'The Thing' turns Villanova's opening performance into horror show
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds won't say why he was benched for the start of his biggest game this year. No one will. Reynolds, selecting his words as carefully as he does his shots, referred to the reason for his benching as, "The Thing."
The Thing was also a 1980s horror movie which is perfect symmetry since the Wildcats played a nightmare of a game and almost lost to a school they should've beaten by 20.
The Wildcats will advance after a telling 73-70 overtime victory against Robert Morris. Villanova almost became the first two seed since 2001 to lose to a 15. They advance, yes. They won, sure. But the performance of The Things only emboldens disbelievers who think the Wildcats are a dead team walking.
If there is such a thing as a humiliating victory this was it. The Wildcats were almost single-handedly beaten by a 5-foot-7 turnip named Karon Abraham, who finished with a team-high 23 points. Abraham is good but not that good. Same could be said for Robert Morris. They displayed the kind of -- sorry Mr. Raftery -- onions that make this tournament so imminently fun.
Yet this is more about what's going on inside the head of Villanova than the actions of the Colonials. There's a lot of fuzziness and dust and doubt floating around in those Wildcat craniums. There's no other way to explain how they allowed a 15-seed to go on brutal runs including a 17-4 blitzkrieg in the first half. The Colonials also held Villanova to a season-low 22 first half points.
Villanova has had slow tournament starts before, but this year's slow start feels more tactile and emotionally vacuumed. What makes this also different is how coach Jay Wright benched Reynolds and guard Corey Fisher for the start of the game.
Trying to get the exact reason why they were initially benched was almost a comedy sketch. A handful of journalists including CBSSports.com trailed and interviewed Reynolds for a total of 23 minutes after the game, attempting to discover exactly what happened. Reynolds was pleasant and a stand-up guy, politely answering every question, but refused to say the reason. He initially called it a "teaching lesson" and then referred to it as "The Thing."
"I felt like I let my teammates and coaches down," Reynolds told a small group of reporters. "I wasn't that rock. There was a chip in the rock."
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"He punished me," said Reynolds, speaking of Wright, "he made an example of me. I'm OK with that."
"Let's just say 'The Thing' is something he's warned me about before," said Reynolds.
"It's nothing major, but to this program it is major," Reynolds said. "To people that [aren't] in our program, you know, it might not be a big deal, but for us, and me being the leader, me being the guy in charge of this team, you know, I've got to be sharp at all times. And I wasn't sharp for a split second and it got me. And I learned from it, move on from it. I'm glad we got the win. And I'm glad it happened now, and we can move on. I learned from it. Thanks, Coach." Then Reynolds laughed.
Wright intimated he was unhappy with Reynolds' game preparation during the week. The coach informed the team of the benching Wednesday night.
Reynolds denies the benching affected his performance on the court, but the evidence is undeniable that he wasn't himself. Reynolds made 2 of 15 shots and was 1 for 8 from 3-point range. Fifteen of his 20 points came from the free-throw line and he didn't make a 3-pointer until overtime.
The larger picture is that of a team -- a second seed of all things -- forced to bench two of its players for the start of the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats aren't exactly off to a rollicking start.
After the game, as the entire stadium gave Robert Morris a standing ovation, several Colonial players cried almost hysterically. Based on their reaction, it was as if the Colonials were the ones who saw The Thing, not the Wildcats.
