Villanova’s biggest strength heading into their game with Duke is their guard play. ‘Nova attacked the rim with disdain against UCLA, and with great success. Against the slower Dukies, one would figure that the dribble-drive would again figure prominently into the game plan.
But could it hurt Villanova? With the way that Coach K teaches the flop, it could. Duke is widely known for their questionable flops that only Kristof Ongenaet has been able to rival so far this season. When Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding and Dwayne Anderson attack the rim, they are going to need to be mindful that there is a flop waiting to happen.
And more importantly, Dante Cunningham is going to need to be very careful. He likes to throw his muscle around a bit in the post, but he’s going to need to be careful that he doesn’t give the refs anything to call.
With any luck, the game will be called the right way and flops, such as the one by newly discovered junk-lover Greg Paulus, will not be called.