Sports Poets Society

di CHRISTIAN GIORDANO , SKY SPORT 24 (31 gennaio 2015) «Da giocatore sviluppi una specie di sesto senso per i vincenti. Be', Lattek lo era». Parole datate e non di circostanza di Franz Beckenbauer, la bandiera che – da giocatore – al Bayern prima lo impose per vincere e poi lo cacciò per ricominciare a farlo. Altri tempi, altro Bayern: vincente, come e forse più di quello attuale. Uno degli ultimi maestri di calcio tedesco, Lattek era nato il 13 gennaio 1935 a Bosemb, oggi Polonia, allora Prussia orientale. Primi passi al Marienheide; tre stagioni al Leverkusen, quattro al Wipperfürth e tre da riserva all'Osnabrück come onesta carriera da ex attaccante scalato, con gli anni, a centrocampista. Già dall'ultimo, trascorso senza giocare, inizia ad applicare gli studi in pedagogia allenando part-time i ragazzini del vivaio. Deve avere del talento, se la Federazione gli affida subito le rappresentative giovanili. Da lì al posto di assistente del Ct Helmut Schön in nazi...

Jerold Taylor "Jay" Wright, Jr. (born December 24, 1961) is an American basketball coach. He is currently the men's coach at Villanova University. He was born in Churchville, Pennsylvania and is married to a former Villanova cheerleader. In 2006, Wright signed a seven-year contract extension with Villanova University which kept him in the position through the 2012–2013 season. Education Wright is a graduate of Council Rock High School North in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1983, where he played on the basketball team and became a Brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Coaching career Upon graduating from college, Wright got his first job as an assistant coach at Division III University of Rochester. In 1986, he got his first position in Division I college basketball as an assistant coach at Drexel University. His next job came as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, where h...

JayVaughn Pinkston (born November 27, 1991) is an American college basketball player for Villanova University. He redshirted his first year with the team, and is currently a senior on the 2014–15 team. Pinkston was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game during a stellar career at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School . As a senior, he was selected to the All-American second team by Parade Magazine . He was named New York's Player of the Year as a senior . He became the first player in Loughlin history to earn the honor of playing in the McDonald's All-American game. Early life JayVaughn Pinkston was born on November 27, 1991 in Brooklyn , New York. His mother, Kerry Pinkston, gave birth to him when she was in high school . She worked several jobs, including security officer, to support him as a single mother . JayVaughn suffered several bouts of asthma as a child. He began playing basketball at the age of 11 after a growth spurt . Pinksto...

Ryan Curran Arcidiacono (born March 26, 1994) is an American college basketball player for Villanova. He is currently a junior on the 2014–15 team. He attended Neshaminy High School , where he averaged 20.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game as a junior to lead Neshaminy to the PIAA playoffs. He missed his entire senior season due to suffering a lower back injury in the summer of 2011. As a freshman at Villanova, he was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team . Arcidiacono was an honorable mention all-Big East selection at the conclusion of his sophomore season. Early life Arcidiacono was born on March 26, 1994 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. He has three older siblings, Sabrina, Nicole, Michael; and younger twin siblings, Christopher and Courtney. His parents, Joe and Patti Arcidiacono, met at Villanova University, where Joe was an offensive lineman on the football team. When he was young, his father installed a 6-foot plastic hoop in the family living room . Ryan would of...

Wright is extremely comfortable with what he calls “a really mature group... we don’t really have to push them because they’re self-motivated.” The first seven members of Villanova’s rotation all played key roles on last year’s team, and the coach liked what he saw of his two freshmen during summer drills.  The question is whether the Wildcats can deal with heightened expectations and the knowledge that opponents will zero in on them this season.  “We know the key is for us to be able to grind like we did last year,” he said. “We’ve got everybody back basically. So we need to keep these guys fresh and then we need to get them at the latest point possible, ready for a grind, because last year the grind was from the summer all the way through.”  The team’s three oldest players — Pinkston, Hilliard and Arcidiacono  — have combined for 265 starts and have the talent, experience and wisdom to guide the younger players through any rocky patches. Still, ...

31 - G - DYLAN ENNIS  (6-2, 192 lbs, R-JR, #31, 5.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 16.2 mpg, .353 FG, .301 3PT, .786 FT, Lake Forest Academy/Brampton, Ontario).  After transferring from Rice , Ennis — the older brother of former Syracuse star Tyler Ennis  — was the most hyped newcomer on last year’s team and coach Jay Wright feared there would be too many expectations of him. Ellis missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand and marked his return with back-to-back 14-point games in wins over USC and Kansas in the Bahamas.  Still, the transition to Wright’s way of playing basketball was a rocky one at times.  “In the beginning, the way Dylan played pleased the crowd, but it wasn’t efficient for our team,” he said. “The second half of the year, he didn’t look good to the crowd, but he was really effective for our team, and we really improved through the year because of his play defensively .”  The emphasis on defense “took...

15 - PG - RYAN ARCIDIACONO  (6-3, 195 lbs., JR, #15, 9.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.1 spg, 31.1 mpg, .395 FG, .345 3PT, .703 FT, Neshaminy HS/Langhorne, Pa.).  After Arcidiacono enrolled as a freshman, Wright wanted him to get the full effect of the college game, so he looked past the youngster’s turnovers, shot selection and first-year mistakes as long as he remained aggressive . The result of this baptism by fire came last season when Arcidiacono, while taking fewer shots, making fewer 3-pointers and dropping from being the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer to their fourth , was as valuable as anyone on the team.  Arcidiacono was an ideal floor leader . He hit some big shots when needed , like a clutch 3-pointer in the win over then-No. 2 Kansas. He knocked down 10 free throws and handed out 11 assists against zero turnovers in an overtime win at Marquette, and scored a season-best 21 in a double-overtime thriller at Providence. Meanwhile, Arcidiacono’s ball han...

Da campioni in carica , i Wildcats sembrano pronti, almeno sulla carta, a ripetere quanto fatto lo scorso anno. Non c’è più la shooting forward James Bell , perdita dura da digerire ma non impossibile da dimenticare, soprattutto con  Josh Hart (3) che, dopo essere stato uno dei migliori sesti uomini dell’intera NCAA, in quest’annata potrebbe esplodere.  JayVaughn Pinkston (22) e Daniel Ochefu (23) assicurano un frontcourt di spessore , così come Ryan Arcidiacono (15) e Darrun Hilliard II (4) garantiscono solidità e talento negli spot di point e shooting guard.  Ma, al di là del quintetto, è tutto il roster di Villanova a stupire per profondità e talento. Dylan Ennis (31) e Kris Jenkins (2) dalla panchina rappresentano un lusso, mentre Bridges e Phil Booth (5) potranno crescere sotto l’ala protettrice di un gruppo esperto e di livello e diventare, sul lungo termine, già determinanti per una squadra che potrebbe puntare alle Final Four.

The questions about Villanova before the start of last season centered on youth and consistency . The Wildcats had just two seniors on their roster—one of whom had averaged 8.6 points, a career best, in the previous season and the other slotted to serve in a reserve role—and inconsistency threatened to surface again like mold on old bread.  But by the time the 2013-14 campaign ended, the Wildcats had grown considerably as a team, confounding the experts who didn’t rate them in the top three of the new Big East. They won 29 games — second-most in team history  — and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation. They swept eight of their nine conference opponents to win their first outright Big East regular season title since 1982 , while posting both their ninth 20-win season and ninth NCAA berth in the last decade .  No, it didn’t finish well; Villanova went 1-2 in the postseason, losing its opening Big East tournament game to Seton Hall and going only two gam...