Rothstein said, in no uncertain terms, that we're going to get the coveted 1-seed that we desire. Is he being premature here? I was thinking that we need one or two more wins, in the BE tourney, to make Brooklyn a stone-cold lock.
It's extremely impressive how this group showed so much focus to close out the regular season. What that says is that they respect their opponents each and every game, whether it's a power like Oklahoma or a struggling Georgtown team. They play for each other, their coach, and the name on their uniform. The Irish UFC guy Conor McGregor had a great sportsman's quote after his loss a little while ago - "I believe you're humble in victory, and humble in defeat." That reminds me of the culture that Jay has built at VU.
Man, we're going to miss Ryan and Chef. They've certainly had a full serving of four years of college basketball. When they came in, Jay was coming off what was probably the toughest year of his coaching career. They've spearheaded the program's dominance of the "new Big East, and man, these two are all-time Cats, IMO. Ryan, in particular, has just had an amazing career. I think back to when he was a frosh, when he had his old buzz cut. He didn't have the look of a Big East guard who would single-handedly put us on his back (think back to that late '13 Syracuse game), and get us back into the tourney, so quickly. But he did. And he's changed his role so many times over the last four years. He's gone from BE POY last year, to a senior who's content on just getting three or four buckets in some games, as long as his team wins. You just don't find many four-year D-1 players with a career like he's had. He's another coach on the floor, whose tireless example of diving after loose balls sets such a perfect example of how Jay defines "Villanova Basketball."
We all hope that Ryan and Chef can close out the last chapter of their careers in blue & white by playing in the second weekend, and beyond. They certainly deserve it, as much as any other athletes in college basketball. People are going to take their shots at Nova, so get ready for the early-exit jokes from "experts" and fans alike. Hey, it comes with the territory of being a top-10 program. This is a unique team - each team is every year - so don't worry about the carry-over effect. It's got new scorers, new leaders, new dynamics. What we're seeing from Jenkins right now gives us a reason to believe in this team. He can be counted on for a consistent 15+ PPG now - with the ability to go for 25 - and this is critical, because it takes so much of the scoring burden off of "Mr. Motor" Josh Hart's back. Josh has enough work to do, exerting so much energy defensively and rebounding. KJ's emergence really makes us a better team than the team we saw just last month. And what if we could see more of the "Temple game" Jalen Brunson in some big games coming up? I think Jalen's been very good this year, and that the best is yet to come. If we get KJ and Brunson playing their best ball, together in the same games - look out.
Just a couple notes -
I saw that Omari put up 17 & 9 in a postseason win yesterday.
It's probably been stated here recently, but I saw on Twitter that Lonnie Walker ranks Nova, SMU, Stanford, Miami, and Oregon as his top-5.
Enjoy this month, it's a great time of year. This unique Villanova team can get it done. GO CATS
