I Bleed Blue and White

Game just ended: 11:15 pm eastern time.  Syracuse Orange defeat Villanova Wildcats 95-77.  Some notes on the game are below.

-The epic showdown began with the Orange jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead, but Villanova responded right away with some deep treys by Scottie Reynolds.

-Villanova was really getting out in transition and forcing the issue throughout the first 12 minutes of the game, which allowed the Cats to build a lead as big as 9 at one point.

-Unfortunately, the good guys went ice cold over the latter part of the first half, allowing the Orange to gain some confidence and take control of the momentum.  The missed shots and subsequent long rebounds gave Syracuse the chances to get their transition game going.  For the most part, Villanova was not getting back on defense and Cuse ended the half on a 20-6 run.

-Halftime score: Syracuse 46 Villanova 36

-I really think Villanova played toe to toe with the Orange in the first stanza, but the Cats got absolutely blitzed in the second half.  The defense was a freakin joke, with Syracuse (specifically Andy Rautins) slicing and dicing the road squad.

-Syracuse shot an extremely high percentage in the final twenty minutes, but that directly relates to Villanova’s inability to prevent entry passes deep into the Orange post guys.  All Rick Jackson and Arinze Onauku had to do was drop the ball in the ocean. 

-As much as Villanova fans mock Andy Rautins, the kid can play.  He does virtually everything right, whether it’s defense, shooting, passing, leading.  Without him, Syracuse would not even be a top 10 team.

-The one positive Villanova can take away from this game was the offensive play of Mouphtaou Yarou.  He had numerous offensive rebounds and strong putbacks.  Couple that with a few nice short jumpers and it turned out to be a stellar performance by the highly touted freshman.

Ok listen–Syracuse was easily the better team tonight, and they may just be flat out better in general.  Regardless, who f’n cares?  This loss counts the same as the rest of the losses.  Sure, the chances of getting a #1 seed are much tougher now, but there really isn’t that much difference between a 1 or 2 seed.  Villanova went into an arena with 34,000+ anti-Villanova fans, played ok for 20 minutes, and then got hammered.  Playing in this type of atmosphere will definitely help in the weeks to come, especially in the NCAA Tournament.  Obviously, there are a variety of deficiencies that the Cats need to fix (defense, rebounding, Taylor King’s shooting, Reggie Redding’s offense, fouling, etc.), but Villanova is still a very good team that has the potential to do big things.  Like Jim Boeheim said right after the game, “It’s about who’s #1 at the end.”  

Big, big, big game today. Really can’t overstate how excited I am. Or how excited I am for my ‘drink beer all day with my friends and watch hoops’ session that has already started. In any case, we WILL have Pick’em on this Saturday.

• On Game Day, I will post the official line we will be using for the game.
• In that thread, post your pick against-the-spread for the game that night.
• Make sure you use the same username for every pick (I know some of you are registered, if you aren’t this is a good reason to do so to make it easier). Also, make sure you provide your email so that I can contact the winner at the end of the year.
• Anonymous entries will not count.
• Entries posted after the game starts will not count.
• If you do not provide a pick for the game, it will be marked as a loss in the standings.
• If you are away and can’t make a pick in the thread, you can email me your pick. Email me at clane2787@gmail.com and I will try to email you back ASAP with the line (again, it must be emailed before the start of the game).
• The winner at the end of the year will win a prize (TBD) and I promise it will be something good. I’m not going to be lame like that. I’m searching eBay for cool Villanova stuff as we speak.
• In the event of a tie, the poster with the best BIG EAST record (regular season) wins. If still tied, the best Big 5 record wins. If still tied, the best OOC record wins. If still tied, we may have to do multiple prizes.

The line for tonight is Villanova +4.5. Fire away!

Got a nice little treat for everyone in anticipation of the big game with Syracuse tomorrow night. I chatted with Brian Harrison of Orange:44, who is one of my favorite (if that’s possible) Syracuse bloggers on the net. He’s a regular on Twitter like me, and although I think he’s developed a bit of an unhealthy Curling obsession of the past couple of weeks, he’s still knows his ‘Cuse hoops.

Make sure you head over to Orange:44 and check out my responses to his questions!

Chris (IBBW): Wes Johnson had the NBA hype before the season, but I don’t think anyone saw this type of impact right away. What has he meant for Syracuse’s unexpected stellar year and how healthy is he currently?

Brian (O44): Without a doubt Wes gets most of the hype headlines for the team. He is a very good player and everyone from fans to bloggers to the media agree he will enter the NBA Draft after this season. He was a consistent scorer and rebounder for Syracuse until he was injured against Providence in the Carrier Dome. Since then he’s been all over the map with his scoring, but he seems to have recovered finally and fully. On nights he has carried the team, and other nights he complements the team by passing first. Without a down he is a value in the zone and will burn you if you take him lightly.

