WHOOOHOOOO! YEAAAAAAHHHH! YOU BET! HIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAHHHHH! THAT'S YOUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR!!! RIGHT THERE! BOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEERRRRRR WOOOOOOODDDDDDDFOOOXXXXXX! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! YOU BET!!!
You bet.
Well then. The Jays jumped out to a 22-point lead, were ahead by 16 with just four minutes remaining, and then...
P'Allen Stinnett falls out of bounds in the backcourt with the ball. Cavel Witter dribbles the ball off his foot in the backcourt. Stinnett misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Booker Woodfox misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Kenny Lawson fails to get a rebound on a missed free throw. Stinnett gets tied up one-on-three. Lawson and Millard fail to get another rebound on another missed free throw. Stinnett gets screened and leaves Wichita State's best shooter wide open for a three. Antoine Young dribbles into traffic and loses the ball without getting off a shot at the buzzer.
And just like that, a 16 point lead with 4 minutes left had evaporated into a 62-61 deficit with under 2 seconds to play. As I sat with my buddy Gilby and about 75 other Jays fans at Beer & Loathing here in Omaha, I was about to go from a lenten vegetarian to a groin-kick anorexic. My digested cheese pizza was about to make an unwelcome reappearance to say hello to me. I was distraught and looking for things to throw. I needed a dart, or a shoe, and an empty spot on the wall to punish.
It looked bleak. Gilby, ever the realist, correctly pointed out that there would still be a second or two on the clock as a Shocker player knocked the ball out of bounds on Young's drive. We watched in horror as the Jays did what Altman teams always do: run a buzzer-beater play sans timeout. Wichita, after seeing that Creighton was lining up for a lob play to their bigs, called their last timeout to set their defense accordingly.
Unbelievably, GENIOUSLY, after seeing Wichita's defensive personnel consisted of every big man on the Shocker team and realizing the play wouldn't work, Altman did what he never does: call timeout to draw up a buzzer-beater. What a coaching job. Say what you will about his failure to use a timeout to stem the tide during the four-minute-meltdown; that timeout to draw up the play for the game-winner was great.
Altman put in all new personnel, drew up a new play...and Marshall was stuck with his big lineup because he had no more timeouts. Wichita's big men were trying to guard a shooter-heavy Jays lineup consisting of Booker, Cavel Witter, and P'Allen. You could see before the inbounds that the strategy had changed entirely -- instead of a lob play, this was going to be a jump shot. And Wichita had a lineup of bigs out there to defend it. Genius.
And so it was that Altman drew up a play to get the Player of the Year in the conference -- the leading three point shooter in the country, mind you -- the ball. And not just to get the ball, but in position to get a shot off? That's absolutely, positively, one of the most marvelous coaching moves I've seen in some time. Just what was that play?
Booker Woodfox started on the far side of the court. Kenny Lawson and P'Allen Stinnett set screens, which appeared to be for each other. Instead, those screens opened a lane for Woodfox to come around and catch the ball just outside the three point lane on the near side. That's how it was drawn up. The rest was up to the Player of the Year in the Valley.
Woodfox caught the ball, then fumbled it. He recovered, made a slick move to get by one defender, got him in the air, then elevated and hit a leaning 15 footer that was released with .6 of a second left.
The roar inside the bar was INSANE. Or maybe it was just me screaming. Jumping, pumping fists, slapping high fives with random people, letting loose a primal scream of joy. For minutes on end. I can only imagine the scene being repeated at bars across Omaha, at Creighton bars across the country, and at the ScottTrade Center in St. Louis.
If Booker Woodfox's status as one of Creighton's legendary players wasn't already cemented with his Player of the Year honors, this shot seals the deal. Its immediately one of the three biggest shots in Creighton history. You've got Terrell Taylor's shot to beat Florida in 2002, Gene Harmon's 30-footer to beat #7 Houston in 1973, and Booker Woodfox's shot to beat Wichita tonight. Those are the top three. The order is up to you.
The unspoken madness in all of this, of course, is how in the hell they managed to lose a 22-point lead. The first half was really good; the second half was as bad as Creighton has played all year. Outrebounded by an outrageous 20. TWENTY M'F'N REBOUNDS! OUTRAGEOUS. Nine turnovers. 58% free throw shooting. Did I mention TWENTY fewer rebounds?
This went from being one of the most epic, gut-punch, pissed down the leg, taking a dump in the lane choke jobs of all time to one of the greatest shots in Creighton history. All it took was 1.9 seconds. Long enough to drink a sip of beer. Long enough for Booker Woodfox to cement his legacy as an all-time great. Long enough to make Gregggggggggggggggg Marshall cry. (Sorry, my keyboard got stuck there).
You bet.
*****
I would be remiss if I didn't mention how thoroughly entertaining it was to watch Gregg "Double G" Marshall sob actual tears at his press conference about the clock operator not starting the clock in time. This guy is inventing new levels of awesome douchiness practically every day at this point, and frankly I couldn't be more excited. I'm thoroughly enjoying the Gregg Marshall Era.
The Valley has sorely been missing a villain coach since Bruce Weber left. Now, Weber had an amazing ability to find SOMETHING to whine about on every play. But Marshall is like Weber on Boli. He makes Weber look like a light beer version of himself.
He had me intrigued last year after his epic speaker-phone interview with 590's Matt Perrault, an uncomfortable experience that felt like a fight was about to break out. He had me hooked after his accusations of Dana Altman "running up the score" by calling timeout to draw up an alley-oop late in a blowout win. And after his crying tonight, its official:
Gregg Marshall has officially knocked Bruce Weber out of the top spot for all-time whiniest Valley coaches. Weber was more whiney than Steve Alford, and Marshall is more whiney than Weber. Its the Circle of Life, as Elton John once sang.
Crying at the podium? Bruce Weber and his orange suit salute you, Double G. That's a new level of douchiness, its classic, and I love it.
You bet.
*****
Tonight's Polyfro Player of the Game is brought to you by Rolaids and Tums. Double down on the bad boys of upset stomach pills! Wash 'em down with a tall, cool Budweiser. Trust me, that's not a bad idea at all. Actually, that's a terrible idea, and I'll thank you not to tell anyone you got the idea from me, should you be dumb enough to actually try it.
Two words: Booker Woodfox. Three more words: Most Valuable Player. Four more words:
Booker Woodfox is Awesome.
Four more times:
BOOKER WOODFOX IS AWESOME.
BOOKER WOODFOX IS AWESOME.
BOOKER WOODFOX IS AWESOME.
OMG, BOOKER WOODFOX IS AWESOME.
You're damn right he is.
