Giving Up Game-Tying Dunks...

On The Plate ... 2/13/06

"The Biggest Big Monday Matchup In Recent Memory"

Sean McDonogh said it. Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas echoed it. I loved it.

The game: an epic Big East battle played at the highest level in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a college hoops game in the state of Pennsylvania. And when I say "highest level," I mean "see-you-in-Indianapolis" highest level.

The result: #4 Villanova (69) #1 UConn (64)

Kyle Lowry went off. Rashad Anderson went off. Will Sheridan went off. Rudy Gay went off. Allan Ray went off. What a f'ing game. And no, I'm not just saying that because the 'Cats beat the f'ing Huskies at home. Don't get me wrong though, it definitely helps. I probably wouldn't be in the same mood right now if that SOB Jim Calhoun was saying how he hates his team even though they just won at the Wachovia Center. But the Huskies didn't and I'm one happy jackass. The point is that this game was a serious heavyweight matchup between two silly good squads. It's the best I've seen 'Nova play all year. And the Huskies brought their A-game. And the 'Cats prevailed. I feel like I'm on opium. And it's great.

For the record, I was a nervous wreck all GD day long, I could barely eat dinner and pretty much didn't. And once the game tipped off, I think I sat down for a grand total of 6 ½ minutes…real time minutes, not game minutes. When the Huskies opened the second half with a brutalizing 13-0 run, I seriously considered drinking the bottle of old-ass Listerine in my bathroom cupboard. When the 'Cats answered with an exhilarating 22-4 run, I seriously considered taking myself to the local mental ward because I was in need of a straight jacket. No, I didn't watch any of 'Nova's free throws down the stretch. Couldn't bear it. I thought about putting my face through the TV when The Computer Thief made back to back buckets to cut the VU lead to 3 with 30-plus ticks to go. And when my boy Mike Nardi decided not to make a wide open layup, and then miss the front end of a 1-&-1, I thought "oh dear God, this CAN'T be happening." And it didn't. Thankfully, the eye in the biggin' sky was a 'Cats fan tonight as Lowry and Ray trapped the Thief into the 40-Year Old Veteran, aka Rashad Anderson, leading to Ray's game-sealing steal. I still didn't watch Ray's free throws. Too nervous. And yes, it's taken me about 2 hours to finally get my heartbeat back into a normal rhythm. Now, I'm exhausted. A great exhausted. I could write a f'ing novel about the nuances of this game, but I'm not going to…I'm going to ask three simple questions…

Can the 4 guards hang with the best frontcourt in America? Yes.
Can the 4 guards cause an assload of chaos for the best team in America? Indeed.
Can the 4 guards possibly be the best team in America? No comment…'Nova 69, Huskies 64. Next up for the 'Cats…Georgetown heads to Philly for a Sunday high noon showdown.

Interestingly enough, I just ended a week long jaunt inside the belly of the Hoya Paranoia. Click here to see how that belly rumbles.

En route this week…a five piece A-bomb entitled "Separation Days" that's gonna drop knowledge on each conference title race and shed light on who be sinking and who be swimming towards the brackets. So there it be.