I Bleed Blue and White

Checking in with our counterparts this morning, there was some pretty interesting stuff going on at VUHoops and Villanova By The Numbers.

We’ll start off with the number-crunching greyCat, who sometimes can make my head hurt with such in-depth analaysis, but his latest article covering 10 rising juniors in the Big East is a must-read. The article covers 1o guys who are ‘laying in the weeds’ so to speak, instead of some more high profile players. To give you an idea, it talks about guys like Mac Koshwal, Rick Jackson, Jimmy Butler, and Marshon Brooks. Not guys who have seen their name on a couple All-Big East lists, but guys who have a good impact on the game nonetheless.

greyCat also took a look at 9 rising seniors to watch (a little more notable list) as well as a quick look around of the A-10 for the upcoming year, a conference that yields several of our opponents.

The guys at VUHoops have been very active during the summer recess, running multiple series as well as keeping up with the general Villanova news.

We’ll start with their ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ experiment in which they have been polling their readership to determine what the fans’ feelings are about each player’s upcoming season, and the amount of minutes they will play. They’ve already covered Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Reggie Redding, Maalik Wayns, Corey Stokes, Dominic Cheek and Taylor King. Voting for Antonio Pena is ongoing. Make sure you head over there and participate.

They have also been running a Meet The New Wildcats series which gives fans a little introduction to the 4 newest Wildcats, as well as redshirt freshman Maurice Sutton and transfer Taylor King.

I finally got my copy of Attitude of a Champion today, and finished watching it for the first time a few minutes ago. I’m delving into the bonus features as I post this.

To sum it up in one word is easy: Amazing. An all-around great job by everyone who was involved.

Here are some random thoughts I jotted down while watching it.

Thoughts:

• I got chills at the opening montage. Dwayne’s steal especially. Really took me back to being there at the game.
• Loved the practice video followed by the clips of the team executing in the game. Really gives you a new perspective on the offense that Jay runs.
• Frank Tchuisi never got enough credit for what he brought to the program. The fact that he is staying around the team is huge for the next group of incoming players.
• Jay Wright was absolutely correct about the victory at Seton Hall. Despite Scottie Reynolds’ absurd performance, that win is one of the few team wins you can point out that really sent the team on its way. I never saw a single clip from that game because I was out in Steamboat with Mark, so it was a really a new experience for me.
• Never heard about the team meeting at South Florida before. Another testament to Frank and the rest of the seniors.
• For some reason I always forget the first Pittsburgh game (a great win). Probably because we tailgated out in the freezing rain for 3 hours before it.
• Hilarious that Reggie Redding doesn’t think of himself as a lockdown defender. But I’m glad he’s embraced the role.
• The one memory I have of that Notre Dame game is Dante Cunningham and Shane Clark giving Luke Harangody a crash course in how to play both offense and defense in the post.
• Senior Night was so special.
• I completely forgot about coughing up the lead against Marquette in the Big East Tournament. Yikes.
• If Corey Fisher makes a similar jump in play like he did last year, this next season could be another big year. Same goes for Corey Stokes.
• The Boston trip is one that I will never, ever, forget. One of the most fun, rewarding times in my short life. Words cannot really describe the entire weekend. During the portion of the DVD that covered that part of the season, I had goosebumps the entire time.
• I’m really going to miss both Dante and Dwayne on the floor. They were truly the heart and soul.

If you haven’t purchased your copy of the DVD yet, make you sure head to the Villanova Online Store and do so immediately!

When Brian first texted me yesterday with the news that Reggie Redding had been suspended for the fall semester, I had a few different reactions. My initial words were, “Damn, that’s going to hurt.” And it surely will. Redding was a very big reason why we went to the Final Four. He took his defensive prowess and added a rapidly improving offensive game, and opened up a new chapter in his Villanova career. So yes, missing a senior leader while the team tries to navigate it’s way through the OOC schedule will hurt.

But there are a couple of silver linings in this mess, with the first being increased playing time for Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns. Taking Redding out of the backcourt mix for 10-12 games allows the freshman guards to get more of a ‘trial by fire.’ In the short run, it may cost us a couple games as the two young guys go through growing pains, but in the grand scheme of things it will help prepare them for the daunting Big East schedule, and the NCAA Tournament.

In Cheek’s case, he’s already got a little bit of Redding in him. He’s got great length to match up with some of the bigger guards (although the strength probably isn’t there yet) and like Redding, he loves to play defense. He’s got a nice shot from the outside and if you remember the McDonald’s Game, loves to get inside and hit the boards (another ‘Villanova Basketball’ staple.)

