Here I sit on Thursday, and all I want is to think and talk freaking Villanova Basketball. What a euphoric feeling. As a guy whose pro teams have had both historical and recent success (bay area), no pro championship comes close to feeling like this one does. Obviously there is a pride that it's our school, but it's so much about these kids and Jay, and Father Peter, and the pride I feel as each of them, to a man, portrays a combo of class of toughness that is tough to come up with a word for. The fact that they wear Villanova on the front of their jerseys, and play with such heart, toughness, grit, then go into the savage world of the national media and just handle themselves so genuinely nice makes me soar with pride as a Villanova Alum.
I could go on and on, but I want to focus on one aspect of this whole journey that I have such admiration for. I know Ericw and others have mentioned this particular aspect, but it was so mind blowing to me, I want to give it even more attention. They truly owned that loss against NC State. A year ago, when that line was being trotted out, I wasn't quite sure what that meant to Jay, what it meant to the guys, and, quite frankly, what it really meant at all. I was disappointed we didn't advance, but was more in the camp of bad night shooting, non-ideal matchup, nature of March camp. I didn't necessarily think they had anything to own, thinking we just needed a better performance on the big stage and possible better matchups. But not this team. While they faced 12 months of doubt, skepticism, minimizing of their accomplishments, never once was a word uttered about being unfairly judged, or giving an excuse for that loss. But at the same time, this team didn't dwell on that loss, and true to Jay's word, they did not define themselves with that loss. Making it an even steeper climb was losses to both our premiere OOC games. But after that loss to VA, and a marginal performance against someone (I forget and don't want to look up) right before Christmas, they came out on NYE every bit the alpha dog in the conference they ended last year as. No doubt in their mind crept in. As March drew closer, and another dominant BE regular season was coming to an end, doubt persisted, and accomplishments went minimized. Did that make their butt pucker a bit come the game with Iowa? Hell F'in NO! You know why? Because they ****ing owned it. They weren't going to settle for hoping to shoot well come tourney time. They owned that they had the ability to win in March even if they shoot poorly, and it was up to them to realize said ability. That was Jenkins becoming a tough defender and rebounder, and not using his tweener size as an excuse. That's Arch saying I don't care I was BE player of the year, I need to become a better defender. That's Josh Hart saying I need to be stringer with the basketball in case my 3 isn't falling. That's Phil Booth committing to the defensive end to make him a valuable contributor even if he was in a Soph slump. That's DO becoming more reliable in the post a being a stronger rebounder. That's DR saying I am more than a bench player, I am going to show the BE how damn tough I am. That's Brunson and Bridges facing the typical Villanova Freshman yo-yo role, and respecting their teammates enough to embrace it. And it's the bench mob accepting their role in getting their teammates better, and being their true support through what is always a long and emotional season. That's how you own a tourney loss. And damn, if I could own things like that in my life at 36, I would be a much better person. It's human nature not to own things. It takes a weird combo of humility and confidence, and you add hunger and that's recipe for the type of improvement we saw from these MEN. Kudos to Jay and staff for instilling it in them and kudos to these guys for accepting it, owning it, and becoming better from it. It's been a great lesson for me in my life that I hope to improve on. I got to watch Saturday and Monday with my son who was born 8 days ago. Was bummed to miss Houston, but was proud to watch with him and process a bunch of things for myself that I hope I can pass to him one day. God Bless Jay, God Bless the staff, God Bless the Players, and God Bless NOVA!
I could go on and on, but I want to focus on one aspect of this whole journey that I have such admiration for. I know Ericw and others have mentioned this particular aspect, but it was so mind blowing to me, I want to give it even more attention. They truly owned that loss against NC State. A year ago, when that line was being trotted out, I wasn't quite sure what that meant to Jay, what it meant to the guys, and, quite frankly, what it really meant at all. I was disappointed we didn't advance, but was more in the camp of bad night shooting, non-ideal matchup, nature of March camp. I didn't necessarily think they had anything to own, thinking we just needed a better performance on the big stage and possible better matchups. But not this team. While they faced 12 months of doubt, skepticism, minimizing of their accomplishments, never once was a word uttered about being unfairly judged, or giving an excuse for that loss. But at the same time, this team didn't dwell on that loss, and true to Jay's word, they did not define themselves with that loss. Making it an even steeper climb was losses to both our premiere OOC games. But after that loss to VA, and a marginal performance against someone (I forget and don't want to look up) right before Christmas, they came out on NYE every bit the alpha dog in the conference they ended last year as. No doubt in their mind crept in. As March drew closer, and another dominant BE regular season was coming to an end, doubt persisted, and accomplishments went minimized. Did that make their butt pucker a bit come the game with Iowa? Hell F'in NO! You know why? Because they ****ing owned it. They weren't going to settle for hoping to shoot well come tourney time. They owned that they had the ability to win in March even if they shoot poorly, and it was up to them to realize said ability. That was Jenkins becoming a tough defender and rebounder, and not using his tweener size as an excuse. That's Arch saying I don't care I was BE player of the year, I need to become a better defender. That's Josh Hart saying I need to be stringer with the basketball in case my 3 isn't falling. That's Phil Booth committing to the defensive end to make him a valuable contributor even if he was in a Soph slump. That's DO becoming more reliable in the post a being a stronger rebounder. That's DR saying I am more than a bench player, I am going to show the BE how damn tough I am. That's Brunson and Bridges facing the typical Villanova Freshman yo-yo role, and respecting their teammates enough to embrace it. And it's the bench mob accepting their role in getting their teammates better, and being their true support through what is always a long and emotional season. That's how you own a tourney loss. And damn, if I could own things like that in my life at 36, I would be a much better person. It's human nature not to own things. It takes a weird combo of humility and confidence, and you add hunger and that's recipe for the type of improvement we saw from these MEN. Kudos to Jay and staff for instilling it in them and kudos to these guys for accepting it, owning it, and becoming better from it. It's been a great lesson for me in my life that I hope to improve on. I got to watch Saturday and Monday with my son who was born 8 days ago. Was bummed to miss Houston, but was proud to watch with him and process a bunch of things for myself that I hope I can pass to him one day. God Bless Jay, God Bless the staff, God Bless the Players, and God Bless NOVA!
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