Huggins Teams Have Enjoyed Conference Tournament Success
March 07, 2018 06:07 PM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY - On Wednesday afternoon while talking to reporters outside the team locker room at the Sprint Center, Bob Huggins let out a little secret to the success he has enjoyed in conference tournaments through the years.
"Good players," he shrugged.
Good players led to an Ohio Valley Conference championship when he was at Akron in 1986. Good players resulted in eight conference championships when he was at Cincinnati - four when the Bearcats were in the Great Midwest and four when the Great Midwest morphed into Conference USA.
He also had good players when West Virginia won the Big East Tournament championship in 2010, and he's had good players the last two years when the Mountaineers came up a little bit short here at the Sprint Center in 2016 against Kansas and in 2017 against Iowa State.
Sure, having good players is certainly a big part of winning championships, no question. But good players also lose, too.
That's where establishing a culture of winning really takes hold when the calendar flips to March and a loss means the end to your season.
"I've been blessed with guys that are extremely competitive who hate to lose," Huggins said.
Earlier this week, Texas coach Shaka Smart talked about his team needing to put winning basketball games above any personal agendas his players may have.
That's something Huggins preaches to his teams every single day from the moment the basketballs are rolled out in October.
He wants selfless guys who place the good of the team above their own personal ambitions and when he's got a bunch of them like Jevon Carter, Da'Sean Butler or Kevin Jones since he's been at West Virginia, or Nick Van Exel, Kenyon Martin and all those great players he had at Cincinnati, it means your team is usually hoisting banners at the beginning of the next season.
"We're blessed because we've got a guy who can certainly score a lot more points, and he just wants to win - JC just wants to win," Huggins said. "He's been incredible in the huddle, and I think he has been the epitome of selfless."
"You've got to play a lot for your team and not for yourself," Carter explained. "If we're all going toward one goal that shouldn't be hard. You've just got to let them know when you win everybody shines, and if you loses nobody shines."
And while selfless play is preached on a daily basis, Huggins really emphasizes it toward the end of the year when tournament time approaches and teams need to be at their best to keep playing.
Nine of Huggins' 10 conference championship teams got on a roll at the end of the year heading into tournament play. His '92 Bearcat squad that captured its first Great Midwest championship won four in a row at the end of the season and continued on all the way to the Final Four that year.
His Elite Eight team in 1993 won its final regular season game before rolling through the Conference USA Tournament and reaching the Elite Eight.
In '98, the Bearcats won six in a row at the end of the year to claim their straight Conference USA title before being upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by West Virginia.
Then, at West Virginia in 2010, his team won their last three regular-season games against Cincinnati, Georgetown and Villanova (in overtime) on the way to its only Big East Tournament championship.
Those Mountaineers continued winning all the way to the Final Four.
The only Huggins team to win a conference championship after losing its final regular season was his '96 Cincinnati team that dropped a road decision at Marquette. The Bearcats recovered to beat St. Louis in overtime in their opening game of the Conference USA Tournament, and then defeated Louisville and Marquette for their fifth straight league tournament championship.
That's the route this year's team is going to have to take here in Kansas City after dropping its last game of the regular season in overtime at desperate Texas last Saturday afternoon.
Once again, good players have been big part of Bob Huggins' outstanding 42-19 record in conference tournament games, but the guy putting them out on the floor has also played a big part in the success.
He's the guy in charge of getting them prepared to play from one night to the next when everything becomes condensed. The lack of preparation time at this time of the year is really what separates tournament coaching from regular season coaching.
"The hard thing is the prep has to happen the day of, which is the only time all year that happens. That's the biggest difference," Huggins admitted. "We play the game, we go watch film and see if they've changed anything basically. I mean you kind of know what everybody does. You just see if they've added any wrinkles to what they do and you go over that during shoot around and then go play."
It's as simple as that.
"Defend, score, pass, shoot, rebound and take care of the ball … those types of things," Carter said. "It really is that simple. You've just got to do it for a long period of time."
"We've just got to be ready to play any given night," added senior guard Daxter Miles Jr, a member of two Sweet 16 teams during his time at West Virginia. "I don't think being on a roll or turning it on really matters, I just think you've got to be ready to play each game as if it's your last."
