After a full 4 days of rest following the big West Virginia win, Villanova looked lackluster and played sloppy at times yesterday in a 92-81 victory over the feisty Providence Friars at the Wachovia Center.  Turnovers, especially against the press, seemed to be a big problem for the Wildcats.  Give credit to Providence though, as they are very active and quick on defense.  Nonetheless, the good guys took care of business late, which is what you are supposed to do as a decided favorite and the #4 team in the nation.  Below are some articles recapping the win and how the Cats can get better. 

-AP Recap

-#4 Villanova Too Much for Providence in 92-81 Win

-The Closer: Reynolds’ 2nd-Half Numbers Turn Heads

-Villanova’s Winning Formula Works Again in Win over Providence

-Reynolds Rescues Villanova Again

-Video Clip from CSN Philly (this link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet…click on the SPORTSNITE tab and the clip is from entitled, “Jay Wright talks about Nova’s sloppy start-2/12″)

Hopefully, Villanova can rectify their mistakes in a hurry, because the desperate and hated UConn Huskies come to town tomorrow night.  Two things I can’t wait for: 1) Bill Raftery announcing, obviously and 2) Jim Calhoun calling his standard timeout 30 seconds into the game and ripping his players. 

While the NBA season doesn’t start for another couple of months, Ed Pinckney is already teaming up with Philadelphia 76ers play-by-play broadcaster Marc Zumoff.  Recently hired as the new color analyst for the 76ers, Pinckney sat down for a minutes with Zumoff on CSN Philly to discuss what he’s been up to recently, what he will bring to the broadcast booth, and his thoughts on the upcoming season for the 76ers.   

The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Click on the Sixers Tab and the interview is from “9/1-Marc Zumoff talks with new color analyst Ed Pinckney.”

As you can see by the title, this post will contain a variety of different things, so I apologize for the randomness.  First, with the deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft officially over, some new preseason rankings have come out.  Andy Katz has placed Villanova at #4 in his new top 25.  Katz on the Cats,

Corey Fisher and Scottie Reynolds and a highly touted newcomer class means the Wildcats are the pick to win the Big East.  Losing Dante Cunningham hurts, but Jay Wright has this program rolling. There won’t be a dip.

SNY also published their updated Big East rankings for next season with Villanova coming at #1 in the conference.  On Villanova,

Reynolds returns to bolster an experienced core that includes Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Reggie Redding.  The Wildcats also feature a top-five national recruiting class that should make Jay Wright’s team the class of the Big East.

While Katz released his opinion on teams for next year, he also came out with a story regarding the World University Games.  Corey Fisher is trying out for the U.S. team competing in the Games, and it looks like he has a good shot to make the team now, as Kansas guard Sheron Collins recently backed out of the tryouts.  Katz on Fisher,

Collins’ absence practically puts a must-get tag on Arizona point guard Nic Wise and Villanova lead guard Corey Fisher. Both players were probably going to make the squad anyway, but now it almost seems like a given.

Katz also mentions in the article that Boston College is trying to schedule a Big East opponent for next season, and Villanova is at the top of their list. 

 The Nova Notebook is back with another offseason feature, entitled “Attitude of a Champion.”  This is the title of the 70-minute DVD that will be coming out in August, which tells the tale of Villanova’s 2008-2009 basketball season and their ultimate run to the Final Four.  The film features behind the scenes footage and interviews throughout the season.  All of Nova Nation will be looking forward to this release later in the summer.     

Lastly, even though many people see Villanova as a national title contender next year, replacing a player like Dante Cunningham will be a tall task.  Recently, Jay Wright and Tony DiLeo (former 76ers head coach) gave their thoughts on Dante’s future in the NBA.  Most notably, they both think he will have a long career, lasting possibly 10 years or more.  The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Then, click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and the aforementioned video is from 6/16-Jay Wright on Dante Cunningham’s future in the NBA.

Dick Jerardi, a writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, came out with an article today which talks about Scottie Reynold’s decision to return for his senior season.  There are some excellent quotes from Reynolds regarding the NBA Draft process he went through as well as some thoughts about next season.  It sounds like the speculation started to get to Scottie, as he says,

People can stop asking me every time I order something, do something.  Every time, it’s ‘Yo, what are you doing?’

Additionally, Comcast SportsNet caught up with Jay Wright and Scottie at the Davis Center to get some more input from them.  The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Then, click on the SPORTSNITE tab and the video is from 6/9-The Wildcats on Reynolds returning to school.

With Scottie Reynolds officially back on the Main Line for next season, Jay Wright must be ecstatic about Villanova’s chances to make another deep run.  Recently, Neil Hartman of Comcast SportsNet caught up with Wright about his decision to stay at ‘Nova instead of going to the 76ers and the Scottie Reynolds situation. 

The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Then, click on the SPORTSNITE tab and Jay’s video is from 6/8-Jay talks about interview with the Sixers.

Yesterday, May 18th, Scottie Reynolds had a workout with the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.  Joining him in this workout was Jerel McNeal, Lester Hudson, and Mike Rose.  The Wizards website has some videos posted of the workout and player interviews.  It looks like new head coach Flip Saunders worked these guys out extremely hard, with lots of full court drills. 

Comcast SportsNet also covered Scottie’s workout with the Wizards.  A short video clip in which Scottie talks about what needs to work on is posted.  This link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet, then click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and the aformentioned video clip is from 5/18 – “Scottie Reynolds visits the Wizards.”

Lastly, ESPN’s Andy Katz wrote an article today regarding the underclassmen players who are currently sitting on the fence for the NBA Draft.  Scottie was not mentioned in the article, but the piece is an excellent read and provides insight into who might stay in the draft and who may return to school.  Obviously, these decisions will have a big impact on Scottie staying in or returning to Villanova.

There’s a short video clip on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia featuring Dante Cunningham and Jay Wright giving their thoughts on the recent historic season.  It was posted on April 22nd, so I assume it comes from the banquet held that day.  Dante has been reflecting on the season, and so has Jay, but Jay said it hasn’t set in what this senior class has meant to the program. 

It still hasn’t really set in yet for me either, and I don’t think it will until next year when the freshman come in and maybe suffer through some first year struggles.  This is where Dante, Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark, and Frank Tchuisi truly excelled, as every time they suffered some sort of setback, they persevered and overcame the hardships. 

There’s a write-up in the Philadelphia Inquirer today about Scottie Reynolds entering his name in the NBA Draft.  There’s not much new stuff from what we already know in this article, but there is some.  He spoke to current Philadelphia 76ers’ players Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young, regarding what the NBA is like.  Here’s what they told Scottie:

“They said it’s a different world,” Reynolds said. “It’s not like college. Know what you’re getting yourself into. They were letting me know so I wouldn’t get caught by surprise.”

Also, Scottie says entering his name in the draft but not hiring an agent is a win-win situation.  I completely agree.

“If it goes my way, great,” Reynolds said. “If I come back, I’ll be happy as well. I’m putting everything into it. There’s times when you have to think about yourself, know what’s best. That’s how I approached it.”

There’s also a short clip of Scottie talking to the media yesterday after a workout at the Davis Center, provided by Comcast SportsNet.  The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet, then click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and Scottie’s video is from 4/21 – Scottie on declaring for the NBA Draft.