He sat at the head of the team bench closest to the scorer’s table. He laced up his shoes, crossed his legs, put his hand over his mouth for a second and waited for the tip.

Thirty seconds later, Villanova Wildcat Liad Suez put the Villanova Wildcats ahead 2-0. Meanwhile, Wildcats head coach Harry Perretta loosened his tie, released the top button on his white shirt and got to work.

‘Weak side, Jana! Jana!,’ he said.

For the first half, fans that saw Perretta for the first time got a Broadway-level performance. He buried his face in his hands, wiped his forehead and pushed the few strands of remaining hair into place. His body language had more combinations than a high school locker room. He hunched over. He leaned back. He crossed his arms and put his hands behind his head. In between the facial expressions and belt adjustments for the few times he stood up, Perretta encouraged, scolded, and of course, taught.

For 27 years, Perretta has been known in the Big East conference for his animated style on the sidelines. Saturday was no different in a 45-42 loss to Syracuse at Manley Field House. It left Perretta one win shy of 500 career victories.

‘You can’t go on the road and score 42 points and win,’ he said. ‘When you’re down and not scoring well, it’s hard to make up the deficit. I was just too worried about keeping our heads above water. You don’t have time to think about that other stuff. You’re just trying to figure out how to win each game.’

That mentality has been a staple of Perretta’s success, which started at the age of 21 when he took the reigns as head coach and led Villanova to a 17-8 record. Since then, he has created a style of play that no opponent ever wishes to play against.

Villanova employs a deliberate motion offense that uses a lot of screens. The Wildcats average less than 10 turnovers per game, almost always tops in the nation.

Perretta also taught the offense to legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summit before the 2002-2003 season. That same year, Perretta’s team ended Connecticut’s 70-game win streak in the Big East tournament.

The Orange was no exception to history. Villanova played to the very last seconds of the shot clock on most possessions. Fortunately for head coach Keith Cieplicki and his team, the Wildcats only shot 1-for-14 from behind the 3-point line and only 34.5 percent for the game.

‘Harry runs such good stuff,’ Cieplicki said. ‘Nobody looks forward to playing against this style.’

But the style backfired for the Wildcats, and Perretta let them know during a timeout with 13:52 remaining. He threw punches at the air while his face turned bright red. He probably didn’t curse though. Not with a traveling priest – the only one with less hair than the coach – in the huddle.

‘We play so tentative,’ Perretta said. ‘I told my players I’ve never coached players in 27 years who played as much basketball and just look afraid all the time.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. You play ball. That’s what I told them. Stop being afraid of making mistakes, stop being afraid of missing a shot, be aggressive, then if you get beat, you get beat. But stop being so tentative.’

After his tirade, Villanova proceeded to go on a 12-0 run to take a 40-36 lead, but freshmen Jessica Richter, Mary Jo Riley and Vaida Sipaviciute helped regain and maintain the lead for SU’s third conference win.

‘I was just pleased that we played hard for 40 minutes and it was just a great team effort on both ends,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I know Harry well. We’re good friends.

‘He’s a fantastic coach and a fantastic person. But you play a 40-minute game and neither one of us tries to worry about anything else.’

Perretta felt the same way. After 27 years, he hasn’t changed very much, regardless of wins or losses. He’ll get another chance for 500 wins Wednesday at Pittsburgh, and another chance to enjoy the milestone a lot more.

‘When you play like that on the road, I don’t know if you deserve to win,’ Perretta said. ‘I don’t want to win because we’re more talented. I want to win because we play hard and do the right things. That’s no satisfaction to me. I would’ve taken (the win), but I wouldn’t have got any satisfaction out of it.’

Published on January 30, 2005 at 12:00 pm