La più grande rimonta di sempre.  Mai la squadra poi campione NCAA era risalita dal -15 all'intervallo, e prima addirittura -16. Contro North Carolina ci riesce Kansas, al quarto titolo della sua storia, con una ripresa "for the ages"; 31-10 nei primi dieci minuti, nove punti in meno di un minuto. Filosofie simili, il big fella (Bacot e McCormack) nel mezzo come tradizione, guardie e ali versatili e gioco fluido al servizio della stella, Love per i Tar Heels, Agbaji per i Jayhawks - il miglior giocatore del Torneo. Quattro titolari e sesto uomo (Martin per KU e Johnson per UNC) tutti in doppia cifra per entrambe. Bacot - scavigliato come in semifinale con Duke - chiude a 15 punti e 15 rimbalzi, McCormack a 15 e 10; e bravo a sfruttare il mismatch dopo il beau geste di Wilson che anziché tirare chiama timeout x farlo soccorrere. Kansas l'ha "vinta" lì. Per UNC in doppia doppia anche Manek e Davis; per KU Braun, decisivo anche contro Villanova.  Coach Bill Sel...

  Sette miglia di distanza, 257 partite in 102 anni di derby e mai al Torneo NCAA. Prima volta addirittura alla Final Four, la sesta a New Orleans, tra North Carolina e la Duke di Paolo Banchero - doppia doppia da 20 punti e 10 rimbalzi e top five sicura al prossimo draft NBA - e di Coach K, ai saluti dopo 47 anni di carriera, 5 ad Army e gli ultimi 42 ai Blue Devils. Dall'altra parte però c'è uno straordinario Caleb Love, top scorer da 28 punti in una gara pari per 12 volte e con 18 sorpassi. Il "superclasico" della Tobacco Road lo vincono 81 a 77 i Tar Heels, più esperti e più precisi al tiro. In finale ci vanno loro contro Kansas, che nell'altra semifinale ha battuto 81 a 65 Villanova (priva della stella Justin Moore, infortunato). Prima finale al debutto da head coach per Hubert Davis di UNC. Niente lieto fine per il film da sogno di Mike Krzyzewski. Leggenda-record da cinque titoli NCAA, 13 Final Four e 1202 vittorie in carriera. Grazie, Maestro. PER SKY SPOR...

https://www.amazon.it/Hoops-Portraits-Ritratti-basket-americano/dp/1731583168/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= di CHRISTIAN GIORDANO Supponete di trovarvi dinanzi ad un’ala NBA di appena 1.92 che ansima cercando di trattenere il fiato mentre corre su e giù per il campo come se fosse sempre alle prese con il fiatone. Probabilmente ci mettereste un po’ a prenderlo sul serio come minaccia offensivo, ma guai se quel giocatore era Paul Arizin dei Philadelphia Warriors. Arizin, uno dei più grandi realizzatori degli anni ’50, aveva una fistola (malformazione alla cavità polmonare) che in campo lo faceva respirare a fatica e tossire, ma che non inficiò mai il suo tiro. “Pitching Paul” chiuse la sua decennale carriera NBA a oltre 22 punti di media, vincendo per due volte la classifica marcatori. Fu il quinto uomo nella storia della Lega a segnare 10000 punti, traguardo raggiunto più velocemente di tutti.  Arizin guidò i Warriors al titolo NBA nel 1956 e ...

http://www.coxhub.com/articles/ranking-the-big-east-teams-in-two-sentences-or-less By Daniel James — 12/29/15 2:07 PM The names on the front don't change, but the names on the back certainly do, and with the way things have shaken out in the OOC, there's even more to consider than what was thought in the original preseason predictions. But while anyone could spend eons talking about the in's and out's of each team, how many can do this ranking with a minimalist style? Here's how I'm ranking the Big East teams, in two sentences or less. 1. Xavier:  Way underrated in the preseason , which is scary because they were not that underrated to begin with. Five guys averaging double digits, a deep (DEEP) bench, and a top-level coach has me very scared of the Musketeers. 2. Villanova:  A solid team that, despite a few early losses, is terrifying-good when their game is clicking , and still better than most when it's not. I don't need to go ...

