Big East a Subtitle for Hoyas?

Time is frozen. Georgetown’s Jeff Green, the basketball cradled in his forearms. Bent into a 45 degree angle whose corner is wedged into the thigh of Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody. Game tied less than a minute left. Time unfreezes at the perfect instant as he steps and curls toward the basket, gliding through Harangody’s forearm shove and uncoiling the ball in a catapulting hook shot at the top of the lane. The ball strikes the front of the rim. The ref’s whistle blows at Harangoday’s blocking foul. The ball hits the backboard. The ball falls softly through the basket. The tide turns as Georgetown takes a lead they will not relinquish, and, following a businesslike throttling of Pitt in the finals, they walk out of Madison Square Garden Big East champs for the first time since 1989.

The tournament and a potential number one seed awaits, but what does this classic and emotional sub-championship foretell of the Hoya’s fate in the true contest that awaits? All the complementary pieces needed to support the sublime and versatile Jeff Green are in place. The fine ball handling and 47% three point shooting of point guard Jonathan Wallace give Georgetown the prerequisite floor general. Jessie Sapp slashing at the basket can break down a defense when their pinpoint passing goes through a stretch where they can’t find a good shot. And 7’2” behemoth Roy Hibbert remains Coach Thompson’s ace in the hole, grabbing dunks and rebounds in moments when his size advantage seems unfair, yet his minutes always managed by Thompson so to never have his clumsy stiffness on the floor at the wrong time. Add the final ingredient, the X-factor hustle of role player Ewing Jr diving after lose balls, grabbing key steals, appearing out of nowhere for the offensive rebound and putback.

One could view the Hoyas as a lock for the NCAA title, but could not the jubilation of their conference title satisfy some of that hunger and desire which is needed for the journey ahead? At Grind it Out Sports, we’ve learned how ridiculously impossible it is to attempt to answer these questions coming into the tournament, and seek only to point out that Georgetown’s clutch performance in their defining moment creates a yin/yang situation whose upside could be a title and whose downside is a possible fizzling out of intensity resulting in a Sweet Sixteen loss to a lower seeded opponent.

Similarly, we examine the defining moment for each of the other tournament favorites, with the yin/yang question whose unknowable answer holds the key – either to tournament glory or humiliation.

UCLA’s defining moment was the only 3 points scored by their leader Arron Afflalo in their loss to Cal (first game of Pac 10 tourney). “Worst game ever” in Afflalo’s own Comic-Book-Guy-like opinion. This “I’ve hit rockbottom” epiphany could be the turning point toward a more determined Bruin effort just at the right time, or it could be just a plateau on the way to the real crash landing, if Afflalo gets tight and comes unglued again.

UNC’s moment came courtesy of a nose-breaking, Kobe-Bryant-style arm swinging by Duke forward Gerald Henderson. Suddenly bloodied, quiet Tar Heel leader Tyler Hansbrough first has an emotional reaction to fight back, later is thrust into a media spotlight, and eventually plastic masked for the following games. His anger flushed out, Hansbrough could be more aggressive and cutthroat with the mask on. Or a subpar performance in their ACC tourney title run could mean his spirit has been broken as well, which leaves UNC up the creek.

Florida, who just waltzed through a crummy SEC to a conference tourney title, saw their defining moment come when they were struggling right before. While getting trounced on the strangely designed court at Vandebilt, forward and emotional leader Joakim Noah exchanged shoves with the opposing coach under the basket where the Commodores bench was placed for some reason. Later a sulking Noah got his curly pony tail into a further tizzy, flinging his towel to the ground in a dramatic display. The passion of Noah and his mates in pursuit of a repeat title could keep them focused down the stretch, or the fallback of a title under their belt could make them lean back, make excuses, and give up.

The defining moment for Wisconsin and Ohio State is later today in their head to head matchup for the Big Ten tournament chamiponship. Regardless of who wins, you can almost rest assured the loser will be angrier, will have more left in the tank, and will do better in the tournament.

Finally Kansas. Sorry Jayhawks, you don’t deserve a defining moment after losing in the first round each of the last two years to Bradley and Bucknell. The defining moment for the Jayhawks comes in the upcoming tournament, where their recent colossal failure will be the story when they take the court…will they respond by erasing or widening the agony of their fans?