GANSEYBITCHES! Big Shot of the Week
February 14, 2008
Winner: Ronald Ramon, Pittsburgh
Ramon’s winning three-pointer as time expired against West Virginia embodies everything the Michael F. Gansey award is about. Ramon patiently waited on the wing while the Mountaineer defense collapsed around the ball-handler, collected the pass, squared his shoulders and then released a perfect swish to give Pitt the one-point victory. Ramon was then quickly mobbed by his teammates, including inaugural Ganseybitches winner, Lance Fields who rushed out to meet him.
Pittsburgh has shown a remarkable amount of resilience after losing Fields to a broken foot for seven weeks (he is expected to return tomorrow night against Marquette). They remain a team that could surprise in March, but have an absolute brutal stretch to end the Big East regular season where even with Fields they could be underdogs in five of the next seven games. If the season turns sour, they’ll be able to remember a couple nights where they starred at defeated shouted it down with the refrain of, “Ganseybitches.”
2nd Place: JaJuan Smith, Tennessee
JaJuan “that’s not a typo” Smith made a steal with 11 seconds left and promptly took the ball down the court for the easy lay-up to secure an ugly 47-45 win against LSU. The Vols are one of the nation’s highest scoring offenses and only been held under 70 points once this year (66 against Kentucky), but couldn’t get anything going. Tennessee’s offense is dependent on creating turnovers and getting out in transition, so it was fitting that they broke a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought with a break-away lay-up to rescue what would have been an embarrassing loss.
Loser: University of Virginia Men’s Basketball Team
UVA gave up a golden opportunity to save their season with a victory over North Carolina. Down by just one point with eight seconds left the Cavaliers took six seconds to foul and were never able to even get the ball back.
Last week I advised a reader in Virginia who wanted to know what team he should adopt now that it looked like his Wahoos were done for the season. In the end, I advised him that it would be best for him to focus on the University of Rhode Island for the rest of the year. I got a testy email back saying that his original email was only a test and that a fan should never abandon ship. I just want that reader to know that after UVA’s performance against UNC, I accept all major mail carriers (especially Tee’s Weekly’s sponsor DHL) if you want to send a written apology.