Highlights of last night’s win over South Florida, as always courtesy of RFC. That one drive my Scottie is still hurting my head thinking about how he pulled it off. Sheesh.
South Florida
Why is this such a big spread? Does Vegas know we lost 2 in a row? Or is it just because Villanova was crushing the spread all fall/early winter? Probably the latter. And it may have to do with Senior Night too.
- 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 for tonight is Villanova -13. Fire away with your picks.
In anticipation of ‘Senior Night’ and our Wednesday night clash with South Florida, I caught up with Ken DeCelles from the USF Blog Voodoo 5. Make sure you head over there and check out my answers to Ken’s questions, and as always, give him some hell while you’re over there!
On to the questions…
Chris (IBBW): Is there a more under-the-radar player in the BIG EAST than Dominique Jones? He’s averaging over 20 a game but still doesn’t get much press. What has he meant for the Bulls’ program?
Ken (V5): I’d like to see one. He did get some national recognition during our four game Big East winning streak earlier this year, but he is still widely unappreciated. Jones’ biggest contribution has to be making USF relevant again in basketball. I’ve heard more USF basketball talk this month then I have over the past 5 years. Jones has said that he will be back if USF doesn’t make it to the Sweet 16 this year, so I hope there will be some national buzz about the team next season.
Chris (IBBW): Jarrid Famous is a guy that Villanova was heavily involved with and was disappointed to miss out on. How is his first year on campus going? Would you say he’s below, met or exceeded expectations?
Ken (V5): It took a little bit of time for Famous to adjust to the higher level of competition, but he has done exactly what we needed him to do this season. He rebounds well, does a good job in the post, and he is improving everyday on defense. He has been knocked around by stronger guys like Yancy Gates, but I’m sure an offseason of strength training will help.
Chris (IBBW): You’ve scored some good wins this year (Pitt, Georgetown) but taken a few bad losses (St. John’s last time out, and a sweep at the hands of Notre Dame isn’t pretty). Many think you’re still on the bubble for The Dance, so what do you need to do to get in?
Ken (V5): A win tomorrow would be a great start. I thought that if we could win 5 games between our last 5 games of the regular season and the Big East Tournament would get us in. An NIT bid would be a little bit of a letdown considering what happened earlier this season, but any type of tournament would be a huge step in the right direction for the program.
Chris (IBBW): You’ve got nearly 5 guys averaging in double-figures (with G Mike Mercer barely missing with 9.0 ppg). How should we read into that? Does that mean there is a glaring lack of depth on this team?
Ken (V5): Depth has been a concern this year, but we finally have everyone healthy for the first time this season. We do have one huge void that’s missing from our team, and that is a competent three-point shooter. For the season we are only hitting 29.2% of our shots from three. In an offense where its mostly dribble penetration, defenses have quickly learned that all they need to do is collapse in the paint and make our guys beat them from deep.
Chris (IBBW): What does Villanova have to do to stop it’s two-game losing streak and dispatch the Bulls, who’ve given a lot of teams problems this year?
Ken (V5): Run zone on defense, and collapse when Jones drives to the basket. We have a hard time hitting anything from distance, and it has burned us the last couple of games. But because I said this, I wouldn’t be surprised if we go 10-15 from three tomorrow.
Chris (IBBW): It’s Senior Night at The Pavilion, which means Scottie Reynolds’ last game on campus. What are you expecting out of him?
Ken (V5): I think that Chris Howard and Anthony Crater will do a decent job holding Reynolds to below his season averages. Last season we did a great job limiting Reynolds to one made basket and seven points, and while I don’t think we will hold him to single digits, I think Reynolds will finish up with 14 points and 5 assists. Not a bad scoreline, but its not what everyone will expect from Reynolds on
Senior Night.
Chris (IBBW): Give me a prediction for how this one plays out.
Ken (V5): USF will keep it close for 30-35 minutes, but Villanova will pull away late and crush USF’s fleeting tourney hopes.
Nova 71-63.