Chris (IBBW): I’ve watched a few ‘Cuse games lately and it seems that without that Canuck Rautins on the floor the team struggles mightily. Is he the true floor general for this team? And how many tears did he cry when the Yanks laid the hurt on his boys Sunday?!

Brian (O44): For the record, Andy was born in Jamesville, NY and grew up in Toronto. He has dual citizenship, so that’s something right? He is most definitely the captain of the Good Ship Syracuse and it doesn’t even start with his shooting ability. He is the key component and first line of defense in the 2-3 Zone. He is one of the top earners of steals in the country. And then there is his shooting. Sometimes he is cold, but when he is on he is simply the best shooter in the nation. As for his Olympic watching I am not sure, but he does play basketball and not hockey so it probably didn’t sting that badly.

Chris (IBBW): While Syracuse undoubtedly has the better frontcourt, I think the same can be said for Villanova’s backcourt. What will Syracuse do to try and slow down ‘Nova’s guards, who have had success against this zone in recent years?

Brian (O44): Syracuse boasts the best 3 point field goal defense in the Big East, only allowing 30.4%. They will extend the zone and make it difficult for easy looks at the basket. Additionally our backcourt is so good at moving in the zone they will give contested looks to Villanova, but more importantly making penetration into the zone tough. The interesting question will be if the referees call a tight game or not.

Chris (IBBW): Shot clock is off, tie game. ‘Nova ball. What lengths are you going to to ensure that Scottie Reynolds does NOT break your heart?

Brian (O44): I’m guessing everything and the kitchen sink. Scottie Reynolds is a dream killer. The key is to not foul him, especially if he’s going to shoot a three pointer. Luckily Syracuse has been in similar situations like that this year, and their defense has held up. The rebounding is a bit more suspect, but in those situations they have boxed out well and come down with the game icing rebound and then free throws. If the game came down to that situation it could get interesting.

Chris (IBBW): Other than Wes and Andy, who is the one player that will have ‘Nova fans shouting at the TV on Saturday night?

Brian (O44): It will probably be Kris Joseph. He comes off the bench but could probably start for most teams in the Big East or any other team in the country. He has a really nice complete game as he can take the ball baseline, can throw down the rock, or can shoot a sweet mid range jump shot. Jim Boeheim trusted him to take the last shot for Syracuse against Georgetown and he delivered by splitting defenders and hitting a lay up. Then again, it could be Rick Jackson, coming off a career high 28 points at Providence.

Chris (IBBW): Outside of the the National Title run, is this Boeheim’s finest coaching job ever? How did he make this team so good when everyone expected a down year?

Brian (O44): This has to be. For a team that was just outside of the Top 25, to now be well entrenched in the top 5 and a legitimate threat to go to the Final Four. The difference is Jim Boeheim is coaching the zone defense better than ever based on the players he now has. Due to that, the offense has come along and Syracuse is able to kill a team in several ways. Oddly enough, Jim Boeheim has never won a national coach of the year award. I believe he should be the front runner for this year.

Chris (IBBW): Prediction time — How many pounds of gel will Rautins have in? Will Arinze Onuaku eat somebody? Oh yeah, and what actually happens in the game?

Brian (O44): Two and ½ pounds, no, and I’m guessing one of the best college basketball games of the regular season. Villanova plays the half court set well, and that can mess with Syracuse, a team that likes to push the tempo. But it will probably come down to Villanova’s three point shooting. If Villanova manages to hit a lot they will be in good shape to pull the upset. However they cannot be a one trick pony. Syracuse will continually feed the ball inside and probably will do it with ease against the smaller, multi-guard lineup that Jay Wright loves using. Villanova will have to drive to the basket to win this game. But for a game like this, with the higher rank, at home, and in front of a record crowd, I’m going with the Orange in this one. Although I think it will be a fairly close game and should be entertaining to everyone watching. I’ve been looking forward to this game since the Big East slate started.

Thanks again to Brian for the great Q&A! Have fun at The Dome tomorrow night, but I hope you leave with a strong case of beer tears!

Leading off today is a guest posting from our buddy Andrew.  Andrew may be a regular contributor to IBBW, possibly adding a weekly commentary to our in-season lineup. {I have made no edits to Andrew’s work, only added a picture and made the formatting consistent with our site.}

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First of all, a shout out to my boys at IBBW for letting me guest post. I watched games with them all through college and as they’ve shown you over the past few years, they are knowledgeable, passionate fans with a talent for expressing. Now that we have completed a significant portion of the season, this piece is intended to be the first in a series of statistical posts using Ken Pomeroy’s (www.kenpom.com) online database to look deeper into this team’s success based on the black and white numbers.

