59% free throw shooting isn’t going to get you through the 2A high school regionals in Alabama, never mind the NCAA tournament. Vanderbilt failed to create a lot of opportunities – only 6, SIX, offensive rebounds – and then failed to capitalize on the ones they got. They left 12 free throws missed. Make one, and you get overtime, probably. Make two, and they’re putting up a desperate heave from 3. Make three lousy free throws – you know, the ones you get to take standing still, with nobody covering you – and it’s a different ballgame.
I don’t know whose fault it is – maybe it’s the players, maybe the coaches, maybe nobody’s fault – but this team was tight. They were strung tight as a drum, and it showed the whole game. They were playing not to lose. They played like a team terrified that all those predictions, from Yahoo to ESPN to the White House, were at risk of coming true – the ones that said Vandy was the automatic upset in round one, a sure thing for a bracket buster.
Next year will be tough. Everyone is back except Jermaine Beal, and you can’t replace a senior-leader point guard so easily. Also, having everyone back means that AJ Ogilvy is back – and he can’t decide whether he wants to be an All-American or the prettiest hipster in the West End. If I got the sense that he cared even a little bit about basketball, I’d feel a lot better about 2011.
And make no mistake, next year is for the whole shootin’ match. Tennessee is losing a shit-pile of manpower, and Kentucky is unlikely to keep Cousins AND Wall – and who knows, the NCAA may already be catching up with Calipari depending on what you hear and who you believe. You can’t count on John Jenkins wanting to stick around with the kind of money that will be on offer, and you couldn’t blame him for taking it. So this is it: the year’s over, and barring a sudden collapse, Vanderbilt will be the overrated team of the tournament. How the players react to that will determine what kind of Commodore team rolls out of the garage next November.
As an aside, this is the fourth team from Nashville I’ve seen play at HP Pavilion in person. They are a collective 0-4. Not only am I never setting foot in the Tank again, I hope a fuckin’ meteor levels it.