North Carolina, Midnight End Villanova's Season in NCAA Sweet 16, 67-66

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Around the stroke of midnight on Friday night, Villanova's would-be Cinderella run to a Final Four came to an end as well. The Wildcats' 2004-05 season ended at the hands of depth, firepower - and luck - as they ended up losing by a heartbreaking 67-66 score, to the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, in the Sweet 16 in Syracuse, N.Y., at the Carrier Dome.

The loss was particularly galling, since Villanova had led by double digits (by as much as 21-9 and 30-19) in the first half, and by four at intermission. 'Nova's peak for the game probably took place when Foye nailed a triple at the 6:15 mark, to boost the Wildcat advantage back to 11 points at 30-19. It is a fitting testament to North Carolina's dominance this season that the four-point deficit was the largest they had overcome this season.

However, after play resumed, Villanova began to cool off, and North Carolina went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to take its first lead of the contest at 44-42, after Marvin Williams converted a pair of free throws at the 11:43 mark.

The Wildcats appeared to have gotten the break they needed when Felton picked up his fourth foul with 8:43 to play. However, Rashad McCants picked up his game, scoring seven straight points for Carolina. After the Tar Heels began to dominate play in the second half, the Wildcats trailed by 10, 64-54, with under three minutes to play.

But when point guard extraordinaire Raymond Felton fouled out at the 2:11 mark, the Tar Heels began to unravel, and the Wildcats still almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. However, they came up a single point short, although they outscored the Tar Heels, 12-3, in the final two-plus minutes. It was among the most painful, yet exhilarating, losses to watch in Villanova history, for those reasons.

The Tar Heels (30-4) advanced to the Elite Eight to face #6 Wisconsin, a team Villanova would likely have been favored against, even without Curtis Sumpter. Ultimately, the Wildcats were not able to simultaneously overcome both the loss of Sumpter, and their short bench against Carolina. Coach Jay Wright was even forced to insert practice player Baker Dunleavy to replace Randy Foye in the final seconds, after Foye had fouled out. Dunleavy has played only 24 minutes this season, but trailing, Wright desperately needed another potential three-point shooter and neither Marcus Austin nor Chris Charles fit that bill.

North Carolina has now subsequently defeated Wisconsin, to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2000. The 30th victory was the first time since 1998, that a Tar Heel squad had reached the 30-win plateau.

This appearance is an NCAA-record 17th trip to the Final Four, and North Carolina's seventh in the last 15 seasons. It also clearly signals the recovery of North Carolina's program, under Roy Williams, after its dip during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Three years ago, Carolina finished 8-20; two years ago, they were in the NIT.

However, the Wildcats gave the Tar Heels all they could handle. North Carolina has many NCAA appearances over the years, 121 to be exact. But this was Carolina's first one-point NCAA tournament victory in 23 years, since the 1982 team featuring Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins defeated Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the NCAA championship game, 63-62.

It was just Carolina's fifth single-point NCAA victory, ever. North Carolina also posted season lows in field goal attempts with 48, field goals with 20, and steals with three. Particularly during the first half, the Wildcats were able to successfully dictate a slow, deliberate tempo to the game, attempting to protect their short bench and shorten the game, much in the same way that Wright's mentor, former coach Roland V. Massimino, used to do so successfully.

North Carolina managed just 29 points by halftime. The game began to slip away, however, in the second half, when the fleeter and deeper Tar Heels began to fully exploit their advantages in transition. They began to successfully grind down the Wildcats, who until the shocking comeback in the final three minutes, appeared to be just about out of gas.

For some reason, North Carolina - which was making its 20th Sweet 16 appearance since 1975 - plays particularly well in the Carrier Dome. Including the victories over Villanova and Wisconsin this weekend, the Tar Heels are now 8-1 there all-time, and 7-1 in NCAA tournament play, including topping Villanova easily, in the second round of the 1991 tournament.

But on Friday, the Tar Heels had to overcome an odd coalition of anti-UNC fans in the building, who were not shy in expressing their avid preference for a Villanova victory. Well represented at the game were a large contingent of Villanova fans, crosstown rivals from NC State who resent North Carolina's dominance, Wisconsin fans who had just seen their team advance by beating NC State, and fervently wanted the lower seed Villanova to advance to face the Badgers on Sunday, and local Syracuse fans who were presumably pro-Big East.

Villanova finished arguably its best season in 17 years with a final record of 24-8, reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999 and the Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 years. Seven of the eight losses were by six points or less, and all were to teams that reached either the NCAA or NIT.

The Wildcats crushed then-second-ranked Kansas and upset nationally ranked Boston College and Pittsburgh at the Pavilion, as well as West Virginia, ranked at the time of the game and which made a Cinderella run of its own to the Elite Eight. The Wildcats also advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1988, defeating #12 New Mexico and #4 Florida in order to face #1 North Carolina.

The Wildcats, playing without Curtis Sumpter, out with a torn ACL suffered in last week's second round victory over Florida, turned in a remarkably gallant effort, against a superior opponent. Villanova held the Tar Heels to just 67 points, the fewest it has scored in any of its previous 29 victories. In all North Carolina games, the only other lower one had been 66, for a team that had entered averaging 88.8 points a contest, and that game was the 77-66 season-opening loss to Santa Clara on Nov. 19, when point guard Raymond Felton didn't play due to rules violations.

Randy Foye scored 28 points (just one below his season-high) to lead the Wildcats, while Kyle Lowry added 18 points and seven rebounds. For North Carolina, Rashad McCants led with 17 points, and center Sean May had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. A crowd of 30,916 watched the game, setting a NCAA record for an on-campus regional, eclipsing the mark also set at the Carrier Dome in 2000.

I joined many other Wildcat fans upstairs, at the Wild Onion in Rosemont, Pa., where I watched the game with a packed house of passionate and raucous Villanova fans, who went home bitterly disappointed. Their disappointment was particularly aggravated by a controversial traveling call against Allan Ray, who had a potential game-tying three-point play disallowed, with 9.0 seconds remaining.

With North Carolina clinging to a 66-63 lead with just 9 seconds to go, it initially appeared that North Carolina's Rashad McCants had fouled Ray and the basket had counted, causing a momentary explosion of joy among 'Nova fans everywhere. However, the elation was short-lived, as it was ruled a travel and the basket nullified. Carolina was able to hold on and win by making free throws down the stretch.

All three CBS analysts - Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, and Seth Greenberg - in the New York studio immediately afterward, strongly disagreed with the official's call. However, it would not be fair to blame the call exclusively for Villanova's defeat, as-

1. Ray still would have been required to make a free throw just to tie the score,
2. The Wildcats would then have had to stop the Tar Heels on the final possession, and
3. Then the Wildcats would have needed to win in overtime, and
   
4. The overtime victory would have had to come without Mike Nardi, who had fouled out with 34 seconds to play, and with Randy Foye carrying four fouls (Foye would foul out in the final seconds of regulation after the travel call). It was the first foulout of the year for Mike Nardi in 30 games, as he had averaged just 1.5 fouls a contest all season.

Prior to the game, I suggested three key factors to watch for: perimeter shooting, rebounding, and Jawad Williams (please see "The Ultimate Villanova/North Carolina Preview, Part 3" for the details). I selected these because in North Carolina's rare losses this season, there was a noticeable downturn in each. Let's look at each in turn:

1. Perimeter Shooting: More than anything else, this doomed the Wildcats. North Carolina shot 42% from three-point range, while Villanova fired at just 29% (8-26).
2. Rebounding: Villanova was badly outrebounded, sorely missing Sumpter in this department. The Tar Heels won the battle on the glass 38-29.
3. Jawad Williams: Tremendous success on this one. Williams, who averaged 15 points/game in North Carolina victories, against just 7.5/game in defeats. Williams was limited to just 2 points against Villanova on 1-4 shooting, logging only 23 minutes.
   

For Villanova, Randy Foye led the way with a herculean effort, scoring 28 points (just one short of his season high) and undoubtedly opened a lot of eyes with his performance. Kyle Lowry also dazzled. In the starting lineup, the freshman scored 18 points and had seven rebounds against a much taller team.

Unfortunately, in Sumpter's absence, the Wildcats really could have used a stronger performance from frontcourters Will Sheridan and Jason Fraser, who combined for 62 minutes of play but scored just seven points.

Villanova needed another scoring option, since Ray continued his NCAA drought. Ray scuffled to a 2-14 shooting performance, the third straight subpar game for the second-team All-Big East player. With Sumpter on the bench (where he clearly borrowed some clothes from Coach Jay Wright's wardrobe, given how well dressed he was) and Ray cold as ice, Villanova desperately needed a third scoring option to accompany Foye and Lowry, but none was forthcoming. Hence defeat.

For North Carolina, Rashad McCants led with 17 points, with all but two coming after intermission. While McCants was effectively shut down from the floor (he finished with just 3-9 shooting), he more than made up for it at the foul line, making nine of his 10 attempts.

Super-freshman Marvin Williams came off the bench to score 16 points and collect five rebounds. Sean May bulldozed his way to his 16th double-double of the season and the 11th in his last 13 contests. May finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds despite playing only 28 minutes due to foul trouble.

Felton finished with 11 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and five assists, but also committed six turnovers, including fouling out on an incredibly ill-advised play on Nardi with two minutes to go, nearly leading Carolina to implode down the stretch. It was Felton's first foulout of the season, and only the third of his career. And given Carolina's performance after he went to the bench for good, the Tar Heels can ill-afford to have him do it again in St. Louis this weekend.

Overall, Villanova won the turnover battle, one of the few statistical categories it dominated. The Wildcats forced 16 turnovers and committed just nine, although the last-second travel on Ray was the most costly turnover of the season. The nine turnovers were the fewest committed by any North Carolina opponent this season.

