The plan was a simple on going in to what will become 13 games in five glorious days. Survive and advance had a different meaning for some of us when it came to the start of the 2015 New York Life ACC Tournament.
Day one had already taken a hit with the self-dismissal of Syracuse removing one of the three play-in games. The two remaining contests would pair off the four bottom seeded teams that had one thing in common- nothing left to play for this side of a miracle.
The potential pairings for Wednesday and Thursday danced in one’s head as Boston College and Georgia Tech took the court for the tourney opener. The Eagles were riding a three-game winning streak after starting the ACC slate 1-14. GT had no such luck closing out their league contests and finished up at 3-15.
But a rather strange thing happened on the way to UNC-Louisville and Duke-NC State dream games. #12 Boston College versus #13 Georgia Tech turned into an instant classic of sorts. When the dust settled Boston College held on for a thrilling 66-65 victory that allows the Eagles to advance and square off with #5 seeded North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon.
Outside of BC guard Olivier Hanlan, the average ACC fan would be challenged to name players for the two underachieving squads. That might change after the 40-minute battle that took place in the Greensboro Coliseum. The game consisted of 10 ties and 14 lead changes including a few of them inside the final minute of play.
Years from now very few people will remember that Hanlan (25 points) teamed up with Patrick Heckmann to score 44 of the 66 Eagle points or that GT’s Charles Mitchell collected a rather impressive double-double in a losing effort. Mitchell finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds with seven of the boards coming on the offensive end, but the game could be remembered for being a saving grace for the league.
As a lifelong fan of the greatest league in the country it would be easy to see the glass as half full. Five teams are ranked in the Top 25 and as many eight teams could play for the rights to cut down the nets on Saturday night.
But living in the real world we must admit to a number of things that the league has suffered thru this season.
- The passing of coaching legend Dean Smith
- Academic fraud at UNC that spans the better part of two decades.
- Coach K removing a player from his team for the very first time in his amazing coaching career and then the whispers as to the history of said player.
- Rick Pitino having to suffer through suspending his starting point guard for one game before reinstating Chris Jones a day later to have him then be charged with unspeakable crimes.
- Syracuse having the book thrown at its program and its Hall of Fame coach just days before the start of the tournament. The long-term effect that the punishment will have on both the team and the league is immeasurable.
- Then there is the matter of the New York Life logo that now sits proudly on Center Court here in Greensboro. Really – first we have to take on the New York state of mind with Syracuse and, then the naming rights go to the Big Apple as well?
- At the conclusion of what promises to be an amazing five days here, the league will then pack-up for a way to long road trip that will include stops in the Nation’s Capitol and you guessed it – two years in the Big Apple.
Those of us that remember the days when some kid name Mike Jordan was going to be the next David Thompson (like anyone could do that) and Phil Ford running Dean’s Four Corners, we needed it to be about hoops and not money. Not only did we need it but we needed it sooner than later, and that is exactly what Boston College and Georgia Tech gave us earlier today. For 40 long and beautiful minutes it was about clutch jumpers and game changing possessions.
The reason that the story that is UVA basketball is so enjoyable is the way that Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has conducted their business. It is ripped from the pages of Gene Hackman and Hoosiers with the line of five players ringing loud and clear. To call the ‘Hoos a feel good story would be like calling Bill Gates well to do, and Coach Brey has his Fighting Irish playing a tough nose brand of basketball as well.
Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Jahlil Okafor are remarkable talents at Duke, but the days of Grant Hill, Christian Latener and Shane Battier staying and playing four years are a thing of the past in K’Ville.
The ACC was always about four-year players and hard-nosed, high-quality basketball with the occasional superstar sneaking in and making a name for itself. Folks like Tim Duncan, Wally Walker and Jimmy Spanarkle made us smile and the Jordan fella turned out okay as well.
None of those players laced them up here today, but what we did witness goes a long, long way in the right direction and it came at a time where I/we needed it most.
The really fun part is that it could be just the tip of the ACC iceburg!
– Column by Jerry Carter
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