Showing posts with label jay wright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jay wright. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Monday, December 2, 2013
Villanova Stuns Kansas, Goes on to Win Battle 4 Atlantis
This past week Villanova traveled down to the Bahamas for
the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Wildcats' journey through the tournament led them
to a Friday night semifinal showdown against second-ranked Kansas. I love
Villanova basketball, and even I thought that the Cats had a 0% chance of winning
that game. Kansas was just too talented, and especially too big, for the
Wildcats to have a shot to compete with the Jayhawks.
And five minutes into the game, my lack of confidence was
being justified. 'Nova trailed 11-2 and was something like 0-7 from the field.
I was prepared to take in a long, frustrating game. Even though I had no
expectations for the game, it is never fun to watch your team get completely
out-classed and overwhelmed.
But then things started to change. A couple buckets went down. The team seemed to settle in a little bit. Slowly you could feel the tide start to change, and that change was reflected on the scoreboard. That early 11-2 deficit turned into a 29-22 Villanova lead at the half. As cold and out of sync as 'Nova was to start the game, Kansas was to end the half.
Much credit goes to coach Jay Wright for the turnaround. For
much of the half, Villanova played a hounding, smothering, three-quarter court
trap. The trap was effective at forcing turnovers, and even when it didn’t
force a turnover, it never allowed Kansas to get into the flow of their
offense. Stan Van Gundy, who was calling the game for NBCSN (and who did a
fantastic job by the way), mentioned how Kansas is used to teams sagging off of
them and allowing them to move the ball freely and shoot the jumper, choosing
to force them to make jump shots rather than give their incredible athletes an opportunity to drive to the basket or to dump the ball into their post players,
where against many college teams they have a sizable size advantage.
Sizable size advantage, that sounds weird, but I digress.
Villanova would have none of that, instead pressuring to the max, making Kansas work to get the ball up the court and guarding super tight, which forced freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins into several traveling turnovers.
Villanova would have none of that, instead pressuring to the max, making Kansas work to get the ball up the court and guarding super tight, which forced freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins into several traveling turnovers.
So at halftime, my whole perspective changed. My team
had a seven-point lead. I certainly wasn’t putting the W in the bag, but I was
feeling confident and letting myself entertain thoughts of an upset.
The second half was a half of runs, with the teams taking
turns bursting and then answering. 'Nova had managed to increase its halftime
lead to 11 with about 7 minutes remaining, but the lead evaporated following a
13-1 Kansas run. The Wildcats looked out of gas, and with the frenetic defensive pace
they were playing in the first half, no one could blame them.
With the lead relinquished, I had lost all hope. In the end,
Goliath was too big, too strong. My team had put up a valiant effort, acquitted
themselves well, given hope for the rest of the season, but an upset was not in
the cards. I won’t let such doubt absorb me when it comes to this team
anymore.
With 13 seconds remaining, Villanova was inbounding the ball
from its offensive baseline. Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis had been the
best outside performers for the Cats all night, so I expected the ball to go
to one of them and let them make a play, or send it inside to JayVaughn
Pinkston. Instead, sophomore Ryan Arcidiacono (who hadn’t made a shot from the
field all night and had just one point on a free-throw in the opening minutes)
curled off of a couple screens to come free near the corner. He caught the
pass, rose up and drained a three-pointer to give Villanova a two-point lead. I
was going wild, but there were still 10 seconds left and a plethora of
talented Kansas players who could make a play. But Frank Mason missed a
three-pointer, James Bell got the rebound, and he iced the game with two clutch
free throws with just seconds left.
It was an incredible game, and I was going wild. Villanova is
now 4-1 in its last five games against top-5 opponents.
One other tactical move I want to point out besides the trap is the decision to front the post most of the game. Villanova was outsized at two and sometimes three positions the entire game. Obviously there would be times where Kansas tried to exploit that. And on countless occasions, you would see a Kansas guard holding the ball, looking into the post. And you would see a smaller Villanova player fronting his man, denying an entry pass. It proved to be effective throughout most of the game, and I thought it was another great call by coach Wright. And props to freshman Josh Hart, who spent much of his night doing the dirty work down in the post defensively, and who did a great job.
One other tactical move I want to point out besides the trap is the decision to front the post most of the game. Villanova was outsized at two and sometimes three positions the entire game. Obviously there would be times where Kansas tried to exploit that. And on countless occasions, you would see a Kansas guard holding the ball, looking into the post. And you would see a smaller Villanova player fronting his man, denying an entry pass. It proved to be effective throughout most of the game, and I thought it was another great call by coach Wright. And props to freshman Josh Hart, who spent much of his night doing the dirty work down in the post defensively, and who did a great job.
Villanova moved on to face 23rd-ranked Iowa in
the championship game. I didn’t know what to expect after the energy that had
been expended the night before. After a solid start, turnovers started to
plague the Wildcats and they fell behind.
Somehow the Wildcats were able to erase a 15-point second-half deficit to force overtime and managed to pull out a gutty overtime victory
to claim the Battle 4 Atlantis championship.
Villanova fans have to be incredibly proud of the toughness and energy their team was able to show in two hard-fought games on back-to-back nights. It is a great asset to have two quality wins, including a signature win, just seven games into the season. With their great run in the Bahamas, Villanova has gone from unranked to 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 14th in the AP poll. The rest of the season should be pretty damn exciting.
Villanova fans have to be incredibly proud of the toughness and energy their team was able to show in two hard-fought games on back-to-back nights. It is a great asset to have two quality wins, including a signature win, just seven games into the season. With their great run in the Bahamas, Villanova has gone from unranked to 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 14th in the AP poll. The rest of the season should be pretty damn exciting.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Georgetown Forgot About Jay(Vaughn)
A couple weeks ago, I was sitting around with silver fox when he said we might as well go to the Georgetown-Villanova game to close out the Wildcats' regular season. Since the game was to be played at the Wells Fargo Center, securing tickets wouldn't be a problem, and shit, the game itself would most likely have huge NCAA Tournament implications for a Nova squad that has been on the bubble for more than a month.
So last night, the two of us headed down to the Wells Fargo Center and secured two tickets six rows off the court to the right of the Villanova band and student section.
After walking around a little bit deciding on food options, we finally nabbed a few overpriced sausages and headed to our seats. When we got there, an older woman had her coat and scarf draped over one of our two seats. Being the irrationally angry person I am at times, this infuriated me. Not the fact that the woman had her coat in a seat she didn't have a ticket for — if no one is next to you, by all means, put your coat there — but the fact that she was sitting a couple seats over, not directly next to her coat. The fuck was she doing?
Somehow showing some restraint, I was polite about it, handing her her coat and scarf and letting her know it was our seat, but I really wanted to choke her to death because I was in a bad mood and I had the feeling I was about to watch Villanova toss away its NCAA Tournament hopes the same way it had tossed away apparent victories over the likes of Seton Hall and Pittsburgh in previous games.
Add to that the fact that every time I got to a Villanova home game, I cannot help but notice the incredible lack of diversity of the crowd. Head to the travesty of a gym that is the Pavilion or take in a marquee game in South Philadelphia for the Wildcats, and you walk into seemingly some sort of J.Crew catalog ad. There are swarms of old to middle-aged couples wearing designer clothes and looking like people I would never even want to talk to, and then there's the student body you would associate with an expensive private university out on the Main Line. Translation — even as a middle-class white male who grew up mostly in suburbs before returning to the City of Brotherly Love as an adult, I feel much more comfortable at a Temple home game with its diverse crowd. I'm not entirely sure why, but there you have it.
Anyway, back to the game. Almost immediately, my fears were coming to fruition, as the Hoyas began the game with a three-pointer and jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead. I jokingly said the game was already over at that point, might as well beat the traffic.
But then a funny thing happened. Jay Wright made a quick substitution after his team started with two turnovers and a foul, and everything changed from there. Senior Mouphtaou Yarou was dominating the glass, and JayVaughn Pinkston was playing as aggressive as I've ever seen him play, attacking whichever Hoya was attempting to handle him inside nearly every possession he was on the court.
Further, Wright, sensing that he'd need his team fresh for an intense, crucial 40 minutes, began subbing his players in and out at nearly every dead ball, almost as if making line changes in hockey. It was quite a sight to behold, some real chess going on against John Thompson III, and it worked — perfectly. Before you could blink, the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to take the lead, and suddenly it was a ballgame again. However, it was tough to tell from the crowd. The upper section was barren, and even the full lower bowl was subdued most of the first half. That is, until James Bell threw down a thunderous, improbable alley-oop from Ryan Arcidiacono. When Arcidiacono threw it, I honestly thought he had tossed it way too high and that it was destined to go out of bounds. Instead, Bell somehow caught it and threw it down emphatically, sparking the mostly dormant crowd.
By the time the first half was winding down, Nova had the ball up by four following an Arc three, and Mouphtaou Yarou hit a jumper as time was winding down to seemingly put the Cats up by six with 20 minutes to play. Alas, the ball was still in Mouph's hands as the buzzer sounded, so Nova had to settle for a four-point halftime lead. Not too shabby, particularly when you take into account the way Nova played that first half.
The aforementioned Pinkston was nearly unstoppable, embarrassing any Hoya who dared try to handle him, and he began to parade to the free throw line.
Mouph was a monster on the boards, cleaning up the glass any time the ball came near him, and Bell not only hit a couple of big three-pointers, but he also completely and utterly shut down the heralded Player of the Year candidate Otto Porter Jr. in the first 20 minutes, to the point that you could hardly notice Porter on the floor at all. It was the best defensive job I've ever seen Bell do, taking Georgetown's best player and making him a complete non-factor in the first half.
However, it was going to take another really strong half to come away with the victory. After all, the Hoyas kept it close despite sloppy play in large part because they were defending the three and giving Ryan Arcidiacono no space, and also because D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera kept hitting big shots every time it looked like Nova might pull away.
As expected, Georgetown did not go away quietly, but it really didn't matter. Wright continued his hockey-style substitutions, keeping all his guys fresh, and the defense continued to hound Georgetown into turnovers and bad shots. Porter did get on track a little when Bell wasn't guarding him, but with the game in the balance, Bell went back to his shutdown work on the top Hoya and took him off his game yet again.
