Kentucky @ Vandy: The Aftermath

On March 23rd, 2007, current Oklahoma City star Jeff Green was the cause for what I would classify as “Vanderbilt fan misery.” The Commodores led 65-64 and were just 9 seconds from a trip to the Elite 8, and a chance to play the North Carolina Tar Heels. Just before Vanderbilt fans could celebrate, Jeff Green took a swift three steps to the basket, and banked it off the glass to give Georgetown a 66-65 victory. The key number was three. Three steps! He traveled, but as fans there was nothing we could do but sulk, and face the fact that we would have to wait until next year. Devastation is commonplace for Vanderbilt fans, but disappointment of this magnitude is rare. It is something that we see but every few years, and this Saturday, when Coach Cal and John Wall came to town, this feeling returned.

Vanderbilt came into Saturday as the clear cut second best team in the SEC, behind the Kentucky Wildcats. Thus, the game at Memorial was undoubtedly going to be a battle. And it was. Dick Vitale deemed it more like a football game than a basketball game, and he was right. Between the double technical on Kentucky freshman Eric Bledsoe and Jeffery Taylor, Steve Tchiengang’s five fouls, Festus’s five fouls, AJ’s four fouls, DeMarcus Cousins four fouls, the game was obviously a physical battle. When you play in such a physical game, you want it that much more; and that is the basis for the return of this misery.

We shot 2-20 from 3 point range, two of our big men fouled out, our potential all-American senior (call me crazy) scored just 6 points, the officiating was more or less horrible, and NBA top prospect John Wall made two spectacular plays in the last 30 seconds. Yet we still had a legitimate chance at the end! So when, Ogilvy’s runner in the lane bounced out, it engendered a sense of depression throughout the student section. Similar to the feeling in March of 2007, a place that was so recently full of such excitement and energy was reduced to a silent pit of depression. There was one difference between the Georgetown game and this Saturday’s Kentucky game. The Georgetown game happened in March, and there was no way to build on it. The Kentucky game however, happened in late February, when great teams discover themselves, and elevate their game to the next level. So for all of you fans that felt like I did this past Saturday; you must understand that Coach Stallings and his squad learned from this experience and can grow from it. And they will. With four regular season games remaining, the SEC tournament, and the NCAA tournament on the horizon, the athletic, deep, and talented Vanderbilt Commodore basketball team will be on display, ready to make a statement to any one that gets in their way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtQKzm3iXZg
(Jeff Green travel, watch the pivot foot)