I Bleed Blue and White

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 participating in a charity bike ride in Massachusetts, University of Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun hit a pothole, fell, and broke 5 ribs.  After he fell, Calhoun actually got back on his bike and finished the race, but collapsed at the finish line.  Apparently, his collapse seemed much more serious at first, as Calhoun was not moving minutes after he fell at the finish line.  Thankfully, though, after being taken to the hospital, Calhoun’s condition improved greatly, and he even wanted to drive home a few hours later.  As former Huskie and current Celtic Ray Allen put it,

He’s so stubborn, so stubborn.  He doesn’t want people to help him out.  He’s always been the type who feels he’s invincible.

Calhoun has had numerous health issues over the years; most recently, he missed the first round of this past year’s NCAA Tournament due to dehydration.  It sounds like the 67 year-old legend will make a full recovery.  While he may be a foe during the basketball season, we all wish Jim Calhoun a speedy and healthy recovery.

It has just been announced that University of Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet will forgo his senior year and enter the NBA draft.  There are some quotes from Thabeet as well as coach Jim Calhoun in this press release.

This is not really shocking news, considering that Thabeet will most likely be a lottery pick, meaning he will be paid very handsomely.  Villanova should be breathing a sigh of relief right now; even though Thabeet didn’t put up gaudy statistics in terms of points, he affected the game in so many ways.  How many times would you see players changing their shot when Thabeet was around them?  Countless.  Congrats to Hasheem.

Added by Chris:

…See ya Hasheem…it was fun…but I will not miss you patrolling the paint and scaring the living bejesus out of everyone…

After some speculation, ESPN is reporting that UConn coach Jim Calhoun will return next year.  There were some rumblings the past few weeks that Calhoun would not come back, as a result of possible NCAA recruiting violations.  Calhoun is also getting up their in age too, as he will turn 67 this upcoming May.  Health problems, including prostate cancer and most recently, dehydration during this year’s tourney, have plagued him throughout his career.  All of the issues aside, it looks like Calhoun will be back next year.

Although I personally do not like UConn, mainly because they always give Villanova fits, I have a great respect for Jim Calhoun.  His teams play hard no matter what and are always tough, in my opinion.  Winning over 800 games is a magnificent feat, as well.  The Big East wouldn’t be the same without Calhoun on the sidelines. 

Joe Juliano’s latest article for the Philadelphia Inquirer covers the topic of the grueling 18-game schedule that the Big East employs. There are differing opinions all across the conference, but Jay Wright believes that the gauntlet helps many team’s resumes.

“The kind of season, the league had knocked out some very good teams, and that’s the down side,” he said. “But the upside is that as good as everybody was, we were close to having nine or 10. We still might get eight or nine.”

In the article, UConn’s Jim Calhoun argues both sides of the issue, and Coach Wright also talks about Villanova’s chances to land in Philly for the NCAA Tournament.

…Thanks to Brian for the link…

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…

A little bit of light humor for everyone on Sunday night. I’m sure most of you have seen this already, but it’s still making me laugh.

And for the record, Jim Calhoun is absolutely right. He makes so much money for Connecticut.

I like how Jay Wright stays out of the news by being polite at his press conferences, but if he were ever asked a question like this, I would hope he responds the same way Calhoun did.

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Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune discusses Jim Calhoun’s dislike for the 18 game schedule. Calhoun believes that the uneven scheduling, in which some teams play stronger schedules than others, is hurting some teams’ chances at making the NCAA Tournament. Calhoun Georgetown and Notre Dame as victims of the scheduling format.

“I disagree with the 18 games,” Calhoun said, referring to the format this season where all 16 teams play each other once and three teams twice. “I want to see every team have a fair chance. I think the 18-game schedule is prohibitive.”

Notre Dame plays UConn and Louisville twice, while Georgetown plays Marquette and Syracuse twice. That is a very tough draw, considering that Marquette plays DePaul twice.

…I”m a little torn on this idea…I think the fairest way to fix this is to have everyone play everyone else just once…but as Rick Pitino points out, it’s more about making money than “fairness”…I say just deal with the hand you are dealt and if you play hard and play well, you’ll come out on top…

Calhoun is the anti-Zen master.

I don’t know what it is about playing UConn, but it always just seems to be the biggest game of the year, especially when Villanova plays host. Wait, I do know what it is about this game. It’s Jim Calhoun, and his sideline antics. It’s the lesser ethical standards that the UConn program goes by. But most of all, it’s because UConn is a proven Top 5 program in college basketball with a Hall of Fame coach and multiple National Championships.

The bottom line is everyone likes — no, loves — to beat a winner. Especially when that winner has been doing it with a percieved lack of integrity. UConn, although not as bad, compares to the Miami (FL) football teams and lately, to the New England Patriots. You either like them, or more likely, you hate them.

Growing up in CT, we didn’t really have our own teams. The Hartford Whalers were taken from us and the Connecticut Sun don’t count. The Connecticut Huskies are literally the most important team in Connecticut (men’s and women’s I might add). So I have a soft spot in my heart for them.

Make no mistake about it though, I love seeing Villanova beat them. Being 3-1 vs. them (and being an underdog in basically all those games) is as sweet as it gets. In February 2006, when a 4 guard lineup physically and emotionally took it to the Huskies and pulled off the win of the decade for this program, I was there in the stands and screaming until my throat gave out. One of the best games/nights of my sporting life.

The next year Scottie Reynolds led a young team into Storrs and dropped 40 points in the win. Last year, I remember seeing Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson walk out of the tunnel and just thinking, dear Lord, don’t let this get ugly. And even though UConn made several plays that were 100% worthy of a SportsCenter Top 10 nomination, an undersized Villanova squad out-willed, out-gutted, and out-worked a more talented team and got the win.

And honestly, that’s what I love about Villanova basketball. Yeah, I’m dreaming of the day that Mouphtaou Yarou steps onto the court and gives us a legitimate horse down low. But we get it done without the size and without the star-studded lineup. Games are won on sound basketball and heart. You’ve got to love that.

So tomorrow night, I’ll be pumped for this game. I know the rest of ‘Nova Nation will be as well.