I Bleed Blue and White

Greetings from the road. I’m coming to you from The Courtyard Marriott in High Point, NC. I’m not going to do my usual write up on DePaul because frankly, it’s just not worth it. We did exactly what a good team does to a bad team. We buried them early, and then kept our foot on the pedal and didn’t let them see the light.

Enjoy it, because it won’t be that easy again this season. But with Marquette coming up again on Saturday (and our Pavilion streak actually on the line this time), let’s take a few minutes to enjoy the work of Ray Foye Combo as he gives us highlights from both of our conference wins.

Enjoy!

1st Half Highlights -- DePaul

2nd Half Highlights -- DePaul

Marquette Highlights

If you’re a gambling man and you’ve been paying attention to Villanova, you’ve probably noticed that relatively speaking, the spreads have been pretty low for a Top 10 team so far this year. I had aspirations of this being somewhere in the low-to-mid teens. Not so much. You’ll see in a second.

• On Game Day, I will post the official line we will be using for the game.
• In that thread, post your pick against-the-spread for the game that night.
• Make sure you use the same username for every pick (I know some of you are registered, if you aren’t this is a good reason to do so to make it easier). Also, make sure you provide your email so that I can contact the winner at the end of the year.
• Anonymous entries will not count.
• Entries posted after the game starts will not count.
• If you do not provide a pick for the game, it will be marked as a loss in the standings.
• If you are away and can’t make a pick in the thread, you can email me your pick. Email me at clane2787@gmail.com and I will try to email you back ASAP with the line (again, it must be emailed before the start of the game).
• The winner at the end of the year will win a prize (TBD) and I promise it will be something good. I’m not going to be lame like that. I’m searching eBay for cool Villanova stuff as we speak.
• In the event of a tie, the poster with the best BIG EAST record (regular season) wins. If still tied, the best Big 5 record wins. If still tied, the best OOC record wins. If still tied, we may have to do multiple prizes.

The spread of the game is Villanova -18.5. Fire away.

The Game: #6 Villanova (12-1, 1-0) vs. DePaul (7-7, 0-2)

Location: The Pavilion 

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Broadcast: WPHL (Scott Graham and John Celestand calling the action)

Brief Rundown: Villanova is coming off a thrilling road win at Marquette, which may point to a letdown game tomorrow night against an extremely weak DePaul squad.  In addition, with the students still on Christmas break, the Pavilion won’t be as electric as usual.  Nonetheless, the Cats should be fired up for their first home game in two weeks and keeping the Pavilion winning streak alive.  Ironically, who was the last loss to at the on-campus arena?  The DePaul Blue Demons.

As previously stated, DePaul is not a good ballclub.  Picked to finish dead last in the Big East, the Blue Demons are .500 this year, including losses to Pitt and Georgetown in conference thus far.  Frankly, keeping this game close would be a win for the visiting team.  The only two names I even recognize on the roster are junior big guy Mac Koshwal and senior guard Will Walker.  Koshwal has 19 career double-doubles, while Walker can hit the three ball. 

Last Time Out: The Cats let the pitiful Blue Demons hang around last year at AllState Arena, with the aforementioned Walker lighting it up from deep late in the game.  Eventually, the heavy-favored Villanova team squeaked out the win 74-72.   

What I Want To See: Obviously, I want to see the home team jump over all the Blue Demons early on, putting them out of their misery.  This really should be a given considering the opponent, but what I’m more interested in is the play of Corey Stokes.  Regardless of who they are playing, Stokes needs one of those breakout games, where he shoots lights out from downtown.  We haven’t seen that this year, and sharpshooters like Stokes sometimes only need one real good game to break out of a slump.  I’m also a huge fan of DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright and his facial expressions, as he always has the same stoic, helpless look regardless of the situation.  He’s a good basketball man, but his days at DePaul are numbered, especially after a winless conference campaign last season.

Pico from The East Coast Bias reached out to a bunch of the Big East bloggers and asked us to answer a bunch of questions for a roundtable he’s hosting. This is the first series of questions he has with another set coming in October.

When Pico posts all the responses on his blog I’ll make sure to link to it, but for how here are my answers.

Q: What’s new with your team since the end of last season?

IBBW: Villanova lost the most successful senior class in it’s history, but replaced it with a consensus Top-5 recruiting class (you’ll hear the names Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou a lot early on). Oh yeah, and our senior leader Reggie Redding was suspended for the fall semester for possession of marijuana. He’ll be back for the Big East though, so I think we can hold the fort until then.

Q: Cash or Clunker: Name the teams that you think will be the top 3 squads next season in the Big East (the Cash)… and the bottom 3 (Clunkers). Bonus: which team’s finish in the league is most difficult to predict?

IBBW: The Cash – Villanova, West Virginia and UConn will be the Top-3 this season. I don’t think anybody will really gripe with that. The league is deeper this year, but it lost a little at the top.