From there, it was the JayVaughn Pinkston show. The man simply took over, playing arguably the best game of his career, if not then certainly the most aggressive.
Thanks to his aggressive nature, Nova was in the bonus and then double bonus in no time … but the Cats uncharacteristically were struggling from the line. Early anyway. But once it came to crunch time, Pinkston, Arcidiacono and Darrun Hilliard couldn't miss. Just like that, it was Nova's third victory of the season over a top 5 team, and it more than likely punched the Wildcats' ticket to the big dance.
It was a total team effort, no doubt. Defensively, James Bell was the star, keeping Porter in check and making him a complete non-factor at times. I can't say enough about the job Bell did last night. Further, his teammates were aggressive all over the court defensively, forcing 22 Georgetown turnovers and doing it without fouling.
Conversely, the team was just as aggressive on offense, getting to the line an insane 42 times, led by Pinkston — the star of the game — who managed a game-high 20 points on just 4-6 from the field … and 11-14 from the line. He added five steals and four boards for good measure.
On top of that, Nova didn't force things on the offensive end, particularly Arcidiacono. That's somewhat of a rarity for the freshman out of Neshaminy, a kid who's never passed up an open shot in his life. But last night, he was patient and smart with the ball. Arcidiacono went the first five minutes without even a shot attempt, and he only took five shots from the floor all game thanks to Georgetown's tremendous defense around the perimeter and defending the three-point line. So Arc just played within himself and the system and helped feed Pinkston and the rest of the squad.
It resulted in another great win for Nova, and now a team that many picked to finish at the bottom of the Big East standings is not only sitting at 10-8 in conference play, but at 19-12 overall with big victories over Louisville, Syracuse and now Georgetown. With last night's capper, Villanova should be securely in the field of 68 — a win or two (or three) in the Big East Tournament, and it's not even a question.
After the muted celebration, we headed out for celebratory cheesesteaks, watched some Workaholics and then saw us all get Nnamdi'd.
Maybe he was calling Ruxin while he was eating lunch in his car. It all makes sense now, unlike the Big 5 this year.
But hey, Villanova got a great victory last night, Temple destroyed Fordham and St. Joe's really destroyed Rhode Island, so things aren't nearly as bad as they were just a little while ago for Philadelphia college basketball. And now there's a very real chance Nova, Temple and La Salle will be dancing. For the Wildcats, they can thank Georgetown for forgetting about JayVaughn Pinkston last night.
So last night, the two of us headed down to the Wells Fargo Center and secured two tickets six rows off the court to the right of the Villanova band and student section.
After walking around a little bit deciding on food options, we finally nabbed a few overpriced sausages and headed to our seats. When we got there, an older woman had her coat and scarf draped over one of our two seats. Being the irrationally angry person I am at times, this infuriated me. Not the fact that the woman had her coat in a seat she didn't have a ticket for — if no one is next to you, by all means, put your coat there — but the fact that she was sitting a couple seats over, not directly next to her coat. The fuck was she doing?
Somehow showing some restraint, I was polite about it, handing her her coat and scarf and letting her know it was our seat, but I really wanted to choke her to death because I was in a bad mood and I had the feeling I was about to watch Villanova toss away its NCAA Tournament hopes the same way it had tossed away apparent victories over the likes of Seton Hall and Pittsburgh in previous games.
Add to that the fact that every time I got to a Villanova home game, I cannot help but notice the incredible lack of diversity of the crowd. Head to the travesty of a gym that is the Pavilion or take in a marquee game in South Philadelphia for the Wildcats, and you walk into seemingly some sort of J.Crew catalog ad. There are swarms of old to middle-aged couples wearing designer clothes and looking like people I would never even want to talk to, and then there's the student body you would associate with an expensive private university out on the Main Line. Translation — even as a middle-class white male who grew up mostly in suburbs before returning to the City of Brotherly Love as an adult, I feel much more comfortable at a Temple home game with its diverse crowd. I'm not entirely sure why, but there you have it.
Anyway, back to the game. Almost immediately, my fears were coming to fruition, as the Hoyas began the game with a three-pointer and jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead. I jokingly said the game was already over at that point, might as well beat the traffic.
But then a funny thing happened. Jay Wright made a quick substitution after his team started with two turnovers and a foul, and everything changed from there. Senior Mouphtaou Yarou was dominating the glass, and JayVaughn Pinkston was playing as aggressive as I've ever seen him play, attacking whichever Hoya was attempting to handle him inside nearly every possession he was on the court.
Further, Wright, sensing that he'd need his team fresh for an intense, crucial 40 minutes, began subbing his players in and out at nearly every dead ball, almost as if making line changes in hockey. It was quite a sight to behold, some real chess going on against John Thompson III, and it worked — perfectly. Before you could blink, the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to take the lead, and suddenly it was a ballgame again. However, it was tough to tell from the crowd. The upper section was barren, and even the full lower bowl was subdued most of the first half. That is, until James Bell threw down a thunderous, improbable alley-oop from Ryan Arcidiacono. When Arcidiacono threw it, I honestly thought he had tossed it way too high and that it was destined to go out of bounds. Instead, Bell somehow caught it and threw it down emphatically, sparking the mostly dormant crowd.
By the time the first half was winding down, Nova had the ball up by four following an Arc three, and Mouphtaou Yarou hit a jumper as time was winding down to seemingly put the Cats up by six with 20 minutes to play. Alas, the ball was still in Mouph's hands as the buzzer sounded, so Nova had to settle for a four-point halftime lead. Not too shabby, particularly when you take into account the way Nova played that first half.
The aforementioned Pinkston was nearly unstoppable, embarrassing any Hoya who dared try to handle him, and he began to parade to the free throw line.
Mouph was a monster on the boards, cleaning up the glass any time the ball came near him, and Bell not only hit a couple of big three-pointers, but he also completely and utterly shut down the heralded Player of the Year candidate Otto Porter Jr. in the first 20 minutes, to the point that you could hardly notice Porter on the floor at all. It was the best defensive job I've ever seen Bell do, taking Georgetown's best player and making him a complete non-factor in the first half.
However, it was going to take another really strong half to come away with the victory. After all, the Hoyas kept it close despite sloppy play in large part because they were defending the three and giving Ryan Arcidiacono no space, and also because D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera kept hitting big shots every time it looked like Nova might pull away.
As expected, Georgetown did not go away quietly, but it really didn't matter. Wright continued his hockey-style substitutions, keeping all his guys fresh, and the defense continued to hound Georgetown into turnovers and bad shots. Porter did get on track a little when Bell wasn't guarding him, but with the game in the balance, Bell went back to his shutdown work on the top Hoya and took him off his game yet again.
From there, it was the JayVaughn Pinkston show. The man simply took over, playing arguably the best game of his career, if not then certainly the most aggressive.
Thanks to his aggressive nature, Nova was in the bonus and then double bonus in no time … but the Cats uncharacteristically were struggling from the line. Early anyway. But once it came to crunch time, Pinkston, Arcidiacono and Darrun Hilliard couldn't miss. Just like that, it was Nova's third victory of the season over a top 5 team, and it more than likely punched the Wildcats' ticket to the big dance.
It was a total team effort, no doubt. Defensively, James Bell was the star, keeping Porter in check and making him a complete non-factor at times. I can't say enough about the job Bell did last night. Further, his teammates were aggressive all over the court defensively, forcing 22 Georgetown turnovers and doing it without fouling.
Conversely, the team was just as aggressive on offense, getting to the line an insane 42 times, led by Pinkston — the star of the game — who managed a game-high 20 points on just 4-6 from the field … and 11-14 from the line. He added five steals and four boards for good measure.
On top of that, Nova didn't force things on the offensive end, particularly Arcidiacono. That's somewhat of a rarity for the freshman out of Neshaminy, a kid who's never passed up an open shot in his life. But last night, he was patient and smart with the ball. Arcidiacono went the first five minutes without even a shot attempt, and he only took five shots from the floor all game thanks to Georgetown's tremendous defense around the perimeter and defending the three-point line. So Arc just played within himself and the system and helped feed Pinkston and the rest of the squad.
It resulted in another great win for Nova, and now a team that many picked to finish at the bottom of the Big East standings is not only sitting at 10-8 in conference play, but at 19-12 overall with big victories over Louisville, Syracuse and now Georgetown. With last night's capper, Villanova should be securely in the field of 68 — a win or two (or three) in the Big East Tournament, and it's not even a question.
After the muted celebration, we headed out for celebratory cheesesteaks, watched some Workaholics and then saw us all get Nnamdi'd.
Maybe he was calling Ruxin while he was eating lunch in his car. It all makes sense now, unlike the Big 5 this year.
But hey, Villanova got a great victory last night, Temple destroyed Fordham and St. Joe's really destroyed Rhode Island, so things aren't nearly as bad as they were just a little while ago for Philadelphia college basketball. And now there's a very real chance Nova, Temple and La Salle will be dancing. For the Wildcats, they can thank Georgetown for forgetting about JayVaughn Pinkston last night.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Props for Jay Wright
On Saturday, Villanova got a huge win against 17th-ranked Marquette. It was 'Nova's third win against top-20 competition this season, adding to their wins against #3 Syracuse and #5 Louisville. Add in their win against UConn and the Wildcats have 4 top-30 RPI wins. The win on Saturday inched Villanova a little bit closer to securing an NCAA tournament bid. And I am here to argue that this season's campaign is the best that coach Jay Wright has had on the Main Line.
That statement says a lot. Since Jay Wright took over on the Main Line, the Wildcats have made 7 NCAA tournament appearances and 3 NIT appearances. They've made a Final 4, an Elite 8, and two Sweet 16's. In 2005, they were a phantom traveling call on Allen Ray from reaching another Elite 8, and in 2006 they lost in the Elite 8, and an injury to Curtis Sumpter will leave that 'Nova squad forever in the "what might have been" category.