Over the past few years we have witnessed the evolution of a basketball program. The Jay Wright era has seen an unprecedented run of success in every aspect of the program, ranging from recruiting to on the court performance. Behind a unique blend of veteran skill and youthful energy, this year’s entry has charged out of the gates to a school best start in the Big East, and despite recent hiccups, is poised for another deep run in March. In this blogger’s opinion the three biggest reasons for the success lie in the growth of 3 players at different stages of their careers: Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena. Building off Chris’s piece before senior night, I wanted to continue the Reynolds love fest by taking an in-depth look at his 2010 campaign.

Reynolds has parlayed the momentum from his celebrity like rise to fame last March into a late game swagger unrivaled by anyone (with maybe the exception of Sheron Collins) in the college game.

'lotta face

Scottie is a rarity in the college game; a four year player who was a starter and major contributor since stepping foot on campus as an 18 year old. Because of this we can look at his statistical output over his full tenure on the Main Line to help explain exactly where his game has improved and in turn see why he has evolved from an inexperienced combo player without a real position to a tenacious leader and legitimate NBA prospect.

Scotty has always been above average when it comes to offensive efficiency. He is heavily used on offense (27% of Villanova’s possessions this year end with him either making an assist or taking a shot, a rate that has been fairly steady throughout his career) but has managed to be in the top 500 players in the country in true shooting percentage (TS%) since his sophomore season (56.8%), improving each year to an all time high of 63.6%, good for 35^th best in the country as of when this article was written. A stat that really shows both increased efficiency and decision making, Scotty has improved mostly this year in raising his 2 point shooting percentage by over 10%, an absolutely incredible trend considering that this is where over 40% of his shots come from (including free throws and 3’s). Worth noting is that TS% is a statistic usually dominated by interior players who score most of their points in the paint (takes the average of FG%, 3P% and FT%, a guy who does nothing but dunk has a huge advantage on a diversified scorer such as Scottie).

Scottie has always been crafty at getting himself to the line but this year he is averaging almost an extra free throw per game over his career best (6.3), making him one of the top 100 (85) in this area as well. A final area where Reynolds has improved considerably statistically is in his Offensive Rating, which quantifies the amount of points scored per every 100 possessions where Scotty finishes the possession. His ranking of 120.5 is good for top 100 in the country in a category where he has never been in the top 100. While keeping high shooting percentages in 3’s (40.7%) and FT’s (82.2), the jump in 2’s shows that he is an elite scorer from anywhere on the floor. As we near Saturday night’s clash at the Carrier Dome, also of note is that the Orange’s Wesley Johnson, widely regarded as one of the frontrunners (along with Reynolds and The Gody) for Big East POY, has similar shooting splits (he takes a bit more 2’s and takes less 3’s than Scottie) but trails Scottie in every one of the aforementioned offensive efficiency categories.

As the regular season comes to a close, the scouts will undoubtedly debate whether or not Scottie is an NBA quality player. Hardwood critics (Doris Burke does not count as a critic; you need some form of basketball know-how to garner this title) will cite his lack of size, elite speed or athleticism and “lack of a true position” as reasons to keep him out. Fans will laud his shiftiness, leadership and his will to have the ball in his hand and make plays at the end of games as the intangibles that make him David Stern-handshake-worthy. There are merits to both sides but I would encourage each side to look deeper into the numbers: he is the epitome of what a college basketball player should be; a coachable four season student athlete who has improved both his game and his team each season.

Thanks to blog reader Katie for mentioning the story in the comments of the previous post.  Sure enough, Corey Stokes was cited for public urination last night on the Main Line.  The key here is that Stokes was not arrested, unlike Reggie Redding, who was arrested prior to the season and susbsequently suspended.  The article mentions that Stokes is likely to play against Syracuse on Saturday, but it will be interesting to see how Jay Wright handles this.  A second player in trouble with the law in a very short time frame does not look good for a premiere coach like Wright.   

Funny thing is I was at the same bar Stokes and some of his teammates were at last night.  Hopefully, this does not become a distraction, especially now heading into March.

Highlights of last night’s win over South Florida, as always courtesy of RFC. That one drive my Scottie is still hurting my head thinking about how he pulled it off. Sheesh.

Game just ended: 11:02 pm eastern time.  Villanova Wildcats defeat South Florida Bulls 74-49.  Some notes on the game are below.

-On ‘Senior Night’ on the Main Line, both teams came out cold, with each missing their first 3 shots.  The Wildcats eventually broke the ice, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. 

-The Bulls battled throughout most of the first half, keeping the deficit withing striking range.  In the last 6 minutes or so, though, the Cats broke the game open to a degree behind some acrobatic plays by Scottie Reynolds and the long distance shooting of Corey Stokes.  In addition, Antonio Pena added some thunderous dunks, while Mouphtaou Yarou provided solid work on the glass.

