Then Again Its Probably a Bad Idea I Would Be Broke All the Time if I Work for That Company
SAN ANTONIO — All night long, Houston's Jamal Shead had stuck to Villanova point guard Collin Gillespie similar an insect that was also fast to kill and also persistent to shoo away. Shead was everywhere Gillespie went, erasing his air space and determined to make the Wildcats' near important player a non-gene in the Elite Eight.
"You try every bit hard every bit you can to finish him from what he's good at," Shead said.
For 35 minutes, it worked to perfection. Gillespie had scored 2 points from the free-throw line, but he hadn't made a shot. Houston had climbed back within two points with five minutes remaining, and the heavily pro-Cougars crowd at AT&T Center was roaring to life.
Villanova coach Jay Wright called timeout and, of course, put the ball in Gillespie'due south easily. All through this miserable slog of a regional final, Gillespie never pouted, never pressed, never tried to make something out of nada. He didn't take a unmarried bad shot. When the play wasn't there, he passed the ball and moved on.
Just somehow, coming out of that huddle with five minutes left, Gillespie plant himself guarded by someone besides Shead. With ane dribble to his right, he created more space than he had all night and let a 17-foot jumper go. In an NCAA Tournament game, some baskets are bigger than others. When Gillespie's swished through the cyberspace, it felt as enormous equally whatever ii points Villanova scored this year.
"I hope role of our culture is humility," Villanova charabanc Jay Wright said. "He didn't have to bear witness he could brand the big shots, and he could get shots for his teammates and that comes with humility. If you feel similar y'all have to evidence what yous can practise, possibly y'all don't make proficient decisions, and we effort to teach them how to be intelligent players, but the humility's got to come first."
Culture is probably the most used — and overused — buzzword in college sports these days. Every plan has its own thought of what it means. The mediocre ones like to tweet about it. The expert ones live it. And the all-time win championships because of information technology.
No matter what happens side by side week in New Orleans, Saturday's 50-44 win over Houston was another building cake in the instance for Villanova as higher basketball's all-time program. In a de facto road game that was physical and nasty and presented Villanova with every opportunity to fall autonomously, the Wildcats' civilization pulled them through.
This is not a Villanova team with elite shooters similar information technology had in 2016 when Wright broke through for his outset title. Information technology's unlikely this group will have 4 legitimate NBA players like his 2nd title team in 2018.
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Merely what it does have is the residual of what it took to brand those runs happen and the buy-in from a group of players who understood the challenge of chirapsia Houston, accustomed how difficult it was going to be and did not break character at any betoken in the ugliest game any of them will ever play. From ane generation to the next, Villanova has congenital a program that doesn't just win these kind of games; it easily downward the volition to cover them.
"Information technology's crazy how things are coming full-circle," said Jermaine Samuels, who was a modest histrion on the 2018 team. "I'yard just extremely appreciative. Back and so it was amazing to watch those guys from the sidelines. It was like I had a front-row ticket to some of the greatest Villanova players to put on the jersey, and you try to emulate them and be them and put the piece of work in like they did and pray it works out for you lot."
It's working out for this team in a pretty remarkable fashion. In mid-December, Wright took a road game at Baylor right before the Big Eastward opener at Creighton. Villanova lost them by a combined 41 points, and he worried that he had given this group a more difficult schedule than it could handle, especially considering how much of an outcome it is for the Wildcats to go on the road in every Big East game.
But as Wright reflected on the journey to a fourth Final Four appearance since he'south been at Villanova, information technology was probably the best preparation he could have given his team for playing in an environment like it faced Saturday, with Houston fans filling an arena a couple of hours abroad from its campus.
"I think our guys get used to that and being able to control what we can control," Wright said. "We just can't get caught up in emotion. Nosotros accept to stick together, and the guys did a great job of that."
If Villanova wins 2 more than games, it volition exist Wright'south third national championship in seven years, a résumé that would put him on equal footing with Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun and Bobby Knight. Simply what makes a program truly great isn't merely titles; information technology's the ability to stay in the mix even in years when the teams have significant flaws.
That's what differentiates this Villanova run: It has taken far more than talent to get to this Terminal Four. And in the ultimate examination of grapheme and toughness Saturday against Houston, Villanova's culture won out.
"That's what we pride ourselves on, just stay into each other and say 'next play' no matter what's happening," Gillespie said. "(The previous Villanova teams) are a large office of the reason nosotros are the way we are today. We learned a ton from those guys, and now we play for those guys.
"They taught us how to play Villanova basketball game and what it means to play in a Villanova jersey. It definitely did come full-circle."
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken on Twitter @DanWolken
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2022/03/27/villanova-college-basketballs-best-program-jay-wright-collin-gillespie-culture/7183259001/
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