Vandy at DePaul

The first half can be summarized with this: "Coach, it Burns!". DePaul looked very impressive in the first half while Vandy looked like it got frozen by the ice storms. DePaul could do no wrong and their players looked like stars in the making.

The situation continued in the second half with DePaul building an 18 point lead, but then things started reversing, with Vandy slowly but steadily chipping away at the score and sending the game to overtime where they grabbed the W by the horns - as it is often the case when a team loses a big lead and the game heads to overtime. Good old Mo(mentum).

Jerry Wainwright has a lot more to worry than messing up his hair during the half-time report ;-) What was a microcosm perhaps of DePaul in the last few years was how they played in the last two minutes of regulation and allowed Vandy to send the game to overtime: They played as if it was an AAU game Taking a shot just 5 seconds into the possession, silly foul on defense, not concentrating at the foul line, woofing at each other instead of getting things done, not understanding the game situation (fouls, score, time remaining, etc). Wainwright has his work cut out for him.

Having said all that though this was my first full game look at DePaul and they have shown a lot of promise and potential. It looks like they are going to be like last year's team, all over the place, and the new CBI may in the end be what allows them some post-season play.

The game itself was "turnovery" at times, but unlike the Cincy at Xavier game, it was fast and entertaining, the way basketball should be played. Are you reading this basketball coaches? *cough* Ben Howland, Salukis, etc *cough* Infact we are making it a game of the year nominee. (We are very generous with the nominations).

This was also the first full Vandy game I watched. Needless to say the first half was not good, but it doesn't look like it was representative of their performance YTD. The second half was more like it, and their experience and basketball savvy showed late in the second when Vandy players made basketball plays while DePaul players made AAU plays. And that was the difference. Some of the Princeton fundamentals came in handy late in the game as well.

More on this game at VU Commodores, Vanderbilt Sports Online, BallHype, and RUWT?, and AOL Sports Fanhouse