Ford: 'Nova's Arcidiacono gets glory and bruises
NEW YORK - It was more than midway through the basketball game, and there was still plenty of doubt regarding the outcome when Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono rose up in transition, all alone, and took a three-point shot that not every player has the courage, or license, to attempt.
NEW YORK - It was more than midway through the basketball game, and there was still plenty of doubt regarding the outcome when Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono rose up in transition, all alone, and took a three-point shot that not every player has the courage, or license, to attempt.
"I would never think about it," teammate Josh Hart said. "But I don't care if he's shooting a three against four people. I know he's going to come back and defend and lay it on the line and jump over tables and dive on the floor. Of course, it's even better when you make them."
Arcidiacono had already done the other stuff in the Wildcats' quarterfinal game in the Big East tournament against Georgetown. He had skidded along the famous floor of Madison Square Garden and banged against the side table as he followed through on a shot and leaped it in pursuit of a loose ball, somehow landing without injury. The senior co-captain did all that in the first half, also made three baskets, had a couple of assists and a couple of rebounds, and it was still a one-point game.
In fact, it remained a one-point game until there were fewer than 10 minutes to go when Arcidiacono got out on a fastbreak and decided he was going to pull up and try one. That went pretty well, so he tried another, and then another. And by the time those shots went smoothly through the net, the Wildcats were up by 12 points with five minutes to play, and Arcidiacono hadn't just buried the three-pointers, he had done a pretty good job on Georgetown as well.
"I can't finish at the rim like some other guys, but Coach gives me the green light to pull up in transition, if that's the best thing for our team," Arcidiacono said. "I'm just being aggressive. I'm thinking, 'When else can I get a wide-open shot?' "
Arcidiacono can't shake free in the half-court game like some of the other guys. That's not what he does. So, he gets the freedom to take one now and then that might not always be the soundest shot in basketball. He pays the dues for that right.
"Everybody on our team knows if he misses a wide-open three in transition that he's going to do so many things to make up for it that it's not a big deal," coach Jay Wright said. "We love putting the fear into the opponent that he might do that. Then you have to guard him at the three-point line in transition, and that might open up a layup for somebody else. The other part is teams defend him so hard in the half-court that his best chance of getting open threes is in transition."
The Big East tournament was a great success for Villanova a year ago as the Wildcats won their first title since 1995, but Arcidiacono struggled with his shot, making a total of just four baskets in the team's three wins. Instead, he concentrated on the things that aren't necessarily catalogued in the box score. This tournament has started much differently, however, with Arcidiacono opening with 19 points against the Hoyas, including five three-pointers.
"We're comfortable with him making any shot," said Hart, who led all scorers with 25 points. "Him taking a wide-open three with nobody near him? I'm going to go for that 10 out of 10 times."
Arcidiacono was open on the first two three-point attempts of the run that put the game away, but he was not only alone but without a teammate in sight on the third one. It was one-on-three, maybe one-on-four, when he hit the brakes at the three-point line.
"I didn't think we had numbers, but Coach always tells me to be aggressive. We do that in practice. If I'm out in transition, I'm pretty much the only one who pulls up," Arcidiacono said. "[On the last one], I was like, 'I just hit one. I should just pull it. Coach will get mad, but I'll deal with it.' "
It's a lot easier to deal with when the shots fall, and the game becomes a lot easier, too. On Thursday, in a game that didn't have to turn out the way it did, Ryan Arcidiacono paid back his coach and his teammates for allowing him to take the shots that no one else on the team dares to take.
You have to earn the right to pull up at that spot, however. You have to earn it on the floor, under the table, over the table, and everywhere else on the court. This guy does that, and as tournament time began for Villanova, he got the baskets to go with the bruises.
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