Villanova had some tough sledding to overcome, historically; it was the 27th time a #5 seed had faced a #1 in the Sweet 16, and the underdog has pulled off an upset only five times, including Michigan State's upset of Duke earlier in the evening.

Congratulations to Jay Wright and the Wildcats on their tremendous season, as well as to Roy Williams and the Tar Heels on their advancing to the Elite Eight for the 21st time in UNC history.

Go Wildcats!

The Ultimate NCAA Sweet 16 Villanova/North Carolina Preview, Part 3

To the Wildcat faithful-

In Part 3, we break down the 2004-05 Tar Heels' season and players, and look at the intangibles entering Friday's game...

Carolina This Year

The Tar Heels are enjoying their first unalloyed season of success since Guthridge left after the Final Four in 2000. There was a revival of positive focus on the Tar Heels this year, since all five starters were coming back and Carolina was voted #2 in the ACC pre-season poll.

Out-of-conference

The season got off to a rocky start when the Tar Heels were whipped by 11, while visiting unheralded Santa Clara in Oakland (but basically a home game for the Broncos in the Pete Newell Challenge) in the November 19 opener (Felton missed the game). However, Carolina righted the ship, ripping off 14 straight victories and soaring near the top of the polls. Victims:

BYU, @ Tennessee, Iowa, USC, @ Indiana, #8 Kentucky (by 13), Loyola-Chicago, @ newly-minted ACC member Virginia Tech, NCAA qualifier Vermont, UNC-Wilmington, Cleveland State, William & Mary. Most were blowouts: the Tar Heels scored 105 points or more in four of those games.. In a remarkable coincidence, Carolina will now have faced three programs closely associated with Rollie Massimino in one year: Vermont (his alma mater), Cleveland State (where he ended up after Villanova), and of course, Villanova on Friday - probably the first and only team ever to play those three diverse programs in the same year. (Maybe it's a good omen... :)

ACC play

What troubled the ACC was that the blowouts didn't cease, once Carolina began conference play and facing schools in its own weight class. The Tar Heels buzzed through the first half of ACC competition, as well. In its first two ACC contests, Carolina beat #21 Maryland by 34, 109-75, and then #8 Georgia Tech by 22.

The Tar Heels fell at #3 Wake Forest by 13, for only their second loss of the year, dropping their record to 3-1, 14-2. But then the blowout wins began to mount again. Carolina leveled its next five ACC opponents - @ Clemson, Miami, @ Virginia, NC State, and @ Florida State - by margins of 19 or more. The centerpiece was a 110-76 massacre at UVA which certainly didn't help Pete Gillen's chances of surviving this season (which he hasn't, subsequently.)

And so Carolina entered the most popular regular-season game of the year nationally, the Duke/Carolina game at Cameron on Feb. 8, with a 19-2, 8-1 mark, to take on the #8 Blue Devils (many of whose current students had no direct firsthand experience of Carolina being good).

To return to Smith to a moment, he did NOT like losing at Cameron, nor did he find the antics of the Duke students (which were often directed at him and his godlike status) entertaining. According to Feinstein, "Smith has never found the Duke students as amusing as most others do. His rivalry with them is probably as intense as with any coach or team... He wasn't thrilled in 1988 when, after he had been in a fender bender with a Duke campus bus outside the Duke chapel (he was taking his parents to church there) they loudly chanted, 'Dean Can't Drive' when he appeared in Cameron that season." After Duke captured its second straight national title in 1992, Smith was greeted with chants of "Mike's got two, Dean's got one" during Carolina's visit there in 1993 (a pointed reference to Smith's sole national title in 1982 with Jordan). But unfortunately the chant could only be used for a single game, as Carolina went on to defeat Chris Webber and Michigan's Fab Five in the 1993 title game, in the infamous too-many-timeouts fiasco (Webber called a timeout the Wolverines didn't have at crunch time, leading to a technical foul and handing the game to Carolina, although the Tar Heels certainly might have won the game in any event.)

I don't particularly like Duke either, and although I love Dick Vitale, the one aspect of Dickie V I don't like is his genuflection before coaches in general and Coach K in particular. But, in much the same vein as my enjoyment of Carolina's early 21st-century struggles, I do find it cool that even in the state of North Carolina, that Smith got treated as something less than an imperial figure, even if for only two hours at Cameron once a year.

"If Dean Smith had been candid on one subject over the years, it was the fact that he enjoyed nothing more than beating Duke at Duke. He had never liked the irreverent atmosphere of Cameron; Duke was the archrival and the greatest threat - long-term - to Carolina's mastery of the ACC. Krzyzewski's presence over the years had made it more person. Smith always had his team ready for Cameron. He was 18-17 throughout his lengthy career there and there is little doubt that each of the 18 ranked high on his list of satisfying wins."

(That's pretty incredible - 18 wins - and a winning record! - at Cameron. Obviously, nobody else will ever approach that.)

Back to 2005, when Duke outlasted UNC in another classic, 71-70. Whether as a result of that game or otherwise, Carolina's dominance was not as extreme the rest of the year. They consoled themselves after the loss by flying up to Hartford and beating the defending national champion, #14 Connecticut, 77-70. The Tar Heels followed it up by crushing both Virginia and Clemson at the DeanDome.

Which brings me to my next point-

Incredible, but true: Clemson and Carolina are both charter members of the ACC, founded in 1953 as a secession movement from the Southern Conference (cheap joke, but they know all about secession movements down there.) And they have played each other well before the ACC was founded; they've faced each other since 1926.

Clemson has traveled to Carolina, no fewer than 50 times since then.

But the Tigers have NEVER won at Chapel Hill.

Ever. Not a single time in 79 years.

After three more wins this year, Carolina now leads the all-time series by an incredible margin of 116-19 - how can you be almost a hundred games under .500 against an opponent? :) Even Matt Doherty went 5-2 against Clemson.

Granted, Clemson is a football school in a basketball conference, but that's still a record of futility that strains even the fertile imagination of the basketball gods. It is by far the longest such streak in NCAA history of one school failing to win at another school. Clemson couldn't even beat Matt Doherty in three tries, although his third year, the Tigers only lost by two at the Smith Center. And if they couldn't beat HIM at Chapel Hill, odds are that it may NEVER happen :)

And for what it's worth, Carolina's ACC victory margins began to drop a little bit. In the trip to NC State, whom they had flattened by 24 in the first game, they won by 10. In the trip to Maryland, whom they had annihilated, they won by just two, although they did beat Florida State by 15. To cap off the regular season, the Tar Heels won the rematch against Duke at the DeanDome, on March 6, winning 75-73. The Tar Heels won the ACC regular season at 14-2, after finishing fifth last year at 8-8. It was the first time anyone had gone from 5th to 1st in one year since Georgia Tech did it back in 1996, and the first time anyone had jumped six ACC wins in one year since Duke also did it in 1996.

Carolina struggled in the ACC tournament, though, especially in light of how dominant it had been in the regular season. A possible reason: in a historical anomaly, the ACC tournament shifted north to Washington, DC's MCI Center, home of the Georgetown Hoyas, as a sop to the northern schools in the conference, Maryland and Virginia. Traditionally it had been held in North Carolina, close to UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest, most frequently at Reynolds Coliseum at NC State - which for many years was the premier sporting venue in the state - and then to the true-neutral Greensboro Coliseum.

After topping Clemson by 51 points in two meetings, Carolina struggled with the Tigers in DC, winning by just seven, and then was upset by #25 Georgia Tech in the semifinals, 78-75, the second straight loss to former VU assistant Paul Hewitt's Yellow Jackets in the conference tournament. The Tar Heels finished with a record of 27-4 overall, 14-2 ACC.

The loss didn't cost them a #1 seed, however. The loss to Santa Clara (a middle-of-the-pack West Coast Conference team) was about the only thing that could, and it was so long ago that it didn't appear to hurt them (and Felton didn't play in that game). It was UNC's NCAA-record tenth #1 seed, but its first in seven years, and Williams' sixth after five with KU.

North Carolina sprinted effortlessly throughout the first two rounds of the tournament. They were rewarded with the right to face the play-in game winner of Oakland/Alabama A&M. (There should be a level playing field. It's not equitable to have to prepare for one opponent, fly to Dayton and play, and then fly to another site where a #1 seed is waiting for you, having rested for four or five days. One extra at-large team should be omitted and all the automatic bids given legitimate chances to win by abolishing the play-in game.) In the first round, as expected, UNC did not break a sweat in defeating Oakland, 96-68. On Sunday, while Villanova was finishing off Florida, Carolina overcame a momentarily sluggish start to breeze past #9 Iowa State, 92-65. ISU led 13-12 in the early going, before Carolina turned off the after-burners.

Breaking Down The Tar Heels

Judging from the team statistics and the Iowa State box score, it is clear Williams will only use eight players in his rotation against Villanova. Everyone on the team got into that game, but only eight guys played 13 minutes or more, and if they didn't play more than three minutes in that game, we won't see them. Eight guys average more than 16.5 minutes a game.

Unfortunately for us, the Tar Heels are VERY deep and VERY good, which is why they are 29-4 this year and have the top seed.

Depth isn't an issue. Williams doesn't have a single player logging more than 31.5 minutes a game, and only Raymond Felton has more than 26.0 per game. They also have eight other guys on their bench. Nine different players have started at least one game, and Marvin Williams, who made the ACC All-Freshman team, isn't one of them.

They lead the nation in scoring with nearly 90 points a game (88.8), and have won nine games by 30 or more points, including six trips past the century mark. Five guys average double figures or better. Carolina hasn't enjoyed such well-balanced scoring since 1995, when a team led by Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace also had five guys do it. And they draw a lot of fouls: Carolina has made more FTs this season than its opponents have attempted. During the final week of the season, the Tar Heels ranked in the top 10 nationally in eight different categories: scoring and scoring margin, FG%, 3FG%, rebounding margin, assists/game, steals/game, and winning percentage.

