I so much wish we could’ve found a way to beat them in the tournament.
We played them in year 4 of Danny D's tenure. Huggins has been at WVU for 10 seasons or so.
Huggins operates with a Major Program budget. D'Antoni has a Mid-major budget to work with.
Huggins followed a very successful coach, John Belein, and walked into a well established program at WVU.
D'Antoni got to pick up the pieces from the Herrion train wreck.
WVU plays in a 14,000 seat Coliseum built in the 60s which has undergone umpteen renovations, upgrades, rebuilds, etc., which have cost way more than MU's Henderson Center's initial cost.
MU plays in the 9,000 seat Henderson Center built in the 1980s which has remained virtually UNTOUCHED in many areas since the day it opened. Before the first shovel of dirt was turned on the HC, the project was scaled back, e.g., 12,000 seats to a little over 10,000. Also, arena initially scheduled to be AIR CONDITIONED, which also was axed. Obviously, the WVU oriented forces in various state government positions, Higher Ed. Board of Regents, legislature, perhaps, and others made sure that sufficient budgeted funds were not appropriated to provide quality features in the HC leading to shortcuts and deficiencies which are so clearly obvious today.
Huggins's team practices in a new $25 million practice facility which, again, cost millions more than the amount spent on building the Henderson Center.
D'Antoni's team practices, when available, on the HC floor or otherwise in the tiny Gullickson Hall gym which, again, is essentially UNTOUCHED since the GH building opened circa 1960!
To sum up, D'Antoni's teams in 4 seasons have done remarkably well given what he has had to work with overall. Hopefully, MORE resources, e.g., $$$$$$$$, will be made available to Danny in whatever, hopefully much longer, tenure he has remaining as MU's head coach. Given such additional resources, no reasonable, thinking person would doubt that D'Antoni's future teams would continue to find much success, and even GREATER success, on the hardwoods!!
Any Questions?