I Bleed Blue and White

It’s seriously hard to believe that we are two and a half weeks away from the regular season finale, three and a half weeks until Selection Sunday, and just four weeks away from the start of the NCAA Tournament.  The college basketball season really does fly, so we need to enjoy what’s left of it.  Obviously, the level of enjoyment will depend on how Villanova performs over this next month and a half.  If they continue to play like they did on Monday night against Connecticut, there will be a lot of disgruntled Wildcat fans.  However, I really do not foresee another debacle like that where there was virtually no energy, no passion, no adjustments, and no intelligence.  Practice this week could not have been fun, as Jay Wright must have let some steam out with the goal of getting his team re-focused on the task at hand.  Although a very tough schedule lay ahead, there is no reason to expect this team will not rebound.  One of the hallmarks of Wright’s teams over the years has been to come back with a solid game after a loss.  I expect nothing less this Sunday at the Pedersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.  With a long way until that contest though, here are some interesting articles/video clips to get you through the week.

-All-Access with referee Tim Higgins  (have a feeling this article has sparked some emotion from Big East fans) 

-Andy Katz’s Daily Word: Committee criterion still in eye of beholder

-Forde Minutes: 40 names, games, and minutiae making news in college hoops

-Villanova Video Clips from CSN Philly (this link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet…click on the SPORTSNITE tab and the clips are from 2/15)

Surpisingly, I have something positive to report regarding a Big East player.  I bashed the players who were suspended recently, but hopefully, it looks like at least one of them is turning it around.  Reggie Redding, arrested in late July for marijuana possession, has owned up to his poor decisions and is trying to turn a negative into a positive.  Redding spoke with Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer and said:

I want to be a positive example for the program, for the university, just do the right thing, don’t get into any bad situations and not feel sorry for myself.  What happened, I can’t look back.  I can’t start over.  I’m just going to look forward. 

Obviously, some may say he is just saying this for the sake of saying it, but Jay Wright has praised Redding’s handling of the situation too, saying:

He’s still a leader on this team and you can’t hide that.  Everything we do, he’s a leader.  I think he’s handled it great, I really do.

Hopefully, Redding can continue to be a positive presence around the team and stay out of trouble.  A player who remembers Redding very well is Pittsburgh’s Jermaine Dixon.  As you all remember, Reggie was the imbounder for Scottie Reynolds’ infamous shot in last year’s Elite Eight.  It was Dixon who had the assignment of covering Reynolds during that sequence.  The bitter loss still haunts Dixon to this day.   

You’re only as good as your last game and that game is still in my head.  That’s the only game I have, so I sit there and watch it sometimes.  I like to critique myself and see what I did wrong, so I can get better….I was getting over it, but the thing that always held me back was Levance stayed in his house for a month after that.  He didn’t come out.  He was hurting and that kind of hurt me. I was getting over it, but his pain still stays with me.

I can imagine that game and specifically, that play, still linger in the minds of the Pitt players, coaches, and fans.  There’s no doubt that the Panthers will be looking for revenge when the Wildcats travel to the Pedersen Events Center this year.