Nor is it all offensive firepower. The Tar Heels force 19 turnovers a game and have many active defenders.

Here's another overall view. According to one veteran, Washington, DC-based college basketball observer, who has seen the Tar Heels play several times this season:

"This Carolina team reminds me of the '94 UNC team with Rasheed [Wallace], [Jerry] Stackhouse, [Jeff] McInnis -- all of whom are still in the NBA today -- as well as Donald Williams and Eric Montross, who had played key roles in the '93 championship team. The '94 Carolina team was the consensus preseason #1, and had by far the most talent in the country... and got knocked off in the second round of the Tournament. [Note: The observer is referring to the 1994 game when 9th-seeded Boston College upset the top-seeded Tar Heels in the second round of the NCAA tournament, behind 21 points from Gerrod Abram. The Heels, just one year removed from a national championship, went 28-7, came in second in the ACC regular season, won the ACC tournament, qualified as a #1 seed, but were bounced in Landover, Md., by the Eagles, a very rare second-round exit for a Smith-coached squad.] "This Carolina team is similar. Four future NBA first-round draft picks. Loads of talent. But they don't play together as a team. In 6 or 7 years, everyone will look back and say, 'How did these guys not win the National Championship?' But mark my words, they will not." "Like the '94 team, the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Maybe they'll lose to Villanova, maybe they won't... but they're ripe for the taking."

Starters

The horse in the middle is Sean May. A first-team All-ACC selection, May was simply unstoppable against the Cyclones on Sunday, turning in a monster performance with 24 points (on 8-9 shooting) and 17 rebounds in only 30 minutes. May was named recently to sundry All-America teams, usually second-team. He averaged 16.5 pts/10.7 rebounds and just over one blocked shot a game, just the 12th Tar Heel to ever average a double-double in points/rebounds for an entire season. Among the list is Billy Cunningham and Bobby Jones, both 76ers legends.

May is the son of Scott May, who was the National Player of the Year on the last NCAA team to go undefeated, the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers under the odious Bob Knight.

Another big gun is Rashad McCants, who averages 15.8 pts and shoots threes at a 40.6% clip. McCants, a junior, was actually a first-team All-ACC pick last season but made only the third team this year. May or may not come back for a senior year. Got sick in February and missed the last four ACC games, including the home finale against Duke. Here's a scary fact: McCants' absence seemed to be barely noticed by Carolina, which won all four games without him: at bubble team Maryland, at crosstown rival and Sweet 16 member NC State, Florida State, and of course Duke at the Smith Center. He returned with seemingly no ill-effects for the ACC tournament, where he scored 30 points in two games.

At one forward spot is Jawad Williams, a senior, and McDonald's AA from Cleveland. He's third in the ACC in FG% at 54.9% and has improved at all aspects of his game, relative to his first three years, showing substantial improvements in every category. He doesn't get the ink of Felton, May and McCants, but Dickie V named him to his "All-Support" Team in December. He ended up getting some recognition, though, finishing up as a third-team All-ACC selection.

Good news for 'Nova: Williams averages 14.1 a game, but his shot noticeably tailed off down the stretch, possibly because of fatigue. After routinely breaking double figures all year, he only broke double figures in one of Carolina's last four games before the NCAA tournament and shot only 11-35 in them. Reportedly, according to CarolinaBlue.com posters, these fades at the end of the season are typical of Williams due to injuries.

And don't foul him - he's an 84% shooter.

One guard is junior Raymond Felton. Felton was also accorded first-team all-ACC honors and was the Maui Invitational MVP. Felton, who has started all but one game since arriving in Chapel Hill, is an outstanding defensive player, narrowing missing being named to the conference's all-defensive team, finishing sixth in the voting. Felton also sharply improved his shot this year, making Carolina's already formidable offense that much stronger. Entering the season his career shooting percentage was 40.7%, now it's 46.1%. But even more dramatic was his improvement from beyond the arc, which vaulted from 34.1% to 44.0%; he led the ACC in three-point accuracy this year. Felton also led the ACC in assists (for the second straight season) and was third in steals.

Try not get confused with all of these Williamses - in addition to coach Roy, there are two members of the rotation also named Williams, Jawan and Marvin. Marvin was a unanimous ACC All-Freshman team and deemed the #1 Impact Diaper Dandy by Dickie V, pulling down five ACC Rookie of the Week awards this year.

Finally, there is Jackie Manuel, a 6-5 senior swingman, a defensive specialist, named to the All-ACC defensive team. He replaced Melvin Scott in the starting lineup.. He's not a threat to score. He probably would have drawn the assignment of guarding Sumpter if he were playing, and instead may get Foye. Manuel is popular with the Carolina fan base due to his unselfishness and team effort.

Off the Bench

There is Marvin Williams, described above, who averages 11.2 points off the bench. He's the first Tar Heel to average double figures off the bench since Jerry Stackhouse did it in 1994. For a freshman, he has veins of ice, leading the team in FT% at 84.8%, and he gets to the line a lot - he was second on the team in FT attempts, despite the fact that he doesn't start and only averages 22 minutes a game. He is dogged with a sprained toe he suffered in February against UConn and which won't heal fully till the offseason.

Rumors swirl on the Carolina boards that Williams may forego his final three years of eligibility and head for the NBA after this season.

Williams seems to be the Kyle Lowry of the Tar Heels - everyone raves about the lift he provides off the bench.

Next, there is Melvin Scott, a senior guard and former starter, who overcame an extraordinarily difficult childhood (in his media guide essay, Scott notes that he was expelled from five different schools) on the streets of Baltimore, to arrive in Chapel Hill under Doherty as an elite recruit. Scott, now a devout Christian who credits religion with saving him, gave the following answers to a question from the UNC media guide: His favorite person in history he'd like to meet is "Moses, to ask him how he parted the Red Sea". He wears #1 because "#10 was retired and I'm the first #1 in the history of Carolina". Scott, undoubtedly because of his background, is very serene about his diminished role at Carolina under Williams.

Finally, the eighth member of the rotation is David Noel, a junior from nearby Durham. Noel is another defensive specialist, similar to Manuel, and his backup, but can dunk and shoot the three-ball if necessary.

Overall Intangibles

Remember, Carolina is only three years removed from a 8-20 season, and three of UNC's rotation - Jawad Williams, Manuel, Scott - played on that team. Most of them - all juniors and seniors - have firsthand memories of Doherty, and were recruited by him. This is not your typical Carolina team brimming with confidence.

In fact, they're only marginally more battle-tested in the NCAA tournament, than absent-for-six-years Villanova. Since going to the Final Four in 2000 in Guthridge's final year, Carolina has won a grand total of two games in the NCAA tournament, both against low seeds, not counting the two they won last weekend (which were also against low seeds).

In short, if you have to face Carolina as a #1 seed, this is probably the best year ever to do it, before they get that swagger back under Williams... Speaking of whom...Williams, of course, is quite familiar with Sumpter, having coached him on the USA basketball team this summer, although he won't have to face him.. Williams describes Sumpter as "a friend of mine..."

Beating Carolina

Control the perimeter, crash the boards, and shut down Jawad Williams.

Looking at their four losses, helpfully totaled by the Carolina Sports Information Office, two facts jump out as a team. Carolina didn't shoot well, or defend well, from beyond the arc (29.6%, as opposed to 41.8% in their victories). Their opponents shot just 33.5% from beyond the arc in Carolina wins, but 39.0% in Carolina losses.

They also didn't crash the boards, as their opponents nearly matched them at 38.0 boards per game vs. 38.8 for the Tar Heels. In Carolina victories, they rebounded with a vengeance, with 40.6 per game while permitting 31.8 for their opponents.

Also, for individual players, the key appears to be shutting down Jawad Williams. There's more of a divergence for his numbers in wins/losses than any other Tar Heel. Williams averaged 15.0 pts in victories, but Williams literally was "half the man he used to be" in defeats, scoring 7.5 a game in the losses to Santa Clara, Wake Forest, Duke, and Georgia Tech.

Can 'Nova Win?

Well, of course the 'Cats are the underdog, especially without Sumpter, but it wouldn't require a miracle. Villanova has already pummeled Kansas, who is just as good as Carolina (albeit at home, sort of, and with Sumpter). Roy Williams has conceded that the 'Cats will have a LOT more fans there, since it's a lot closer to Villanova.

And the quirk of the Christian calendar, which produced the early Easter holiday, will probably tamp down travel for Carolina fans, who won't have time to go all the way to Syracuse, and still make it home for the holiday (and they probably wouldn't find it worthwhile to go just for one game). (Perhaps a positive omen from the Almighty :)

Plus, Sweet Sixteens obviously aren't a major event to the Carolina fan base, unlike ours. Despite our increasingly rare trips to Syracuse, the 'Cats still will have played in the Carrier Dome more often than the Tar Heels have, so that's a slight advantage as well.

That's it. As I conclude, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the UNC Athletic Communications Office, who helpfully rush-mailed me the exquisite UNC Media Guide and Game Notes, so helpful to me in the composition of this guide. And thanks also to the Carolina fans who graciously and articulately responded on message boards, and in e-mail to my requests for information on the Tar Heels.

Go Wildcats!

The Ultimate NCAA Sweet 16 Villanova/North Carolina Preview, Part 1

To the Wildcat faithful-

Preface

Let's begin with one basic fact - entire books have been written about Carolina's program, and I can't wrap all of its history into a couple of articles thrown together in a week's time. I've invited the Carolina folks over to look at these, and requested their help as I created these articles. And for those of you who are visitors here, I'm sure I'm going to make some basic mistakes, so please bear with me. This isn't intended as a comprehensive overview of UNC's program. This is supposed to be a sketch for Villanova fans who want to learn more about UNC in advance of the game (If you want to e-mail me, you can do so at cdimitri1@yahoo.com).

