I Bleed Blue and White

In Seth Davis’ latest column for Sports Illustrated, he discusses his Top 10 candidates for Coach of the Year, among other topics. Davis ranks Jay Wright at #9 on the list, citing his use of guards once again, and the emergence of Corey Fisher.

“Jay Wright, Villanova. The Wildcats’ guard-heavy personality results more from necessity than design. (Wright swears he tries to recruit big men, but Nova’s reputation as Guard U scares them off.) But once again Wright has his team playing smart, tough, scrappy basketball. Villanova looked a little shaky at the start of the season as it blew through a weak nonconference schedule and then lost to Texas at Madison Square Garden, but the steady improvement of Wright’s players (most notably Corey Fisher) has paid off. And there is arguably no player in the country who has improved more over the course of his career than senior forward Dante Cunningham.”

Seth Davis also discusses some reader’s choices for NBA prospects, and answers some mailbag questions.

…Generally I don’t mind Seth Davis…he’s a little too “magoo” for me, but he comes off to me as a guy who actually puts in some research before he opens his mouth…which is evidenced by his shoutout to Dante’s continued improvement…

…I don’t agree with his assessment of Jim Calhoun…yes UConn was supposed to be good…but then they lost Jerome Dyson and everybody jumped off the bandwagon…so if they win the Big East Tournament and then go on a deep run in the NCAA’s, I think he deserves to be in the conversation since everybody outside the Big East wrote his team off…

…Regardless, that is two shout-outs to Wright as a COY candidate in the last few days…still don’t see it happening but hey you never know…maybe a BET Championship seals the deal…

IBBW thinks the Huskies get it done in Hartford tonight.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock all weekend, you’ve heard about this game tonight. Actually, driving down the NJTP today and listening to the FAN, it got a little ridiculous the amount of pub it was getting. Despite what I think, it IS a matchup of Top 5 teams, and this is Pitt’s chance to take the lead in the Big East. UConn will be without Jerome Dyson, who was finally confirmed to be out for the year today.

Pittsburgh travels up to UConn ready to take a swing at #1, and the game has major implications for Villanova in terms of the Big East Tourney, as well as the NCAA Tourney. Villanova owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Panthers if the teams should finished tied for that coveted double-bye in the Big East Tournament. Right now Pittsburgh is two games ahead of Villanova in the standings, but they have the first of two matchups with the Huskies tonight, as well as a road trip to Providence (who will be desperately seeking a marquee win) and a home date with Marquette still to go.

On the other hand, if you don’t think Villanova can catch the Top 4 for that double-bye, you may argue that you want Pitt to upset UConn. That will increase the quality of ‘Nova’s win over the Panthers and could be a key component when it comes down to seeding.

Personally, I say not to worry about this stuff and that Villanova should just take care of its own games and let things fall into place, but with such a long layoff until Thursday’s game with Rutgers, I’m definitely taking notice.

I think I want UConn to win and knock Pitt down, so that Villanova can possibly fight for a Top 4 seed in New York City. And tonight, I think UConn will win behind the home crowd. The loss of Dyson hurts, but I think this will turn into a bit of a running affair, which Pitt never fares well in.

The game is at 7:00 on ESPN. Make sure you tune in, should be a dandy.

After going down early in last night’s victory with Syracuse, UConn’s Jerome Dyson has been diagnosed with a torn lateral meniscus, and will have surgery. This could end Dyson’s season. He had been averaging 13.2 points per game for the Huskies, and was one of the most dynamic guards in the Big East.

Is Dyson done for the year?

…Well I’m not going to lie, this is a huge shot to UConn’s national title hopes if he’s gone for the season…then again, I think he’ll be back…I was raised a UConn fan so I’ve still got a soft spot for them (as I’ve said before) and it’s awful to see any player go down…Dyson is a great slasher and scorer and plays so hard…actually come to think of it he reminds me of Villanova players when he’s on the court…

I got to thinking today about Dwayne Anderson’s probable absence for Friday’s game at West Virginia, and what the consequences could be. On the surface, he’s not the #1, 2, 3 or even 4 scoring option, and his defense is good, but not anything the team can’t compensate for. But losing him means going to a 7-man rotation on the road in a tough place to play against a good team, which isn’t good, especially when he is considered a frontcourt player.

Will Anderson's absence expose 'Nova's depth issues?

Then I started to think about what the greatest weakness for this team is. They’ve got the outstanding guards on offense, a legitimate offensive threat down low (for the first time in a while), and they have defended spectacularly well in the post despite the perceived lack of depth and size. They are killing it from outside right now and Corey Fisher has suddenly put it all together and has given Villanova a player that can get into the lane and cause havoc.

So really, what it comes down to in my mind is the depth issues, and the ability to defend the perimeter. Villanova’s lack of depth hasn’t reared its ugly head yet. In fact the only instance I can think of is Dante Cunningham’s foul troubles at UConn, forcing Frank Tchuisi into the game mid-1st half. But even then Villanova was taking it to the Huskies.

So in my opinion, Villanova’s greatest weakness has been perimeter defense. It’s been a struggle for a couple years now. Teams always seem to shoot well from beyond the arc against us, and the “star” guards just seem to have their way. For example, in 3 of Villanova’s 4 losses this year, they have been destroyed by the opposition’s backcourt.

1. Texas — AJ Abrams had 26 points on 44% FG (44% 3 pt FG)
2. Marquette — Jerel McNeal (26 points on 50% FG, 50% 3 pt FG), Wes Matthews (19 points on 83% FG (50% 3 pt FG), Dominic James (17 points on 37.5% FG (40% 3 pt FG)
3. UConn — AJ Price (29 points on 77% FG (67% 3 pt FG), Jerome Dyson (19 points on 55% FG (0-1 3 pt FG)

That’s really ugly. Now, in fairness, Corey Fisher has been dynamite on defense lately, but even in the wins vs. Syracuse and Marquette, it felt more like Villanova just couldn’t be stopped rather then them shutting down the opposition. Jonny Flynn and the trio of Marquette guards still found sucess against Villanova.

So in my opinion, if Villanova is going to really continue moving forward, they are going to need to improve the perimeter defense. I know that they trap a lot and have to compenstate down low, but teams are having too much success with their guards.

What does everyone else think? Leave your comments below and we’ll talk about it.