Archive: March, 2009
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Never thought you'd see a white-out at Madison Square Garden, did you?
With no less a luminary than Joe Paterno looking on from the stands, Penn State held off a second-half charge from Notre Dame and beat the Fighting Irish, 67-59, in the NIT semifinals.
The ESPN announcing crew said at the beginning of the telecast that 11 buses of Penn State students caravaned from State College to Manhattan, and when they showed the stands it sure looked like it. Notre Dame has a big alumni base (real and imagined) in New York, but it sounded like the Nittany Lions had the crowd advantage.
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A. Jones |
33 |
5-6 |
6-7 |
0-0 |
4 |
11 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
30 |
16 |
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Staff photographer Sarah J. Glover was out on the Main Line this afternoon at a Villanova media session. She put together a nice video of Jay Wright and a number of his players talking about how it feels to have made it to the Final Four.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
We've barely just finished the regional finals and already the coaching carousel is spinning at top speed.
The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that Kentucky is on the verge of hiring John Calipari to replace Billy Gillispie as its basketball coach. At the same time, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Calipari has met with his players, and WMC TV in Memphis reports that Calipari rejected a counter-offer to stay with the Tigers.
ESPN.com's Andy Katz reports Kentucky's offer is for eight years and $35 million, while the Herald-Leader story linked above says it is for six years and $40 million. That story's author, Jerry Tipton, notes on his blog that Calipari is currently making $3 million a year at Memphis
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Word is in from CBS that Villanova and North Carolina will contest the second game at the Final Four on Saturday night. Michigan State-Connecticut will be the first game, tipping off at 6:07 p.m. The second game is slated to start 40 minutes after that game concludes, so we're probably looking at a 9:00 start or thereabouts.
Of course, I'll be here to liveblog all the action.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76: Juliano | Kern | Ford | Jensen | Hofmann | On campus | Box
National coverage: Weiss | Feinstein | Ryan | Katz | N.Y. Times | Wash. Post | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Okay, this might take a little while, and it might be a bit disjointed. So bear with me...
I'm in shock. I really am.
It took me quite a while after the live blog ended to really believe Villanova is going to the Final Four. It all came so fast and so furiously that only now can I piece back together all those little things at the end.
- Line of the Game winner Dwayne Anderson's dead-eye three-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:48 left in the game after Levance Fields had given Pitt a 69-68 lead with two free throws.
- Reggie Redding missing the first of two free throws with 20 seconds left right when Verne Lundquist mentioned the all-time record of 22-for-22 in 1971 by Fordham. At that point, Villanova had shot 21-for-21 from the line.
- Redding shaking off the pressure of the miss by making the second free throw, giving the Wildcats a two-possession lead.
- The stunning turnover off the almost-full-court inbounds heave from Corey Fisher Reggie Redding after DeJuan Blair's layup made it 76-74. Cunningham caught it at the baseline and tried to throw it out of bounds off Jermaine Dixon, but turned it over instead. All of a sudden, it seemed like Villanova was going to choke the whole thing away having stood mere inches from the pinnacle of college basketball. Levance Fields got the ball, and then came the biggest play of the game...
- Corey Fisher's foul of Fields with 5.5 seconds on the clock. Yes, Scottie Reynolds' sprint and layup will be the shining moment for the rest of time, and it should be. But I'm going to argue right here that in terms of pure impact on the game's result Fisher's foul was more important.
Why? Because if the foul hadn't happened, there was a chance - no matter how tiny - that Fields might have found just enough space to launch a three. And Sam Young was open if Fields could have found him.
If that shot, or any shot, had gone in, you can be sure there would have been much less time on the clock. Maybe three seconds, maybe two, or maybe none at all.
And if there had been none at all, and if Fields had hit the shot, Pitt goes to the Final Four. And that huge blue tidal wave never explodes onto the floor, even if the clock hadn't expired yet. And we all sit there in the live blog stunned for a totally diferent reason than we were.
Instead, Fields ties the game with two free throws. Could he have intentionally missed the second and hoped for a tip-in? Sure, but I can't imagine that makes more sense than tying the score and trying to force overtime. You can't necessarily assume Pitt would have gotten the rebound, and if they had you can't assume they would have found a shot.
Now, if Fields misses the first one, then I presume he has to try to miss the second and hope for a putback. But when you have two teams in a game that close and the intensity level is as high as it is, I have to think you'd much rather go the safe route and take the overtime.
Maybe I'm just arguing against myself there. And maybe some of the guys who were in Boston tonight covering the game will say the same thing, though I haven't read all the stories yet so I don't know.
But again, the point is that if the foul hadn't happened, there would have been no chance for Villanova to win the game in regulation either.
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D. Anderson |
28 |
5-10 |
5-5 |
2-6 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
20 |
17 |
Watch CBS Videos Online
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Villanova 77, Duke 54: Juliano | Jerardi | Ford | Hofmann | Raleigh News and Observer | Box score
So you probably thought coming in that Villanova had a pretty good shot to win the game, and maybe by a couple baskets instead of just one.
But by 23 points?
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Redding |
32 |
4-7 |
2-2 |
1-2 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
20 |
11 |
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Greetings from the shadow of the big screen at Tir Na Nog in Center City, where I'm hosting a viewing party for tonight's game that I hope you'll come join if you're nearby. Yeah, the weather stinks, but that didn't stop you from going to games during the season so it shouldn't stop you now.
A few statistics of consequence about Duke's defense before we get started. The Blue Devils give up 34.2 percent three-point shooting and 46.2 percent two-point shooting. Yes, they're ranked 20th overall in defensive efficiency, but that's almost entirely because of the high number of turnovers forced.
Does that guarantee anything? Of course not. But it gives Villanova an opportunity if they work the ball inside the way they did against UCLA. The question is whether the Wildcats will do it.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
I only just now got around to reading Yahoo! Sports' exposé on the NCAA rules Connecticut violated in recruiting guard Nate Miles. I suspect a number of you have seen it already today but as I write this there is about to be a press conference in Storrs to address the mater.
The story is really deep, and includes a segment of the cell phone records that Yahoo! used to prove the existence of illegal contact between Miles and Tom Moore, a former UConn assistant who is now the head coach at Quinnipiac.
The other protagonist in the story is Josh Nochimson, a professional sports agent and former student manager for the Huskies. Nochimson provided Miles with a number of illegal benefits including lodging, transportation and meals.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Say you're a fan of a Big 5 school. You're really loyal to your team but you get the meaning and history of the City Series, even if you weren't born yet when the thing was really in its heyday.
You have, to put it one way, a healthy dislike for Villanova. It might vary among you, from the Penn fan who grew up around here to the St. Joe's fan who pouts every time you get stuck in the Pavilion's upper balcony for the Holy War. It's not quite how you view the Cowboys or the Mets, but it's still pretty deep down inside you.
You've heard all this talk over the years about how a nationally-successful Big 5 team increases exposure for Philadelphia basketball, and you might even believe some of it. You spent the weekend listening to Bill Raftery wax lyrical about Fran McCaffery's playing days at Penn, and you know he talks about the Big 5 plenty, and you know he'll be calling Villanova-Duke on Thursday, and you're looking forward to it.
- Poll: Which team will you be rooting against? (256 votes)
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