Coach Wright took over a mediocre program from former coach Steve Lappas and returned it to national prominence. Solid recruiting classes, perennial top-25 rankings, and trips to the NCAA tournament have become the norm at Villanova under Wright's guidance.
Last season they stumbled to a putrid 13-19 record. It was only the second time Villanova failed to record a winning record under Wright, and the only time during his tenure where they failed to qualify for any postseason basketball.
The season was a tough one for 'Nova fans to stomach, as they had gotten used to 20+ win seasons and NCAA tournament bids. It also opened the door for some of Wright's critics. Even the proprietor of this here site has been critical of Wright, citing that the coach has struggled at developing his usually stellar recruiting classes, although I certainly wouldn't classify the Rev a critic of Wright overall.
The disaster that was Villanova's 2011-2012 season had led to much-diminished expectations heading into this year. The Wildcats were picked by the Big East coaches to finish 12th in the conference this season (they currently sit tied for 7th at 9-6). You would be hard-pressed to find even the staunchest of 'Nova supporters and optimists claiming they expected the team to be anywhere near an NCAA tournament bid. Personally, at the beginning of the season I would have been satisfied with a .500 record and an NIT berth.
And yet here we are, in late February, and the Wildcats trending toward an invite to the Big Dance. They are 18-10 with three regular-season games remaining. They play Seton Hall tonight, who they should (and need to) beat. Knock on wood. Then they finish with tough games against two nationally ranked teams in Pitt and rival Georgetown.
It's still too early to try to figure out what the résumé will look like in two weeks' time. It could look about the same, or it could look drastically better or worse. But the fact that the Wildcats are squarely in the discussion and ultimately hold their fate in their own hands is a testament to the players and to the job coach Wright has done this season.
He's gotten his guys to play tough night in and night out. They've gutted out several wins. The biggest difference is that this year they are finding ways to win games that last year they would find a way to lose. I am equally surprised/excited/impressed with the season they have put together and where they stand with Selection Sunday drawing ever closer.
Perhaps even more importantly, the team seems to be in good hands going forward. Mouphtaou Yarou and Maurice Sutton are the only seniors on the team. Next season they will return the leadership and clutch play of James Bell, the steady play of an increasingly confident and comfortable JayVaughn Pinkston, and the hopefully improving play of already promising and impressive freshman Ryan Arcidiacono. Sophomore Darrun Hilliard has also surprised, showing flashes of offensive brilliance.
Regardless of how the rest of the season goes and what their ultimate fate concerning the NCAA tournament becomes, they have shown great improvement and growth from last year. They were coming off an abysmal season and into a season with low expectations. And they've been working with arguably the least amount of talent that they've had under Wright. So I just needed to give some props to coach, who is doing perhaps his best job since arriving on the Main Line, despite all the success he has already had there.
That statement says a lot. Since Jay Wright took over on the Main Line, the Wildcats have made 7 NCAA tournament appearances and 3 NIT appearances. They've made a Final 4, an Elite 8, and two Sweet 16's. In 2005, they were a phantom traveling call on Allen Ray from reaching another Elite 8, and in 2006 they lost in the Elite 8, and an injury to Curtis Sumpter will leave that 'Nova squad forever in the "what might have been" category.
Coach Wright took over a mediocre program from former coach Steve Lappas and returned it to national prominence. Solid recruiting classes, perennial top-25 rankings, and trips to the NCAA tournament have become the norm at Villanova under Wright's guidance.
Last season they stumbled to a putrid 13-19 record. It was only the second time Villanova failed to record a winning record under Wright, and the only time during his tenure where they failed to qualify for any postseason basketball.
The season was a tough one for 'Nova fans to stomach, as they had gotten used to 20+ win seasons and NCAA tournament bids. It also opened the door for some of Wright's critics. Even the proprietor of this here site has been critical of Wright, citing that the coach has struggled at developing his usually stellar recruiting classes, although I certainly wouldn't classify the Rev a critic of Wright overall.
The disaster that was Villanova's 2011-2012 season had led to much-diminished expectations heading into this year. The Wildcats were picked by the Big East coaches to finish 12th in the conference this season (they currently sit tied for 7th at 9-6). You would be hard-pressed to find even the staunchest of 'Nova supporters and optimists claiming they expected the team to be anywhere near an NCAA tournament bid. Personally, at the beginning of the season I would have been satisfied with a .500 record and an NIT berth.
And yet here we are, in late February, and the Wildcats trending toward an invite to the Big Dance. They are 18-10 with three regular-season games remaining. They play Seton Hall tonight, who they should (and need to) beat. Knock on wood. Then they finish with tough games against two nationally ranked teams in Pitt and rival Georgetown.
It's still too early to try to figure out what the résumé will look like in two weeks' time. It could look about the same, or it could look drastically better or worse. But the fact that the Wildcats are squarely in the discussion and ultimately hold their fate in their own hands is a testament to the players and to the job coach Wright has done this season.
He's gotten his guys to play tough night in and night out. They've gutted out several wins. The biggest difference is that this year they are finding ways to win games that last year they would find a way to lose. I am equally surprised/excited/impressed with the season they have put together and where they stand with Selection Sunday drawing ever closer.
Perhaps even more importantly, the team seems to be in good hands going forward. Mouphtaou Yarou and Maurice Sutton are the only seniors on the team. Next season they will return the leadership and clutch play of James Bell, the steady play of an increasingly confident and comfortable JayVaughn Pinkston, and the hopefully improving play of already promising and impressive freshman Ryan Arcidiacono. Sophomore Darrun Hilliard has also surprised, showing flashes of offensive brilliance.
Regardless of how the rest of the season goes and what their ultimate fate concerning the NCAA tournament becomes, they have shown great improvement and growth from last year. They were coming off an abysmal season and into a season with low expectations. And they've been working with arguably the least amount of talent that they've had under Wright. So I just needed to give some props to coach, who is doing perhaps his best job since arriving on the Main Line, despite all the success he has already had there.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Frustrations of Playing at Duke, and Other College Basketball Business
Going into a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, you expect a little favoritism for the Blue Devils. It's something everyone knows and expects will happen. Over the years, especially since the turn of the millennium, you just expect Duke to get the benefit of the doubt on the calls.
When your favorite team is playing at Duke, you know that going in. But it sure as shit doesn't make it any easier to watch.
Let me get this disclaimer out of the way: Temple didn't have much of a shot at beating the No. 1 Blue Devils last night. With two starters on the shelf — Michael Eric done for the year and Scootie Randall out indefinitely — the Owls were undermanned and outclassed. It would take a perfect game even with Eric and Randall in tow to win at Duke. Even with an impressive first half defensively, you just knew it was only a matter of time before Duke would turn it on. They're the number 1 team in the country for a reason, and with or without the benefit of the doubt from the referees, they were going to beat Temple, most likely pulling away in doing so. That's exactly what they did, blowing out the Owls in the second half to win 78-61.
Now that that's out of the way, let me explain to you why everyone else on the planet hates Duke, and no, it's not simply because they're jealous of Coach K's success. I admit, that's part of it, but it's far from the whole story. After all, traditional power such as Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky are far less universally disliked. The main reason? No matter against who, what, where or when — but especially at Cameron Indoor — Duke gets the benefit of the doubt on calls. All the damn time. And what makes that so fucking frustrating is that Duke doesn't need that help. The Blue Devils are so damn good already, the last thing they need is help from the refs. But that doesn't stop the referees from playing favorites, whether they do it consciously or not.
The first half of last night's game was agonizing to watch. Even though Temple played Duke incredibly close in the first 20 minutes, it was almost more frustrating to watch than the second half.
There were at least 5 or 6 fouls called on Temple in the first half alone that were nowhere near fouls. On one, Rahlir Jefferson was called for a reach or block or something on Kyle Singler when he didn't even touch him for a second. If anything, maybe a foul could have been called on a reach in by Aaron Brown, but the replay showed Brown didn't touch Singler either. Didn't matter. Two shots.
That type of shit was happening the entire first half. Ramone Moore picked up two quick fouls. Ditto Juan Fernandez, who ended the first half with three fouls. And that put an already undermanned and less talented Temple team even further behind.
On the other end, things weren't much better. Several times, T.J. DiLeo — who I admit is mostly worthless — got bulled over, clear charges. Had a Dukie flopped the way DiLeo did, it's an automatic charge on the opposition. DiLeo didn't draw a call once.
And most frustrating of all, there were at least 5 times where a Duke player just camped out in the lane, yet the Blue Devils weren't called for a single three-second violation. On one, I swear to god — as did Arkansas Fred — that Singler was in the lane for 8 seconds. I was screaming at the television for a damn three-second violation. Nothing.
And that's why people hate Duke so much. Beyond the smugness of their fans and the hateable faces of their players and coach …
… they just always seem to get the calls. And they don't need them. They're good enough on their own. That's what makes me and everyone else hate them so damn much.
But like I said, that had minimal impact on the outcome. It's just incredibly annoying. Duke is simply a far better team than the Owls, who are certainly no pushovers. Kyle Singler was outstanding, scoring a game-high 28 points, and he got enough help from his teammates to keep Temple honest.
The Owls really only had two guys show up to play. Rahlir Jefferson carried Temple in the first half, scoring 10 points and making great decisions with the basketball. But he was silent in the second half, scoring only one more point the entire way. Still, he was around the ball and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.
Unfortunately, his only other help came in the form of Lavoy Allen, who quietly was the best player on the court not named Singler. Lavoy, who has had a fairly underwhelming season overall, was outstanding last night. He scored a team-high 17 points — second only to Singler's 28 — and added 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Hell, he even made 3 three-points in 4 attempts after having only two made threes all season going in.
Sadly, those were the only two Owls to show up. Their leading scorer, Ramone Moore, got in foul trouble early and never got into the flow. He had just 8 points and shot just 3-7 from the field. Khalif Wyatt couldn't provide the offensive spark he's grown accustomed to, going just 2-9 from the floor and netting only 6 points. And Juan Fernandez continued to be missing in action, as he has all season long.
The fuck you forget how to play basketball?