I am deeply indebted to John Feinstein's magnificent 1998 book on the 1996-97 ACC, A March to Madness, for much of the historical material on Carolina and almost all of it on Smith, for whom that season was his last prior to retirement. It is one of the finest books on the sport ever written, and I highly recommend it - I bought the book as soon as I saw it in the Borders in Rosemont back in 1998. (Every time I use one of the stories from the book, a "JF" will appear.)

So now that's out of the way, let's begin with Dean E. Smith, the most important figure in UNC history and one of the most, nationally.. Much of this will be redundant for many of you who lived through him, but since we have current VU students who don't remember him, let's do some basics.. (It's incredible that it'll be EIGHT years this fall that he announced his retirement.

Dean Smith was - pure and simple - a basketball genius. That's not just hype. That's fact. Dick Vitale called him "Michelangelo", but that was true. Time would forbid me from listing all of Dean Smith's innovations, but let's just leave it at this, all from Feinstein:

His success with the "Four Corners" stalling offense was largely responsible for the introduction of the then-45 second shot clock beginning in the 1985-86 season, the year after Villanova won the national title. (It was reduced to 35 seconds after the 1992-93 season, coincidentally the year after Smith won his second national title.)

• He instituted the idea of practicing endgame situations in practice.
• He first began the practice of husbanding timeouts for use at crunch time.
• He suggested huddling up at the foul line, after fouls.
• He instructed players to signal when they were tired and wanted to be removed.
• He first began the tradition of honoring graduating senior players, back in 1962. (Smith naturally felt melancholy as a player, after not starting in his final home game at KU and decided he didn't want his seniors to feel that way.)

Not that Smith didn't have critics. Lefty Driesell, the Maryland coach, once mocked Smith's self-deprecating nature, claiming that "Dean Smith's the only man in history who's won 700 games and been the underdog in every one of them." (JF)

But Smith won, more consistently and for a longer period of time, than anyone else in the entire history of the game. In 36 years as Carolina's head coach, Smith won 879 games, reached 11 Final Fours, captured 13 ACC tournaments, reached the title game five times, and won the whole thing twice - in 1982 and 1993.

In what may have been his most impressive attainment, Smith took the Tar Heels to 13 consecutive Sweet 16s. Or try out this one: From 1964-65 to 2000-01, despite playing in what in most years was the most arduous conference in America, the Tar Heels never finished below THIRD in the ACC - a 37 year span. In the ACC's 50 seasons the Tar Heels have only missed the top three six times.

Only John Wooden, who won 10 national titles in 12 years at UCLA, and Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game, rank clearly above him in the sport's history. Not that this fact has always been clear. Bill Foster, another of Smith's coaching adversaries, once wondered aloud: "I always thought it was NAISmith who invented the game, not DEAN Smith." :) (JF)

Smith could have easily had a political career had he wanted it, and if the political winds had blown more favorably in his direction. An old-school New Deal Democrat who grew up in small-town Kansas (back when Democrats still did well in places like that) Smith probably could have been elected easily to statewide office in increasingly Republican North Carolina. Smith was undoubtedly eagerly courted by the state's Democrats for that reason. But he never wanted to, and now at 73, he's probably too old. There is precedent for sports figures reaching elected office: former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, former Phillies Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, and former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver and Hall of Famer Steve Largent all parlayed their athletic feats into elected office, although in contrast to Smith, all three were Republicans. (Ironically, as Feinstein points out, Coach K - the hated enemy in most of North Carolina - is a conservative Republican who would fit in a lot better politically in the state).

But even Dean Smith didn't build Carolina from the ground up. Smith took over from the guy who DID do that, the equally legendary Frank McGuire, whose interesting life I will not go into in the hopes of keeping this to a manageable length :) Suffice it to say that McGuire, a New Yorker who led the Tar Heels to a 32-0, national-championship-winning season in 1957, transformed college hoops forever by being the first to spirit elite New York City schoolyard talent, especially from the Catholic leagues, to the Deep South. (He would later coach the 76ers. Smith was hired by McGuire as an assistant.)

Many of the problems that Carolina has had over the last few years, stem from the problem that all great empires have had throughout history: namely, succession. Even Dean Smith, the Julius Caesar of NCAA basketball, was not immortal. After he broke the all-time win record (games, which by incredible coincidence, I saw in person in Winston-Salem, N.C., because VU was playing in the same NCAA bracket in 1997 :) , he decided to step down, and his long-time assistant Bill Guthridge succeeded him.

This was not a good long-term solution. At least to my limited knowledge, Guthridge wanted to be a career assistant and always intended to retire with Dean, not succeed him. Also, it caused long-term instability, since Guthridge was almost as old as Smith, he certainly wasn't going to coach very long, and he didn't.

Which led to the most publicized coaching succession/soap opera in the nation. One wouldn't think that the Carolina job would have gone a-begging, particularly within the Carolina family, as they were widely viewed as the only ones eligible. "Family" is a stronger concept at UNC than anywhere else. Smith coached so long and so successfully that his former assistants and players brought elements of the Carolina system everywhere in America. According to Feinstein, there is a strict clannish sense down there. If you're a card-carrying member of the family - a former Carolina player, manager, or assistant - you have the run of the place at practice and are welcome to hang out on the floor. Anyone else - regardless of status - has to get a little card from the UNC office saying that he's got permission to attend practice that day and sit in the upper deck of the DeanDome. (Larry Brown once came back with his assistants in tow, and got to watch practice on the floor, while his assistants were banished to the upper deck.)

Smith was a math major at Kansas, where he was a bench player on a NCAA winning team and the sixth man on the Jayhawks squad that lost the title game the following year. (Ironically, Roy Williams would play at Carolina, coach at Kansas, and then return to Carolina as well. But this meant that it wasn't unusual to have, when the teams occasionally met in the 1990s, a KU grad coaching UNC against a UNC grad coaching KU.)

And everything about Carolina's program under Smith, reflected the mathematical elegance of Smith's mind. Everything that goes on in practice is meticulously recorded for "pluses and minuses", and as Feinstein reports in an interesting quirk, graduating players can actually will their pluses to underclassmen. There are elaborate rules as to who can and cannot shoot from certain parts of the floor.

For those of you who haven't had the privilege of seeing UNC's campus, even if only briefly, it fits in well with this philosophy. (I saw Chapel Hill for about three hours, when VU went to the '97 tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C., about 90 minutes away.) It's all pillars and Georgian and Greek Revival architecture, very cool, refined, enlightened, elegant, and rational. Very nice town if you haven't been there. I only saw Durham, where Duke is located, for about four hours, and Chapel Hill for about four hours, but it definitely was one of the most memorable visits I've ever had anywhere, and I would enjoy going back with enough time to actually see everything.

Guthridge went to the Final Four in 2000 and then stepped down, and there were no shortage of candidates: Kansas coach Roy Williams and NBA coaches Larry Brown (then with Philadelphia, now with Detroit) and George Karl (then with Seattle, now with Denver), all of whom had played at Carolina. Matt Doherty, who ultimately got the job, was definitely considered a second-tier candidate. But all of the heavy hitters decided to turn it down. Williams stayed in Lawrence and neither Brown nor Karl were interested.

And so Carolina made the fateful decision that has cost it so dearly, and decided to give the keys to the most storied and successful program in America to Matt Doherty, a 39-year old who had been a head coach for a grand total of one year at Notre Dame after serving as an assistant under Williams at Kansas.

Doherty's sole trump card was the fact that he was a loyal member of the family, a guy who had played on the 1982 team with Jordan. And Carolina desperately wanted to keep it in the family.

The Doherty Dark Ages in Chapel Hill: The Fall (Without Decline) of the Carolingian Empire

Disaster ensued. It will be difficult to convey to future generations, precisely how precipitously Carolina's program crashed in the second year after he took over, 2001-02. It was like in the old Warner Bros. cartoons, when Wile E. Coyote would race off a cliff, look down, cringe, and then free-fall into a canyon amidst a puff of smoke. (Imagine him in a Carolina jersey and you get the picture.)

Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire, dedicated to enlightenment, logic, success, and above all, victory over its adversaries, was in much the same situation as Carolina. It never thought it would fall, but it decayed slowly over a couple of centuries, and historians still don't agree as to precisely why Rome fell.

Two thousand years later, Carolina was in an analogous situation, with a notable exception that the succession issues at Carolina were handled without poison, assassins and knives, the standard tools in ancient Rome. Most Roman emperors died of assassination, not of old age - but not that the succession issues at Carolina haven't had their own share of plotting and intrigue, as we shall see.

Another dissimilarity was that Rome declined gradually - and to put it mildly, that wasn't the case at Carolina. It would have been as if at the height of Rome's glory under Augustus Caesar, the barbarians suddenly, without warning, charged in and leveled the entire glorious edifice of the Eternal City. Carolina went from being awesome to being terrible in a space of two years.

And finally, historians diverge as to the issue of who should get the blame for the decline of Rome. No such debate exists in Chapel Hill; Carolina was awesome before Matt Doherty's arrival, was awful while he was there, and is now awesome again, so that provides some fairly powerful evidence as to where fault lies.

For one thing, Doherty did not seem to comport himself with the humility that an inexperienced, 39 year old coach SHOULD have had, with the privilege of taking over at North Carolina solely on the strength of his figurative hoop blood ties. He came in like a bull in a china shop. He fired three long-time UNC assistants, all former players, in order to replace them with his staff from Notre Dame, none of whom were UNC graduates. He let go several beloved members of the basketball support staff, for the same reason. Basically, Doherty got the job because of his UNC ties, and when he returned to Chapel Hill acted as if those ties didn't mean anything. (The ancient Greeks had a word for this: hubris.)

