Team D in the House that Russ Built...

Across the Pond
By Terry Lyons


BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 26 – Villanova head coach Jay Wright calmly strolled the sideline of the TD Banknorth Garden on polished hardwood floor that looked rather odd. There was not a block of parquet to be found under Wright’s nicely polished shoes. When the talented young Villanova coach looked up to check the scoreboard, there were no banners in the rafters to frame his view and remind him of the history of the great game of basketball that was played a few hundred feet east towards Causeway Street.

The NCAA Eastern Regional Finals rolled into The Hub, and the event organizers tucked the Boston Celtics’ 17 NBA championship banners away in a drawer for the weekend, along with banners that honored Walter Brown, Red Auerbach and all of the legendary Celtics of yesteryear whose uniform numbers have been retired to the dusty rafters. They even put away two Stanley Cup banners earned by the NHL’s Boston Bruins, along with a slew of retired Bruins numbers, including Bobby Orr’s #4.

The TD Banknorth Garden was buzzing with basketball, but upon further review, the building’s iconic landmarks from the original Boston Garden were nowhere to be found. The American flag and the great red Maple Leaf of Canada looked a little lonely up there tonight and only a silver microphone, placed in honor of legendary broadcaster Johnny Most, remained on the building’s bright white halo.

One legendary Celtics’ trademark did remain on court when the featured game of the NCAA East Regional tipped-off at 9:57pm EDT tonight. When Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats took to the floor to play the class act of American collegiate basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, Wright tapped into the key ingredient of all Celtics’ teams past and present.

The Villanova Wildcats came out and played defense. They played team defense.

They played “bust your ass” and “force a shot clock violation” defense, and they played it against one of the most disciplined and lethal offensive teams in the world.

The ‘Cats held Duke to 28% field goal shooting in the first half, limiting the sharp-shooting Dukies to 7-of-25 from two-point land and a lowly 2-for-11 (18%) shooting from beyond the 3-point stripe. Had Duke not converted 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the first half, they would have been buried. Instead, the Duke Blue Devils stayed close and strode to the hallways at the half, down 26-23.

In the second half, Villanova came out strong and gained the respect of the 18,831 fans that jammed their way into the building to see a college double-header that could have easily been billed as the best in the land, a “Final Four” level tournament. As the second half clock ticked toward its final 10-minute stretch, the Philadelphia faithful stood and cheered “Let’s Go ‘Nova,” at the top of their lungs as the score read 51-40, Villanova. The team mascots dressed as ‘Cats and Devils with a blue dress on danced and bopped as the marching bands battled it out and refused to yield to the enthusiastic co-ed cheerleaders, flipping their pompoms in the air as they performed cartwheels and gymnastics tricks during each and every TV time out.

The Iron Dukes and Coach Mike Krzyzewski seemed a little concerned as the game inched towards its close. Coach K, who brought the USA back to the medal stand last summer in Beijing, recognized his fate in the “Sweet 16” round of the NCAAS. He was coaching a team who had been “D’d” out of the building. While his Duke team defense was impressive, it didn’t come with the same intensity that Villanova brought during each second of the game.

Duke’s second half shooting was limited to 9-of-35 for 26%, along with 3-of-16 or 19% shooting from 3-point land. When the numbers from each half were combined, Villanova held Duke to 16-60 FG shooting (27%) and 5-of-27 three-point shooting ((18.5%). Case closed. Game over. Villanove 77, Duke 54.

“We’re getting better this late in the season, and it’s fun to coach,” said Wright in the press room after the game. “We can see guys improving. We can see our team improving, and that’s exciting.”

“This team can continue to get better,” said Villanova point guard Scottie Reynolds, echoing his coach.

Villanova will need to take its game even one step further in order to beat Pittsburgh and advance to the Final Four. The Pitt Panthers squeaked by Xavier 60-55 in the other Eastern Regional Semifinal, setting up an exciting Big East matchup on Saturday and ensuring one of a possible four Big East Final Four participants. Louisville, Syracuse and UConn also remain alive in the tournament.