Doubleheader : due partite, e che partite, live, una dietro l'altra. Sarà il San Silvestro del basket NCAA su Fox Sports. Si comincia alle 18.00 con Villanova-Xavier e si prosegue dalle 20.00 con St.John's-Creighton. Lo spettacolo è garantito. Vero, la Big East non è più la conference di una volta, ma i Wildcats di coach Jay Vaughn la vincono da due anni; e i Musketeers di coach Chris Mack sono i più seri candidati a sfidarli in finale. Altrettanto complicato prevedere come finirà tra Red Storm e Bluejays. St. John's ha cambiato tutto, a partire dall'allenatore: non c'è più il colorito Steve Lavin, ora analyst per Fox Sports U.S. Al suo posto è arrivato una leggenda locale, quel Chris Mullin che, da sublime tiratore, St John's l'ha portata alla Final Four nel 1985 prima di diventare una leggenda della NBA e olimpica per i due ori (uno con il Dream Team). Mullin deve costruire un programma che riparte dal talento atletico di Durand Johnson, att...

Villanova star JALEN BRUNSON was molded by his exacting father, a former pro whose work was nearly undone by an indiscretion that shook their family BY LEE JENKINS, Sports Illustrated , 2015, November 30 THE WHITE BMW 750 sedan pulled out of the Wachovia Center and headed toward the Walt Whitman Bridge, leaving the lights of downtown Philadelphia behind. It was Oct. 25, 2006, and the 76ers had just beaten the New Jersey Nets in their last exhibition game. After the final horn 10-year-old Jalen Brunson retreated to the Philly locker room while his father, reserve point guard Rick Brunson, joined Sixers general manager Billy King in a back office. Later Jalen thought it strange when his dad left the arena without saying goodbye to anybody, trudging silently to the car, but the boy wasn’t concerned. The regular season started in a week, and for the first time all of the Brunsons would spend it in one city. On the drive home to Cherry Hill, N.J., Jalen talked excitedly about openi...

8:00 PM ET, March 14, 2015 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York                 Points                 Rebounds         Assists XAV Stainbrook 12.2 Stainbrook 6.9 Dee Davis    6.2 VILL Hilliard      14.1 Ochefu       8.4 Arcidiacono 3.6 Villanova's riding a school-record winning streak and has established a single-season program best for victories . Adding one more win to each would mean it's also gotten over the hump with something that has eluded it since 1995. A Big East Tournament championship. In their final act before the NCAA Tournament, the fourth-ranked Wildcats will try to end that two-decade drought Saturday night in New York against Xavier. "The final game in Madison Square Garden is a thrill for anybody that's in the Northeast in basketball, man," said Villanova coach Jay Wright , who believes...

VILLANOVA Villanova used another hot shooting performance from the perimeter to advance and pull closer to some historic achievements. The fourth-ranked Wildcats can establish their longest-ever winning streak and set a single-season school record for victories Friday night against Providence in a Big East Tournament semifinal at Madison Square Garden. Villanova (30-2) opened postseason play with an 84-49 (+35) blowout of Marquette in Thursday's quarterfinal, its biggest Big East Tournament victory ever . Its 30 wins match the school record set by the 2008-09 Final Four team , while the 13-game winning streak is the squad's second this season. The Wildcats are trying to buck a trend of disappointing conference tournament performances . Villanova hasn't won 2 such games since 2004 when it defeated Providence to reach the semifinals , where it lost to Connecticut . In 2009, the Wildcats won 1 game before bowing out early and the 2006 squad that reach...

Thursday, March 12, 2015 By Dana O'Neil - ESPN.com VILLANOVA, Pa. -- If successful college basketball teams were built like rivets or tinker toys, pieced together in a factory or constructed with the aid of detailed instructions, the pieces needed for assembly would include at least one of the following: • One-and-done player • Future NBA draft pick • All-American or player of the year candidate In other words, Villanova would be a reject . Because the Wildcats are everything that college basketball teams are not supposed to be . They are old. They have 2 seniors who actually play , and not just as convenient replacement players for an otherwise void senior day. They do not have a one-and-done candidate on their roster . Or a two-and-done. Or a three-and-done. There's not one player through which the team runs . Their top 6 scorers average within 5 points of one another. Nobody's name appears on a single player of the year list , All-A...