Tournament time. It begins tomorrow night for the Mountaineers.
Wednesday Audio
"Good players," he shrugged.
Good players led to an Ohio Valley Conference championship when he was at Akron in 1986. Good players resulted in eight conference championships when he was at Cincinnati - four when the Bearcats were in the Great Midwest and four when the Great Midwest morphed into Conference USA.
He also had good players when West Virginia won the Big East Tournament championship in 2010, and he's had good players the last two years when the Mountaineers came up a little bit short here at the Sprint Center in 2016 against Kansas and in 2017 against Iowa State.
Sure, having good players is certainly a big part of winning championships, no question. But good players also lose, too.
That's where establishing a culture of winning really takes hold when the calendar flips to March and a loss means the end to your season.
"I've been blessed with guys that are extremely competitive who hate to lose," Huggins said.
Earlier this week, Texas coach Shaka Smart talked about his team needing to put winning basketball games above any personal agendas his players may have.
That's something Huggins preaches to his teams every single day from the moment the basketballs are rolled out in October.
He wants selfless guys who place the good of the team above their own personal ambitions and when he's got a bunch of them like Jevon Carter, Da'Sean Butler or Kevin Jones since he's been at West Virginia, or Nick Van Exel, Kenyon Martin and all those great players he had at Cincinnati, it means your team is usually hoisting banners at the beginning of the next season.
"We're blessed because we've got a guy who can certainly score a lot more points, and he just wants to win - JC just wants to win," Huggins said. "He's been incredible in the huddle, and I think he has been the epitome of selfless."
"You've got to play a lot for your team and not for yourself," Carter explained. "If we're all going toward one goal that shouldn't be hard. You've just got to let them know when you win everybody shines, and if you loses nobody shines."
And while selfless play is preached on a daily basis, Huggins really emphasizes it toward the end of the year when tournament time approaches and teams need to be at their best to keep playing.
Nine of Huggins' 10 conference championship teams got on a roll at the end of the year heading into tournament play. His '92 Bearcat squad that captured its first Great Midwest championship won four in a row at the end of the season and continued on all the way to the Final Four that year.
His Elite Eight team in 1993 won its final regular season game before rolling through the Conference USA Tournament and reaching the Elite Eight.
In '98, the Bearcats won six in a row at the end of the year to claim their straight Conference USA title before being upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by West Virginia.
Then, at West Virginia in 2010, his team won their last three regular-season games against Cincinnati, Georgetown and Villanova (in overtime) on the way to its only Big East Tournament championship.
Those Mountaineers continued winning all the way to the Final Four.
The only Huggins team to win a conference championship after losing its final regular season was his '96 Cincinnati team that dropped a road decision at Marquette. The Bearcats recovered to beat St. Louis in overtime in their opening game of the Conference USA Tournament, and then defeated Louisville and Marquette for their fifth straight league tournament championship.
That's the route this year's team is going to have to take here in Kansas City after dropping its last game of the regular season in overtime at desperate Texas last Saturday afternoon.
Once again, good players have been big part of Bob Huggins' outstanding 42-19 record in conference tournament games, but the guy putting them out on the floor has also played a big part in the success.
He's the guy in charge of getting them prepared to play from one night to the next when everything becomes condensed. The lack of preparation time at this time of the year is really what separates tournament coaching from regular season coaching.
"The hard thing is the prep has to happen the day of, which is the only time all year that happens. That's the biggest difference," Huggins admitted. "We play the game, we go watch film and see if they've changed anything basically. I mean you kind of know what everybody does. You just see if they've added any wrinkles to what they do and you go over that during shoot around and then go play."
It's as simple as that.
"Defend, score, pass, shoot, rebound and take care of the ball … those types of things," Carter said. "It really is that simple. You've just got to do it for a long period of time."
"We've just got to be ready to play any given night," added senior guard Daxter Miles Jr, a member of two Sweet 16 teams during his time at West Virginia. "I don't think being on a roll or turning it on really matters, I just think you've got to be ready to play each game as if it's your last."
Tournament time. It begins tomorrow night for the Mountaineers.
Wednesday Audio
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