Villanova vs. Syracuse Brief Postgame Notes

Posted by Brian on February 27, 2010
Big East Play, General
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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.”  

7 Comments to Villanova vs. Syracuse Brief Postgame Notes

I Bleed Blue and White » Blog Archive » Villanova vs. Syracuse … | College Sports Nation
February 28, 2010

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Esteban D Amur
February 28, 2010

Other than the G’Town loss, the recent losses have been for the same reasons. ‘Cuse, Pitt, and UConn are really good at taking advantage of our lack of size in the front court. Why no Sutton this game? He couldn’t have been any worse than King was last night on the defensive end.

I could care less about the seeding. It is all about match ups. I pray we get the two or three seed in a bracket with Duke or Purdue as the one seed.

I know why the media loves Duke, but I have watched them several times this year. They are the same soft Duke team we pushed around last year. Purdue lost their best player.

If we can avoid Kansas or Kentucky, we have a reasonable shot at the final four.

Chocolate Thunder
February 28, 2010

King and Stokes need to rediscover their strokes if we’re going to do damage in the tournament. With them hitting, we’re a confident, dynamic offense. Without them, we’re a small-ball team that gets pushed around on the inside.

We have got to figure out how to play defense without fouling. That needs to be priority #1.

login77
February 28, 2010

DOES KING NEED GLASSES! I mean come on those air balls really put us into vulnerable situations. TK we need you so bad I know you can do it. Let me tell you pay backs will be a bitch.

Jay from Orange
March 1, 2010

1. Scottie didn’t get to the line. That was a problem.
2. Rautins ended up with 3 fouls. Should have driven on him more to get him to the bench.
3. Most bizarre stat was FG %. With all the dunks and put backs down low, we shot 41% and held them to 43%….go figure.
4. Fouls are still a problem but 3/4’s into the game, they really weren’t that bad.
5. We rush the offense after a defensive stop and that is killing us. It destroys whatever momentum created by the defense.We are either too aggressive or too patient.

Chocolate Thunder
March 1, 2010

I think the too aggressive/patient is a good point. This team lacks a clear identity, something that was not the case last year. Last years team imposed its will onto opponents, something we can do this year only if everything clicks perfectly.

We would probably have been better off taking a couple losses early in the season; instead, it seems like we believed that no matter what, no matter how we play, we’ll always grind out the win. That’s great from an energy standpoint, but it seems like its really begun to hurt us in execution of the game plan.

Where has Wayns gone? We haven’t exactly been finding any spark off the bench recently. Cheek was great in the early going of the Syracuse game, but that was about it.

Vinnie
March 1, 2010

I think Wayns will be a good player for us eventually, but really what does he give us that Scottie/Fisher don’t?

One of the things about Jay Wright is he lets his players play on the offensive end. That can be good and bad. He’s got creative guys who can make amazing plays. Of course they can also shoot themselves out of games. King took 3 really bad shots in the 1st half of the game. On some teams he would have been yanked after the first airball. Wayns is another guy who’s jacking up shots and going to the rim out of control. Armwood should not be throwing up 15 footers early in the shot clock. It’s up to the coach to tell a guy his limitations.

There are certain teams you watch, they may not be exceptionally talented, but everybody plays within himself and within a system. Right now Syracuse is a team like that. We are not.

Another thing – i think the 11 man rotation hurts us at times. Last year we had 8 guys but they played well together. All you need is 7 or 8 guys (again look at Syracuse). Every 2 minutes we’ve got a different combination out there. It’s hard for guys to get into a rhythm when they’re being shuttled in and out.

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