It’s that time of year. It’s the time for great highs and
great lows. Today, I want to write about one of each. The great “low” happened
during the Vanderbilt-Northwestern NCAA tournament round one game (unless
you’re a Northwestern Wildcat fan, and then it’s a great “high”). The great
“high” is what happened with the Michigan Wolverines in their Big Ten
tournament championship run.
I want to start with the Vanderbilt game. For Northwestern
Wildcat fans, this has been a great year. The team has set a school record for
most wins in a season, and they made it to the NCAA tournament for the first
time in their history, earning an 8 seed against the 9-seeded Vanderbilt
Commodores. At the end of the game, Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis
inexplicably committed an intentional foul with 14 seconds on the clock and his
team ahead by one point. Immediately, he became the reason Vanderbilt lost the
game. Northwestern made both free throws and Riley LaChance missed a
three-point attempt with seven seconds to go. So in our society of blame,
clearly Matthew Fisher-Davis is the reason Vanderbilt lost.
I’ve written about such things before when the University of
Michigan’s punter mishandled a snap on the last play of the game against
Michigan State, who turned the fumble into a game-winning touchdown. Death
threats were made against the punter. I argued that there was lots of “blame”
to go around. http://jefflaferney.blogspot.com/2015/10/death-threats-against-university-of.html So let me make some arguments in favor of
Matthew Fisher-Davis. First, the Vanderbilt Commodores snuck into the
tournament with a 19-15 record. Who was their leading scorer? Yes,
Fisher-Davis. My first argument is that they wouldn’t have even been in the
tournament without him. So, the first round game began (with Fisher-Davis on
the bench), and he substituted in and simply led the team in scoring with 22
points. The next two high scorers had 14 and 12. Fisher-Davis was 7 for 15
shooting (47%). The rest of the team was 14-40 (35%). With 7:12 left in the
game and Vanderbilt down by seven points, Coach Bryce Drew called his last
timeout. That meant when his team scored and went ahead with 17 seconds to play,
he couldn’t call a timeout and set his defense.
So what happened in those last seven minutes? Well,
Fisher-Davis scored eight of his team’s sixteen points, grabbed two rebounds,
and blocked a shot. He made two of four field goal attempts and four of five
free throw attempts. The rest of the team went three of eight from the floor.
In the last minute and thirty-six seconds, the lead changed six times. Video
clearly showed Fisher-Davis looking at his coach as Bryant McIntosh was
dribbling up the floor after Vanderbilt took the lead with seventeen seconds
remaining, and Coach Drew was pointing at McIntosh, so Fisher-Davis fouled him,
thinking (he admits this) that his team was behind by one point. After McIntosh
made two free throws, Vanderbilt had the ball with fourteen seconds to play and
a chance for the winning basket which was missed by a teammate. So, obviously,
it was Fisher-Davis’s fault his team lost, right? It doesn’t matter that
Vanderbilt managed to get behind by fifteen points in the second half. It
doesn’t matter that his team was out-rebounded by seven, that his team made ten
turnovers, that his team committed sixteen fouls, or that his teammates missed
26 shots. It doesn’t matter that his coach ran out of timeouts long before the
last stressful minute and a half were played or that his pointing at McIntosh
sent a mixed-up signal. It doesn’t matter that Fisher-Davis came off the bench
and was the best player for Vanderbilt’s team during the game or that he wasn’t
the one who missed the game winning shot attempt. All that matters is someone
needs to be blamed. I pick that blaming attitude as a low for March Madness. "He's
the type of person [who's going to] feel some blame," forward Luke Kornet
said. "But in the second half, we have no chance if he doesn't make the
shots that he made. We're with him no matter what." That’s great to hear
from a teammate, but the blame game from fans happened and will happen again before the
tournament is over.
Congratulations, Northwestern, by the way. Your team should
get some credit for the win, don’t you think? You know, since you outshot your
opponent by 11% and outrebounded them by seven (and had the lead for 39
minutes and 13 seconds of the game) and made go-ahead baskets or free throws
three times in the last 1:36?
So now for the great “high” of March Madness. The Michigan
Wolverines deserve the nod. On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, the Wolverines
basketball team boarded a plane at the Willow Run Airport in the midst of a
windstorm. I live in Michigan. I watched siding blow off my neighbor’s house.
The metal “For Sale” sign stuck in my front yard was bent in half. My power was
out. Wind was gusting up to 65 miles per hour. A light pole outside of my
subdivision was blown over. And the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Aircraft blew off
the runway just as it was attempting to lift off. After the aborted take-off,
the plane skidded 400 yards, through a fence and a ditch, and stopped short of
a ravine. Michigan players Jon Teske and Mark Donnal took the doors off the
plane, beginning emergency exit procedures for the 109 passengers. The
inflatable chutes were deployed, but wind gusts caused them to flail and flop
as the engines smoked and smoldered. Coach Beilein, with fumes pouring in his
face, helped hold down the inflatable chutes. The burning engine churned with
noise. Passengers ran from the wreckage because they believed the plane was
going to blow up. Starting point guard Derrick Walton had to have stiches in
his leg. Others had bumps and bruises—and the scare of a lifetime.
Many hours later, they were back on campus with a decision
to make. Did they want to forfeit their game the next day at noon or begin another travel day at six in the morning by boarding another plane to fly to Washington D.C.? They took a
vote. Some didn’t want to do it, but majority ruled. There was a power outage
on the campus, so they weren’t able to practice. Because of the crash
investigation, they weren’t allowed to get their luggage, but they repacked,
silently took a half-hour bus ride to Detroit Metro Airport, white-knuckled a
7:30 take-off that included turbulence, fought the D.C. traffic to get to the
arena for the game which was delayed thirty minutes because of their late
arrival, and dressed in their practice jerseys because their uniforms were
still on the crashed plane. They beat Illinois by 20, a team that had called
the Wolverines “white collar” while the Illini had “toughness” and
“together[ness].” Then they beat the number one seed, Purdue, the next day.
Then they beat the number four seed, Minnesota, the next day. Then they beat
the number two seed, Wisconsin, the next day.
Coach Beilein expressed that the team played “together” with
an “appreciation” for the game and each other. They were “blessed” after what
they went through to be able to play the games. Derrick Walton, Jr., who was
upset that he didn’t make first-team all-conference, outplayed the first teamer
from Minnesota by miles. This is a team that fought through the tournament on
grit and adrenaline and togetherness and belief and desire. There was an
unselfishness about them. The Wolverines didn't seem to care who was scoring or who was in the game. They played with heart. They fought hard from
beginning to end. They overcame psychological trauma and together decided they
could get over the adversity by playing a game.
March Madness is going to produce some highs and lows, for
sure. What’s incredible is how sports demonstrates the spirit of mankind—overcoming adversity, showing heart, dealing with mistakes, meeting goals, working
together, and showing incredible toughness. It’s not about excuse making and blaming.
But, then again, it’s called March Madness, and crazy things happen, including blaming the best player on your team for "losing" the game in one play.
