Friday, March 11, 2011
Posted: 11:49 a.m.
By Reuben Frank
CSNPhilly.com
They havent won a game in three weeks. Theyve won just five of 15 since mid-January. Theyve dropped out of the Top 10, out of the Top 20, out of the national rankings entirely.
Theyve blown a 13-point lead at unheralded Rutgers with 4:07 left, trailed Notre Dame by as much as 25 in their home finale, blown a 16-point second-half lead to a South Florida team that had lost 17 of its previous 20 games.
And still, they believe.
We still believe that we can beat anybody, Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
While Villanovas basketball team awaits word of its NCAA tournament fatethe Wildcats should find their way into the tournament despite their recent bewildering mega-slumpWright has the task of trying to rebuild the shaken confidence of a broken team.
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These guys, we have had a lot of success around here, and when we lose, its like the end of the world, Wright said. And these guys feel it. I think weve been playing some games just to satisfy everybody, get a win, instead of just going to play basketball and have fun.
And it comes down to the end of the game. You are not playing to have fun and finish off 40 minutes. They are playing like, Let's get this over with. So its our job as a staff to get back and show these guys video of beating West Virginia and beating Syracuse at Syracuse and beating all of the teams we have and just show them, Look, its the same guys, you still got this.
Villanova was 17-2 on Jan. 22, ranked No. 7 nationally and coming off a huge 11-point win over No. 3 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Everything pointed to a deep NCAA run. Now, the Wildcats arent even sure theyre going to the NCAA tournament.
Although Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher are both banged up, Stokes with turf toe and a nagging hamstring and Fisher with knee tendinitis, both were on the court Tuesday night at the Garden when South Florida handed the Wildcats one of their most crushing losses of the Jay Wright era.
How a Top-10 team has turned into a team that cant defend the three, that is prone to long gaps with no offense, that cant even shoot foul shots anymore after being ranked No. 9 in the nation in free throw shooting a month ago is an absolute mystery.
The second half of the season was a disaster. The Big East tournament was a disaster. Villanova has one more opportunity to make sure this entire season isnt a disaster.
This is our last chance, Wright said. You know, now its our last opportunity to get on a roll. I thought we came into the Big East tournament very confident I thought we played maybe one of our best halves in a while (49-33 lead Tuesday). And then just crazy things at the end. And like maybe, all this is wearing on these guys.
So this week, thats where were trying to get them to is to understand, just to go out there and play and have fun. And its going to take some time to get them there but I think we will.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Villanova as an 11 seed and believes that the lack of depth in most mid-major conferences makes the Wildcats a virtual lock for the NCAA field of 68, which will be announced Sunday evening.
Wright thinks Nova will get an at-large bid but is ready for anything.
We put ourselves in a position where weve got to take whatever the committee decides, he said. I would assume were in but understand we have left the door open, and if something crazy happens we could be one of those teams they could definitely pass on and we would have to accept that.
Even if Villanova gets in, then what?
The Wildcats will probably have to face a No. 6 or 7 seed, most likely somewhere in the West Region. They havent beaten anybody in almost a month.
But in 2008, they got in as a 12 seed, beat Clemson and Siena and made it to the Regional Semifinals.
So who knows?
You know its funny, if we were 11th or 12th seed, I would feel bad for the team, Wright said. Our team should not be that seed, but thats what we played to. On the other side I would be really happy for us. You know, were in. So, its a strange year.
You always say anything can happen in sports. I havent seen a team that lost this many games at the end going into the tournament. But no one played as well at the beginning of the year as we have and done this. And I said that to our guys. We have to be grateful and we have to respect the fact that we were ready to play early in the season when some teams were not ready to play. And we had injuries down the stretch and it affected us.
Wright said despite everything, the expectations remain high for the NCAA tournamentassuming the Wildcats find their way in.
We expected to go on a run during the Big East tournament ... and we are going to go into the NCAA tournament the same way, with great confidence, he said.
When you play in this league you believe you can beat anybody. You really do. You also learn you can lose to anybody. So I want our guys to go in there and play with a reckless abandon and confidence.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com