The ancient Greeks had another term which could apply to the Doherty regime: the Furies. The whole Doherty saga did have sort of a Greek dramatic element to it. It was as if the basketball gods - who had uniformly smiled on Chapel Hill for decades, raining down an abundance of talent and victories - had gleefully opted to punish Doherty for his insolence. Doherty lost. And lost big. Carolina had the worst year it had ever had in four decades.

It really isn't right to take pleasure in this, but I do have to admit that during the Doherty Dark Ages, I enjoyed seeing Carolina get taken down a peg or two (or three or four!), and I was hoping that Doherty was going to stick around a while longer to continue running the program into the ground. (Nor was I alone in these sentiments, around the country.)

Doherty's ultimate ouster was a foregone conclusion. Maryland moved into the ACC power vacuum and assumed Carolina's place as chief adversary to Duke, winning the national title in 2002. Wake Forest's sustained success threatened to eclipse Carolina as well in the ACC. Carolina, which used to be in the business of competing for national titles, was now suddenly wondering if it was going to be able to stay in the elite in its own conference, struggling to just stay competitive with Maryland and Wake, let alone Duke, which was light-years ahead. Opposing players were beginning to say publicly that "Carolina's just another game on the schedule."

Doherty's records during his last two years were so appalling, that getting rid of him was the easy part. Nor was Doherty's captaincy a reign of serenity for the team, either. A slew of players transferred amidst shadowy media reports of abusive behavior on Doherty's part (Doherty obviously hadn't recruited most of them). Usually, when coaches get fired, their players are upset (he recruited them, after all) and most of the requiems focus in on the theme of "So-and-so is a nice guy, but..." No such testimonials appeared after Doherty got the ax in Chapel Hill. In fact, it was just the opposite.

In the aftermath of Doherty's ouster, ESPN.com reported that:

"Guys were frustrated and it wasn't because of the losing," said Rashad McCants, one of the team's freshman stars. "It was mostly because we had to go to practice every day saying, 'Man, we've got to deal with this guy.' "

"I've been through a tough year," {Melvin] Scott said. "But I don't hate coach. I didn't want him to get fired. But that comes with basketball, man. Personally, I want what's best for the university. Whatever's best to get this program to where it used to be."

"I don't hate coach."

Pregnant in Scott's words are the implication that he's in the minority on that score and that Doherty was in fact hated by a lot of Scott's teammates, and that Scott would be fully justified in hating him, if he chose to. (How often do you go around saying that you "don't hate" So-and-so?)

Clearly, those aren't the words athletic directors would like to hear from their players about a 42 year old coach who's clearing a salary, plus perks, of over a million dollars a year! Especially when he's just missed the NCAA tournament twice in a row, at a program that hadn't missed it at all since 1974 prior to that. (And Doherty had RECRUITED McCants and Scott. Imagine what the guys Doherty inherited felt about him.)

Gutting the program the day he got there came back to bite him. Not that goodwill would have saved Doherty anyhow, with those records, but it might have if he had been enjoying a little more success. Or maybe at least bought him another year with his top-shelf recruits.

But the Doherty fiasco obviously hasn't fatally wounded Carolina's program, as this season's success amply demonstrates. Rome struggled through some bad emperors, too, (Nero and Caligula come to mind) and they managed to stay on top for 500 years. It happens in all great empires, that the guy at the top won't always cut it, but you try to survive anyway until you get someone better.

Ironically, until Doherty's first NCAA tournament in 2001, there was little reason to think that the new regime would mean anything under than business as usual for the Carolingian Empire. During Doherty's first year, the team went 26-7 and tied for the ACC regular-season title with Duke, the eventual national champion, and lost to the Blue Devils in the tournament final, and Doherty had even won at Cameron in his first try. In fact, Doherty brought the Tar Heels to the #1 spot in the polls for a week in February before losing at Clemson. The Tar Heels ended up with a #2 seed in the NCAAs, demolishing #15 Princeton in the first round before being upset by #7 Penn State in the second.

Of course, by the Carolina standards of the time, not making the Sweet 16 automatically rendered the season a failure, but it was a rookie coach and people were willing to cut him some slack. He did, after all, win the Associated Press National Coach of the Year award. Until his second season - Carolina's worst season in 40 years. (Needless to say, he did not win any awards after that one :)

This is the Wile E. Coyote part. Carolina had been #1 at one point the previous year - and they finished 8-20 (not a typo). They went 4-12 in the ACC. The season got off to a fitting start when they lost to both Hampton and Davidson at the Smith Center. They lost to Indiana by 10, at Kentucky by 20, beat Georgia Tech and Binghamton but then lost to College of Charleston - at home.

Carolina had thus started the season 2-5 with three home losses to non-power conference teams, effectively ending its chance at a NCAA bid before Christmas. After three straight wins over St. Joseph's, NC A&T and Texas A&M brought them back to .500 at 5-5, the ship sank as rapidly as they once did off Carolina's treacherous Cape Hatteras.

Doherty's Tar Heels went 3-15 the rest of the year. They started off 2-10 in the ACC before somehow managing to split their final four games. Highlights of Doherty's sophomore season included:

winning only ONE road game the ENTIRE year, finishing 1-9 on the road and 2-11 on road/"neutral" courts (the neutral court was in Charlotte, against Charleston and St. Joe's, so it was basically a home court for Carolina). Their only legitimate non-Smith Center win was at - you guessed it - Clemson, where they won by 18.

• a 33 point loss (112-79) at eventual national champion Maryland;
• a 32 point loss at UConn;
• a 18 point home loss to NC State;
• a 29 point loss to Duke at Cameron;
• a 24 point loss at Wake Forest;
• an eight point home loss to Ohio University;
• and a 25 point home loss to Duke on Senior Day.

As you can see, it wasn't an 8-20 season that could have been a NIT year with a few favorable bounces. It was a catastrophic 8-20. The Blue Devils then swiftly and mercifully put Carolina's season out of its misery with a 12 point victory in the ACC quarterfinals. It was the first year Carolina had even missed the NCAA tournament since 1974, let alone had a losing record, let alone finished with 20 losses.

It would have been fair to expect some decline from the year before; sophomore Joseph Forte decided to turn pro and Doherty wasn't able to talk two football players, Ronald Curry and Julius Peppers, into coming back for another whirl. But their losses weren't anywhere near enough to begin to explain a 20-loss season in Chapel Hill.

Obviously, Doherty was in big trouble, and he was going to have to have a HUGE third year to have a chance to survive, and he didn't. Doherty's third and final season, 2002-03, saw the Tar Heels finish with a 19-16 overall record (counting two NIT victories) and only 6-10 in the ACC.

It initially looked like Doherty might turn things around, after he beat Williams' Kansas team, at the true neutral court of Madison Square Garden in the preseason NIT, in a stunning 11-point upset of the #2 Jayhawks, and then beat Stanford by 17 two days later. The Tar Heels made a brief return to the Top 25 as a result. But reality soon set in. The signature embarrassment of the year came on Dec. 27, losing to Iona (not Iowa, Iona) by .nine at MSG.

After starting the season 11-5, even including the loss to the Gaels, and 2-2 ACC, the bottom fell out, as the Tar Heels promptly lost five straight conference games, including blowouts at Maryland and Georgia Tech, falling out of NCAA consideration at 11-10, 2-7 ACC, and rendering Doherty a dead man walking, so to speak. It hadn't helped that Sean May had broken his foot and ultimately missed the entire ACC part of the season. They would scuffle to a 6-10 conference mark and be off the bubble.

The one bone that the basketball gods threw to Doherty, was permitting him to beat Duke at home, which he hadn't yet done, in what would turn out to be his final home game as head coach. Doherty finally led the Tar Heels to a home victory over their archrivals, beating the heavily favored #9 Blue Devils at the DeanDome in the regular-season finale. At 6-10 in the ACC, Carolina was going to have to win the conference tournament to get into the field, and to nobody's surprise it didn't happen. The Tar Heels did manage to upset #14 Maryland in the quarterfinals, but Doherty's fate was sealed when Duke won the rubber game in the semifinals, relegating the Tar Heels to the NIT for the first time in many, many years.

In equally unsurprising fashion, the long-anticipated Grim Reaper made a Chapel Hill pit stop for Doherty's head in March 2003, immediately after Carolina had been ousted from the NIT, following a pair of victories. His final game was a five point home NIT loss to Georgetown in the third round.. Unfortunately for him, Doherty's legacy was to become synonymous with phrases such as "in over his head" and "Thank God that's over." (Ironically, his name just recently resurfaced in the search to replace former Villanova coach Steve Lappas, newly fired at Massachusetts, but it was officially announced that he's no longer a candidate.)

Doherty had actively recruited Jason Fraser, and according to a poster on CarolinaBlue.com, the following took place:

Fraser apparently had been quoted saying something to the effect that he wasn't sure where he'd end up but when it did, it would "hit him like a ton of bricks". The next day, Fraser opened a package from UNC with a brick in it. (Fraser didn't think it was funny.) In retrospect, and not just because of the brick incident, I doubt that Fraser is sorry that he didn't attach his future to the U.S.S. Doherty in Chapel Hill.

But don't shed any tears for Matt Doherty. When he was hired, he signed a six-year deal with a base salary of $855,000, which undoubtedly didn't include income from his shoe deal, his UNC basketball camps, his TV/radio shows, and endorsements (although after a 8-20 season they were probably pretty hard to come by). So the buyout package for the three remaining years of his contract has softened the blow. UNC officially announced his buyout as $337,500, including $150,000 for the UNC camps he wouldn't be staging.

As a parting gift to UNC, for his very generous buyout, Doherty had left the cupboard pretty full for his old mentor, Williams. I generally don't follow recruiting closely, but I specifically remember that the year Jay Wright signed the Fab Four, that the 'Nova class was considered one of the top three nationally, along with Duke and Carolina. The recruiting class was, at least in the eyes of the media, considered as a possibly saving grace for Doherty that might buy him at least another year at the helm in Chapel Hill.

