Comments on: Villanova vs. Pittsburgh Brief Postgame Notes

By: John Paul

John Paul — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:09:14 +0000

I took the long trek (from north of NYC) out to Pittsburgh for the game and came away disappointed – but not shocked. Pittsburgh is 130-11 since they opened the Petereson Events Center about 9 years ago! That’s about 1 loss per year at home.

I agree with Esteban’s points about Pitt and UConn and that is why I fear Kansas as well. We need to avoid being a #2 seed in their region. Let’s hope we get Duke again in our region.

By: J92

J92 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:33:12 +0000

That was a typical Pitt game – they always play great defense. The were able to limit our dribble drive penetration and I hadn’t realized how reliant we were on scoring off that penetration. I agree with Esteban – love the pick and roll but why not add a few plays to set up some outside shots? Actually we did have some good open looks – Stokes just can’t knock them down consistently. He is not money ala Eric Eberz.

They outhustled us on the boards. They really aren’t that much bigger than us – they just outmuscled us. I’m surprised Mouph didn’t get more minutes – I thought Connecticut might be a break out game for him.

OK – last complaint, why was Scottie forcing the issue for the quick lay up toward the end of the game? When you get to about 20 seconds left you have to start looking for 3’s to reduce it to a 2 posession game…

All right – that’s it for my rant, on to the next game.

By: Nova Fan '06

Nova Fan '06 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:26:37 +0000

The game was just thoroughly unenjoyable to watch as a Villanova fan. I felt like we were scrambling the entire time just to stay in it, much less win.

By: Esteban D' Amur

Esteban D' Amur — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:55:13 +0000

Pitt and UConn are the types of teams that beat us. Big front court players that go grab offensive rebounds and that shut down the driving lanes on the other end.

Nova’s man to man defense is not helping with the offensive rebounding. Too often, a guy gets beat and the weak side defender goes to help, thereby leaving a guy to grab the miss.

Jay needs to add some wrinkles to the offense. Teams are aggresively jumping out on the pick and roll and forcing the ball handler back. The pick man is diving either too far or too quickly. I would like to see the pick man, from time to time, fake the pick and dive to the free throw line area. It would suck up the weak side defender and open up the floor for either a lay up or a swing pass to an open shooter.

Frankly, I didn’t expect Nova to win this game. Pitt doesn’t lose at home to good teams. This is why that UConn game was big.

By: Josh '12

Josh '12 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:45:54 +0000

I just have to say that I am thoroughly scared for our team in the long run. We can’t have games like this if we are going to one of the elite teams. Last year at this time we took some losses but always bounced back. We have lost 3 of our last 5 now, and I can’t see this getting better with Syracuse and West Virginia still on the ticket. I love this team and I think we can still make this season great but someone other then Scottie has to seriously step up on a game to game basis. Also, what is our identity as a team? I thought we were one of the best drive and dish teams in the nation but teams are recognizing this and stopping it and we have no offensive answer. Sorry for ranting…

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:42:14 +0000

at some point, Jay Wright is gonna have to start recruiting true big men if Nova ever wants to have a real shot at a national title. I love this team as much as the next guy, but the four guard scheme, coupled with a glorified small forward just doesn’t get the job done. They need another option for days like today when Scottie, King, and other scorers aren’t producing.

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:30:48 +0000

Big Tone is extremely inconsistent. Regardless, he has to play due to the limited options down low.

By: BrendanC

BrendanC — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:29:00 +0000

Pena is sooooo bad how does no one see this?

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:24:38 +0000

I’m disappointed in our effort. I felt like after the loss to UCONN the energy would be back. We came out flat and sloppy. Pitt played with much more effort and toughness than we did. Fortunately for us, our talent level is that much better that we were able to stay in this game. We had chances late, but it just wasn’t there: Scottie throwing the ball right to Gibbs after he missed those free throws, on that long bomb, etc… Hopefully we’ll right the ship heading down the stretch.