Wayns doesn’t play the same position as Redding, but again his minutes will increase because there is one less guy in the rotation. And like Cheek, he’s got the makeup to succeed early because he’s a hard worker who is a classic pass-first point guard.

So while it may not be all good initially, let’s just say I’m very excited to see more of Cheek and Wayns than I am scared to throw them in there because of Redding’s suspension.

Finally, that brings us to Corey Stokes. Stokes was billed with a lethal shot coming in, and hasn’t let anyone down in that department (and actually showed improvement last year). But after a somewhat mixed freshman campaign, he took a major step forward last season as he showed us an increased desire to play top-end defense, as well as an improving offensive game that began to include the dribble-drive and the mid-range jumper.

Stokes has the most to gain in Redding’s absence, because if he was on the fence for a starting spot before the suspension, he’s absolutely in there now. Just for argument’s sake, this is what I believe our starting lineup will be on opening night:

Corey Fisher — Scottie Reynolds — Corey Stokes — Antonio Pena — Mouphtaou Yarou

You can argue that Stokes may have even started at the expense of either Pena or Yarou while Redding was still in the picture, but I believe he would have been the 1st man off the bench.

So now, it is Corey’s time to shine. I don’t want to say he has to fill Reggie’s shoes, because while they play the same position, they have different strength’s and weaknesses. I’d rather see Stokes take charge in his own way. And not only that, but he is an upperclassman now. He’s a leader on this team. That’s a role we haven’t seen him in yet, so how will he respond to that challenge?

Color me very excited for the early portion of the season. I’ve decided that I’m just not going to dwell on what could be if Redding was playing, and rather view him as a mid-season acquisition, much like the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee. Because if this team struggles early, there is some hope on the horizon. But if they gel early and are looking strong, Redding’s return for one last senior hurrah is icing on the cake.

Not much info here other than they’ve made a roster, but both Antonio Pena and Corey Stokes have been invited to the Global Sports Academy Team USA All-Star squad that will be doing a 4-country tour of Europe beginning on August 9th.

The team will arrive in Brussels on the 9th and play two Belgian teams before leaving for France where they will face two French teams and one from Luxembourg. From there they will play one game in Germany before traveling to Amsterdam on August 16th, where they will play their final game.

…A lot of games with not that much time to rest…it is a 15 man roster so I’m sure that players will get days off, but this is nothing but good for Stokes and Pena…both of them are going to have a much bigger role heading into this season, so hopefully the added experience pays out…

…Is it too early to make Amsterdam jokes?…

Hold on, I’m giving Luke Harangody a tissue. He might need a hug too.

Redding negated McAlarney for 40 straight minutes.

Okay, now we can talk. In case you missed the game here in the official recap and the box score.

I knew it was going to be a good night when I saw the impeccable crew of Bill Raftery, Jay Bilas and Sean McDonough. Raftery was even sporting the Villanova tie! Early onions for Raf!

So I’m just going to come out and say it, because I don’t know how else to put it. Villanova was awesome tonight. That was vintage ‘Villanova Basketball’ as we so often refer to it.While they played a tight 1st half, they had a plan and stuck to it and completely overpowered Notre Dame after the break.

It’s interesting that we talked earlier today about how Villanova lacked the ‘bail-out’ guy that could consistently put a team on their back. We talked about how both Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham were the closest thing Villanova had, but for one reason or another they just weren’t that guy. So much for that theory.

Reynolds finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists (and juts 1 turnover) and was a blistering 6-7 from downtown. He was unstoppable all night and the Irish had no answer for him. Great to watch. His running mate Cunningham had 18 and 8 in yet another solid performance. He was especially great in the 2nd half, at one point going on a personal 8-0 run.

But the player of the game? That’s Reggie Redding, who single handedly (okay, he had a little help) took sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney out of the game. He had just 5 points on 2-7 shooting (just 1-3 from beyond the arc) with most of his shots coming in garbage time. That was a defensive performance for the ages. I can’t say enough about the game that Redding had tonight. He had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Vintage Redding.

Shane Clark turned it on in the 2nd half, including back to back possessions where he made Harangody look foolish. He finished with 13 points. Even the struggling Antonio Pena had a great bounceback effort. He was in foul trouble for most of the night but had some good offensive possessions and finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds in just 13 minutes. Oddly enough, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes had little impact on the game, combining for just 5 points.

