I Bleed Blue and White

If you think that title makes no sense, you can talk to Jamie and Andrew, who have emblazoned that saying into my head for all eternity. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw this picture.

Note: I can’t decide whether to ignore the fact that Amare Stoudemire YouTube’d Dante first, or just say this was awesome revenge.

I’ll freely admit it. As I watched Scottie Reynolds drive into triple-coverage, only to kick out to Isaiah Armwood who promptly jacked up a 3, I yelled the title of this post to nobody. As I texted with friends that our two best sharp shooters (King and Stokes) had both fouled out, the last person I expected to be taking what would be the game-winning shot was a guy who has been surrounded with redshirt questions.

A quiet game from Stokes couldn't derail 'Nova.

Let me just say, I was NOT a person advocating a redshirt for him. I love his athleticism and think he’ll be useful this year the way Dante Cunningham and Shane Clark were their freshman years. But I will admit I was not happy as I watched our wiry 6′8″ freshman launch a trey-ball. But I was ECSTATIC when he buried it. And for that Isaiah, I apologize. I doubted you for the slightest of moments, and you turned around and put the double-bird to my face. I love it.

The bigger story, in my opinion, is the resiliency that the team showed today. Corey Fisher was 1-14 from the field, yet 14-18 from the foul line. Scottie Reynolds had 8 turnovers in the 1st half, yet let the team in scoring and in my opinion led the team well down the stretch. We lost Corey Stokes, Taylor King, Antonio Peña and Maurice Sutton to fouls, yet still battled til the end to erase what felt like a 20-point deficit at times. We went 23-39 (59%) from the FT line and somehow won.

And we did all this without Mouphtaou Yarou, who was sent home hours before the game for an infection. Our lineup that end the game was Reynolds, Fisher, Maalik Wayns, Dominic Cheek, and Armwood. Think about that for a second.

(I just had a wow moment. We had 4 legitimate shooters on the floor, and Armwood. Armwood took the 3. And made it. His balls are the size of planets.)

Some more random thoughts from today:

• Jay Wright, you better suit-the-f*ck-up next game. No more of this untucked Polo crap. I don’t like it, and neither does anyone else. Stick with what works.
• If I’m ever going to criticize Jay, it’s going to be now. Yeah, I know we won, but I think he mismanaged an already thin frontcourt. He basically let his entire frontcourt foul out before inserting Armwood. It worked out, but give the kid some burn instead of letting everyone rack up the fouls.
• Maalik Wayns woke the team up in the first half. We were about to get run out of the gym until he came in. I love the kid. He is a serious, serious player. Jay wasn’t kidding when he said Wayns was ready to play.
• Maurice Sutton stepped up big. As soon as Yarou was out, Sutton’s # was called, and he answered. All over the place on the glass and the defensive end. The offensive game will come, but for now, he’s doing exactly what we need him to do.
• The refs were brutal, and I’m glad we overcame them. It wasn’t the amount of calls (which was excessive) but more the amount of ticky-tack stuff that was called, especially on us. I thought Jay was going to have a stroke. If Pat Chambers were still on the staff, I’m pretty sure he would have bitten a refs ear off.
• Fran Fraschilla has briefly replaced Andy Katz as my most hated ESPN Hoops personality. He may as well have come out and root for George Mason. It was sickening and a disgrace to his profession. Fran, go home.

All in all, a great win to have. George Mason are a scrappy bunch, and they’ll make noise this year. They’re pretty good. If you hadn’t heard, Dayton blew a 9-point lead only to come back and stave off Georgia Tech in the early game today, so we’ve got the Flyers tomorrow at 3 p.m. I’ve got a Q&A coming up with a Dayton blogger, so stay tuned!

A note to everyone on Twitter – I had a great time chatting with you during the game today and hopefully we can do it again in the near future. I’m just happy that I didn’t get a 24-hour ban for over-Tweeting like Brian of VUHoops!

UPDATE: Apparently Brian has been reinstated. No word on what sexual acts he had to perform.

Thought I’d update anyone that’s interested in the status of the ‘Nova players in the NBA.

• After a strong 3 game start Randy Foye, and the Wizards for that matter, have cooled off considerably.  In his last 5 games Foye has only 4 assists.  He’s had point totals of 7, 6, 16, and 16.  He sprained his ankle against the Heat Tuesday night and did not return.  The Wizards have lost all 5.
• Kyle Lowry remains a player off the bench for the surprisingly strong Rockets considering their situation.  He gets about 25 minutes a game, and playing an efficient game as a back seat option to Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry.  In his last 4 he’s averaged 8 pts, 5 asts, and 3 rebs.  He also had 4 blocks against the Thunder.
• Dante Cunningham, as you know if you’ve seen the recent posts, got his first NBA game time action.  He scored 6 pts in 6 minutes against the Timberwolves on 3-4 shooting.  No other box stats.
• Tim Thomas is still in Limbo.

Mike Sheridan’s latest ‘Nova Notebook focuses on Jay Wright and the lack of defense that was exhibited by the Wildcats in their win over Kutztown last Thursday. According to Wright, the graduation of Shane Clark, Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham, along with the suspension of Reggie Redding, is a huge part of what went wrong on opening night.