Which, in retrospect, was silly. This is North Carolina we're talking about. It doesn't take tremendous recruiting acumen to recruit to Chapel Hill, the way it would to get players to come to, let's say, Providence (where despite its fine academic reputation, fun city, and Big East affiliation, it's cold and there's no on-campus arena). It's not unreasonable for Carolina - at least for $855,000 a year, plus perks - to expect a coach to be able to recruit and win at the same time.

Check out Parts 2 and 3 of the Preview....

Go Wildcats!

#5 Villanova, Fraser Knock Out #4 Florida, Head to NCAA Sweet 16!!!

To the Wildcat faithful!!!-

Villanova has thrilled 'Nova Nation by returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1988!!!! On Sunday, the #5 Wildcats easily defeated the #4 Florida Gators, 76-65, in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Nashville. The star of the game was Jason Fraser, who scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead 'Nova to victory...

This is the quick version of the recap of today's game. As soon as possible, a comprehensive recap of this tremendous day for Villanova will appear...

The Wildcats, now 24-7, will advance to the familiar territory of the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., for the Sweet 16 (the official title being "regional semifinals", but that doesn't have much of a ring to it). They will face the top seed in the Syracuse Region, the North Carolina Tar Heels, at 9:57 PM on Friday night on CBS. Be flattered: CBS - whose billions in rights fees give it unilateral power in deciding who plays when - showcases the most attractive games in the nightcap of these Sweet 16, Elite Eight doubleheaders. #10 NC State will face #6 Wisconsin in the opener at 7:27 PM. Remember, most of the country is behind us in time zones, so 10 PM nationally actually gets more national exposure than 7:30, since it would be only 4:30 in California.

If the Wildcats prevail Friday night, they would face the NC State/Wisconsin winner on Sunday for the right to go to the Final Four; it would be 'Nova's first trip there since 1985, when they won it all. (The Wildcats also caught a break today when NC State upset defending national champion Connecticut, the #2 seed in the region. If the #5 'Cats upset #1 Carolina, they would likely be favored against either NC State OR Wisconsin, both lower seeds.)

But of immediate concern is the health of Curtis Sumpter, who logged just ten minutes, scoring eight points and collecting six rebounds, after injuring his knee in two separate incidents during the first half. It was unclear at this writing whether Sumpter will be available for the game against North Carolina. In addition to Fraser, Kyle Lowry was a hero, scoring a career-high 15 points off the bench in 31 minutes, and accumulating five rebounds and three steals as well.

Remarkably, the Wildcats and West Virginia - a #7 seed which vaulted off the bubble to win the Big East tournament and take the automatic bid - are the only two Big East teams remaining of the six which qualified: the most bids of any conference. Ironically, the Wildcats were the fourth place finisher and West Virginia was seventh, and the Mountaineers eliminated Villanova in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Regular-season co-champions Boston College (playing its final Big East season, before shifting to the ACC next year) and Connecticut both lost in the second round, while Pittsburgh and Syracuse never made it out of the first. All except Pitt, which lost an 8-9 game as the 9, were upset by lower-seeded opponents. (As improbable as this possibility is: Villanova and West Virginia could meet in the national championship game...)

Villanova had not previously faced its first two opponents this year, Florida or New Mexico, in previous NCAA tournaments. But it will be the fourth time the Wildcats and Tar Heels have battled in the Big Dance. Michael Jordan led the Tar Heels to victory over 'Nova in the 1982 tournament, and the Wildcats also fell to Carolina in the second round in 1991, after escaping a tight one with Princeton in the opener. However, Villanova won the most important NCAA game with Carolina: in the Elite Eight in 1985. The Wildcats of Destiny upset the #2-seeded Tar Heels to advance to the Final Four, crossing the threshold of immortality even if they hadn't gone on to win it all the following week against Georgetown.

For the second game in a row, the Wildcats ended someone's long winning streak. Florida's eight-game winning streak, which had culminated in a SEC tournament championship and a narrow first-round victory over Ohio U. on Friday, is now in the history books, as is its season. The Gators completed the 2004-05 campaign with a 24-8 record.

But it will be of little comfort this off-season. It will be filled with more acrimony, as yet another of Billy Donovan's Gator squads has failed to make the Sweet 16 while wearing white jerseys, for the fifth straight year. Florida enjoyed its seventh consecutive NCAA bid of a #6 seed or higher, but since its 2000 title-game run, has not qualified for a Sweet 16, including two first-round losses. In fact, since 2000, the Gators have annually been ousted by a lower seed, including today's loss to the Wildcats. Donovan's critics will also zero in on the fact that the 'Cats were basically without the services of their best player, Sumpter, for most of the game - and still managed to beat Florida by double-digits. Since the 2000 run - in which Florida needed overtime to outlast #12 Butler in the first round - Donovan's five subsequent NCAA teams have won a grand total of three games, all against double-digit seeds.

More to come...

The Guide to Villanova/Florida - NCAA Tournament Second Round

To the Wildcat faithful-

Wondering about the Gators? A short sketch of Villanova's next opponent in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Meet the Gators...

This is entitled "The Guide to VU/Florida", in marked contrast to "The Ultimate Guide to VU/New Mexico", because of time constraints, being the second-round guide. It will be a lot shorter than the ones for New Mexico. Should Villanova triumph, an "Ultimate Guide" to the next opponent will appear sometime next week.

My personal biases...

I'm going to try to be as objective as I can, but in my opinion, schools like Florida - Southern football factories - are representative of everything that is wrong with college athletics. Although to its credit, over the last seven years - the Billy Donovan regime - Florida's academic awards dwarf those of its SEC rivals; the Gators have nearly twice as many SEC Honor Roll Awards as Mississippi State, its closest competitor. On Selection Sunday, I was really happy when we drew New Mexico in the first game, because it's an interesting program with devoted fans, from far away, that we never get a chance to see much. And I was really disappointed when Ohio U. couldn't pull off the upset against Florida:

not only because now we have a tougher second-round opponent, not only because I would have liked to have seen the underdog win, not only because it would have been a great comeback, but because I would much rather have researched and written about Ohio U.'s program than a football factory like Florida, whose basketball team is on CBS all the time anyway.

Every year, I root for Florida in football against Florida State, because I hate Florida State, but that's about it. In the Steve Spurrier, Fun-and-Gun era, they were entertaining to watch. (BTW - That's a serious rivalry... I once read a story about a Florida shopping mall Santa Claus, a Seminole fan in civilian life, who was fired for - with a straight face - telling some poor little boy who wanted some Florida gear for Christmas, "Gee... Santa doesn't like Gator fans... you shouldn't expect anything this year." The guy might have been right - Santa must love FSU, and that's why they get all those shoes every year. FSU stands for "Free Shoes University" for a reason... but I digress.. :)

It's not a coincidence that I begin a story about Florida with football, because football is the unquestioned king in Gainesville, Florida, and for the U of F community. Basketball ranks a distant second in popularity, and Gators baseball has its fans, too. (Cynics might contend that Florida hoops may also rank behind spring football and, especially in this Internet era, football recruiting in the U of F sporting hierarchy :).

Ironically, in light of the fact that it's the permanent second banana, Florida hoops has been pretty good over the last few years. Win some bar bets with this one:

Name the four teams that have been a #6 seed or higher, in each of the last seven NCAA tournaments.

Duke, Kentucky, Kansas - all likely suspects, and all correct. And then, not Syracuse or Arizona (the two I'd have guessed - but...

Florida. (Granted, the seeds have been lower than the other three - #6, #5, #3, #5, #2, #5, #4. But still...)

Not bad company for a program that had never even qualified for the NCAA tournament until 1987, much less won it. Over the last 18 years, the Gators have made up for lost time, though: a dozen appearances. Furthermore, they have enjoyed a lot of success, going 17-11 in the tournament and reaching the Sweet 16 four times. The centerpiece achievements were reaching the Final Four in 1994 and then again in 2000 (as a #5 seed) reaching the title game before losing to a superior Michigan State team led by the "Flintstones" and Mateen Cleaves. They've developed a rivalry with Kentucky, as although the two schools are geographically very distant, they have jockeyed for pre-eminence within the Southeast Conference's East Division. (They have true rivalries, as in the SEC you play your division rivals twice every year and the other division's teams only once.) One can only imagine what the typical Wildcat fan, with its glorious tradition, thinks of Gator fans..

This year's team

The Gators finished the season hot, with a 24-7 record and winning the SEC tournament championship; they finished 12-4 in the SEC regular season. It was good enough for second place in the East Division, two games behind division leader Kentucky. But the Gators beat their archrival Wildcats twice in eight days over the last two weeks. (Hopefully all their anti-Wildcat luck has been exhausted...) They currently are ranked #16 in the AP poll, and were, after all, seeded higher than Villanova, as a #4.

Out-of-conference, they've been pretty weak. The schedule was just OK, and they don't have a win over anyone good. Their best win is over Donovan's alma mater, Providence (a 18 point home triumph). After that, they doubled up Eastern Kentucky, 98-49, which looks more impressive now after the Colonels qualified for the NCAA tournament as a #15 seed and fought in-state rival Kentucky hard for a while, before losing by just eight. They played their in-state football rivals, FSU and Miami, but lost to both ACC schools. Their best loss is a four-point defeat to Louisville. Probably when the schedule was drawn up, Donovan thought he'd have a RPI powerhouse, but Providence and FSU both had terrible seasons, sinking to the bottom of their conferences. Most of their other games were against Sunshine State cupcakes, all of whom they cruised past.

