anymore."
Nelson didn't, much, going 2-for-11 in the 73-67 loss that thrust West Virginia into Thursday's West Region semifinal against Xavier.
Mazzulla whispered some sweet nothings to Duke's Greg Paulus, too, although he won't say exactly what.
"I got my point across," Mazzulla said. "He backed down."
Would those words have been uttered in the previous five seasons under former coach John Beilein? It's hard to say and even harder to argue against Beilein's Sweet 16 appearance in 2006 and NIT title in 2007. The point is, they were bound to be said with Huggins taking over.
"Coach Beilein was a teach-first, yell-second guy," Mazzulla said. "Coach Huggins is yell first and second and teach third. He'll yell at you all day and he'll do a great job teaching you."