The Clunkers – Rutgers, St. John’s and DePaul. In my opinion you could give a couple others a look here, but I like their coaching situation a lot better than these three.

Bonus – I’ll admit I have no idea what South Florida is going to do. Their home court advantage was stellar last year, and they have some guys who can really play, and I like their coach too. They are either ready to make some noise or you will forget they are in the league.

Q: The Big East enters the season without a lot of players who have carryover buzz from last season – Luke Harangody and perhaps Scottie Reynolds are the names a casual fan might be most familiar with. Which players will step up and be the “face of the league”?

IBBW: As much as it pains me to admit it, Greg Monroe is probably going to have a monster year and be considered the best big man in the conference. He was in the spotlight last year and it looked to be too much for him. Now that he’s off the radar a bit, he’s going to make people realize he’s here again. And as a homer pick, Corey Fisher. We’re already talking about him possibly leaving for the draft after this season. He’s going to be up there with the best guards in the country.

Q: Before practice starts, who would you say is the most pivotal player on your team? Who is your candidate for breakout player in the Big East (and please state how the player will be better than last year)?

IBBW: The most pivotal player for Villanova is Antonio Peña. We lost 3 very good frontcourt players, and it is now Peña’s time to step up. I think he’s ready to do it, and so does Jay Wright. That inspires a lot of confidence. Villanova has the guards to beat most teams but if they are thinking Final 4 again they are going to need some consistent play inside.

I have a feeling you’re going to hear Gus Gilchrist’s name a lot this season. As he goes, South Florida will go. The sophomore year is when you see the lights go on for a lot of players, and Gilchrist was already good. He’s going to stamp his name on the 1st or 2nd team this year after he takes the rest of the team under his wing and becomes a true leader.

IBBW: I was the most anti-Twitter blogger you could find at it’s outset. But then after watching it on SportsCenter every morning, I realized it was here to stay. It’s a great way to get updates from people and news outlets you are interested in without having to click refresh every 10 minutes. I’m welcomed Twitter on IBBW and I’ve found that I’ve been able to reach a bigger group of people.

IBBW: Looking forward to football and avoiding watching the Mets. College and the pros. Villanova is an FCS program but we’re a Top-5 team this year, so it’s very exciting. And I’m going to have to give a shout out to the New York Football Giants. We’re winning it all again this year.

Q: The summer is slow; so when Pitino’s “mistake” is made public, or when Calipari’s former team is penalized, or when someone poses a way for the Big East Conference to pick up new football members, the story tends to stick around a little longer than it would during the season. What college basketball story are you tired of this offseason?

IBBW: All of them, although I thoroughly enjoyed Rick Pitino’s out-of-the-blue press conference where he talked about anything and everything but himself. But it is the world we live in. Everyone has an opinion and a forum to voice it. I’m just ready to get back to some good ‘ol fashioned hoops.

Special thanks to Pico for setting this up. Be on the lookout for his full report on the roundtable in the coming weeks.

According to ZagsBlog, the relatively new Big East/SEC Invitational games have been set for next season.  Here are the matchups:

• UConn vs. Kentucky – Dec. 9th at Madison Square Garden
• St. John’s vs. Georgia - Dec. 9th at Madison Square Garden
• Syracuse vs. Florida – TBA in Tampa Bay, FL
  
• DePaul vs. Mississippi State – TBA in Tampa Bay, FL
  

These games are always fun to watch, and we can all remember former Villanova player Malcom Grant’s heroics against LSU two seasons ago in the Big East/SEC Invitational.  I can’t wait to see UConn vs. Kentucky too, as two great coaches in Calhoun and Calipari square off under the bright lights of MSG.

In response to Chris’ previous post regarding Scottie, I do not think he will leave for the NBA.  Of course, it’s possible he could enter his name and not hire an agent, but I don’t think he will even do that.  The chances of Scottie being drafted are minuscule, in my opinion, since he is not athletic enough, big enough, or skillful enough for the NBA.  It would shock me if he was not on the floor for Villanova next season.

On to the Big East news. Dar Tucker, the sensational sophomore guard from DePaul, has announced that he will enter the NBA draft and will hire an agent.  As a result, he cannot come back to DePaul.  This is more outstanding news for Villanova, as Tucker has torched the Wildcats for the last 2 years.  He continually got in the lane against Villanova, and made plays happen.  I think he could definitely be drafted as a point guard in the NBA, since he has solid size at 6′5″, and has excellent quickness and vision.

Also, although it was reported yesterday that Jonny Flynn would be leaving for the NBA, it seems like he may be having second thoughts, according to coach Jim Boeheim, who says that Flynn’s status is “kind of up in the air.”  This decision is huge for Villanova, since Flynn is a dynamic player who gives teams fits, as we all know.

