Scottie Reynolds graced the cover for Sports Illustrated’s annual College Basketball preview. I’m guessing this is the Northeast Regional version, but not sure exactly. Good for you Scottie. Hopefully no curses come from this.
The issue hits news stands tomorrow. Luckily I’ve got my sources at SI and have the Villanova preview in my hands already!
SI.com continues their Inside College Basketball Season Previews with Luke Winn discussing Villanova. It can be read here.
Story Highlights:
Its a good article read. A lot of how we’re so lucky to have gotten Scottie Reynolds.
Luke Winns Assessment
Heart and Soul: Scottie Reynolds
Most Improved: Corey Stokes
X factor: Mouphtaou Yarou
Glue Guy: Reggie Reading
Lost in the Shuffle: Isaiah Armwood
Bottom Line: ”This team needs to do some growing, but could eventually be as good as any of the national title contenders — other than Kansas. Even Reynolds has room to refine his game: His heroics overshadowed the fact that he shot 45.4 percent from inside the arc as a junior — not a great number — and was only the fifth-most efficient offensive player on his team. I suspect that the presence of added weapons on the outside (as well as Yarou commanding defenders inside) will make Reynolds’ percentages in the paint increase over the course of the season. When it comes to crunch time, he’s already capable of making those stats seem irrelevant.”
Sports Illustrated just released their list of the most exciting players in college basketball. They listed Scottie Reynolds at #2. Here is what Luke Winn had to say about Reynolds:
“Reynolds plays almost exclusively below the rim, which is fine, because he still manages to be highly entertaining. The short-range shots the 6-foot-2 (or at least he’s listed at 6-2) combo guard is able to get off among the trees can be jaw-dropping; he’s an expert at using his body to create slivers of space in traffic. Reynolds is also the owner of the most clutch shot in the 2009 NCAA tournament — a driving leaner over Pitt’s Gilbert Brown to send the Wildcats to the Final Four. It was a rare, exciting moment in an otherwise lackluster dance, and we thank Reynolds for providing it.”
…Tough to argue with Vasquez at #1…love watching that guy play…and this sets up a nice #1 vs. #2 matchup in early December…personally, I’m going with Scottie and the ‘Cats…
In the final ESPN/USA Today Poll of the season, Villanova finished ranked 4th in the country, behind North Carolina, Michigan State and UConn respectively. The finish doesn’t come as a surprise considering Villanova’s Final Four appearance, but it’s a great thing to see nonetheless.
The Big East finished with 6 teams in the Top 25, including 4 of the Top 6 teams in the country.
Yesterday, we talked about how Sports Illustrated ranked Villanova 4th in their early pre-season poll for next year, and now Rivals has followed suit by ranking Villanova 8th for next year.
…I’ll be getting into my early thoughts on next year in the coming weeks, but let me state for the record now that a Top 10 ranking is too high in my opinion…
Courtesy of George Lawson
So Dante Cunningham and Ty Lawson used to play on the same team. And we have the picture to prove it!
Click here to read an article about how Cunningham and Lawson were brought up, and how their fathers put them in a position to succeed. But really, that picture says it all. Look at Dante’s face!
Senior Sports Illustrated writer Tim Layden’s newest piece covers the bruising nature of college basketball. The article, which is going to appear in the newest issue of Sports Illustrated which hits newsstands today, features all four Final Four teams, with a heavy emphasis on Villanova.
“Villanova, the Tar Heels’ semifinal opponent, turns the concept inside out. Its most punishing athletes are its guards: Reynolds, Redding (6′5″, 205 pounds), sophomore Corey Fisher (6′1″, 185) and swingman Dwayne Anderson (6′6″, 215), who will guard every opposing position. It was Reynolds who crushed UCLA senior Darren Collison with a hard foul early in their second-round matchup, setting the game’s agenda. On the day before the East Regional final, Jamie Dixon watched film of Villanova, observing how the Wildcats guards repeatedly attacked overmatched Duke in transition and in the half-court. “Villanova doesn’t run a lot of offensive sets,” says Dixon, clicking through possessions. “They like to get their guards in one-on-one situations and take you that way. They’re experienced and they’re strong.”
