Today Jay Wright was a guest with Mike Francessa on WFAN 660-AM in New York. Wright's usually a regular on the show around this time of year as Francessa is a huge Villanova (VillanovER) fan and let's be honest, we all love hearing the coach on the most iconic radio station in the country.
I've been pretty harsh on Wright lately (which I still think is warranted). Usually, hearing Jay talk is like taking happy-meds. You get this warm, numbing feeling and start thinking everyone is going to be just fine. This one was a little different. This interview did two things for me:
- Make me feel a lot better heading into Thursday.
- Getting me violently upset at our Coach, yet again.
More after the jump...
Jay talked about several things, so I'll run them down quick, and then get to the thing that elated/angered me at the same time.
- Thinks Kansas and Syracuse are the two favorites right now, but also likes West Virginia a lot.
- Hopes that the playing the freshman this year will pay dividends down the stretch, because it "cost them" a bit down the stretch.
- Thinks Mouphtaou Yarou and Maurice Sutton are going to be the keys to the tournament because they need help rebounding.
That last one was upsetting enough, until we got I heard Coach say that our best lineup was Antonio Pena, Mouphtaou Yarou, and 3 guards.
YA DON'T SAY, JAY?!
I'm going to go ahead and speak for the rest of the fanbase here when I say that down that miserable stretch, our best lineup was Pena, Yarou, Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes. Wasn't that hard to see actually. Stokes has been a madman since the citation and Fisher and Stokes are the two best players on the team. Mouph has been phenomenal (when he's actually been in the game) and Pena has been steady, not spectacular.
So why is our Coach saying this now? I have no idea, and frankly it worries me that it took him this long to realize it.
(Note: I'm really hoping that he's seen the light and Mouph starts playing 25 minutes a game -- at least)
But I am ecstatic to hear him say it at the same time. Because I've had enough of the coddling of the freshman. The kid is a man out there. He plays with a mean streak and he works his ass off. He deserves it, and as we've all been saying, we're a much, much better team with him out there.
That felt good to get out.