“That’s the sign of a young team,” said Wright. “A young team looks at the scoreboard and it only has to change your intensity a little bit for there to be a drop off. You have to give (Kutztown) credit – they made shots and they pushed the ball at us. It’s just the little things with young guys. You score and they’re jogging back remembering their score and Kutztown was pushing it right at us. We need to learn that lesson.”

Wright believes that the team will improve as the year goes on however. Scottie Reynolds shared that sentiment, and believes it is up to the veteran players to show the younger guys what playing Villanova basketball is all about.

“We have to continue to stay to our principles and stay with what Coach (Wright) preaches,” said the senior guard, who’ll enter the regular season with 1,620 career points. “We can’t just get lackadaisical. We have to stay focused and that’s going to take time. We have to just keep pounding, keep pounding and never let up. When you let up a team can get hot like that – just look at the score.

“We, as upperclassmen, have to preach what Coach is saying. We have to do it ourselves and let the younger guys watch that happening on the floor so that when they come in, they can pick up where we left off.”

Wright also talks about the debuts of Mouphtaou Yarou and Taylor King in the article.

..As always, great job by Sheridan…

It occurred to me today that I’m quickly tiring of waiting for Villanova hoops. I’ve already bought my tickets, and I’d pay good money to be able to see a game this weekend. Seriously. No disrespect to the football team — you’re having a great year, and I’ve actually become a huge fan the past 2 years, but I need me some basketball.

Luckily, the Villanova chapter of the NBA got things underway this week with their preseason starting up. That, and more Villanova athletes continue to bring home the hardware during the fall season. I guess times aren’t so rough.

• Kyle Lowry didn’t start for Houston, but he ended up playing more minutes than Aaron Brooks and filled the stat sheet. Keep it up Kyle.
• Dante Cunningham was a DNP (Coaches’ Decision) in the Blazers opening game. But he did having a little dunk contest at their Fan Fest. In the words of the Blazers’ columnist “he can fly.”
• Randy Foye came off the bench to score 14 points in his Wizards debut. He, like Lowry, is a stat-sheet filler.
• Gary Parrish of CBSSports ranks ‘Nova 6th in his final pre-season poll. Fair.
• Get ready for “Hoops Mania presented by Advance Staging Productions.” Wow, I think I just threw up a little.
• The Women’s Cross Country won the Bill Dellinger Invitational to start their season. And afterward, they moved up to #2 in the country. Way to go girls!
• Megan Goelz was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the third consecutive week. Kudos.
• Elysse Studzinski was also named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll in volleyball.

Just had this passed along to me, and it gave me a good laugh. The Oregonian interviewed the Blazers players about what the one thing they could have if they were stranded on a desert island.

Dante Cunningham’s initial reaction: “I don’t know.”

Smooth, ‘Te. Glad you rebounded later in the video for something.

Meet the Blazers: If you were stranded on a desert island …

Most of you probably know this already, but Notre Dame transfer Scott Martin tore his ACL during a workout on Thursday and will miss the entire season.  After a disappointing year for the Fighting Irish, some hope was restored with Luke Harangody announcing his return for a senior year.  In addition, the infusion of transfers Martin (Purdue) and Ben Hansbrough (Mississippi) into Notre Dame’s rotation was supposed to be a big lift.  Now, with Martin out, Harangody will have to shoulder much of the load down low yet again.  Martin put up decent numbers at Purdue in his sophomore season, averaging over 8 points and almost 4 rebounds a game, so don’t underestimate the impact of this injury in the rugged Big East. 

Just a quick note on Dante Cunningham and the Portland Trailblazers.  They, along with the rest of NBA teams, opened up camps this past week in preparation for the start of the season in about a month.  The coverage on the Trailblazers website is very in-depth, with numerous blogs, videos, pictures, daily recaps, and much more.  Definitely check it out to keep up to date on Dante and the rest of his new teammates.

The latest ‘Nova Notebook by Mike Sheridan talks with Isaiah Armwood, the final freshman to be featured in the series. While he’s the last to be interviewed, Armwood may be the most ready to play Villanova Basketball judging by his comments to Sheridan.

“I just want to play defense, rebound and run the floor,” he says. “Whatever Coach (Jay) Wright, asks me to do, I’m going to do.”

Those are things that will surely get you onto the floor fast under Jay Wright, something that Dante Cunningham and Will Sheridan both managed to accomplish in their freshman years. Armwood comes into a team loaded with talent, but a team lacking a proven threat in the frontcourt. His offensive skills and athletic ability could transform him into a player to be reckoned with early on in his career, and comparison have already been drawn to Cunningham.

…I was fortunate enought os ee Armwood play on TV last year…his jumper is still a little raw (especially compared to the stroke that Cunningham last year) but the energy and athleticism really does compare to Dante in his freshman year…

…extended minutes will be very hard to come by this season but with a thin and unproven frontcourt, anybody who is willing to do the dirty work will see the court…and I’m hoping Isaiah is serious about his willingness to play that style of ball because he’s got a load of talent…

Sean Donovan strikes again, remaking yet another Michael Jordan commercial, and this time inserting Dante Cunningham.

A word to you Sean: Phenomenal!

This video was just relayed to us via The Nova Nation Twitter people. Awesome video of when the team went to the Phillies game and Dante Cunningham threw out the first pitch. There was also some interesting dancing on the dugout during the 7th inning stretch. Check it out!