2:00 PM ET, February 28, 2015 Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Points Rebounds Assists VILL Hillia... 14.7 Ochefu 8.3 Arcidi... 3.6 XAV Bluiett 12.3 Stainb... 6.7 Davis 6.1 Villanova is on the verge of repeating as outright Big East regular-season champions. Wrapping it up as quickly as possible might be tough against an opponent that also has plenty to play for. Xavier already has four wins over Top 25 foes but earning one Saturday over the sixth-ranked Wildcats would certainly be the most meaningful to its NCAA tournament hopes, not to mention a great way to celebrate senior day at the Cintas Center. Villanova (26-2, 13-2) has won nine straight -- the last three by an average of 21.6 points -- to claim a piece of the Big East regular-season crown. The Wildcats won't have to share it if they win one of their final three games or if Butler and Georgetown each lose once, so it seems a foregone conclusion that the outright title is theirs. However, they don...

Senior Forward Leads The Sixth-Ranked Wildcats Feb. 25, 2015 By SEAN BRENNAN - Special to BIGEAST.com In the latest edition of "Getting to Know," we put the full court press on Villanova's stellar senior Darrun Hilliard. Darrun tells us why being as well known as say, Duke's Jahlil Okafor, is not high on his priority list , how chasing a school record he was unaware of is also not in his crosshairs , about a story he will one day tell his kids and grandkids - but not for a while - and why he may be checking on a particular item is selling in the Villanova Team Store on campus. BIGEAST.com: Last year you shared the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player award with your teammate Daniel Ochefu. Are you a better player this year than you were last year? HILLIARD:  "Yeah for sure. I think that every player has the drive to get better year in and year out. I don't know what I look like on paper but I think that mentally and physically I feel I'm a bette...

15 RYAN ARCIDIACONO JUNIOR/POINT GUARD 6-3 • 195 LANGHORNE, PA. NESHAMINY HIGH SCHOOL (COACH: JERRY DEVINE) A savvy guard with excellent vision and a knack for finding the open man ...  Brings long range shooting skill to the floor as well...  A student of the game ...  A team captain . PERSONAL Is one of six children of Patti and Joe Arcidiacono ... Siblings include Sabrina (28), Nicole (26), Michael (23), and Christopher and Courtney (14)... Both parents attended Villanova and Joe Arcidiacono played football for the Wildcats ( 1976-80)...   Born March 26, 1994. ——— 4 DARRUN HILLIARD II SENIOR/GUARD 6-6 • 205 BETHLEHEM, PA. LIBERTY H.S. (COACH: CHAD LANDIS) A quality athlete with an ability to move without the basketball ... Versatile enough to handle the basketball if needed ... Has range to 3-point territory with a smooth lefthanded stroke. PERSONAL Parents are Darrun Hilliard and Charlene Jenkins... Signed a national letter of intent to atten...

di ALESSIO BONAZZI , My NCAA Secondo anno per la nuova Big East che potrebbe terminare, ancora una volta, con la vittoria finale di Villanova. In una conference molto equilibrata, di livello superiore rispetto a quella passata, però non sarebbe una grande sorpresa vedere una fra Georgetown e Xavier battagliare fino all’ultimo per il titolo. Senza dimenticare, ovviamente, Butler e St. John’s, pronte a stupire tutti. Dovranno invece abbandonare i sogni di gloria, almeno per questa stagione, Creighton e Marquette , con De Paul impegnata a non ripetere, per la settima stagione consecutiva, l’ultimo posto in graduatoria.  LA FAVORITA - VILLANOVA WILDCATS   Da campioni in carica, i Wildcats sembrano pronti, almeno sulla carta, a ripetersi . Non c’è più Bell, perdita dura da digerire ma non impossibile da dimenticare, soprattutto con un Josh Hart che, dopo essere stato uno dei migliori sesti uomini dell’intera NCAA, nel corso di quest’annata potrebbe definitivamente es...