Quote:
Originally Posted by waterhead
When Huggins was here I felt like a contender about one out of every 2-3 years after he made the final 4. Just eeking into the tournament doesn’t really get my gears pumping. Sure the ride is fun getting there and there is still a hope and prayer...but I don’t want to kid myself too much.
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Bob Huggins made the Sweet 16 just one time after the 1996 season--in his defense that was in 2000, and as concerns that year specifically but for Kenyon Martin's ankle they'd have likely gone much, much further. Still, that doesn't change the fact that otherwise in his last 9 years they got bounced in the first or second round, typically by a lower-seeded team.
His last 5-6 teams were pretty much all booty--they basically never had a true ball handling point guard, they rarely had a real big man, and their guards were all 6'6" tweeners with streaky outside shots.
I don't know how you could have really felt like a contender at any point after 2000--with the exception, perhaps of the 2002 team, which was Huggins' best post-Kenyon team by a country mile. Even that team lost in the second round as a 1-seed by blowing a 16-point lead to UCLA.
As much flak as Mick Cronin catches, I feel like UC fans forget that Huggins was really not much better over his last decade in Clifton.