Vanderbilt Basketball

Let me start this article with a true story about myself and a girl I liked my 2nd semester of my senior year in college.

It's the 1st day of the 2nd semester.  I wake up, pack my bag, and go to my 1st class.  In class, while attempting to pay attention to the teacher, I saw an attractive girl from across the room whom I had seen around campus before, acknowledged that she was cute, but had yet to make a move.  I wasn't particularly looking for anything in specific, but I thought I'd give it a shot.  I talked to her for a little after class, just trying to plant a few seeds.  The next class I talked to her again, and got her cell phone number.  We texted a lot throughout the week, and talked a lot before, during, and after classes.  Then, things picked up a little bit.  We had a few lunches and went on a few dates.  We ate dinners together and went to parties/bars together.  We talked all the time, hung out a lot, and were getting along swimmingly.  Valentine's Day was coming up in a week and I asked her if she wanted to go to dinner together on V-Day.  She said of course.  I told her to be ready at 7, but wanted to leave the plans as a surprise.  I had fraternity pledges bring her flower, balloons, and chocolates throughout the day at her apartment and in her classes.  A pledge picked her up at 7, drove her to my friends apartment where I had cooked dinner, and walked her up to the room.  Dinner went extremely well.  We had a great, home-cooked, candle lit meal with her favorite wine, and listened to the Frank Sinatra Biggie Smalls CD throughout the meal.  After dinner we hung out on the couch and watched a movie.  She held my hand, was very flirtatious, had her hand on my knee, and kept touching me whenever possible.  I read all the signs, built up the courage, and went in for a kiss.  Right before our lips touched, she pushed me away, slapped me in the face, got up off the couch, told me she had a boyfriend, and stormed out of the apartment.  

This my friends is not only an embarrassing story about me and a girl I was once quite fond of, but also a microcosm of Vanderbilt basketball.  Right when you think you are on a roll, everything is perfect, the moment is right, and you're on the verge of something special, Vanderbilt basketball slaps you in the face and tells you, "nope, you're wrong, we still stink."  Overall, Vanderbilt has had a good season.  We've beaten who we were supposed to beat most of the time, and lost to teams we were supposed to lose to.  We've played 5 ranked teams, beat the 3 we played at home (UNC, St. Mary's, and UK), and lost to the 2 we played on the road (Mizzou and UF) both in OT.  Some of our other losses weren't bad as they came to pretty good teams.  We lost early to West Virginia at a neutral site and South Carolina on the road in OT.  I'll even forgive the game we lost to Tennessee when we were up by 17, and blew it down the stretch because it's a rivalry and we were on the road.  The other 2 losses are inexcusable.  Arkansas and Tennessee at home.  Both losses took place right when I thought we were about to take control of the SEC, and were at HOME to teams that we are better than.

That is why Vanderbilt basketball is so disappointing.  Had we won these 2 games, we might be in the top 10 right now.  We'd head into the tournament as a 3 seed.  Instead, we are gong to be a 4 or 5 seed in the tournament again, and lose in the 1st round to a team we are better than again, just like the last 2 times we made the tournament.  In 2008, as a 4 seed, we lost first round to Siena by 21, and 2010, as a 4 seed, to Murray State by a single point.  There are some teams that, on any given day, can beat any team and lose to any team.  Vanderbilt is not one of them.  Vanderbilt can't beat good teams on the road, and loses to teams that are worse than them at the most inopportune times.  We can beat the teams we are supposed to beat, but we don't always, and we can lose to any team at any time.  I've never been a fan of a team like this.  I have never gone into a game with any other team I liked thinking we were the better team, but expecting to lose.  When the Eagles were the better team in the NFC Championship game, I expected them to win.  When they were the worse team, I expected them to lose.  With Vanderbilt basketball, I always expect a loss, and that's the difference between being a fan of a normal team and a Vanderbilt fan.

The worst part is that I don't know who to blame.  I want to blame it on our overall style of play.  We live and die by the 3, and when the 3 isn't falling, we lose.  But Duke, who just won the NCAA Tournament last year, has the same style, and is usually ranked in the top 5.  The difference is that Duke has better players, better athletes, and better coaching.  I also want to blame the lack of play-makers and heart.  Last night it looked like Scottie Hopson wanted to win the game.  He had the ball in his hands every possession in the last 3 minutes and wouldn't give it up until it was in the hoop or he was on the line shooting free throws.  In that same 3 minute stretch, Jenkins and Taylor didn't bring the ball up the court, didn't demand the ball, and when they got the ball they passed it away like their Dad just asked for the mashed potatoes at a family dinner.  Scottie Hopson took UT on his back and wouldn't let his team lose.  No one on Vanderbilt even stepped up and tried to win the game for us.  It was embarrassing to watch our 11 point home lead evaporate.  We were up 42-31 with 13 minutes to go.  We lost 60-51.  If you do the math you'll see that we scored 9 points in the last 13 minutes at home, while UT scored 29 in the same span.  It was absurd and miserable to watch live.

It's going to be hard to fill out my bracket and not write Vanderbilt on any of the blank lines, but while I usually expect Vanderbilt to lose and go against my better judgment when filling out my bracket, this year I might have to let my judgment match my expectations.  And that's what Rubes is ranting on today.