Fighting Off the Ghost of Jeff Green

By Andrew Hard

Saturday's Game -- Georgetown Hoyas 64, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 51 (Verizon Center, Washington, DC)

The 2006-2007 Commodores weren't the most talented Vanderbilt basketball team of all time -- not by a long shot. Despite having two future SEC Players of the Year on the team (Vanderbilt legend Shan Foster and do-everything UVA transfer Derrick Byars), the Commodores were projected as an NIT team at best due to their lack of size and the departure of mercurial point guard Mario Moore. Coach Kevin Stallings attempted to change the team's offensive style coming into the season, switching from a traditional, high-post Princeton offense (relying on back cuts, crisp passing, and lengthy possessions) to an athletic, up-tempo, shoot-the-lights-out style (relying on running, running, and more running). The switch seemed to fail miserably at first -- Vandy lost their opener to 8th-ranked Georgetown and their fourth game to Furman, starting off 1-3 and making even that NIT prediction seem laughable.

But Vandy had the shooters to make the system work, and once Alex Gordon, Dan Cage, Foster and Byars found their groove, the Commodores were off and running (for the season, Vandy averaged just over 9 made threes per game). A little bit of Memorial Magic helped too, as first #20 Tennessee (buzzer-beater), #9 Alabama (blowout), and then #1 Florida ($25,000 court storm -- thanks, SEC) went down on Vandy's home court. The Commodores rode their remarkable turnaround all the way to a #6 seed in that year's NCAA Tournament, matching up against one of DC's finest -- the George Washington Colonials. For Vanderbilt fans who made the trek out to Sacramento for those first and second rounds, it was perhaps the greatest money ever spent -- Vandy blew out the hapless Colonials by 33 and then fought off a gritty Washington State team in double overtime (on St. Pat's Day, my junior year at Vanderbilt -- don't ask me to remember the details of this game, but I'm sure the waitresses at Sam's will never forget the bar tab that Jordan, Aden and I racked up). It was off to the Sweet 16 to take on the Hoyas again.

For a school like Vanderbilt (read: high academic standards), opportunities like this shouldn't come along too often -- with a great coach and a solid recruiting base, they should come along once every 3-4 years, right when the team is full of juniors and seniors. The 'Dores were in their second Sweet 16 in four years, fresh off the memories of Matt Freije and the aformentioned Moore taking Vandy past NC State in 2004. After they left, Stallings reloaded, bringing in Foster, Gordon, and DeMarre Carroll, two of whom were eventually taken in the NBA draft (Carroll transferred to Mizzou after two years to be "more of a shooter," or so he claimed at the time; considering how many me-first headcases seem to miraculously transfer out of Stallings' program, most Vandy fans weren't convinced). It was a stud recruiting class, and one that made Commodore fans wonder if Stallings was our Coach K -- remember, Duke was nothing until he came along in 1980 (in total, Coach K has taken Duke to 27 of its 35 NCAA Tournaments, 11 of its 15 Final Fours, and all four of its national titles -- so yeah, leave the Naismith-era history to the likes of Kansas, UCLA, and Kentucky).

Could this, then, be the year that everything clicked? Vandy seemed to have it all rolling -- four outstanding shooters, great chemistry, a gritty coach that wasn't afraid (and never will be) to take a technical if he needed to buy a few calls down the road, and a "why not us" selfless attitude that translated to a toughness that you never saw out of the Mario Moore teams. Georgetown was a kryptonite matchup in many ways -- they had this guy that you might have heard of named Roy Hibbert (7'2" before the hair), while Vandy's tallest starter clocked in at a meager 6'9''. Sure, 6'11" Ted Skuchas came off the bench, but I could trust him more to get me a drink at Tin Roof after the game than actually stop opposing centers from scoring. Vandy was going to have to play this game in the 70s and shoot the lights out in order to win -- not necessarily a tall order.

In the first half, Vandy did what it does best -- shoot 3s. In the first half, Dan Cage did the ONLY thing he does best -- shoot 3s. Cage had 11 points, the 'Dores hit 6 threes, and a 32-24 halftime lead had Music City rocking (or at least the small sector of Music City smart enough not to wear puke orange). Dreams of the second Elite 8 in school history -- and first since 1965 -- were a mere 20 minutes from reality. Somewhere in Poland, Dawid Przybyszewski cheered like a maniac, waking up his flat mates at 2:00 in the morning Warsaw time. Somewhere on West End, I left McDougal's, bought beer, and then went to a friend's place for the second half.

The Hoyas immediately brought it back to a tie 3 1/2 minutes into the second half. The threes stopped falling for the Commodores, but the free throws didn't, as the fouls piled up for Georgetown. Hibbert picked up his fourth foul with just under six minutes left, and inexplicably, John Thompson III left him in for foul #5 just two minutes later. Still, Vandy couldn't hit a shot -- their last field goal in the entire game came with 4:49 left. While a parade of free throws kept it close, Georgetown had the ball, up 1, with 49 seconds left, when a missed shot resulted in a whistle.

Foul. On Georgetown. With Dan Cage -- doing the other thing he does best -- going to the line (87.5% on the year). Swish. Swish. Commodores up 65-64, 19 seconds left. The two shots that clinched the Elite 8 -- and the biggest upset in school history -- were in the bag.

Until Jeff Green "stepped" in. Georgetown fans -- those that even remember this game -- call it a piece of "fancy footwork." The refs called it magic. Vanderbilt fans called it what it was -- a travel. Specifically, a switch of the pivot foot to nail a fadeaway jumper over Foster and Skuchas with three seconds left, just enough time to do nothing. Except to sit there, every Vanderbilt fan sitting with their head either in their hands or numbly ahead at the television, shocked and appalled at the opportunity that was stolen from them.

To this day, Vanderbilt fans cannot shake the ghost of Jeff Green. The Commodores have not sniffed the Sweet 16 since that day, winning only one tournament game in five tries. The animosity towards Georgetown has faded, but perhaps mostly because the teams haven't played since (I can't imagine this is an accident). In the Verizon Center on Saturday night, though, the Vanderbilt fan in me could feel those ghosts, still looming over the Hoya faithful and the one Final Four in Thompson's up-and-down career. The Hoyas haven't quite been the same since, losing four times to double-digit seeds since 2007. Perhaps the basketball gods have given back a little bit. But on that night in East Rutherford, they took everything away from the Vanderbilt Commodores.

(As for the Verizon Center itself? Meh. Rutgers isn't exactly the best opponent, but I'd like to think Vandy would still be able to pack the house for every game if they were ever #7 in the country -- the words "Cleveland" and "State" notwithstanding. The place was about 60-70% full, and the student section only half full. On the bright side, Otto Porter is a one-man wrecking crew, his 28 points more than pacing the Hoyas against the overmatched Scarlet Knights. It won't, however, be enough to keep the Hoyas -- projected as a #1 or #2 seed -- away from another early-round upset in 2013).

Next One Up

With conference tournaments beginning tomorrow, The Road to 592 will be coming at you with a full preview of all the action leading up to the first tickets being punched -- stay tuned for that sometime tomorrow afternoon. The OVC Tournament begins in Nashville this Wednesday, and I'll be courtside with live updates and daily recaps. Follow me on Twitter for the live stuff, and look out for the first post Thursday morning. It's March, baby!!!

College basketball count: 20/347; Total count: 51/592

 --The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan with a sparse history of truly great sports atmospheres (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhard592.