Men's Basketball: Huggins Quotes Before Sweet 16
March 25, 2008 12:55 PM | General
March 25,2008
WVU Head Coach Bob Huggins talks about the upcoming matchup with No. 3 seed Xavier in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
On going to Sweet 16 his first year with the program
I haven’t had much time to think about it. We are just trying to make sure we cover everything and give our guys a chance to win. I’m happy for (this team), they have put a lot of work in and spent a lot of time.
On team already being tournament tested in recent years
Just playing in our league gives us an advantage. When you play in our league, every game is close; every game has a tournament atmosphere. I think playing the whole year against who we’ve played and when the league starts it has really helped us.
On Xavier and Coach Sean Miller
One, they’ve got a helluva coach. Sean does a really good job coaching. They’re men. Look at those guys, they don’t have guys runnin’ around that aren’t men. They play eight guys and they are all big strong guys and they are very physical. I think that’s the difference in what Sean has done there. They are so physical now.
On the opportunities laying in front of WVU
We’re worried about Xavier first. Then, we’ll deal with whatever comes after that. I think the guys are excited to play and we starting to shoot the ball a little bit better. Alex (Ruoff) is making some shots. Darris (Nichols) made some shots for us and I think Joe (Alexander) has been very consistent for us. We have just got to contain and make open shots.
On when he noticed his team could possibly go far in the tournament
It’s hard for me because I see them everyday. I know all the flaws, so it’s a little harder for me to be objective about those things.
On how long he has known Xavier Coach Sean Miller
My dad and John (Miller) used to work Coach (Edward) McCluskey’s camp (in western Pennsylvania) together for a lot of years. John knows my dad very well. John coached my brother at the BC camp and Sean there doing a lot of dribbling things. I’ve known the Miller family for a long time.
Note: Sean Miller’s father, John, is a long-time successful coach at Blackhawk High School in the Pittsburgh
On if Huggins sees some himself in Coach Miller (being a coach’s son, etc.)
Well sure. The time that he has spent in the gym and his dad is a great coach. His dad did an unbelievable job and was very fundamentally sound. Sean is the same way. You can’t spend as much time in the gym as what Sean spent in the gym with his father and being around the game and not understand what’s going on.
On if having made deep tournament runs before gives Huggins an advantage
In 1992 everybody said ‘this was great for your team, you’ll get in and get some experience and maybe next year you can make a run,’ and we went to the Final Four. I was probably better before I had any experience. You just got to make shots at the right time and we’re going to be prepared, they are going to be prepared. When you get this far, you’re not going to run into somebody who’s not prepared.