-As we all know, two of the main issues in Villanova losses this year has been defense and rebounding.  The Cats did a very nice job in the first half guarding the Bulls on the perimeter, especially on Dominique Jones, and boxing out on missed shots.

-Halftime score: Villanova 36 South Florida 25 

-Although Villanova was home and sporting a 36 game winning streak at the Pavilion, an 11 point lead in the Big East is never safe.  Dominique Jones started to knock down some trey balls and suddenly, the lead was a meager 6 with about thirteen minutes left. 

-Did you really think the Wildcats would lose on ‘Senior Night,’ though?  It obviously wasn’t a guarantee with the way the team has played recently, but I really didn’t think Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding would let the team leave without a victory.  Sure enough, the Cats began to impose their will via their depth, and the lead ballooned to 17 with 5 minutes left.

-Fittingly, the three (yes, three) seniors deserve high praise for their performances, not only for their outstanding careers obviously, but for their play in this game.  Although Russell Wooten does not play very much, he deserves the same amount of credit as anyone else on the squad.  Reggie Redding did not put on a stellar offensive display by any stretch, but his defense on the sharpshooter Jones was phenomenal.  Wherever Jones went, there was Redding in his hip pocket.  For a team like Villanova that has let certain opponents light them up this year, the shutting down of Jones by Reggie was a welcome sight.  What else can we say about Scottie?  He is simply the rock of this team and the entire program.  Like always, he made things happen tonight, whether it was draining a 3, getting to the foul line, creating shots for others, or diving for loose balls. 

-Thankfully, ‘Senior Night’ isn’t the last celebration for these seniors, because there is so much more to accomplish for them and this team as a whole.

As we approach ‘Senior Night’ at The Pavilion tonight at 9 p.m., I thought it was appropriate to give a little love to one of the program’s all-time greats (and hopefully, it’s all-time leading scorer in just a few more weeks). So Scottie, this Bud is for you!

Scottie Reynolds has been the foundation of this program for the last 4 years, and as a 2009 graduate of Villanova, has meant a hell of a lot to my college experience. I watched him burst onto the scene his freshman year, and internally struggle with the decision to be a follower or a leader on a team that had just lost 3 great players. Jay let you loose, and we watched you torch the hated UConn Huskies for 40 points, a game where you opened our eyes and we knew we had something special.

During your sophomore year the team was firmly on your shoulders, and many would have been content with a ‘re-building year.’ But you wouldn’t let it happen. You snuck us into The Dance late in the year and followed that up by leading a dazzling comeback against Clemson (that banked 3 sent me into a full-body frenzy at the bar that night) and eventually back to the Sweet 16. Your legend continued to grow.

What is there to say about your junior year (and my senior year). You sent me out on top by providing many of us with the single-best memory of our lives. Words can’t even express how much love I have for that season, that team, and for you in particular.

So what’s left for you in your senior year? Well, tonight you’re going to go out on top like a true champion. You’ll be rightfully serenaded by The Pavilion faithful. And hopefully, you’ve still got a little magic in you. We all want to go back to the Final Four, but farther this time. We’re behind you the whole way. Let’s do it one more time Scottie.

The next installment of Villanova Legends from the Villanova Athletic Dept. has been released, with this 6-minute highlight tape focusing on Dwayne McClain of the 1985 Championship Wildcats.

(If you missed Part 1, which highlighted Kerry Kittles, you can see it here)

Why is this such a big spread? Does Vegas know we lost 2 in a row? Or is it just because Villanova was crushing the spread all fall/early winter? Probably the latter. And it may have to do with Senior Night too.

• On Game Day, I will post the official line we will be using for the game.
• In that thread, post your pick against-the-spread for the game that night.
• Make sure you use the same username for every pick (I know some of you are registered, if you aren’t this is a good reason to do so to make it easier). Also, make sure you provide your email so that I can contact the winner at the end of the year.
• Anonymous entries will not count.
• Entries posted after the game starts will not count.
• If you do not provide a pick for the game, it will be marked as a loss in the standings.
• If you are away and can’t make a pick in the thread, you can email me your pick. Email me at clane2787@gmail.com and I will try to email you back ASAP with the line (again, it must be emailed before the start of the game).
• The winner at the end of the year will win a prize (TBD) and I promise it will be something good. I’m not going to be lame like that. I’m searching eBay for cool Villanova stuff as we speak.
• In the event of a tie, the poster with the best BIG EAST record (regular season) wins. If still tied, the best Big 5 record wins. If still tied, the best OOC record wins. If still tied, we may have to do multiple prizes.

The spread for tonight is Villanova -13. Fire away with your picks.