Going into the game I was really worried about going to Notre Dame. They are typically very tough at home, but I really overestimated just how bad they are. Maybe I remember McAlarney’s 30 point outburst last year, maybe I watched them give UConn a tough battle, but they just aren’t very good.

Ryan Ayers was the big story tonight, finishing with 25 points on 7 3’s. Villanova continually left him open and he was hot and knocked them down. Credit him. The aforementioned Harangody finished with 18 and 7, and that was it for the Irish.

Speaking of Harangody, what a baby. I’ve never seen any who is supposedly the leader of a team bitch and whine like he did tonight. He acts like he is the best player on the court and he deserves the Michael Jordan treatment. Every time he was touched he flopped and screamed. It was actually embarrassing to watch. I’m telling you now, if he wins Big East Player of the Year again, it’s a crime. Good thing he won’t. I always thought he was a high character guy who worked hard and kept his mouth shut. Boy, was I wrong.

Anyways, great win for the Wildcats tonight. They really needed that. More importantly though, they appear back to playing good ball. That’s important with a desparate Providence team coming to town on Thursday.

Enjoy your night everyone.

If you missed the game, here is the recap and the box score.

Sometimes you just have to sit back, take a deep breath, and thank whatever God you answer to. Villanova escaped DePaul tonight, winning by 2 after being down 33-25 at the half. The opening 20 minutes was probably the worst half of basketball that Villanova has played in years. There was almost nothing positive to take from it, except for the play of Corey Fisher, who has continued his stellar play.

The defense wasn't there tonight.

Scottie Reynolds suffered through another rough shooting night (especially the 1st half), but rebounded a bit in the 2nd and hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to close out the win. He finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Reggie Redding just missed a double-double with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He continues to play well. Antonio Pena had an awful 1st half, but showed life in the 2nd half with a tough and 1 down low as well as a beautiful backdoor pass to Redding for a layup.

In the 1st half, Dante Cunningham took himself out of the game with foul trouble (he is good for a few head-scratching fouls every game it seems). The lack of Cunningham’s presence allowed DePaul big man Mac Koshwal to record a double-double by halftime, but Cunningham’s resurgence in the 2nd half seemed to take Koshwal out of his groove a bit. Cunningham finished with 18 and 6 as well, on a decent 7-14 effort.

Make no mistake though, this one was ugly early on. It was really hard to watch. Villanova, specifically Dwayne Anderson and Corey Stokes, did a phenomenal job on sharpshooter Will Walker early on, not giving him an inch of space. That changed down the stretch of the 1st half when ‘Nova continued to leave him open, and he continued to make 3’s. Villanova’s D wasn’t much better on him in the 2nd period and Walker finished with 23 points on 6-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Villanova’s continued lack of effort in defending beyond the arc needs to be addressed.

Villanova began to build a lead in the 2nd half, sparked by sophomores Fisher (12 points) and Stokes (10 points), but failed to put the Blue Demons away as the game began to end. It wasn’t so much Villanova’s struggles on offense (even though they missed layup after layup and couldn’t hit a jumper to save their life), but their defensive effort tonight that was concerning.

Everyone knew that Dar Tucker, Koshwal and Walker were the only threats DePaul had. And Villanova let Koshwal dominate the glass, left Walker open for the only shot he has in his arsenal, and continuously let Tucker get into the lane. It was frustrating to watch. It was clear to me that despite what happened to Pittsburgh last night, and the fact that DePaul beat ‘Nova last year, that the Cats were not ready to play tonight.

They sleptwalked into this one, and frankly, are lucky to be escaping with the win. At the end though, that is all we wanted. With UConn’s victory of Marquette tonight, Villanova is just 1 game back in the loss column of both Pitt and Marquette, so the 4 seed is becoming more of a reality.

Be happy we got the win tonight. Granted, it was DePaul and it shouldn’t have been that close, but we got out alive. That is what is important. Villanova has avoided the “bad” loss this year. There aren’t many teams that can say that.

Breathe with me everyone…

Just win baby.

I hate to quote The Sea Monster, but the reality of tomorrow’s clash with DePaul is that the only thing that matters is getting in, getting the win, and getting out. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, because honestly, nobody is going to care. When you play a team who is winless in the conference, no good can come of it. If you win big, it was expected of you, and if you win a tight one, people wonder why it was so close. And I’m not even going to go into the possibility of losing.