Coming off a breakout sophomore season last year when he averaged 12.6 points while shooting 43 percent from the field, 45 percent from three and 85 percent from the line and won the A-10 tournament Most Outstanding Player, Fernandez was expected to take the next step and be this team's leader in the backcourt. Instead, Juan has regressed to an alarming degree. This season, he's scoring just 10 points a game. He's shooting a career-worst 35 percent from the field and career-worst 30 percent form three, and his free throw percentage has dipped to 76 percent. Last night, he was an abysmal 2-10. Somewhere along the way, his confidence disappeared. He no longer makes the brilliant passes we saw the past two seasons, no longer shoots with confidence, no longer trusts his game.
If he doesn't step his game up, especially with Scootie Randall on the shelf, Temple won't have much of a chance defending their A-10 title in the tournament. The Owls need him to be the tough foe everyone's come to expect in both the A-10 and NCAA tournaments. Let's hope he can find his game and get back to the player he was last season.
In other NCAA basketball news, I just wanted to share a few thoughts on Villanova, Penn State and North Carolina as well.
As we all know, Nova is struggling quite a bit right now. They've lost three of their last five games — one at Rutgers and two at home — and are just 5-5 in their last 10. Oh, and things aren't getting any easier for them to wrap up the regular season. Their last three games are against No. 23 St. John's, at No. 9 Notre Dame and at No. 4 Pitt. Basically, the Wildcats are in a little bit of trouble.
Not "going to miss the tournament" trouble, obviously — Villanova is 21-7 after all and ranked 15th in the nation — but trouble in terms of the Big East Tournament for sure. Right now, Nova is 9-6 in the conference, tied with Cincinnati for 7th. They're already on a skid, and they could very easily lose their last three games to finish at .500 in the Big East and miss out on a bye altogether. And unless they can find a way to make a deep run in the conference tournament, they won't be heading into the NCAA tourney with much confidence or a very favorable seed. So these final three games — all of them incredibly tough — are vital.
To be honest, I think one of the reasons Nova has struggled so much recently traces back to coach Jay Wright. Wright is unquestionably an outstanding coach and recruiter. He took a Villanova program that was on life support and has turned it into a national power. Just two seasons ago, he led the Wildcats to the Final Four, and he's churning out NBA players left and right. But this season, I think Wright has made some crucial coaching errors, magnified during this rough stretch.
For one thing, Wright has been tinkering with his lineup all season long and took much, much longer than usual to get his starting lineup set. That hasn't been his M.O. over his career at Nova. Typically, he finds his starting five early in the season and sticks with it. But this year — in part due to injury (and the year-long absence of top recruit JayVaughn Pinskton certainly hasn't helped) — we've seen so many different starting lineups that's it's hard to discern who is a starter and who is not at times. Of late, he's been going with a big lineup: Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes (when he's been healthy), Mouphtaou Yarou, Isaiah Armwood and Antonio Pena. That's far from the Nova way, when we've grown accustomed to three- and even four-guard lineups: Mike Nardi, Kyle Lowry, Randy Foye, Allen Ray, Scottie Reynolds, Dwayne Anderson, Fisher, et al. For a while, that was the case, with Maalik Wayns starting in place of Armwood, giving Nova the three guards it's grown accustomed to. And while Wayns has certainly struggled with turnovers and ill-advised shots at times, the Wildcats were playing much better basketball with him in the starting lineup than with him coming off the bench.
Then you look at some of Wright's in-game strategy of late and it has you scratching your head. In the epic collapse at Rutgers, his end-of-game coaching was laughable, something I never thought I'd say about Jay Wright. The Scarlet Knights started to catch fire from three late in that game, to the point where the last thing you wanted was for Rutgers to be in position to tie or win the game with a three. So after Corey Fisher missed a critical free throw late that would have made it a four-point game and practically iced it, the only smart thing to do was to foul Rutgers and make it a free-throw shooting contest the rest of the game. That way, Rutgers couldn't tie the game with a three, and chances are Nova would come out on top as the superior foul-shooting team.
I know there's a debate about playing defense and fouling with a three-point lead at end-of-game situations, but the reason I say fouling was the only smart thing to do is simple: Villanova is the best free-throw shooting team in the Big East, shooting 76.2 percent as a team. To prove it was the way to go even more, Rutgers is a really bad foul-shooting team, shooting just 66.7 percent on the season, and they were lighting it up from three. You make it a foul-shooting contest, and more than likely Villanova escapes a scare against a horrible team and gets a W. Instead, Wright didn't play the percentages, and disaster struck:
Yes, it was Corey Fisher who missed a critical free throw and then "fouled" (seriously, I still don't think he touched him) a three-point shooter to suffer the four-point play loss, but Wright also failed to put his players in the best position to win following that miss by Fisher. It wasn't one of his better moments, and that inexplicable loss really started this slide over the past 5 games.
After that, they lost to a really good Pitt team at the Pavilion by just three. That was followed by Nova struggling to outlast a bad Seton Hall team, winning by just three themselves, and they barely escaped DePaul with a two-point win, needing overtime to defeat the last-place team in the Big East.
Then there was Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. In an important game against Syracuse, a game that was critical in determining seeding for the Big East Tournament, specifically the coveted four spot for a double bye, Jay Wright thought it would be a good idea to throw a freshman that missed the majority of the first half of the season in for the final four minutes with his team trailing in a tight contest. Yeah, instead of going with Maalik Wayns or Dominic Cheek, two more proven, seasoned players and one in particular in Wayns who has come up big late in games for Nova, Wright rode with James Bell, a guy who had played a total of 19 games and had only played 2 minutes to that point on the night.
I was screaming at my television, asking why Bell was in at such a critical juncture, and even more livid when he played the entire rest of the way. In that time, Bell missed two free throws, turned the ball over and missed a meaningless three with time winding down. He didn't help Nova at all. Yet he was in the game, and I was baffled.
It turns out that Wayns was suffering back spasms, that's why he wasn't in. But still, why not go with a guy like Cheek, someone who has been in some wars, even though he admittedly was struggling with his shot too? I'd still feel more comfortable with a sophomore who has played in a lot of big games at Nova than a freshman that has played very little.
So here we are with Villanova faltering as the season winds down. It would be tough to expect Nova to be as good as last year after losing a first-team All American in Scottie Reynolds and important contributors like Reggie Redding and even Taylor King, not to mention the unexpected season-long suspension of Pinkston. But it wasn't out of the realm of possibility to expect Villanova to be playing its best and vying for Big East supremacy by this time of the year. That hasn't happened, and things are only going to be tougher from here on out.
Then there is my alma mater, Penn State. As recently as Saturday, I heard Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas all proclaim that Penn State is an NCAA Tournament team. Those guys seem to be under the impression that with three more teams added this year, every major conference will get pretty much every decent team in. This makes absolutely no sense, because there are only three teams being added, not a dozen. The pundits don't seem to grasp that. Any smart person who understands simple math does. And any smart person, despite some people proclaiming there are still crucial road tests for the Nittany Lions, knows Penn State is nowhere near a tournament team.
Does that mean Penn State is the embarrassment that it has been for more than a decade and mostly has been under the incompetent Ed DeChellis? No. Much like the Penn State team that won the NIT in 2009, the 2010-11 Lions are tough and far from a pushover. They've beaten Michigan St., Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota at home, lost by just three at Ohio St. and just one at Purdue, and defeated a Duquesne squad that is fourth in the A-10. But that doesn't make them a tournament-worthy team, especially when you look at the full body of work.
For starters, Penn State is just 14-12 overall. They are a game under .500 in the conference, sitting at 7-8, and they have only one road victory all season long. Read that again: Penn State has just one road victory the entire season, and that came at Indiana, a team that is 12-16 on the season and tied for last in the Big Ten with Iowa at 3-12. And in their road games, they've lost seven by double digits. I'm sorry, but if you can't win any games of consequence on the road whatsoever, you don't deserve to be dancing even a little bit.
Then you factor in some of the losses. This team lost at home to Maine. Maine, for christ's sake, an American East team. And they lost that game by 10 points. They lost by 13 at Mississippi, got blown out by 23 at home against Maryland, lost by 10 at Virginia Tech, got rolled at home by 15 against Purdue. They lost twice to Michigan. And they offset their wins at home against Illinois, Michigan St. and Wisconsin by getting destroyed on the road against those teams in the rematches. This month, Penn State lost by 17 at Illinios, 19 at Michigan State and 10 at Wisconsin. How, exactly, is this a tournament team?
Even if they somehow miraculously beat Ohio State next Tuesday, this team's résumé simply isn't good enough — at least not without a deep run in the Big Ten tournament. And frankly, I don't see either of those two things happening. Hell, they may not even beat Northwestern or Minnesota, two of their final three opponents. Both games are on the road, after all.
Talor Battle is a really, really good player. And some of the younger guys are showing promise and playing hard. This team is far from a laughingstock. But they're not a tournament team either. They just aren't.
However, the Tar Heels are. After a dismal 2009-10 season and a shaky start this year, North Carolina has quietly had a very nice season. UNC is 21-6 overall and just a game behind Duke in the ACC, sitting at 11-2 in conference play. They've won 9 of their last 10 games, with the only loss coming at Duke — and that was a close game the entire way, losing by six when it was all said and done.
The way things are going, the regular-season finale in Chapel Hill against Duke could determine the ACC title. Fresh off a 12-point win at NC State, UNC has just Maryland and Florida State (who they beat by 20) before the clash with Duke. And unlike Villanova, Carolina is playing its best basketball of the season right now.
Harrison Barnes has played the second half of the season like he was expected to play the entire season. Kendall Marshall has been outstanding since being inserted to the starting lineup. And Tyler Zeller and John Henson give the Tar Heels two of the better interior players in the nation. This team rebounds, plays smart and gets contributions from just about everyone. They aren't as loaded as the title teams Roy Williams has coached, but they're getting there.
While I still think they're a year away from being elite, they're getting better every game and could make a deep run in the tournament. It's rare that North Carolina flies under the radar, but with the dominance of Duke in the ACC combined with a bit of a down year for the conference — not to mention everyone's love affair with the Big East — that's exactly what's been happening for Carolina this year. The Tar Heels are quietly having a very impressive season, and the nation will begin to take notice in March.