Within the SEC, though, they were good. They did very well against the other SEC tourney qualifiers, finishing 6-3 against them. They beat UK two out of three, two wins over Alabama (a 31 point win at home and then again by six in the SEC tourney), split with LSU, lost at Mississippi State, but then beat the Bulldogs in the tournament. Three of their four SEC losses were against NCAA qualifiers, the only bad one being a home loss to Tennessee in overtime, and the Gators won the subsequent game at Knoxville. (Tennessee had a sufficiently bad year that its coach, Buzz Peterson, got fired this week.)

Billy Donovan likes to use a ton of players, way too many to keep track of, and no starter averages more than 30 minutes a game as a result. (Gotta spread the playing time around...) He's got 12 guys that average at least nine minutes a game.

Billy Donovan

The steward of the program's most recent successes is a young coach who, as a guard, led Providence to the Final Four in 1987, the same year Florida debuted in the tournament, by the name of Billy Donovan. Rick Pitino, way back then, made his rise on the national scene by taking the Cinderella Friars to the Final Four as a #12 seed (the lowest, before or since, to ever get that far) and his player Donovan became one of his proteges, and arguably his most successful one. As a player, Donovan was a first-team All-Big East honoree his senior year, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Regional the Friars won to reach the Final Four. Donovan was an assistant to Pitino at Kentucky, became the head coach at Marshall for two years, and then arrived in Gainesville for the 1996-97 season, replacing Lon Kruger. His first year, the Gators struggled. His second year, they reached the NIT, and beginning in 1999, they have made the tournament every year and never been seeded lower than #6.

Donovan is part of two very exclusive but overlapping fraternities. One is coaches who have both played and coached in a Final Four - there are just six, including Dean Smith (who played for Kansas and coached at North Carolina) and the odious Bob Knight (who played for Ohio State and coached at Indiana, now at Texas Tech). The other consists of two guys: Donovan and one other guy, Dick Harp, who played for Kansas and also coached at Kansas in the 1950s. The pair are the only coaches ever to play AND be an assistant coach AND a head coach in the Final Four (Donovan was an assistant on Pitino's 1993 Kentucky Final Four team). Harp played for the Jayhawks, and was also an assistant coach and head coach at Kansas during Final Four appearances, apparently.

Donovan, who will turn just 40 in May, was a white-hot commodity in 2000. He had taken a ridiculously young and talented team to the title game, as a #5 seed, and was the subject of a great deal of sniping from other coaches, especially SEC rivals, for what charitably might be described as a relaxed attitude toward NCAA recruiting regulations. Since 1998, Donovan has signed no fewer than NINE McDonald's All-Americans: Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay, Donnell Harvey, Brett Nelson, David Lee, Jason White, Kwame Brown (who never played for him), Anthony Roberson, and Cory Brewer. Lee, Roberson and Brewer are all current members of the team. (Villanova's Jason Fraser was also a McDonald's All-American, but his injuries have slowed his development.)

Donovan's youth, his dazzling recruiting successes, and the tantalizing promise of future national titles seemed to indicate that the next Rick Pitino was indeed lurking in - of all places - the football-addled swamps of northern Florida. Donovan became overexposed in the national media, and his prominent widow's peak became almost as familiar as Dick Nixon's.

But you don't hear about Donovan as much anymore. Mainly because his star has receded quite a bit, as his Gators - despite their undeniable blue-chip talent - have unceremoniously washed out to sea in each of the last four tournaments. From 2001-04 - despite all those high seeds - the Gators managed to win a grand total of two games in four appearances, and did not reach the Sweet 16 at all. And in 1999, they were upset by Gonzaga, as a #6 in the Sweet 16.

All in all, that's a lot of losing to lower seeds over a seven year period, and there's been some rumbling in Gainesville about Donovan's inability to win consistently (or nowadays, at all :) in the Big Dance. He's been in the NCAA tournament seven straight years now. But outside of the 2000 run, he has NEVER won a game against another power conference team in the NCAAs, and his career NCAA record is just 5-5. (It's 10-6 overall, including yesterday's victory.) During his Florida tenure, his non-2000 NCAA victories have come against Penn, Weber State, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State, and Ohio University, all lower-seeded programs dwarfed by Florida's size. And he has upset, white-jerseyed losses to Gonzaga (1999), Creighton (2002), and Manhattan (2004). Far more than any other program, the Gators have now become a staple of CBS's inspirational Cinderella montages to open its tournament broadcasts, but on the wrong end - as the foils.

In light of this history, there was likely a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in Florida when #13 seed Ohio U. made its charge on Friday afternoon, after Florida had led by 20 with 12 minutes to play. (Here we go again...) And the Gators were truly LUCKY to escape yet another upset defeat at the hands of a Cinderella. The Bobcats threw away that game in the final two minutes. They missed a dunk which would have given them a two-point LEAD, they committed an unforced turnover, and Florida then lucked out when a short airball dropped into a Gator's arms under the basket, and he was able to convert a traditional three-point play. Had Florida fallen again, it would have been its second straight first-round exit. It also would have been its fourth upset loss in seven years, and far and away the most humiliating one.

Of course, Donovan would likely scoff at the notion that he's struggled in the tournament. He would - accurately - point out that in 2000, he beat a veritable murderer's row of traditional power teams - Duke, Illinois, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina - with a 5 seed. (His critics would reply that he was lucky to get out of the first round, when #12 Butler took them into overtime and it took a miracle shot for the Gators to pull it out.)

Regardless of the identity of the coach, Florida has a lot of the elements in place for a successful program, with the two exceptions of being in football's long shadow and the lack of a pre-Reagan-era winning tradition. Namely: great weather, fun place to go to school, proximity to talent, on-campus arena, state school money, power conference membership, etc. Donovan's done well in the SEC and he'll always have that 2000 title run, but if he's ever going to approach the status of his mentor Pitino, he needs to at least make a deep run every once in a while. (Or at minimum, stop losing to the underdogs everyone loves and becoming favorite fodder for CBS's video editors.)

The clear implication of Donovan's critics: Donovan is the personified cliche of a young, flashy, sophisticated Northeastern coach who talks a great game on the recruiting circuit, but can't coach come game day, on the bench.

Of course, all this spells good news for Villanova. Clearly, Donovan's Florida teams have historically struggled against teams that are unfamiliar in the NCAA tournament. And Villanova's talent, unlike many of those mid-major teams, can go toe-to-toe with the Gators'. In a battle of basketball IQ, I'd take Jay Wright over Billy Donovan every day of the week and twice on Sunday (especially THIS Sunday :)

Villanova Wildcats/Florida Gators ties

The only significant one is Matt Walsh, a native of Holland, Pa., a pleasant suburb in Bucks County, and graduate of Germantown Academy, the same school that produced Villanova's own Alvin Williams. Walsh has played a lot of pickup games against the current Wildcats and "knows Wright well". He's the Gators' second leading scorer.

Very few others that I could imagine. There was of course, the late, great Al E. Gator's on Lancaster Avenue in Haverford, a popular, spacious Main Line hangout back in the day (the late '90s). Gator's offered decent food in a casual environment and lots of big screen TVs for the game, but the place was big enough that there was pretty much something for everybody. (Trying to remember if they had DJ's, dancing there - anybody remember? I think so...)

Gator's met its demise, unfortunately, due to its massive size. The parcel of real estate was so valuable, that a cash-cow casual restaurant simply wasn't profitable enough, for the lucky devil who owned the property. So, in early 1997, it was announced that Gator's would officially close on March 18, one day after St. Patrick's Day (trying to milk one last bit of cash out of the Main Line bar crowd before selling out!) - and that it would be demolished to make room for a Lexus dealership. If you're into $50,000 vehicles, you probably liked the change, but if not, too bad. Gator's the night it closed was a fun scene. Mobbed, but fun. And so now it lives on as a Lexus dealership.

But seriously... very few. The Wildcat legend Howard Porter, star of the 1971 Final Four team that lost to UCLA in the final, was from Sarasota, Florida. I don't remember anyone else of any prominence from the Sunshine State. Villanova and Florida have only clashed twice, as they played a home-and-home series during the Kerry Kittles era. On December 22, 1993, Florida won at the Pavilion, 85-77, and on January 14, 1995, Villanova won at the O'Connell Center, 72-70.

Villanova in the NCAA Tournament - First Round - PART II - Lobos In Sheep's Clothing

To the Wildcat faithful-

Here's Part II...

In the second half, Villanova made only three baskets on 23 shots (13%) and missed all 10 three-pointers it attempted, and lost the half 36-21, committing a dozen turnovers. The Lobos fortunately only went 4-16 from beyond the arc, or else it would have been considerably more terrifying down the stretch.

Villanova still had the game comfortably in hand as late as the under-eight TV timeout, cruising with a 19-point, 42-23 advantage with 7:59 to go. Time to start preparing for Florida, maybe give the bench players a little more time, get Lowry out of the game and rested.

Then the wolves began to circle, and the sheep disguises disappeared. In just over four minutes, the Lobos bayed at the moon, rallying their pack for one of the most stunning comebacks I've ever seen, albeit one which was ultimately fruitless. In the next 3:09, New Mexico went on a 13-2 run, pulling to within 44-36 on Alfred Neale's three, bringing Jay Wright to call for a halt to the proceedings (which frankly was long overdue).

The Wildcats appeared to have stopped the comeback cold at 1:23, when Lowry made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 52-42. But 'Nova then began crumbling at the foul line. It wasn't over, and the Lobos actually got the deficit down to just five in the final minute of play.

New Mexico was kept alive by the fact that Mike Nardi, Curtis Sumpter, and Allan Ray combined to miss FIVE consecutive free throws in the final minute, before Ray made his second to boost the lead to 53-47 with 26 seconds left, after But everyone was sweating. In Jake Nevin, where I watched the game, it was a silent as a tomb, other than low groans when each missed free throw clanged off the rim. Nobody, least of all the Wildcats, relaxed until Nardi iced it by making two with 16 seconds left to push it to 55-47, the final score.