…Thanks again to Ken for making this happen on such short notice. Good luck tomorrow night and as you put it, let’s hope for a clean, injury-free affair…
While many of you would like to just forget about the most recent poor performance by Villanova, I don’t think it is that simple. This group of Wildcats has some glaring weaknesses that need to be addressed. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for some), the next game is less than 48 hours away, so the time to really learn from the mistakes made against Pittsburgh is miniscule. Of course, the issues are not going to be fixed overnight, but I expect to see a much, much better game from the good guys on Wednesday night against a dangerous South Florida team. Another clunker will result in complete chaos for the Nova faithful. Anyways, we have no choice but to start focusing on the next game and hoping the Cats can right the ship. Below are some quotes from South Florida head coach Stan Heath’s Monday press conference following a tough home loss to the St. John’s Red Storm, which really put a damper on their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Opening Statement…
“We would like to put the last one behind us. It wasn’t a good performance, and I didn’t think our intensity level was there at all. I don’t think we worked as a team as well as we needed to, but welcome to the BIG EAST. We are not the only team that has probably had those same ups and downs during the year, and there is still a log jam of teams right where we are so this is a pivotal game. Villanova is coming off of two losses so they are not going to be a happy bunch of guys, and we just laid an egg so were not very happy either. We get to play on their on-campus facility which is a little bit different because it seats about five or six thousand people and they are all right on top of you. We will have to block that out and we will have to bring a much better defensive effort and a much better offensive performance and really get back to where we were a few weeks ago. ”
On whether it’s harder to prepare for Villanova because they haven’t played them all year…
“That is our league. We play three teams twice and the majority of the teams we just play once. I don’t think it is a plus or a minus. They are in the same boat as us, but they are awfully good. They know who they are, they know what they do and they have great leadership and experience out of Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher. It is a very defensive minded team that is aggressive and takes you out of what you want to do. Offensively, they know what they can and can’t do and they do things very well out there.”
On if he’s concentrating on just the perimeter game with Villanova…
“They force you to make some plays. The key is, and I thought Pittsburgh did a phenomenal job, is having some ball movement and player movement before you attack. You’re going to see trapping ball screens. You’re going to see switching on defense. You’re going to see a lot of things a lot of teams aren’t usually playing, simply because they have, I think, forward positions, the 3, 4 and 5, that are so interchangeable and so moveable that they can do things that are a little bit unconventional that you see. It’s a difficult team in a lot of ways. I look back on our film from last year, we played them wire to wire. It’s the last three, four minutes of the game, and we missed a layup, missed two 1-and-1’s. I think we missed an open shot. It’s still a game that within the last three minutes we had a legitimate chance to pull off, we just didn’t get through. I don’t look at them as way up here and we’re way down here. They’re a good, good team, but it’s a team that we’re going to prepare as hard as we can to try to steal a win. Hopefully we liken it to maybe a Georgetown situation, where we go into there as the underdog but we just come together, we grind it out, and we find a way to win.”
In a must-read report for SNY, Adam Zagoria discusses former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese’s role in Memphis Athletics since he left the conference. According to Zagoria, Memphis desperately wants to join the Big East, but there are several areas that don’t seem like a fit.
The Tigers wanted to join along with South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville back in 2004, but they weren’t invited. One thing working in their favor is the Big East’s desire to add more football programs to the small 8 teams they currently have. With conference championship games becoming more popular, Memphis is an attraction.
It’s more difficult on the basketball side, however. There are already 16 teams in what is by many considered to be a conference that is too big. Adding a 17th, and therefore probably an 18th, would border on crazy.
…I would love Memphis to join the basketball ranks, and for them and the Big East, it makes complete sense from a football standpoint…but the numbers of teams would just be crazy…would they really kick one of the basketball schools out?…
…Any thoughts on this?…
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.
Q: Twitter has become influential in broadcasting basketball/ sports information. What’s your opinion of the service? Have you adopted Twitter for your blog? What have been the plusses and minuses?
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.
Q: What have you been doing with your time without basketball games?
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.
Top JUCO transfer Jarrid Famous, who had some interest in Villanova, has committed to South Florida according to ZagsBlog. The 6′11″ big man from Westchester Community College had just taken a weekend trip out to Arizona, and many thought that both Arizona and Missouri were the front-runners for his services.
Famous has family near the South Florida campus, which may have played a part in the decision. Famous is expected to officially announce his choice Wednesday night.
…Well, Stan Heath is certainly amassing some talent down in Florida…they are definitely a program on the rise…the Big East will be down next year, and Famous gives them another legitimate big man to pair with Gus Gilchrist…Dominique Jones is an up and comer in the conference as well…
…Am I crazy to think that South Florida could be dancing next year?…
Seton Hall just finished off the last stretch of their 68-54 win over South Florida. Jeremy Hazell was the best player of the day in my opinion, finishing with 23 points on 9-13 shooting. Eugence Harvey and Robert Mitchell chipped in with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Paul Gause left the game with an injury and did not return. No word yet on his status for tomorrow’s game with Syracuse.