So really, just win and get home healthy. All that Villanova needs to do to win this game is to play ‘Villanova Basketball.’ While we’d all like to see a 30 point blowout and multiple highlight reel plays, the truth is we don’t need them. Show up, play your game, and move on. At 10-4 in the conference, Villanova is a virtual lock for a Top 5 finish in the Big East. But they have put themselves in a position to get a Top 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.

True, they need help from other teams. But it is possible, and they would be throwing the chance to get there by losing tomorrow. Now that I’ve made playing DePaul sound like playing St. Mary’s School for the Blind, we do need to address some concerns that the Blue Demons will bring.

Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal are just sophomores, but they are the stars and future of the program. At 6′5″, Tucker possesses great size for a guard and great scoring ability, piling up 18.3 points per game. Koshwal on the other hand gets his damage done inside. He also possesses plus size at 6′10″ 255, and is averaging almost a double-double at 13.3 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. Past that, there isn’t much, but if there is anyone else who could really hurt ‘Nova it is junior guard Will Walker who is scoring 12.8 points per game.

Last year, Villanova traveled to Allstate Arena and fell 84-76 in their Big East opener. 2 weeks later they got revenge on DePaul at The Pavilion, winning 76-69. To me, this only helps Villanova’s cause. Jay Wright won’t let the team forget the shocker that the Blue Demons pulled on them last year. Furthermore, star guards Draelon Burns and Cliff Clinkscales (find me a better name than that!) are gone.

Still though, it’s a year later, and while most of Villanova’s team is back, there will be big differences in this game. Antonio Pena averaged 12.5 points in the two meetings last year, but can barely find the court these days. Dwayne Anderson was hardly a factor in either game last year, and is now one of ‘Nova’s headlining players.

So tomorrow, we’ll all feel confident. But the thing to remember is to not take anything for granted. DePaul played us tough twice last year (and if I’m not mistaken may have been the last team to win at The Pavilion). They have some good players, and we can’t sleepwalk through the game. Go out there and win, and then get back to the Main Line and prepare for Georgetown.

As you can tell, I wasn’t able to locate a DePaul blogger to talk to, but make sure you visit the official home of DePaul basketball.

If you missed the game check out the recap and box score, although I don’t blame you if you don’t want to.

All good things must come to end as the saying goes, but I don’t think anyone expected them to come to an end with a big kick to the groin. Villanova looked totally unfocused from the start en route to their worst beating of the season, a 21 point shellacking at the hands of Da’Sean Butler, who had a career high 43 points.

Hold on one second, Mike Patrick just let me know that was West Virginia’s biggest game of the season and they were playing like it.

Okay, back to the column. Look, we all knew Butler was their best player, and he was going to get his (although Pittsburgh held him to 4 last time out, which makes this even worse), but I could have never imagined him going for 30, much less 40. And the worst part? He wasn’t even going to play after injuring his ankle in practice.

Regardless, he was only one of the Wildcats’ problems. I was really concerned with the fact that Villanova had seemingly forgotten how to play defense the past 3 games. They seemed more intent on scoring than stopping their opponent, which is atypical of a Jay Wright-coached team. And low and behold when they run into a great defensive team and their shots aren’t falling, it was apparently obvious that they had forgotten how to grind out a game, letting the Mountaineers just run away from them.

It started early when Dante Cunningham picked up 2 silly offensive fouls in the first few minutes (by the way, Alex Ruoff is officially challenging Greg Paulus for biggest flopper in the NCAA), sending him to the bench for the rest of the half, but I thought he performed admirably even though he was a non-factor. Reggie Redding also played hard, he just wasn’t very good.

Antonio Pena and Scottie Reynolds looked like they had no interest in even being at the game. Pena was a main culprit of not boxing out giving up what seemed like 200 offensive rebounds (the official tally of 11 is way off). Reynolds had no idea what to do with a big defender on him, so his official strategy was barrel into the lane and hope to get bailed out by the refs.

If it isn’t for the play of Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, Villanova would have lost by 50. It was that bad. 

But you know what? Whatever,this is actually a blessing in disguise in my mind. While it stinks to get embarrassed like that, the team needed this. They weren’t going to get by on just playing offense for the rest of the year. They needed a wake up call so they can re-commit to playing great D, which is what they originally built themselves on.

Rutgers comes to The Pavilion for Senior Night next Thursday, which should be a perfect remedy for last night. With the long layoff before the next game, the team is going to have a hardworking week I’d imagine, which is going to be good for them.

