But, when one looks at statistics, you only get a small snippet of the full picture. Stats don't say anything about heart, nothing about will, determination, motivation, desire, and confidence. They don't say anything about the athlete's need to come through big, in big situations, to prove to the world what his soul tells him every day: "you're the best."
Stats can offer you a glimpse, but people who focus solely on statistics miss what makes sports great. We watch because sports is unpredictable. We watch because what happened yesterday, last week, last month, or last year means nothing to what might happen today. Each game is a universe unto itself. Each moment, a chance to do something great.
Going into the Big East Tournament, Uconn failed all the sports tests. They failed the stats test, having lost 7 of their last 11 games, having run erratic offense, shaky defense, and receiving little, if anything, from guys not named Kemba Walker. Even Kemba, despite his greatness, had run into a wall at times, lofting bad shots, seeing his shooting percentage dip low, and logging minutes that seemed unsustainable. The numbers (rebounds, shooting percentage, turnovers per game) all pointed to a quick March followed by a long summer of questions.
Uconn also didn't pass the eye test. The team that had played so well, so together early in the season, looked disjointed, as if they had just stepped on the court together for the first time. The zone defense became their achilles heel. They were all but defenseless (or offense-less) against it. The freshman, who had played with such poise early in the year, suddenly looked like..........freshman. And Alex Oriakhi, the talented sophomore power forward, had disappeared completely, shrinking, it seemed, from the bright lights of important Big East basketball games.
Had Uconn lost to lowly Depaul in the first game of the BE Tournament, no Uconn fan in America would have been shocked.
But heart doesn't show up on a stat sheet. Determination to shrug off bad play and regain needed confidence can't be seen by the naked eye. Somewhere between Uconn's loss to Notre Dame on the final game of the season, and when they walked through the door at Madison Square Garden, this team found something. It found heart. It found determination. It found the confidence to believe it not only could win, but should win. It found that desire that hides in a great athlete......and pushed it out into the open.
I will write about Kemba Walker in another post. The young man's brilliance deserves special attention. His ability to play the game - not just score points of grab rebounds, but play the game - is as good as any Uconn has ever seen, and that is saying a lot. But, this is about a team, a young team, an inexperienced team, a team of boys turning into men.
You don't beat Georgetown by 20 points, Pittsburgh, and then Syracuse with one player. It takes a well-run offense. It takes dedication to defense. It takes rebounds, tipped shots, going after loose balls, and making big plays in big situations.
This team went from a one-man show to a team. Yes, Kemba needs to put up big numbers. All great players do. But, he doesn't need to win a game all alone.
Need proof? The biggest play of the Pittsburgh game wasn't Kemba's game winning shot (okay, maybe it was, but you'll see what I am getting at), it was the Jamall Coombs-McDaniels offensive rebound on a Kemba miss the shot before, and a time out.
Despite Kemba's brilliance on Friday night, it would have all gone for not if they had lost in overtime. That's when Jeremy Lamb stepped up and took care of business, using his tear-drop floater to put the Orange away for good (he also had what should have been the dagger three in regulation, putting Uconn up five with less than a minute to go).
Tyler Olander didn't just come off the bench, he came out of hibernation against the Orange to make some shots, grab some rebounds, play decent defense, and be a one-man zone buster for his team. And after recording a disappearing act over the last month of the season, Alex Oriakhi is back to being what we all believed he could be, a ferocious big man who rebounds, gets put backs, and plays good defense.
Oh, and let's not forget Charles Okwandu, the forgotten big man who has stepped up to record important rebounds and even a few made shots along the way.
Yes, Shabazz Napier is still erratic. Yes, Niels Giffey still looks somewhat lost and uncomfortable. Roscoe Smith is not the same energy guy he was a few months ago. Freshman can still look like freshman. Bad shots can still be taken. Mistakes can still be made.
But, Uconn is now a team, with a sensational player as its anchor.
I don't know what is going to happen tonight against Louisville. When Uconn won last night, I was torn as to who I wanted to see, 'Ville of Notre Dame. On a personal level, I was wary of ND. One of my best friends is an ND grad and the prospect of losing to the Irish for the third time in a year (and for the title, no less) was somewhat daunting. However, beating ND to take home the crown would have been a nice parting gift.
From a basketball perspective, Louisville might be Uconn's worst matchup. They are playing their fifth game in five days, and they are going up against a team that just wears you down. They pressure, they fast break all the time, they run screen after screen, making you choose to either fight over the top or switch. If Uconn is tired today, Louisville is the last team they want to see.
But, this might be the type of magic carpet ride that can't be derailed by fatigue or any opponent. This might be the type of run that is destined to live on forever. Can't you just hear yourself talking about the 5 in 5 season years from now with your buddies? Can't you see Kemba, taking a day from his NBA duties, sitting in the stands at Madison Square Garden for a future BE Tournament game, and the announcers waxing poetic about how he led Uconn to a BE Championship over five days of basketball? Can't you just see that?
Maybe. Who knows. All I do know is, even if Uconn loses tonight, sure, I'll be disappointed, but I won't be devastated, or angry, or upset. Instead, I'll be hopeful for the future. Not just next week and (cross fingers) beyond, but for next year, and for a program that looked to be teetering on the edge this past season. And, I'll be grateful I had the chance to watch this team, a team that has already defied the stats and the pundits, and did it because they wanted it more than the other guy. And did it because they have the best player in college basketball playing on their team. By the way, his name is isn't Ben Hansborough.
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