Hopefully, it begins with a statement victory against Duke to wrap up the regular season. Thank god that game won't be in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
When your favorite team is playing at Duke, you know that going in. But it sure as shit doesn't make it any easier to watch.
Let me get this disclaimer out of the way: Temple didn't have much of a shot at beating the No. 1 Blue Devils last night. With two starters on the shelf — Michael Eric done for the year and Scootie Randall out indefinitely — the Owls were undermanned and outclassed. It would take a perfect game even with Eric and Randall in tow to win at Duke. Even with an impressive first half defensively, you just knew it was only a matter of time before Duke would turn it on. They're the number 1 team in the country for a reason, and with or without the benefit of the doubt from the referees, they were going to beat Temple, most likely pulling away in doing so. That's exactly what they did, blowing out the Owls in the second half to win 78-61.
Now that that's out of the way, let me explain to you why everyone else on the planet hates Duke, and no, it's not simply because they're jealous of Coach K's success. I admit, that's part of it, but it's far from the whole story. After all, traditional power such as Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky are far less universally disliked. The main reason? No matter against who, what, where or when — but especially at Cameron Indoor — Duke gets the benefit of the doubt on calls. All the damn time. And what makes that so fucking frustrating is that Duke doesn't need that help. The Blue Devils are so damn good already, the last thing they need is help from the refs. But that doesn't stop the referees from playing favorites, whether they do it consciously or not.
The first half of last night's game was agonizing to watch. Even though Temple played Duke incredibly close in the first 20 minutes, it was almost more frustrating to watch than the second half.
There were at least 5 or 6 fouls called on Temple in the first half alone that were nowhere near fouls. On one, Rahlir Jefferson was called for a reach or block or something on Kyle Singler when he didn't even touch him for a second. If anything, maybe a foul could have been called on a reach in by Aaron Brown, but the replay showed Brown didn't touch Singler either. Didn't matter. Two shots.
That type of shit was happening the entire first half. Ramone Moore picked up two quick fouls. Ditto Juan Fernandez, who ended the first half with three fouls. And that put an already undermanned and less talented Temple team even further behind.
On the other end, things weren't much better. Several times, T.J. DiLeo — who I admit is mostly worthless — got bulled over, clear charges. Had a Dukie flopped the way DiLeo did, it's an automatic charge on the opposition. DiLeo didn't draw a call once.
And most frustrating of all, there were at least 5 times where a Duke player just camped out in the lane, yet the Blue Devils weren't called for a single three-second violation. On one, I swear to god — as did Arkansas Fred — that Singler was in the lane for 8 seconds. I was screaming at the television for a damn three-second violation. Nothing.
And that's why people hate Duke so much. Beyond the smugness of their fans and the hateable faces of their players and coach …
… they just always seem to get the calls. And they don't need them. They're good enough on their own. That's what makes me and everyone else hate them so damn much.
But like I said, that had minimal impact on the outcome. It's just incredibly annoying. Duke is simply a far better team than the Owls, who are certainly no pushovers. Kyle Singler was outstanding, scoring a game-high 28 points, and he got enough help from his teammates to keep Temple honest.
The Owls really only had two guys show up to play. Rahlir Jefferson carried Temple in the first half, scoring 10 points and making great decisions with the basketball. But he was silent in the second half, scoring only one more point the entire way. Still, he was around the ball and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.
Unfortunately, his only other help came in the form of Lavoy Allen, who quietly was the best player on the court not named Singler. Lavoy, who has had a fairly underwhelming season overall, was outstanding last night. He scored a team-high 17 points — second only to Singler's 28 — and added 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Hell, he even made 3 three-points in 4 attempts after having only two made threes all season going in.
Sadly, those were the only two Owls to show up. Their leading scorer, Ramone Moore, got in foul trouble early and never got into the flow. He had just 8 points and shot just 3-7 from the field. Khalif Wyatt couldn't provide the offensive spark he's grown accustomed to, going just 2-9 from the floor and netting only 6 points. And Juan Fernandez continued to be missing in action, as he has all season long.
The fuck you forget how to play basketball?
Coming off a breakout sophomore season last year when he averaged 12.6 points while shooting 43 percent from the field, 45 percent from three and 85 percent from the line and won the A-10 tournament Most Outstanding Player, Fernandez was expected to take the next step and be this team's leader in the backcourt. Instead, Juan has regressed to an alarming degree. This season, he's scoring just 10 points a game. He's shooting a career-worst 35 percent from the field and career-worst 30 percent form three, and his free throw percentage has dipped to 76 percent. Last night, he was an abysmal 2-10. Somewhere along the way, his confidence disappeared. He no longer makes the brilliant passes we saw the past two seasons, no longer shoots with confidence, no longer trusts his game.
If he doesn't step his game up, especially with Scootie Randall on the shelf, Temple won't have much of a chance defending their A-10 title in the tournament. The Owls need him to be the tough foe everyone's come to expect in both the A-10 and NCAA tournaments. Let's hope he can find his game and get back to the player he was last season.
In other NCAA basketball news, I just wanted to share a few thoughts on Villanova, Penn State and North Carolina as well.
As we all know, Nova is struggling quite a bit right now. They've lost three of their last five games — one at Rutgers and two at home — and are just 5-5 in their last 10. Oh, and things aren't getting any easier for them to wrap up the regular season. Their last three games are against No. 23 St. John's, at No. 9 Notre Dame and at No. 4 Pitt. Basically, the Wildcats are in a little bit of trouble.
Not "going to miss the tournament" trouble, obviously — Villanova is 21-7 after all and ranked 15th in the nation — but trouble in terms of the Big East Tournament for sure. Right now, Nova is 9-6 in the conference, tied with Cincinnati for 7th. They're already on a skid, and they could very easily lose their last three games to finish at .500 in the Big East and miss out on a bye altogether. And unless they can find a way to make a deep run in the conference tournament, they won't be heading into the NCAA tourney with much confidence or a very favorable seed. So these final three games — all of them incredibly tough — are vital.
To be honest, I think one of the reasons Nova has struggled so much recently traces back to coach Jay Wright. Wright is unquestionably an outstanding coach and recruiter. He took a Villanova program that was on life support and has turned it into a national power. Just two seasons ago, he led the Wildcats to the Final Four, and he's churning out NBA players left and right. But this season, I think Wright has made some crucial coaching errors, magnified during this rough stretch.
For one thing, Wright has been tinkering with his lineup all season long and took much, much longer than usual to get his starting lineup set. That hasn't been his M.O. over his career at Nova. Typically, he finds his starting five early in the season and sticks with it. But this year — in part due to injury (and the year-long absence of top recruit JayVaughn Pinskton certainly hasn't helped) — we've seen so many different starting lineups that's it's hard to discern who is a starter and who is not at times. Of late, he's been going with a big lineup: Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes (when he's been healthy), Mouphtaou Yarou, Isaiah Armwood and Antonio Pena. That's far from the Nova way, when we've grown accustomed to three- and even four-guard lineups: Mike Nardi, Kyle Lowry, Randy Foye, Allen Ray, Scottie Reynolds, Dwayne Anderson, Fisher, et al. For a while, that was the case, with Maalik Wayns starting in place of Armwood, giving Nova the three guards it's grown accustomed to. And while Wayns has certainly struggled with turnovers and ill-advised shots at times, the Wildcats were playing much better basketball with him in the starting lineup than with him coming off the bench.
Then you look at some of Wright's in-game strategy of late and it has you scratching your head. In the epic collapse at Rutgers, his end-of-game coaching was laughable, something I never thought I'd say about Jay Wright. The Scarlet Knights started to catch fire from three late in that game, to the point where the last thing you wanted was for Rutgers to be in position to tie or win the game with a three. So after Corey Fisher missed a critical free throw late that would have made it a four-point game and practically iced it, the only smart thing to do was to foul Rutgers and make it a free-throw shooting contest the rest of the game. That way, Rutgers couldn't tie the game with a three, and chances are Nova would come out on top as the superior foul-shooting team.
I know there's a debate about playing defense and fouling with a three-point lead at end-of-game situations, but the reason I say fouling was the only smart thing to do is simple: Villanova is the best free-throw shooting team in the Big East, shooting 76.2 percent as a team. To prove it was the way to go even more, Rutgers is a really bad foul-shooting team, shooting just 66.7 percent on the season, and they were lighting it up from three. You make it a foul-shooting contest, and more than likely Villanova escapes a scare against a horrible team and gets a W. Instead, Wright didn't play the percentages, and disaster struck:
Yes, it was Corey Fisher who missed a critical free throw and then "fouled" (seriously, I still don't think he touched him) a three-point shooter to suffer the four-point play loss, but Wright also failed to put his players in the best position to win following that miss by Fisher. It wasn't one of his better moments, and that inexplicable loss really started this slide over the past 5 games.
After that, they lost to a really good Pitt team at the Pavilion by just three. That was followed by Nova struggling to outlast a bad Seton Hall team, winning by just three themselves, and they barely escaped DePaul with a two-point win, needing overtime to defeat the last-place team in the Big East.
Then there was Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. In an important game against Syracuse, a game that was critical in determining seeding for the Big East Tournament, specifically the coveted four spot for a double bye, Jay Wright thought it would be a good idea to throw a freshman that missed the majority of the first half of the season in for the final four minutes with his team trailing in a tight contest. Yeah, instead of going with Maalik Wayns or Dominic Cheek, two more proven, seasoned players and one in particular in Wayns who has come up big late in games for Nova, Wright rode with James Bell, a guy who had played a total of 19 games and had only played 2 minutes to that point on the night.
I was screaming at my television, asking why Bell was in at such a critical juncture, and even more livid when he played the entire rest of the way. In that time, Bell missed two free throws, turned the ball over and missed a meaningless three with time winding down. He didn't help Nova at all. Yet he was in the game, and I was baffled.
