A Believer
March 13, 2008 10:45 AM | General
March 13, 2008
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| Billy Hahn |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You can count West Virginia assistant coach Billy Hahn among the Big East believers. Hahn spent 12 years coaching in the ACC at the University of Maryland helping the Terps to eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a Final Four in 2001.
The year after he left Maryland to become the head coach at LaSalle Maryland won the national championship in 2002 with players he helped recruit. Hahn knows high-level basketball and he says the Big East is right there with the very best leagues in the country.
“People don’t understand our league. Our league is so good and there is such a fine line between the top teams and the teams that are here in this tournament,” Hahn said. “There are good players and good teams. Providence didn’t particularly have the best record this year but they beat UConn twice.”
Hahn explains.
“The difference between the top and the bottom in this league is so thin it’s crazy. I was in the ACC for 12 years with the University of Maryland and from top to bottom the ACC was not like it is in the Big East,” Hahn admitted. “There are so many teams in this league and from top to bottom it’s frightening.”
The proof is in the pudding. Last-place Rutgers goes to Pittsburgh and beats the Panthers in The Pete. Providence sweeps regular season games from Connecticut. South Florida beats Syracuse and takes UConn to overtime. DePaul beats Villanova. Seton Hall knocks off Louisville. Cincinnati wins by 23 in Morgantown. It goes on and on.
“There are good teams at the bottom of this league,” Hahn said. “For example Rutgers goes to Pittsburgh and beats Pittsburgh. How does that happen? UConn plays Providence twice and loses to Providence twice. Providence is not supposed to beat a top echelon team.”
Because the vast majority of teams in the Big East play tough, in-your-face, physical defense, the games take a toll, particularly in February and March. You look at the typical Big East scores and the games are in the 60s. Only one team (Notre Dame) averaged more than 80 points per game in conference play.
No team averaged better than 46.3 percent shooting in Big East play this year with 10 of the 16 teams shooting lower than 45 percent in conference games.
“Sometimes it’s all about when you play games,” Hahn said. “There are a lot of things that go into a season. People are hurt. There are injuries. You go through the flu season. There are a lot of things that people don’t understand that go into the season.”
Because of that, West Virginia managing to finish fifth was a significant achievement in Hahn’s eyes.
“For us to finish as the five seed with our basketball team that’s a major accomplishment,” Hahn said.
To remain in the Big East Tournament, Hahn believes West Virginia is going to have to play a near-flawless basketball game to beat No. 4-seeded Connecticut this afternoon.
“They are a very talented basketball team athletically,” Hahn said. “They’re big, they run, they make athletic plays. That’s the first thing that scares you about them. They’re going to guard you.”
