WVU still searching for ‘the guy’

Mountaineers host No. 14 TCU tonight for Big 12 contest

MORGANTOWN -- Earlier this season, as West Virginia was cruising through a 10-2 start, there were indications of something lacking that could raise its head up during Big 12 play and keep this 2022-23 Mountaineer team from reaching what most believed was a high potential.

The team was shooting well and making free throws, but coach Bob Huggins was fretting over its ball-handling skills and rebounding abilities, areas that he seems to have made strides toward correcting.

But there was something deeper lacking, for the Big 12 is such a strong, such an even league, that if you get through the technical stuff, you are only putting yourself in a position to win games.

But more than that is needed. What you need to have is a player upon whom you can rely when something special is needed, a go-to guy.

The Big 12 demands that, and as we looked at the Mountaineers early in the season, we asked who would be their go-to guy … and there was no obvious answer.

The result is being seen now as the shooting has fallen off and WVU over and over in games finds itself in situations where it has to have someone who can make the big play to make the difference between winning a close game and losing one.

Think back to Bob Huggins' time at West Virginia. He's been blessed with such players, the most obvious being Da'Sean Butler, who single-handedly put the Final Four team on his back and willed them to victory time after time, hitting no fewer than six game-winning shots.

But think of Miles McBride and how Huggins leaned on him; how Jevon Carter could do something big either on offense or defense when it was needed, or Juwan Staten before him.

This is what has been lacking, and the situation WVU finds itself in as it faces No. 14 TCU at 7 p.m. today at the Coliseum won't be cured until it can establish its go-to guy.

Huggins understands this.

"We haven't made crucial plays the way we need to make crucial plays," Huggins said before going out for Tuesday's practice. "We've had opportunities for sure."

One came last Saturday, when Huggins opted to put the ball in the hands of Erik Stevenson, who rushed down the court and threw up a wild shot that was nowhere near what they were looking for.

"The question is, are they going to execute what you ask them to execute?" Huggins said. "There's a lot going on. And, in some instances, you end up with people having the ball that really haven't been in that position."

What makes a great clutch player like Butler and McBride?

Most agree there are four factors:

Confidence, composure, concentration in the present and not being afraid to fail.

Michael Jordan, who may have been the most clutch player of all time, has spoken often on failure:

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. That's why I succeed."

There is an interesting contrast in clutch play in this WVU-TCU matchup.

First, you have Stevenson's lost composure in the loss to Oklahoma last weekend, and you can compare it to TCU's go-to guard, Mike Miles Jr., in beating Baylor to end a two-game losing streak the same day.

Baylor led, 87-86, with about 10 seconds left when TCU put the ball in Miles' hands, supposedly to take the last shot.

He came down and found two defenders awaiting him. Rather than forcing the shot, he found teammate Charles O'Bannon in the corner. It was a result of the trust and chemistry that had built over the past couple of years, something WVU doesn't have with this team.

O'Bannon faked, shot and scored with 4 seconds left. TCU won, 88-87.

"Mike has been one of my closest partners on the team for the last three years now," O'Bannon said after the game. "We talked about it before going in. Everybody in the gym knew Mike was supposed to shoot it, but Baylor threw two guys at him. He told me, 'If they throw two at me, I'm throwing it to you.' That's just the chemistry me and Mike have built up over the years."

That is something that will come to WVU, but only with time. The problem is in this 'here today, gone tomorrow' era, you often don't have the luxury of spending two and three years together.