It was official: Villanova Victory. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the Wildcats had been spared the embarrassment of coughing up a 23-point second-half lead.

Let's look at the numbers:

Team as a Whole

The Wildcats' key to victory, aside from allowing only 11 points in the first half, was clobbering the Lobos on the boards, grabbing every loose ball for a 51-37 advantage. However, this was reduced by shooting a miserable 28% both from the floor and beyond the arc, as well as committing 20 turnovers. Since all the missed free throws came down the stretch, the numbers were surprisingly good (17-24, 71%).

The Wildcats also were outstanding at the defensive end, hounding the Lobos into 29.8% shooting, including 17% from beyond the arc (4-25) and 17 turnovers. It was the first time New Mexico's potent offense had been held below 30% in five seasons, since March 9, 2000 at BYU.

Starters

Sheridan: Described above.

Sumpter/Ray: As noted above, both had horrible days. Sumpter mitigated his a little bit by grabbed a team-high dozen rebounds.

Foye/Nardi: Both stepped up and had good statistical performances, combining for four steals, six assists and a blocked shot.

Bench

Kyle Lowry: Despite being hobbled by a stomach virus, he came off the bench for 20 minutes. Lowry had eight points, five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Had he not been available, 'Nova might easily have lost.

Jason Fraser: The Lobos were small and so Fraser wasn't needed as much, playing only 14 minutes (two points, four boards).

Marcus Austin: The Big Dog played against the Lobos for three minutes, scoring one basket and collecting one rebound.

Breaking Down the Lobos

Only two of McKay's seven-man rotation reached double figures: Granger and point guard Mark Walters.

Better than Advertised: Walters. He had 14 points, six boards, two assists and a steal, while four fouls limited him to 31 minutes.

Worse than Advertised: sharpshooter Troy DeVries, the best shooter in the Mountain West Conference. DeVries missed all seven three-point attempts, finishing with just two points and committing three turnovers.

Some other notes:

Just noticed that the Mountain West logo has purple trim, which is appropriate given the "purple mountain majesty' immortalized in the classic song "America the Beautiful." Villanova doesn't face Mountain West teams all that often: it hadn't faced a school which is now a member of the conference since 1990. The only times 'Nova had faced its members, respectively, prior to Friday:

Air Force: Never Brigham Young: 1951, 1970, 1984 Colorado State: 1965 UNLV: 1985 Utah: 1951, 1963 San Diego State: 1982, 1989, 1990 Wyoming: 1955, 1968

Some positives to take away:

It was Villanova's lowest point output in a NCAA victory, since defeating Princeton, 50-48, in the first round of the 1991 tournament. (It should be noted that Princeton very well could have won that game, running a brilliant set play to draw a foul while attempting to inbound the ball. Trailing and having to inbound under its own basket at the end, the Princeton player ran along the end line, to inbound the ball. When the Wildcat guarding him raced to keep up, without looking where he was going, he utterly bulldozed the Tiger whom coach Pete Carrill had cleverly planted there, explicitly to take a charge. But the official blew the call and failed to whistle the foul, dooming the Tigers to defeat.)

It was Villanova's first NCAA victory since 1997, when Tim Thomas, Alvin Williams, and Jason Lawson led #4 Villanova to a 101-91 victory over odious #13 Long Island, 101-91, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The 47 Lobos points were the fewest surrendered by Villanova to a NCAA opponent, since yielding just 43 to Maryland in the Sweet 16 in 1985, winning 46-43. (In the shot clock era, which began the following year, the previous low had been the 48 yielded to Princeton.)

Bottom line - a win's a win. All that matters is that the tournament field has now been reduced to 32 teams. 32 teams still have a chance, however slim, for immortal glory with a national championship, and Villanova is still one of them.

My own personal perspective

I watched the game with approximately 100 people in Jake Nevin Field House on the big screen, in front of the stage. Phil Andrews from WPVI (6-ABC) was also there, with a cameraman, and "Action News" ran a couple of Andrews' interviews with students on its 6 PM newscast. The AV people did a great job in cranking up the sound (you haven't truly lived until you've heard Bill Raftery's baritone reverberate throughout Jake Nevin - "Send it in, big fella!")

Some reactions from fans: One woman sitting behind me, who requested not to be identified, described the game brightly and succinctly, with a smile: "You can quote me - Ugly with a Capital U." After the game was safely over, freshman Kelly Fromuth, from Landenburg in Chester County, described the suddenly-tight game as "stressful at the end. New Mexico did a good job." Fromuth's confidence for the next game was not diminished by the second-half collapse - when asked if 'Nova would beat Florida on Sunday, she replied: "Yes, we're going to win." Junior Matt DePont, an economics major from Annapolis, Md., spoke highly of the mood on campus this week. According to DePont, "the campus has been buzzing, people have been checking scores during classes. Lots of people are talking about skipping classes and going to Nashville." DePont is part of the new generation of Villanova fans: students from outside the Philadelphia metropolitan area, who didn't experience the mid-1990s NCAA setbacks and who approach this year's Wildcats without the cynicism of the older fans. Their optimism is refreshing.

"Five Good Minutes" with .... Phil Andrews of 6-ABC (WPVI)

Andrews is one of the best-known sports anchors in Philadelphia, at perennial ratings champion "Action News" on the ABC affiliate, WPVI. At the event to chat with students for coverage on the 6 PM broadcast, Andrews was gracious enough to have a brief, off-camera conversation with me at halftime, on Villanova, and the Philadelphia media. I had never met him before, but judging from today's conversation, he's very personable and a nice guy. His observations are not verbatim, as I didn't have a recorder with me, but here's the gist of what he said, paraphrased:

On Villanova's prospects:

"I think Villanova is a team that can reach the final [Four]. Wins over Kansas, Boston College."

On the first half of Villanova/New Mexico (remember, this is back when it appeared that victory was a foregone conclusion :)

Andrews was quite high on Villanova's prospects, remarking, "This game really helps them a lot. It gets rid of the jitters, especially for a team with players that have never been there before." "Villanova is getting EVERY rebound and EVERY loose ball. New Mexico, when they're shooting, all their other guys are just standing there."

On the alleged bias against Villanova in the Philadelphia media (I carefully phrased this question, accurately noting that I don't personally believe this is true, but many of our posters do.)

Andrews strongly disagreed with the assertion, that the Philadelphia media is biased against Villanova. "Everyone I know roots for ALL the teams to win, wants to see ALL of them do well." Nor did he give much credence to lingering animosity over the ruptured, since repaired, City Series from the Rollie era (1991). "Some of the older people may feel that way, but I don't think it's widespread. And that still doesn't mean they wouldn't want Villanova to succeed."

On the issue of the Eagles stealing Villanova's thunder this season, and why football dominates sports coverage in Philadelphia:

Three reasons, Andrews feels. First, that "Philadelphia is a blue-collar town and they identify with football." Second, "The Eagles are a 365-day a year story in Philadelphia. Outside of their seasons, nobody wants to talk about the other teams. When Villanova's not playing, nobody wants to talk about them. When the Phillies aren't playing, same thing. When the Sixers aren't playing, same thing." Finally, "The Eagles are universal. Philadelphia is a college basketball hotbed, but the fan base is divided six ways. The college teams don't have THAT strong an appeal, outside of their own students and alumni."

Historical Note: Vasco da Gama

Lundquist and Raftery told an amusing story about the size of the Wildcats' Nashville resort hotel, so large that maps have to be issued to help guests navigate its scope. Apparently, Jay Wright himself got lost in the hotel while trying to find a meeting room he had announced for a 9 AM team breakfast on Thursday morning. While roaming the hotel, he bumped into an equally befuddled Kyle Lowry - who had enough problems already with the stomach flu - and Lowry pleaded that he couldn't find the room, coach. Wright facetiously demanded in mock-anger, "I was wondering where YOU were." Raftery observed, reflecting his fine La Salle education: "Well, Vasco da Gama, he's not. But he's a good coach." I laughed at that, having never dreamed in a million years that the name of the great turn-of-the-16th-century Portuguese explorer of the Age of Discovery, would ever be mentioned during CBS' coverage of the NCAA tournament. (They must learn a lot about Explorers at La Salle :), or that Jay Wright would ever be compared to him.

Unfortunately, since some Americans probably thought da Gama is the latest hot coach at a mid-major being groomed for an ACC slot, or the latest top 6-9 prospect out of Oak Hill Academy- and since there probably wouldn't be a NCAA tournament if it weren't for Da Gama, a quick sketch to explain Raftery's witticism:

Admiral Dom Vasco da Gama was born in Portugal around 1469, and died in India in 1521. He is still remembered 500 years later, because he was the first European to sail from Europe via the open ocean, to the wealthy trade areas of India, instead of snaking through the Mediterranean and rivers to get there. India had peppers and spices, which were among the most valuable commodities in Europe at the time, due to the absence of refrigeration. Prior to the voyage, it wasn't understood that you could reach India from Europe by sailing around the bottom of Africa; it was assumed that the Indian Ocean wasn't connected to any others.

In 1497, five years after Columbus' voyage to America, Da Gama forced the revision of this belief, by sailing from Portugal around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and onward to India. His legacy was to shift the focus of international trade routes and power from the Mediterranean states such as Venice, to the Atlantic states like Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England. Among the historical consequences which flowed from this, was the rise of the British Empire due to trade, including the founding of English colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. And thus - and of only slightly less consequence - the invention of basketball by Dr. James Naismith in Massachusetts and the creation of the NCAA tournament. And Raftery is correct - da Gama probably wouldn't have had too much trouble with the hotel in Nashville... (But could da Gama teach how to break a press? Or recruit effectively in the 21st century? :)

I'll break down Florida the rest of Saturday, and the preview will be posted as soon as possible...

Back to Part I...