It turns out that Wayns was suffering back spasms, that's why he wasn't in. But still, why not go with a guy like Cheek, someone who has been in some wars, even though he admittedly was struggling with his shot too? I'd still feel more comfortable with a sophomore who has played in a lot of big games at Nova than a freshman that has played very little.
So here we are with Villanova faltering as the season winds down. It would be tough to expect Nova to be as good as last year after losing a first-team All American in Scottie Reynolds and important contributors like Reggie Redding and even Taylor King, not to mention the unexpected season-long suspension of Pinkston. But it wasn't out of the realm of possibility to expect Villanova to be playing its best and vying for Big East supremacy by this time of the year. That hasn't happened, and things are only going to be tougher from here on out.
Then there is my alma mater, Penn State. As recently as Saturday, I heard Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas all proclaim that Penn State is an NCAA Tournament team. Those guys seem to be under the impression that with three more teams added this year, every major conference will get pretty much every decent team in. This makes absolutely no sense, because there are only three teams being added, not a dozen. The pundits don't seem to grasp that. Any smart person who understands simple math does. And any smart person, despite some people proclaiming there are still crucial road tests for the Nittany Lions, knows Penn State is nowhere near a tournament team.
Does that mean Penn State is the embarrassment that it has been for more than a decade and mostly has been under the incompetent Ed DeChellis? No. Much like the Penn State team that won the NIT in 2009, the 2010-11 Lions are tough and far from a pushover. They've beaten Michigan St., Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota at home, lost by just three at Ohio St. and just one at Purdue, and defeated a Duquesne squad that is fourth in the A-10. But that doesn't make them a tournament-worthy team, especially when you look at the full body of work.
For starters, Penn State is just 14-12 overall. They are a game under .500 in the conference, sitting at 7-8, and they have only one road victory all season long. Read that again: Penn State has just one road victory the entire season, and that came at Indiana, a team that is 12-16 on the season and tied for last in the Big Ten with Iowa at 3-12. And in their road games, they've lost seven by double digits. I'm sorry, but if you can't win any games of consequence on the road whatsoever, you don't deserve to be dancing even a little bit.
Then you factor in some of the losses. This team lost at home to Maine. Maine, for christ's sake, an American East team. And they lost that game by 10 points. They lost by 13 at Mississippi, got blown out by 23 at home against Maryland, lost by 10 at Virginia Tech, got rolled at home by 15 against Purdue. They lost twice to Michigan. And they offset their wins at home against Illinois, Michigan St. and Wisconsin by getting destroyed on the road against those teams in the rematches. This month, Penn State lost by 17 at Illinios, 19 at Michigan State and 10 at Wisconsin. How, exactly, is this a tournament team?
Even if they somehow miraculously beat Ohio State next Tuesday, this team's résumé simply isn't good enough — at least not without a deep run in the Big Ten tournament. And frankly, I don't see either of those two things happening. Hell, they may not even beat Northwestern or Minnesota, two of their final three opponents. Both games are on the road, after all.
Talor Battle is a really, really good player. And some of the younger guys are showing promise and playing hard. This team is far from a laughingstock. But they're not a tournament team either. They just aren't.
However, the Tar Heels are. After a dismal 2009-10 season and a shaky start this year, North Carolina has quietly had a very nice season. UNC is 21-6 overall and just a game behind Duke in the ACC, sitting at 11-2 in conference play. They've won 9 of their last 10 games, with the only loss coming at Duke — and that was a close game the entire way, losing by six when it was all said and done.
The way things are going, the regular-season finale in Chapel Hill against Duke could determine the ACC title. Fresh off a 12-point win at NC State, UNC has just Maryland and Florida State (who they beat by 20) before the clash with Duke. And unlike Villanova, Carolina is playing its best basketball of the season right now.
Harrison Barnes has played the second half of the season like he was expected to play the entire season. Kendall Marshall has been outstanding since being inserted to the starting lineup. And Tyler Zeller and John Henson give the Tar Heels two of the better interior players in the nation. This team rebounds, plays smart and gets contributions from just about everyone. They aren't as loaded as the title teams Roy Williams has coached, but they're getting there.
While I still think they're a year away from being elite, they're getting better every game and could make a deep run in the tournament. It's rare that North Carolina flies under the radar, but with the dominance of Duke in the ACC combined with a bit of a down year for the conference — not to mention everyone's love affair with the Big East — that's exactly what's been happening for Carolina this year. The Tar Heels are quietly having a very impressive season, and the nation will begin to take notice in March.
Hopefully, it begins with a statement victory against Duke to wrap up the regular season. Thank god that game won't be in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Butler Did It
If anyone needed more proof that the Big East Tournament trumps all other conference tournaments, Da'Sean Butler just gave it to you. I watched damn near every second of this game. And all the other games I've been home and awake to witness. This is the type of thing we've come to expect out of the Big East.
Whether it's the epic 6-overtime game between UConn and Syracuse or a matchup between the top seed and the eighth seed, the Big East Tournament games keep you on the edge of your seat.
There was Georgetown, a team with Final Four talent but not a Final Four résumé, taking down No. 3 Syracuse, the top seed in the Big East, behind Chris Wright's outstanding performance, zone be damned. Wright went off, shredding the Orange defense for 27 points, 6 boards and 6 assists. Greg Monroe, who damn well may be my favorite player in college basketball, chipped in with a 15-10-7 with 3 steals and a block. Not even Wesley Johnson's 24 points and 7 boards could stop Georgetown. The Hoyas shot an outrageous 57.9 percent from the field. And they needed every last bucket, as the Orange were no slouches themselves, hitting 54.2 percent of their shots and a ridiculous 11 out of 20 threes (55 percent).
But it was the Hoyas who held on for the 91-84 upset, setting the stage for upset city all day long in Madison Square Garden.
Following suit, Marquette took down Villanova with an 80-76 victory behind the three-point shooting of Darius Johnson-Odom. One of the best three-pont shooters in the nation at 48.3 percent, Villanova continually left him open or unchallenged from three. Big mistake. Johnson-Odom hit 5-7 from beyond the arc and crushed Nova with a late three. Lazar Hayward was a terror, also hitting a dagger of a three and doing pretty much anything he wanted. Hayward went 7-11 from the field for 20 points and added 7 boards.
Meanwhile, the Cats continued to struggle. I watched online at work as Scottie Reynolds reverted back to his former self, prior to last year's NCAA tournament, coming up small in a big game. Reynolds scored just 10 points on 4-10 shooting. Everyone knows Nova needs him to score more than 10 and certainly take more than 10 shots. Reggie Redding was atrocious, going 1-9 from the field and struggling to contain Hayward. The two Coreys played well, and Antonio Pena chipped in, but it wasn't enough. Now Nova has lost five of its last seven games, certainly going in the wrong direction at the wrong time of the year.
I hate to say it because I think he's an awesome coach and a tremendous guy, but much of the blame has to be placed squarely on the shoulders of Jay Wright. It's now March, tournament time, and Jay still doesn't have his rotation set. I understand that Nova has a plethora of talent on the roster, but you just can't expect guys to win big games against tough opponents without any sort of continuity, without understanding or even knowing their roles, their playing time.
Sure, he has the constants of Scottie, Reggie, Pena and Fisher getting big chunks of minutes. But from there, things have been too varied all season. Corey Stokes is the first guy off the bench, and his time is pretty consistent, but Maalik Wayns plays 22 minutes one night, 3 the next. Same for Dominic Cheek. And Yarou, though is playing time has become a little more consistent of late. Too many players have had their playing time play out too sporadically. To a much, much, much lesser degree, it's like watching Eddie Jordan sit guys for weeks, then play them in crunch time. Jay Wright is a fine basketball coach. Hell, he's this close to being a great. He's brought Villanova back from the doldrums to a national power. But he's struggled mightily this season trying to figure out just what he has. And I think to some extent it's hindered his team down the stretch. I'm confident he'll straighten things out. The problem for Villanova is I don't think that will happen until next year.
The upsets didn't end there, by the way. Notre Dame, despite no one on the team scoring more than 12 points and only two players in double digits, was able to hold off Pitt 50-45 in another close battle. I wouldn't call this game exciting, because it wasn't. Plus I really, really hate both these teams. Watching Notre Dame and Pitt makes my eyes bleed. It's like Big Ten basketball — excluding Michigan State and anything Evan Turner does — on steroids, and that's not a good thing. I'd say more about this game, but I don't want to. It was painful to watch. But ND did make it three straight wins for the lower seed, showcasing just how talented and tough the Big East is.
And of course, there was the main event, as it turned out: West Virginia saving face for the higher seeds by barely edging Cincinnati 54-51.
I'm breaking out a oldie but a goodie here: If you didn't watch this game, please, do the world a favor and kill yourself. Because that game was, despite a relatively low score, fucking awesome. Tight throughout, the last few minutes is when the action really picked up. Kevin Jones was a man's man for West Virginia throughout, scoring a team-high 17 points, including some huge buckets down the stretch. Lance Stephenson, after struggling all game, began to live up to his Born Ready moniker, completely taking over for the Bearcats from the midway point of the second half on. It started with a pair of free throws, then a jumper, then another, and another. Then came his assist to Deonta Vaughn for three, and then, with 47 seconds left, Born Ready hit the biggest three of his life, tying the game at 51.
Stephenson finished with a game-high 19 points and added 7 rebounds. But most importantly for Cincinnati, he did what the Bearcat faithful have been waiting for the freshman to do all season long: He put Cincy on his back and carried them into the final minute. Sadly for Stephenson, his late-game heroics weren't enough. No. Da'Sean Butler may have lost out on the Big East Player of the Year to Wes Johnson of Syracuse, but he sure as shit wasn't going to lose in the Big East Tournament and get outdone by a freshman. So the senior standout calmly took the ball, stroked a three and banged it home. Game. Set. Match.
As the ball went through, I started yelling, "WOW!!!! HOLY SHIT!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" That's what the Big East Tournament does to you. It leaves you in awe. It amazes you. It gives you moments like the Butler doing it. Like Ray Allen leading UConn over Allen Iverson and Georgetown.
Like the 6-overtime game. Like Gerry McNamara raining down threes. Like a senior taking control when his team needs it most. It really is the best conference tournament of all. And it sets the stage nicely for March Madness and the big dance.
