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Bryant’s broken foot hinders WVU from taking big step

It would take a Congressional hearing to force a smile from Bob Huggins under normal circumstances. Since his starting point guard has a broken foot, a crowbar might be required to get Huggins to crack anything that resembles a grin over the next few days.

Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers have a serious job of trying to make up for a lost weapon. (Getty Images) To say the loss of Darryl Bryant is a blow to the Mountaineers is an understatement. As talented a coach as Huggins may be, covering up that kind of personnel blemish goes beyond coaching and into miracle work. In effect, West Virginia’s chances of winning a title were all but obliterated when Bryant fractured his right foot during practice Tuesday.

It was a strange injury. Bryant’s foot had been ailing for a few days, but he didn’t think anything of it. Earlier in the tournament against Missouri, he switched shoes at halftime but the pain persisted. On Tuesday, he simply took a step backward and felt a pop. Anytime an athlete feels that, he knows there’s trouble. An X-ray later showed he had a broken fifth metatarsal, one of a group of long bones in the foot.

In essence, by breaking his foot, Bryant likely just handed Kentucky an easy trip to the Final Four, and made West Virginia’s mission a nearly impossible one.

“Of course I want to play,” Bryant said. “The lights are on. It’s a big time of the year. I just wanted to be part of it. I believe in my team and I know they’ll get it done.”

The Mountaineers are stating all the right things. That’s what they’re supposed to say.

Huggins, as deadpan serious as they come, even made a rare joke despite the devastating news. It was pointed out that West Virginia players were upbeat despite the injury. Huggins responded that was due to them “being around my effervescent personality all the time.”

Some of what the Mountaineers say might be true. Thursday’s opponent, Washington, is a difficult-to-figure team that could play West Virginia tough or lose by 30. The Huskies aren’t the true issue for West Virginia. that’s the potential problem.

Huggins has some serious strategy issues to ponder. Bryant’s backup is Joe Mazzulla, who does get extensive playing time (22 minutes a game in the tournament). But while it’s true that Bryant was awful in the Big East tournament, he’s still a better player than Mazzulla.

Huggins also has to worry about his options in guarding Washington’s Isaiah Thomas, who is vastly underrated. Thomas is the crucial component of a dangerous Washington press and Huggins has one less weapon to fight it.

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar didn’t think Huggins would need to make many adjustments, though he could barely say that with a straight face.

“I don’t know if there’s going to be an adjustment,” Romar said. “Mazzulla has played for them and played quality minutes in the past. I know he was injured last year, but he seems like a guy that the team has a lot of confidence and faith in. So I don’t know if there needs to be any adjustments. I do know that between [Devin] Ebanks, [Da'Sean] Butler and [Kevin] Jones, they’re pretty good. And those guys are still playing. And they’re going to be pretty effective. “Again, I’ve been watching Coach Huggins’ teams for a long time. And they are usually able to survive if one player doesn’t play well or is in foul trouble or, in this case, maybe not playing. It’s ironic, the last time that I was a coach of a team that played against Coach Huggins’ team, another player was hurt from his team. But it happened during our game. Yeah, he was a little better than Truck. That particular game, you know, they had to figure out how to win without him on the spot. I think they’ll be OK.”

Ebanks will inherit some of the point duties, but he’s not a great ball handler. He can be serviceable against the press but that’s about it.

The Mountaineers might shock the sports world and still make it to the Final Four despite losing a starting point guard. It’s more likely the Wildcats’ road to the championship just got a lot easier.