Philadelphia is college
basketball’s steamiest hotbed. The Big Five: LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph’s,
Temple, and Villanova scrap like hellhounds for city supremacy. The closest
thing to it in college sports is Boston’s Beanpot Tourney where the Boston
College, Harvard, Boston University, and Northeastern hockey teams bloody the
ice trying to win the coveted trophy.
The
1985 Villanova basketball team, led by their colorful and effective coach,
Rollie Massamino, clawed their way to the top of Philadelphia college
basketball, competed fiercely in the Big East
Conference, got into the NCAA playoffs, and although not ranked in the top 15
teams went all the way to the championship game.
Like N.C. State two years
earlier, Villanova faced a colossus. Georgetown was hugely talented and heavily
favored to win their second straight title, with the seven-foot,
future-NBA-superstar Patrick Ewing dominating as the top college center in the
country. To make the odds against Big East rival Villanova even longer, the
Hoyas had beaten them twice during the regular season. But both games were
tight, and that had to be on the minds of the Georgetown players and coach John
Thompson.
Although
the shot clock was used during the regular season, it was not used in the
tournament. Villanova played deliberate basketball, took high-percentage shots,
made few mistakes, and used Massamino’s flexible defensive setups to keep Georgetown from breaking
out. Villanova center Ed Pinckney played the game of his life against Ewing,
andthe Villanova players hit a
stream of clutch free throwsin the closing minutes to seal
a phenomenal 66-64 upset. Oh, almost forgot, Villanova shot over 75% from the
floor, and that steady rain surely dampened Georgetown’s spirits.
Excerpted from Guts in the Clutch on Amazon.com
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