Nov. 5, 2004
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each week beginning in the fall and continues through the basketball season.
He has been described by Villanova head coach Jay Wright as a gym rat, one of those true basketball believers who can't get enough of his favorite sport.
So the prospect of time away from the game for athletes like Mike Nardi is well, disconcerting.
Nardi spent much of the early weeks of the practice on the sidelines. When his teammates staged a brief scrimmage filled with dunks that brought the crowd to its feet, he was on the bench. When the Wildcats squared off in the annual Blue vs. White scrimmage on Oct. 23, he was similarly tied to the bench near associate head coach Fred Hill. The time away from the game was the product of a sprained left foot that kept him sidelined for nearly two weeks but has healed sufficiently to allow him to resume his normal practice regimen.
"I never want to be in a situation where I'm on the sidelines while my teammates are out on the court," Nardi stated. "But this was just something I had to get through."
Yet Nardi did not grumble about his misfortune. Rather, he was grateful that this looms only as a minor setback. He has been back on the practice floor the last few days and appears none the worse for wear. In fact, his cerebral game may have even been enhanced by the forced inactivity.
"I picked up a couple of things that have been helpful," he said. "Sometimes you can see things more clearly watching from the side. When you are out on the court, you don't always have time to stand back and notice little things."
Make no mistake, the sophomore from Linden, N.J. has no desire to take up permanent residence alongside Wright and his staff. In fact, after logging 31.3 minutes per outing as a freshman, he will again help to engineer the Villanova attack along with juniors Randy Foye and Allan Ray. In the wake of the torn ACL injury suffered by freshman Kyle Lowry, all three figure to carry a heavy workload.
That's one reason why he could afford to be patient while allowing the foot to heal.
"It's frustrating in some respects," he stated. "But the important thing is to be healthy for the season."
The 2004-05 campaign offers an opportunity for Nardi to add to an impressive resume built as a freshman.
"I really want to be more under control than I was," Nardi states. "Sometimes when you are in a new situation, you speed things up. I want to improve my decision making and have at least a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio."
On the whole, though, Nardi's introduction to Villanova was outstanding. Wright placed the ball in his hands early on and Nardi was at the wheel as the Wildcats endured a fast-paced ride under an assortment of conditions.
"In my mind," said Wright, "Mike had an amazing freshman year. He started all 35 games and handled a very demanding position. Throughout the season he developed as a floor leader and shot the ball well from the perimeter. His teammates look to him because of his commitment and dedication to winning."
For his part, Nardi views the experience in a positive light.
"What else can you ask for than to play for a good coach and with a good group of guys?" Nardi asks. "We went through some tough times but came through them. I got a lot of experience and I'm just trying to build on that this year."
Nardi was the only member of the Wildcats to start all 35 games. A great deal of material was tossed Nardi's way as a point guard and he gave a solid account of himself, averaging 9.9 points and 3.7 assists per game. He also converted .411 of his attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. The Big East Conference named him to its All-Rookie Team.
"That's an individual accomplishment and I'm proud of it," said Nardi. "But those aren't the kinds of things I think about. As long as our team is winning and we're up there in contention, those things will take care of themselves."
In his role at the hub of the offense, Nardi has an advantage this season that he did not possess as he entered his rookie campaign. As a newcomer he was just learning the tendencies and on-court preferences of his teammates as the 2003-04 season opener approached. Now he has a feel for that and very much appreciates the tight bond that exists among the Wildcats.
"The strength of the team is that we are really close," Nardi stated. "We have good chemistry and that really helps. I think we've learned that we have to play hard every possession and really need to defend as a team. We also need to run so that we get out on the break. We've got some really good open court players and we can use that to our advantage."
Nardi is also convinced that the lessons of 2003-04, painful as they were for a cast that relied largely on four sophomores and two freshmen, have benefited the group.
"It was an interesting year," said Nardi. "With the (telephone access code) suspensions, we had to start the year playing a certain way. We really couldn't get after people because we didn't have a whole lot of guys. Then when we got people back, we went back to playing our regular style.
"It was a long season. I thought my body held up pretty well. I learned a lot about this team. We never gave up. Even when we were only playing with only five of our regular guys, we played hard. I thought we showed a lot of heart and pride in Villanova."
Of course, the month of February was difficult as the Wildcats suffered near-miss defeats at Seton Hall, Syracuse, and, most memorably, against eventual NCAA champion Connecticut at the Wachovia Center (75-74 in overtime). But there was solace to be found in the fact that Villanova rallied to advance to the Big East Tournament semifinals and National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals, finishing at 18-17.
"Throughout the whole year I thought we progressed," stated Nardi. "It took us too many games to do it, but at the end of the year we were closer to where we want to be. I know we were 2-9 (in games decided by five points or less) last year but I really think we can turn that around this time."
An outstanding student at St. Patrick's, Nardi handled the academic transition as seamlessly as he did the one on the court.
"School went pretty well," he said. "You have to adjust to the time management part of it, but it seemed to come together for me."
Over the course of the summer of 2004, Nardi worked hard to prepare himself for the rigors of Big East basketball.
"I played against good competition in open gym here and back at my high school," said Nardi. "I really tried to fine-tune my game and not get into the street ball mindset. You can develop bad habits when you do that and that's something I tried to avoid."
After a brief visit to the shop, Nardi is eager to road test his skills and those of his team against the rest of the Big East.