Extra game of note: North Carolina played perhaps its best half of 2010, taking a 34-24 lead into the midway break against Georgia Tech. All game long, Len Elmore kept trying to convince people that Larry Drew II has considerable talent, and too many people focus on his weaknesses. He was basically trying to tell the world that Larry Drew is just a sophomore and will definitely get better. I'm here to tell you Larry Drew sucks. He played a really good game for about 35 minutes last night. Then, when the game was close late, he folded, turning the ball over again and again and again. To no one's surprise, UNC lost 62-58, and Drew had 5 turnovers. And he shot 1-9 from the field and 0-4 from three. Sure, he had 8 assists, but what good are 8 assists when you negate them with 5 turnovers and terrible shooting? That's Larry Drew in a nutshell. Just because he's fast doesn't mean he has talent. He sucks. Horribly. And the fact he follows Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson as the last two point guards at UNC certainly doesn't help his cause. His flaws are on full display.
Kudos to Tyler Zeller though, who finally looked like the player he was touted to be. He scored a team-high 17 points on 7-11 shooting and had 10 boards. Though he did get rejected late on a huge play. Hard to fault him too much though, especially since he was swatted by Derrick Favors.
Much like Stephenson, Favors has been expected to do a little more than he has this season as whole. Not even close to the extent of Lance, but Favors was projected as the second or third pick during the first half of the season. As the season has worn on, his stock has fallen a bit. I'd argue it's because Georgia Tech doesn't give the guy enough touches, and foul trouble has hindered him as well. But last night was the perfect example of what he can do. He looked every bit like the dominant player he's supposed to be, scoring a game-high 18 points, grabbing 9 boards and blocking five shots. He was a beast. Yet he only got eight shots, making seven of them. Get him the ball more, and I guarantee he'll dominate. Hell, he can dominate even without getting enough touches, like he did last night.
And for shits and giggles, enjoy:
God, I love March. If only every day I could be blessed with endless college basketball games to watch.
P.S. The Flyers sucked balls last night. Michael Leighton may have gotten pulled, but it was the defense that let him down. Terrible, horrible breakdowns defensively led to those goals, leaving Leighton high and dry. Get your shit together, boys.
Friday, April 3, 2009
And Then There Were Four … Links
The Final Four is tomorrow. Villanova, North Carolina, UConn, Michigan State. Nothing more really needs to be added to that. Oh, and the Phillies start Sunday, so there's that too, and the Bears decide to mortgage their future to get Jay Cutler. Seriously, the Broncos received two first round picks, a third rounder and Kyle Orton. Wow. Now the links.
-Classic, the Norm MacDonald ESPY monologue:
-The Phillies prop bets.
-USC linebackers love the roids.
-Some love for Dante Cunningham.
He'll definitely be a big key, but all of the Wildcats are going to have to play a near perfect game to beat UNC.
-Shoals offers his five non-stories from this year's NBA season. Guess who's mentioned first:
Brand on the Run: Baron Davis' relocation was an unquestioned disaster; Jermaine O'Neal's, a little less cataclysmic, but a major failure that proved he had forever dropped a tier or two. On the bright side, Ron Artest has been absolutely crucial to Houston's late season resurrection, and Corey Maggette has played quite well for a team from outer space.
But perhaps no offseason acquisition was a bigger deal than Elton Brand to the Sixers. Here, a young, uptempo team was getting one of the league's most steady, productive post players. But this ideal pairing never came to fruition. Brand struggled, the Sixers struggled, Brand was hurt, the Sixers went back to their old ways without him, and it was a mercy killing when in February Elton decided to undergo surgery and sit for the year. Now the Sixers are the fifth seed in the East, and Brand is a distant memory who might as well have never happened.
-Joe Juliano talks about Scottie Reynolds' difficulty adjusting to life at Villanova.
-Dick Jerardi had a great piece on Jay Wright earlier in the week.
The best line in the article, however, is delivered by Rick Pitino:
I will never forget Rick Pitino saying at the 1997 Final Four: "If it's not broken, break it," not the old cliché "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
This line came from a man who had won the 1996 title and would lose the 1997 title game in overtime. Stand still, he was saying, and you will get passed.
-NBA scouts should not only be looking at the players on the floor at the Final Four, says Kevin Arnovitz, they should be looking at Jay Wright:
Jay Wright, 47 years old, Head Coach, Villanova
On a team full of marginal pros, the one name from Villanova that NBA fans should be aware of is actually that of their head coach, Jay Wright. Watch the difference in his offense this weekend-chock full of NBA friendly isolation plays, heavily focused on outstanding spacing-compared with that of Michigan State, UConn or North Carolina, and notice the difference. His team doesn't shoot particularly well, and they aren't very big, long or athletic. They lack a true point guard, a real center, any kind of depth at all in the frontcourt, and may not have even a single future NBA player on their roster.
So what are they even doing on this stage?
The answer to that is their head coach: Jay Wright. When NBA GMs go to scout the Final Four this weekend, they'll obviously be taking notes on their star players, Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds. But they should also be keeping tabs on the man running the show from Villanova's bench.
Wright looks like the most likely head coach in the NCAA right now to be able to successfully make the transition to coaching in the NBA. Even though his team runs a traditional 4-out 1-in motion offense, he gives his players an unbelievable amount of freedom to go out and make plays on their own if they feel like they have an advantage. Even if they aren't the most talented group of players, Wright has made them into an extremely disciplined, unselfish bunch who are about as well-prepared a team as you'll find.
Everyone who has been around Wright mentions his charisma and ability to build and maintain relationships as the key to his success. Even if he obviously looks the part, he's much more than just a smooth talker. He knows how to manage his players and get the absolute most out of them, often by making quick changes on the fly, and is not a control freak, an ego-maniac or a disciplinarian, like many other failed college-to-pro experiments. When he asks his team to go out and spit blood in order to get him stops on the defensive end-a huge key to their success-- they do it, because they have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Would NBA players respect his authority in a similar way? There's only one way to figure that out.
-Johan Frazen is Superman:
-Just an absolutely incredible trick shot:
-Here's another one, via MLJ:
EMBED-Amazing Off-the-Wall Bball Swish - Watch more free videos
-It has to be fun having Fred Smoot and Gilbert Arenas in the same town. Check out some brilliant quotes by Smoot and Gilbert from the Bog:
"Fat boys wins my game," he said. "I know football, and in December, in the playoffs, fat boys win. Whoever's got the best fat boys is gonna win, so I'm gonna collect fat boys. I can find Fred Smoots--not a dime a dozen, but I can find cornerbacks that can make plays. I can find that. I can't find a big boy that can push this line for four quarters."
Fred Smoot, if you haven't noticed, is actually pretty smart, underneath all the jibba jabba. So is Gilbert Arenas; his "a broke clock's right twice" line, concerning the sorry Wizards recording two wins this year against the dominant Cavs, was probably the smartest five words anyone uttered about last night's game, and he delivered it spontaneously, without a second's thought.
-Finally, someone is is talking some sense:
Since we're both picking the Phillies to win this division for a third season in a row, can we safely say that we're employing a "fool me once ..." stance toward those Mets?
David Brown: The Mets just ain't that good, 'Duk! Daniel Murphy might be OK in left field. Ryan Church is OK in right. Luis Castillo is barely OK at second. Brian Schneider is OK behind the plate. The starting pitching is OK after Johan Santana. The bullpen will light you on fire just as soon as they pitch, and that includes Francisco Rodriguez. Just start the count 2-1, because K-Rod usually gets there anyway. The Mets have great players at third, at short, in center and on the mound every fifth day. The rest of them make me shrug my shoulders. Heck, can I put the Marlins second?
Exactly.
-Just please, go over to Big Five Post and read all the great work Dom is doing, for instance, a look back at '85, Dante, Dionte and Ahmad receiving All American Honorable Mention honors, and an exhaustive list of Villanova links from the week.
Oh, and it would be nice if the Flyers came out and won 6-0 or something tonight, seeing as they completely shit the bed against Toronto on Wednesday.
-Classic, the Norm MacDonald ESPY monologue:
-The Phillies prop bets.
-USC linebackers love the roids.
-Some love for Dante Cunningham.
He'll definitely be a big key, but all of the Wildcats are going to have to play a near perfect game to beat UNC.
-Shoals offers his five non-stories from this year's NBA season. Guess who's mentioned first:
Brand on the Run: Baron Davis' relocation was an unquestioned disaster; Jermaine O'Neal's, a little less cataclysmic, but a major failure that proved he had forever dropped a tier or two. On the bright side, Ron Artest has been absolutely crucial to Houston's late season resurrection, and Corey Maggette has played quite well for a team from outer space.
But perhaps no offseason acquisition was a bigger deal than Elton Brand to the Sixers. Here, a young, uptempo team was getting one of the league's most steady, productive post players. But this ideal pairing never came to fruition. Brand struggled, the Sixers struggled, Brand was hurt, the Sixers went back to their old ways without him, and it was a mercy killing when in February Elton decided to undergo surgery and sit for the year. Now the Sixers are the fifth seed in the East, and Brand is a distant memory who might as well have never happened.
-Joe Juliano talks about Scottie Reynolds' difficulty adjusting to life at Villanova.
-Dick Jerardi had a great piece on Jay Wright earlier in the week.
The best line in the article, however, is delivered by Rick Pitino:
I will never forget Rick Pitino saying at the 1997 Final Four: "If it's not broken, break it," not the old cliché "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
This line came from a man who had won the 1996 title and would lose the 1997 title game in overtime. Stand still, he was saying, and you will get passed.
-NBA scouts should not only be looking at the players on the floor at the Final Four, says Kevin Arnovitz, they should be looking at Jay Wright:
Jay Wright, 47 years old, Head Coach, Villanova
On a team full of marginal pros, the one name from Villanova that NBA fans should be aware of is actually that of their head coach, Jay Wright. Watch the difference in his offense this weekend-chock full of NBA friendly isolation plays, heavily focused on outstanding spacing-compared with that of Michigan State, UConn or North Carolina, and notice the difference. His team doesn't shoot particularly well, and they aren't very big, long or athletic. They lack a true point guard, a real center, any kind of depth at all in the frontcourt, and may not have even a single future NBA player on their roster.
