1/7/2024 0 Comments Stack house shoes![]() “And you know, you go on social media, you see some negativity and stuff like that. “We talked about blocking out the outside noise,” Robbins said. And as of a week ago, what appeared to be a program in turmoil. And losses to Grambling State and Southern Miss, which were early body blows to NCAA hopes. Plus the benching of Lawrence, and before that, of Wright. Stackhouse has been sensitive and defensive in the face of critics from early in his tenure, and this season those critics have been fueled by some angry outbursts from him on the sidelines. The angry noise from Vanderbilt fans, folks who used to be able to count on quality teams and NCAA bids but haven’t seen one since Drew’s debut season of 2016-17, reached high volume. Winning coaches do things like that at times and get commended for it, but Stackhouse isn’t a winning coach. The Crimson Tide destroyed the Commodores 101-44, Stackhouse calmly watching it unfold, eschewing timeouts to stop runs, a bit of a sacrificed game to make a point. 31 game at Alabama because he didn’t think Lawrence was taking things seriously enough in practice. The ups and downs of Stackhouse’s tenure - which stands at 51-66, this team at 12-12 and 5-6 in the SEC with extremely faint hopes of his first NCAA bid - have never been more extreme than in the past eight days. “Might be my favorite shot in my career,” Stackhouse said. ![]() “Stuff you dream about,” Lawrence said of the three points that left him with a game-high 19. And somewhere in there, he got his hands on Lawrence, the 6-4 junior lefty whose perfect shot created a Vanderbilt-Tennessee moment that won’t soon be forgotten. Stackhouse said he hugged official Tony Greene, too, when Greene quickly confirmed for him that the shot had left Lawrence’s hands on time. I respect that guy so much and I know what he’s about. “Coach Barnes came over there and was just like, ‘Man, I’m super proud of you.’ Those words mean a lot. Certainly not in four seasons of Stackhouse struggling to get this program where he believes it can be, nor in the three mostly turbulent Bryce Drew seasons that preceded it. When it fell through, a perfect swish, Vanderbilt men’s basketball had a moment like it hasn’t had in a long time. With 0.2 of a second left, it was out of Lawrence’s hands. ![]() “Remember your bailouts,” Stackhouse had said to Manjon in the huddle, referring to the corner shooters, and with 1.2 seconds left, a two-handed laser from Manjon was on its way to Lawrence. He still may have been able to convert for the tie. Except that Vescovi had helped all the way off Lawrence in the corner and was under the rim to contest Manjon. The best defensive team in college basketball was about to give up a layup on the biggest play of the game to go to overtime. The 6-foot Manjon went left around Robbins, losing 5-9 Zakai Zeigler for just enough of a fraction of a second to gain a step on him. Manjon would essentially run three-quarters of the court toward the rim.Īll of this happened as drawn up. ![]() Point guard Ezra Manjon, the fastest Commodore, would start from behind halfcourt and gather speed heading toward Robbins and the ball. Shooters Tyrin Lawrence and Colin Smith would crisscross and head to opposite corners. Wright, whose 12-point second half made this upset opportunity possible, would get it to the top of the key to big man Liam Robbins, whose 14-point, nine-rebound, three-block night was equally critical. Jordan Wright would inbound from the sideline across from where Stackhouse stands during games, calm and emotionless except in rare circumstances. “None of this stuff is really original,” he would say of the play, honest words to cap two days of a whole bunch of them pouring out of him. “Three Quarter Fist” was an oldie but a goodie, updated with some Stackhouse tweaks. Stackhouse let assistant coach Adam Mazarei call a lot of the offensive plays during the game - he’s delegating more, at the urging of Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Lee - but this one was his with the Commodores trailing 65-63. ![]()
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