By Paul Gotham
NOTRE DAME, IN – Billy Baron matched a career-high points. He set a career best for steals, minutes played and depending upon the situation, he either quieted or antagonized the largest crowd in his Canisius career.
Yes, on the biggest stage thus far of his short career in Blue and Gold, the Golden Griffins senior point guard turned in a singular performance. Baron, who raised eyebrows (and heard a few chuckles) when he shared his goal of taking the Canisius Golden Griffins to the NCAA Tournament, raised his already lofty level of play.
He drove the open lane when available, pulled up from the outside when left unguarded, fed teammates and disrupted the opponent’s offense.
Twitter churned with chatter of his escapades.
If Billy Baron transferred to Arizona or played at North Carolina, we’d be raving about him on ESPN.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 29, 2013
Two HUGE plays for Billy Baron. Ties game at 73 at Notre Dame. — Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) December 29, 2013
Canisius’s Billy Baron has 24 points 5 boards, 4 steals and 3 assists against Notre Dame. Best player no one is talking about. #MAACHoops — Ryan Michael Lazo (@RMLazo13) December 29, 2013
His final stat line read like an active commodity traded on Wall Street: 33 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists in 43 minutes of play. (We’ll leave Baron’s one turnover until later.)
Ubiquitous. Omni-present. And, oh yeah, he was all over the court.
Yet for every play he made, Baron and the Golden Griffins came up short on this evening in the final score. They triumphed, though, in converting believers.
Facing a desperate Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad, the Griffs found themselves lacking in the category of late-game breaks. The Irish, playing their first contest since the dismissal of leading scorer Jerian Grant (academic reasons) and a deflating last-minute loss to No. 3 Ohio State (61-64 on December 21st), looked the part of a team needing to prove itself.
With students away on semester break, their fans sensed the desperation and nearly filled the Purcell Pavilion in the Joyce Center. Having already watched their team suffer non-conference home losses at the hands of Indiana State and North Dakota State, the more than 8,000 Irish faithful were not about to let the Irish came up short again.
They stood in unison and cheered as the Irish trimmed a seven-point deficit to one and sat down quietly seconds later as Baron drilled a pull-up 3-pointer from the top of the key.
They wondered aloud: “Does this kid ever miss?”
Voiced their protest: “That’s a foul.”
And generally wore the visage of urgency usually donned by the smaller, mid-major school.
Yes, Billy Baron and the Canisius Golden Griffins of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference went into Notre Dame formerly of the Big East and currently of the Atlantic Coast Conference and pushed the heavyweight on to the ropes.
Baron and his counterpart, Notre Dame point guard Eric Atkins, went toe-to-toe. Though the two rarely defended each other, it was their play which elevated those of the teammates around them.
Baron hit 10 of 20 from the floor including 4 of 8 behind the arc.
Atkins connected on 10 of 14 and 6 of 8 from long range for a career-high 30.
Every time Atkins ignited the home crowd. Baron led a bucket brigade which doused the flames.
Trailing by four with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Baron found Josiah Heath open underneath for a dunk. One possession later he fed an open Chris Manhertz for a slam. He capped the mini-rally with a drive in traffic from the top of the key for a layup. A free throw later completed the three-point play and knotted the score at 73.
“He’s the real deal,” Atkins said when asked about Baron. “I really respect his game.”
Atkins wasn’t the only one.
The Miami Heat scout seated at press row included Baron at the bottom of his chart almost as an afterthought. By the end of the first half, there were more notes written on the paper about the Canisius guard than the four ND players listed above him.
In the end, the Griffs needed just one more play: the tap in which kicked off the back rim, the jump hook in the lane that rimmed out, or the time when Baron and Zach Lewis both had a bead on a long, diagonal pass. Their arms tangled, and the potential steal went out-of-bounds.
Then there was The Play on the baseline when Baron came from nowhere and secured a loose ball. Or didn’t. Referees determined that Baron didn’t have possession to call a timeout, but did have possession to reset the shot clock from :02 to the :28 remaining in regulation.
But on this occasion with 8,000 cheering their misfortune the Griffs refused to go away, pushed their opponent to overtime and showed how close they are to Baron’s goal. A goal which was seen as unrealistic just 16 months ago, now is believable.
Baron earned MAAC pre-season conference Player-of-the-Year honors and he was named to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List for the nation’s top point guard.
None of that mattered on Sunday.
In the post-game press conference, the Rhode Island native looked like the athlete who had poured out every ounce of emotion his body possessed. His face pale. Answers, usually lengthy and engaging, were terse and at times barely audible.
He didn’t come just to be on the big stage. He came to win on the big stage.
Maybe that mindset will carry Baron and his teammates to a bigger stage in March – like those in Milwaukee, Orlando, Spokane, San Antonio – some of the second and third round sites of the NCAA Tournament.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
Leave a Reply