one shining moment, part I
There's certainly a buzz about Arizona basketball this year. It's not what I usually hear though. It sounds more like the sound of thousands of people screaming bloody murder as they rush out of a burning building.
They lost to Houston. Two weeks ago they went to the L.A. schools and got swept fairly easily. Last night they got dominated by Leon Powe and Cal. They fell apart in the last ten minutes at USC and got blown out at UCLA. Last week they had to come back from a 5 point deficit in the last minute to beat a 10-13 Oregon team. They managed to win a “mini-elimination game” at Stanford. They're now 16-10, 9-6 in the Pac 10, good for 5th place. On last week’s “Bracketology” projections, before the win at Stanford, they were a 12 seed and one of the “Last Four In”.
Now that I've gotten the opportunity to watch the UA basketball season from a football town thousands of miles away, it really cracks me up when I hear people losing their shit about it.
They're taking personal offense at the 15-90 record in the same manner as they would had Mustafa Shakur gone into their backyard and shot their dog. People are jumping off the bandwagon like they just realized they were riding on a float in a gay pride parade. Very many bad things are being said about the players, the coaches, and the program. Chris Rodgers got kicked off the team?! What were they thinking?! Lute is getting too old, he needs to retire and we need to bring in goddamn Red Auerbach or Phil Jackson to right the ship! The whole team is a disgrace to my family, they're shaming my school, they should all lose their scholarships and we need to bring in some white guys who can shoot!
There is no doubt that there have been a lot of problems this year. There's no outside shooting and there's no inside game. Everyone knows that, so they're backing off our guards and letting them chuck up threes, which no one makes. Our point guard can drive and slash to the basket, but instead of passing to open guys he usually tries to do something ridiculous and fires a brick or turns it over. Our best player has been trying to multi-task by trying to impress NBA scouts in addition to trying to win every game. Radenovic thinks he's Vince Carter, which is of course a disaster. Only recently has he noticed he’s a power forward and should start acting like it. No one knows how to pass, or stop the other team from getting wide open layups.
Make no mistake about it, I've done my share of bitching. But if you look up at the two paragraphs I just wrote, there's a clear difference between the first and the second. If you're the second guy, you've been paying attention and you're disappointed. If you're the first guy, you're just spoiled.
-NCAA Tournament 21 years in a row.
-Since 1994, 8 Sweet Sixteens, 3 Final Fours, one national title.
-A billion ridiculously good players.
Look, I'm as bothered as the next guy that we aren't as good this year. It's a weird feeling, having to sweat out a tournament bid, and with no expectations of even making it past the first round.
But please, shut up about the program going downhill and the team personally offending you. It really isn't a matter of effort, they just don't know what the hell they're doing sometimes. Even so, most schools wouldn't dream of beating Kansas, Washington and Stanford in the same year, and going toe to toe with UConn and Michigan State.
Speaking of hanging tough with Michigan State...
This year I've learned that when it comes down to it, winning is overrated.
Because losing a lot makes winning exponentially better.
The problem with being a UA basketball fan is that you come into every game expecting to win and hoping not to lose. Losing is like a big thing. It's something that just isn't supposed to happen. And I have to tell you, that really makes watching a lot of games less enjoyable. Actually all games against inferior opponents. If we're up 3 against Washington State with 5 minutes to go, everyone is thinking "What the hell is going on? Why is this so hard for us? Why haven't they blown the team out so I can rest my eyes in my Barcalounger at 10 PM instead of having to sweat through this?"
At Penn State, on the other hand, the basketball team has been, well, awful, for quite a long time.
And that's what makes it so much more fun.
Oh, and as a footnote, there are only about 5-6 teams in the NCAA tournament that should really scare you this year: UConn, Duke, Villanova, Texas, Memphis, Michigan State, Ohio State. Everyone else, the teams who are going to be taking the 2-4 seeds (Iowa, Gonzaga, George Washington, Illinois, Pitt, Tennessee, Illinois)? None of them are really that great. If Arizona gets a 6,7,10 or 11 seed - keeping them away from the 8-9 matchup and 1 seed in the second round - and draws some Missouri Valley team in the first round, you might be looking at a random Sweet 16 appearance for the team you love to hate.
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(How in the hell did we lose to Seton Hall with this guy again?)