So what are they even doing on this stage?
The answer to that is their head coach: Jay Wright. When NBA GMs go to scout the Final Four this weekend, they'll obviously be taking notes on their star players, Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds. But they should also be keeping tabs on the man running the show from Villanova's bench.
Wright looks like the most likely head coach in the NCAA right now to be able to successfully make the transition to coaching in the NBA. Even though his team runs a traditional 4-out 1-in motion offense, he gives his players an unbelievable amount of freedom to go out and make plays on their own if they feel like they have an advantage. Even if they aren't the most talented group of players, Wright has made them into an extremely disciplined, unselfish bunch who are about as well-prepared a team as you'll find.
Everyone who has been around Wright mentions his charisma and ability to build and maintain relationships as the key to his success. Even if he obviously looks the part, he's much more than just a smooth talker. He knows how to manage his players and get the absolute most out of them, often by making quick changes on the fly, and is not a control freak, an ego-maniac or a disciplinarian, like many other failed college-to-pro experiments. When he asks his team to go out and spit blood in order to get him stops on the defensive end-a huge key to their success-- they do it, because they have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Would NBA players respect his authority in a similar way? There's only one way to figure that out.
-Johan Frazen is Superman:
-Just an absolutely incredible trick shot:
-Here's another one, via MLJ:
EMBED-Amazing Off-the-Wall Bball Swish - Watch more free videos
-It has to be fun having Fred Smoot and Gilbert Arenas in the same town. Check out some brilliant quotes by Smoot and Gilbert from the Bog:
"Fat boys wins my game," he said. "I know football, and in December, in the playoffs, fat boys win. Whoever's got the best fat boys is gonna win, so I'm gonna collect fat boys. I can find Fred Smoots--not a dime a dozen, but I can find cornerbacks that can make plays. I can find that. I can't find a big boy that can push this line for four quarters."
Fred Smoot, if you haven't noticed, is actually pretty smart, underneath all the jibba jabba. So is Gilbert Arenas; his "a broke clock's right twice" line, concerning the sorry Wizards recording two wins this year against the dominant Cavs, was probably the smartest five words anyone uttered about last night's game, and he delivered it spontaneously, without a second's thought.
-Finally, someone is is talking some sense:
Since we're both picking the Phillies to win this division for a third season in a row, can we safely say that we're employing a "fool me once ..." stance toward those Mets?
David Brown: The Mets just ain't that good, 'Duk! Daniel Murphy might be OK in left field. Ryan Church is OK in right. Luis Castillo is barely OK at second. Brian Schneider is OK behind the plate. The starting pitching is OK after Johan Santana. The bullpen will light you on fire just as soon as they pitch, and that includes Francisco Rodriguez. Just start the count 2-1, because K-Rod usually gets there anyway. The Mets have great players at third, at short, in center and on the mound every fifth day. The rest of them make me shrug my shoulders. Heck, can I put the Marlins second?
Exactly.
-Just please, go over to Big Five Post and read all the great work Dom is doing, for instance, a look back at '85, Dante, Dionte and Ahmad receiving All American Honorable Mention honors, and an exhaustive list of Villanova links from the week.
Oh, and it would be nice if the Flyers came out and won 6-0 or something tonight, seeing as they completely shit the bed against Toronto on Wednesday.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Get Your Link On
Tonight, I'm going to see the Flyers take on the Islanders at the Wachovia Center, so get ready for some hockey tomorrow. Today, we gots the links.
-Last week, I gave Jay Wright some love. Sports Illustrated just did the same, via The700Level
-Monday night excitement. First, Steve Young got cracked in the face with a cup:
Then, Antonio Bryant made a sick catch:
-C-Webb and Vlade will have their numbers retired in Sacramento when Peja's Hornets are in town.
-Dwyane Wade is sick:
-Also, just a reminder, visit You Got Dunked On and Hip 2 Da Game to get your daily dunking fix and hip hop/sports updates, especially if you like Philly's own Freeway.
-Apparently, Patrick Ewing looks like his 22-year-old son, according to the NBA.
-Via The Angry T a funny sign:
-A little help for the Eagles: Chris Samuels is done for the year.
-HHR directs us to an informational post on how Allen Iverson's hairstyles reflect the news.
-Phillies are reportedly involved in a potential mutli-team trade involving Peavy … with the Phils getting Penn product Mark DeRosa and maybe Jason Marquis.
-Sam Carchidi and Ed Moran both chronicle the Flyers' struggles at even strength.
-What Andy Said, What Andy Meant.
-JoePa plans to be on the sidelines for the Rose Bowl.
Tonight, Villanova takes on Texas, and believe me, I'll be watching the second half once I get home from the Flyers game.
-Last week, I gave Jay Wright some love. Sports Illustrated just did the same, via The700Level
-Monday night excitement. First, Steve Young got cracked in the face with a cup:
Then, Antonio Bryant made a sick catch:
-C-Webb and Vlade will have their numbers retired in Sacramento when Peja's Hornets are in town.
-Dwyane Wade is sick:
-Also, just a reminder, visit You Got Dunked On and Hip 2 Da Game to get your daily dunking fix and hip hop/sports updates, especially if you like Philly's own Freeway.
-Apparently, Patrick Ewing looks like his 22-year-old son, according to the NBA.
-Via The Angry T a funny sign:
-A little help for the Eagles: Chris Samuels is done for the year.
-HHR directs us to an informational post on how Allen Iverson's hairstyles reflect the news.
-Phillies are reportedly involved in a potential mutli-team trade involving Peavy … with the Phils getting Penn product Mark DeRosa and maybe Jason Marquis.
-Sam Carchidi and Ed Moran both chronicle the Flyers' struggles at even strength.
-What Andy Said, What Andy Meant.
-JoePa plans to be on the sidelines for the Rose Bowl.
Tonight, Villanova takes on Texas, and believe me, I'll be watching the second half once I get home from the Flyers game.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Wright Man
Everyone knows what Jay Wright has done for Villanova. He walked onto the Main Line with a program in disarray—suspensions, sanctions and the like. But it didn't take long for the Council Rock High School grad to turn things around.
He brought in one of the most talented recruiting classes in the history of the Big 5, with Curtis Sumpter, Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Jason Fraser headlining, and watched them grow into a national power. Now Villanova is back on the map, a perennial power in college basketball with big-time recruits like Scottie Reynolds calling Nova home. Since leaving Hofstra, he amassed a 148-83 record heading into the season at Villanova with an overall coaching record of 270-168.
Clearly, the man can coach. He's bright, he's endearing and man can he recruit. Strictly from a basketball standpoint, Jay Wright is a coach any school, any team would be privileged to have.
But as impressive as Wright has been as a coach, he's just as impressive as a man. This truly struck me earlier this week when he was being interviewed on "Daily News Live."
Recently, junior forward/center Casiem Drummond expressed his desire to transfer from Villanova, which the university granted, to go somewhere that has some more playing time for him. With the emergence of Dante Cunningham and some talented underclassmen shining, Drummond's minutes diminished this year.
Well, on "DNL," Wright was asked about Drummond, and his response was just phenomenal. He did nothing to downplay Casiem at all. He discussed how he is part of the Villanova family, a great guy, and that he will do anything he can to help Casiem find the proper fit. He wants Casiem to go somewhere where he can play a lot right away. He talks with him regularly and did nothing but talk up the kid.
This might not sound like much, but from what I've seen, most coaches try to change the subject. They will typically speak favorably about the player, but then try quickly to move on to something else. Wright embraced it and used the question, the topic, to support Casiem, explain to the world how he understood his frustrations and would do whatever it takes to make Casiem feel comfortable in a new place. He didn't skirt the issue at all, and he spent a lengthy amount of time keeping the conversation alive. It was the epitome of class, and I just wanted to applaud him for that.
In a culture that often breeds coaches and players with large egos who tend to lose sight of others and simply look out for number one, it's great to have a coach like Jay Wright around—a man who can coach with the best of them, and not lose his touch with reality in the process.
He brought in one of the most talented recruiting classes in the history of the Big 5, with Curtis Sumpter, Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Jason Fraser headlining, and watched them grow into a national power. Now Villanova is back on the map, a perennial power in college basketball with big-time recruits like Scottie Reynolds calling Nova home. Since leaving Hofstra, he amassed a 148-83 record heading into the season at Villanova with an overall coaching record of 270-168.
Clearly, the man can coach. He's bright, he's endearing and man can he recruit. Strictly from a basketball standpoint, Jay Wright is a coach any school, any team would be privileged to have.
But as impressive as Wright has been as a coach, he's just as impressive as a man. This truly struck me earlier this week when he was being interviewed on "Daily News Live."
Recently, junior forward/center Casiem Drummond expressed his desire to transfer from Villanova, which the university granted, to go somewhere that has some more playing time for him. With the emergence of Dante Cunningham and some talented underclassmen shining, Drummond's minutes diminished this year.
Well, on "DNL," Wright was asked about Drummond, and his response was just phenomenal. He did nothing to downplay Casiem at all. He discussed how he is part of the Villanova family, a great guy, and that he will do anything he can to help Casiem find the proper fit. He wants Casiem to go somewhere where he can play a lot right away. He talks with him regularly and did nothing but talk up the kid.
This might not sound like much, but from what I've seen, most coaches try to change the subject. They will typically speak favorably about the player, but then try quickly to move on to something else. Wright embraced it and used the question, the topic, to support Casiem, explain to the world how he understood his frustrations and would do whatever it takes to make Casiem feel comfortable in a new place. He didn't skirt the issue at all, and he spent a lengthy amount of time keeping the conversation alive. It was the epitome of class, and I just wanted to applaud him for that.
In a culture that often breeds coaches and players with large egos who tend to lose sight of others and simply look out for number one, it's great to have a coach like Jay Wright around—a man who can coach with the best of them, and not lose his touch with reality in the process.
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