South Florida took a 2 point lead into halftime, but the Pirates were just too much for them in the 2nd half. Dominque Jones never really got going, finishing with just 14 points, and Chris Howard was shut out after entering the half as the leading scorer.
As I said earlier, I really like Seton Hall. Definitely a team that can do some damage this week. They shoot the ball very well, and matchup very well with Syracuse tomorrow. With Gause’s injury though, I worry about their depth.
We’ll pick things up with some picks tomorrow morning. I miraculously recovered to finish 2-2 today with The Hall’s win.
I was in Steamboat Springs with Mark when ‘Nova played Seton Hall, and therefore didn’t get to see our game with them. I always thought that we went to OT because we had an awful game and Scottie Reynolds bailed us out. After watching the 1st half of the Pirates’ game with South Florida, I’m beginning to think The Hall deserves some credit.
Jeremy Hazell is pacing Seton Hall with 10 points, but it’s not just him. Eugene Harvey runs a pretty solid point, and for the most part, they are pretty disciplined. Bobby Gonzalez, although crazy, has done a good job with this team.
(Speaking of Gonzo, he had an interview with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on WFAN earlier today. Pretty good listen actually.)
Regardless of my high opinion of Seton Hall, it’s the Bulls who lead at the break. They are a very underrated team, but they’ve mostly been good at home, and have struggled on the road. Chris Howard has been a pleasant surprise in the opening 20, scoring 11 points. Dominique Jones had 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.\
I like Seton Hall to get this done in the 2nd half though. USF is on fire, and I don’t think they can keep it up. Could I rebound to go .500 on the day? I’m thinking yes.
One of the most fun weeks of the year starts at noon today, and 4 more days of hoops madness follow. While Villanova doesn’t officially begin play until Thursday at 2:30, I’ll be watching as many games as I can because I just love this tournament.
(Before I forget, the team bus is leaving at 3:30 from The Pavilion today. If any students/faculty want to go out and wish them well, get out there at 3:15ish.)
Anyways, there are 4 games on tap for Tuesday. Below are the lines for the games, as well as some predictions. “Home Team” is in CAPS.
12:00 p.m. – CINCINNATI -7.5 DePaul
- The more I thought about this game, the more I realized how great it would be if DePaul was able to score a win or two in the Big East Tournament after going winless throughout the regular season. The Bearcats likely have too much for them with Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates, but I think this could stay close if Will Walker can knock down some 3’s for the Blue Demons. The first meeting between these two was close (a 4 point Bearcat victory) but Cincinnati is going to win and cover. If that spread were around 10 I’d be tempted to take the points (if I were a gambling man that is).
2:00 p.m. – GEORGETOWN -7 St. John’s
- I think Georgetown is going to crush the hometown Johnnies. I know they just lost to them, and I know they couldn’t even reach the 50’s against DePaul. But I just see no way in hell that a proud program like the Hoyas is going to melt down twice in a couple of weeks against the same terrible team (even though Georgetown is terrible in their own right). Georgetown wins and covers as well. And Greg Monroe might finally show he’s capable of the hype.
7:00 p.m. – NOTRE DAME-10.5 Rutgers
- Another game where I’m torn. ND struggled mightily with the Scarlet Knights a few weeks ago in a 5 point home win. But Rutgers is not good. I’m going to lay my hopes and prayers on Fred Hill’s boys to keep this one close in New York though. Notre Dame doesn’t have anyone that can stop Mike Rosario. And Rutgers doesn’t have anyone that can slow down Luke Harangody unless Greg Echenique magically comes to life. Notre Dame wins big if they shoot well and wins close if they don’t. Tough. I’ll go with the Irish and the cover.
9:00 p.m. -SETON HALL – 5 South Florida
- If the Big East Tournament was in Florida, I’d go with the Bulls. They showed improvement all throughout the season and are definitely a team to watch next year. They can defend well and they have a couple guys who can get hot. In New York though, Seton Hall is going to have the home crowd behind them and Jeremy Hazell will prove to be too much. I like The Hall to win by 10+.
If you aren’t in a local TV market for these games, apparently they can be seen on the Big East website for free. If that’s true (too early to tell) then it’s a +1 for the conference in my book. I was initially disappointed, but understood why the 1st round of games weren’t being televised nationally. But this would make up for it.
What does everyone else think about today’s games? I know I have all the higher seeds winning. Does anyone see an upset coming?