Obviously, his decision will impact Syracuse greatly; if Flynn stays, I think they are a definite top 20, top 15 team, but if he leaves, they most likely will not be a large threat in the Big East next year.  Aside from the impacts Flynn’s decision has on Villanova and Syracuse and the rest of the basketball landscape, I think this indecisiveness truly shows that Flynn loves college basketball, and the NBA money may not be his top priority, like it is for so many others.  I ultimately think he will leave, but we shall see in the near future.

Even though the final score was 83-74, this game was a lot closer. DePaul led for much of the 2nd half and for a while it really seemed like they were going to pull off the upset.

It wasn’t meant to be though. Providence began to force some dumb mistakes from the Blue Demons with their press and closed out the game in the end. Sharaud Curry finished with 25 for the Friars and Weyinmi Efejuku had 23 in the victory. For DePaul, Will Walker finished with 31 and Dar Tucker had 30 and 8 rebounds. They didn’t get any sort of help from their teammates though.

Providence now moves on to face Louisville tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. The Friars are still squarely on the bubble, and because Butler lost to Cleveland St. last night, there is one less at-large spot available.

Many people believe that the Friars could still get in even if they lose tomorrow, but a win all but punches their ticket to the dance.

What is going on with DePaul? Will Walker and Dar Tucker look like they are possessed right now. Despite being down 32-31 at the break to Providence, the Blue Demons look like a completely different team than the one we saw all season.

Sharaud Curry looks like the only one with a pulse for the Friars right now. He had 16 points at the break and his banked 3 at the buzzer gave Providence the lead at the half.

I still like Providence to come away with the victory in the end, but DePaul isn’t going to make this easy on them. My guess is that Dave from Friarblog is about 8 deep at The Garden right now.

****Updated for the night session****

The 2nd day of the Big East Tournament is under 2 hours away! Rejoice! I shouldn’t be complaining about yesterday though. Besides that atrocious Notre Dame-Rutgers affair, the games were pretty competitive and entertaining despite being played by the dregs of the conference.

Today should be better though as we’ll see some NCAA Tournament-quality squads hit the hardwood. Oddly enough, no spreads available for the night session games yet, so we’re going to wait to pick those games until we see a spread.

12:00 p.m. ET – PROVIDENCE -8.5 DePaul

• DePaul’s magical 1-game run will officially end today. It’s not that I don’t like the Blue Demons, because I was thrilled that they won yesterday. I just don’t think they can keep this close. They definitely cannot score with Providence. And even though they rediscovered defense yesterday, I don’t think they can slow down the Friars either. I think Keno’s boys will win this one going away and win by 10+. Plus, I’d rather see Providence take on Louisville. That would actually be a contest.

2:00 p.m. ET – MARQUETTE – 7 St. John’s

• This one I am a little less sure about. I really envision the Johnnies being able to keep this one close. It’s no secret that Marquette is struggling mightily. They haven’t won in a couple of weeks and maybe some doubt is creeping in. But Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews (and Lazar Hayward for that matter) will be the best players on the court. St. John’s is going to need to shoot the ball extremely well because they won’t get a lot of easy buckets. I feel like I’m going to regret this pick, but the Golden Eagles will cover.

7:00 p.m. ET – WEST VIRGINIA – 4.5 Notre Dame

• The Mountaineers are just stifling on defense, so it’s hard to envision the ND shooters getting many open looks. That means that the offense is most likely going to fall on Luke Harangody, who was awful last night, and Tory Jackson, who was very good. I don’t see anyone on the Irish who can account for Da’Sean Butler, and Alex Ruoff killed them in the first matchup. I’m banking on Devin Ebanks bothering Harangody with his length. West Virginia wins, and covers.

9:00 p.m. ET – SYRACUSE -6.5 Seton Hall

• After the underdogs hurt me yesterday, I can’t pick all favorites again. Plus, I love Seton Hall. I think their ability to shoot is going to kill Syracuse’s zone. Syracuse is tricky though. Are they primed for a run after beating Marquette in Wisconsin? The Pirates’ depth worries me, but I’m taking Seton Hall with the points.

DePaul just knocked off Cincinnati 67-57 in the 1st game of the Big East Tournament. It was the first conference victory for the Blue Demons after they finished 0-18 in league play.

The bench and the fans behind the bench looked really excited while Will Walker dribbled out the clock. You’ve got to feel good for the team. I can’t imagine ever going winless and never thought it would happen to any team in the Big East. I’m glad they got the win.

But what happened to Cincinnati? Just a few weeks ago they were thought to have the best chance of making the tournament out of any Big East bubble teams. Quite the slide down the stretch. They’ll be scary next year though. Good recruits coming in and Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates both return.

This has implications for Providence too. It was commonly thought they needed at least 1 win, and probably 2, to get into the tourney. How much will a victory over DePaul mean for them? Do they need to beat Louisville as well? I’m sure I just scared the hell out of Friarblog.