With the loss, Villanova pretty much took away any chance of a double-bye in the Big East Tournament, but that is okay. They need to refocus and come out and blast Rutgers next week. While this loss hurts now, in the grand scheme of this season it’s not a big deal.

Shake this one off ‘Nova Nation, West Virginia just had their backs to the wall and was nobody was beating them last night.

And why did the students rush the court? 

If you missed the game, here is the recap and the box score.

It was the tale of two halves inside The Pavilion on Super Bowl Sunday. Villanova emerged victorious by a wide margin, but at halftime, this looked like it was going to be a battle to the final whistle.

Stifling defense was the key to victory today.

Villanova came out half asleep, and it was a sloppy game from the opening tip. At one point, the Wildcats turned it over 5 times in 6 possessions as both teams struggled to find the hoop early on.

Late in the first half, Villanova turned it up a notch defensively and the Bearcats simply could not handle the pressure. They turned it over time and time again, leading to a series of ‘Nova buckets that turned this game into a blowout.

The Cats held Deonta Vaughn to 8 points on 3-14 shooting, which was one of our keys to the game. You could tell Vaughn was frustrated throughout the game with the variety of looks that Villanova threw at him. He couldn’t get anything going, and neither could any of the other Bearcats.

Dante Cunningham was the star today, finishing with 21 points and 8 rebounds. He even had one of those rare ‘Nova alley-oops that we go so crazy for (Liz absolutely loved that).

Corey Stokes, and Corey Fisher especially, were both outstanding. The early experience last year is really paying off now. Stokes even began to show off some inside game, which is going to really change the face of this team if he can do it consistently.

Scottie Reynolds, Shane Clark, Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson all chipped in one way or another. The only down side was Antonio Pena suffered through his 2nd consecutive poor performance, but really, who’s to complain with a win like this?

An admirable aspect of this win is the way the team responded when things weren’t going well. This was a game we had marked as one that could potentially present some trouble. Early start time, coming off a huge win, dangerous team — all things that could lead to a loss. And for a while in the 1st half, it kind of felt that way.

Whatever it was, something woke the team up and they just dominated to the finish line. It was a very impressive win, and one that has me much more confident about their trip to Providence on Wednesday.

Most importantly, with the win Villanova has provided just a little space for themselves on a weekend when several other teams with similar records lost. Villanova has done a great job of winning the games that they should. Providence will be a tougher test, but let’s hope the trend of winning continues.

It’s no secret that Villanova has a dangerously thin frontcourt. Dante Cunningham is playing his way into a 1st team All-Big East selection, but after that, what is there? Transfers by Andrew Ott and Casiem Drummond have left just Frank Tchuisi in the “true” frontcourt player category.

We need more of this!

Many Wildcat fans had hoped that Antonio Pena would take a huge step foward this season. We knew what Cunningham was going to bring night in and night (and really, nobody could have projected the season he’s having). But what was Antonio Pena going to do? And after the transfer of Drummond, his development became even more essential.

To date, it has truly been a mixed bag. Pena is averaging 7.7 ppg and 6.5 rpg, which are very good numbers in Villanova’s offense for a clear cut number 2 frontcourt option. But if you’ve really watched the games and not just looked at the stats, his performance has been somewhat frustrating at times.

He puts up 14 and 8 vs. Louisville, but it should have been more like 20 and 12 with all the missed free throws and missed rebounds. He has the ability to disappear for a game; Monmouth, St. Joe’s and Marquette he went scoreless. And he has the ability to put up big numbers;  14, 13, and 12 points against Louisville, St. John’s and UConn, respectively.

He’s stronger than he thinks he is, he’s just as athletic as Dante or Dwayne Anderson, and he’s got some good offensive skills. In my mind, he just hasn’t put it all together yet. The missed dunk at UConn comes to mind. The missed free throws at Louisville. The traveling violations, the bad passes. It’s always something.

But today, I felt like I saw a different Antonio Pena. A confident one. Sure he didn’t have the best stat line (6 points on 2-7 shooting and 1 rebound) but he was actively looking for his offense. I know that I, and several other people, are always yelling at him to tear the rim down instead of gently laying it in. And in fairness, he needs to be better about that. But today, he pumped faked, dropped stepped and delivered a thunderous dunk early in the game.

THAT is the Antonio Pena that Villanova needs. I think he’s coming around and we’ll be seeing more of the good Pena, especially as he realizes that he’s it. There is nobody else behind him. It’s up to him to take control of this situation. So carpe diem Antonio. I know you will.