The article also talks about the protective padding that is becoming popular in basketball, which some experts say is more padding than football players wear.
…This is a great article by Layden, and is one of the huge stories of this weekend…what teams are the most physical?…Layden believes all 4 are equally physical, but let’s be honest here…North Carolina is clearly the least physical of the four, and by a wide margin at that…that could be a huge advantage for ‘Nova…
Kevin Armstrong from Sports Illustrated gives us his take on the East Regionals. Armstrong says that Villanova is his pick to advance out of the bracket, and that Dante Cunningham is the true difference maker in the region.
“Difference maker: Dante Cunningham. Running rim-to-rim, there may not be a better forward in the country right now than the Big East’s Most Improved Player. Able to get out on the break with Wright’s ball-pushing guards, Cunningham provides the inside presence that the ‘Cats lacked in recent NCAA tournament runs. His boarding prowess will be a necessity if the Pitt match up comes to fruition.
The pick: Villanova. In the lobby of the basketball offices at Villanova, coach Jay Wright presses a button that cues up One Shining Moment every time he enters or leaves the building. After reaching the second weekend for the fourth time in five years, he appears to have his well-balanced unit ready to take the next step. No word yet on whether he would purchase a new Hugo Boss suit to wear on such an occasion.”
Armstrong also talks about who has the most momentum right now, as well as the best potential matchup (or should I say re-match?).
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…
Luke Winn, a college basketball writer for Sports Illustrated released this week’s power rankings, which are updated to include last night’s games. Winn brings Villanova into his rankings at #11, citing the Wildcats explosive offense.
Villanova Wildcats (20-4)The most lethal scoring machine outside of Chapel Hill, N.C. … is Villanova? In BCS-conference games, the 100-point mark has been broken just six times, and the Heels and Wildcats are the only ones to have done it twice:
Team Opponent Date Pts. UNC Maryland 2/3 108 Missouri Colorado 1/14 107 Arizona Washington 1/29 106 Villanova Syracuse 2/7 102 Villanova Marquette 2/10 102 UNC Duke 2/11 101Next three: 2/13 at West Virginia, 2/19 vs. Rutgers, 2/22 at Syracuse
UPDATE: One of our readers Seamus pointed out that Providence also topped 100 vs. Syracuse, but nevertheless the fact remains that Villanova’s offense is on fire.
In my ballot for the CBSSports BlogPoll, I voted Villanova #11, so I completely agree with us, although I still think Duke is severely overrated. I mean, I feel like I’m the only who watched that game last night. It was a joke. And you know Duke is going to sneak out a win on the road at BC later this week and people are going to move them up in the polls because BC beat UNC earlier this year. Sorry for the rant.
Andy Glockner has updated his Bubble Watch for Sports Illustrated. Glockner believes that the Big 4 in The Big East are safely in, but ranks Villanova just outside in the “Should Be In” category.
“Villanova (19-4, 7-3; RPI: 12, SOS: 24) is now clearly next in the batting order after edging Providence and drilling Syracuse, and you could make a strong argument that they should be one level higher than this, as the resume is quite comparable with Marquette’s given the Golden Eagles’ easier conference schedule so far. Nova’s remaining schedule isn’t easy, though, so let’s hold off a week. The Wildcats can help themselves on Tuesday night when they host Marquette in the return match from their New Year’s Day loss in Milwaukee.”
For what it’s worth, Glockner also ranks Syracuse in this category, and Cincinnati, Georgetown, Providence and Notre Dame as “In The Mix.”
…I’m going to still place myself on the cautious side and agree with Glockner here…a win over Marquette tomorrow completely changes that though and throws Villanova into lock status…as far as the other teams are concerned, I have a really hard time seeing Notre Dame in the Tournament…I suppose they could go on a monster run to end the year but 7 in a row (despite a rough schedule) is almost unheard of from a tournament team…
