I Bleed Blue and White

Sorry for the late postGame recap. I think there was a mixup as Brian usually handles it but he may have been busy and we didn’t sync up on that. By now you’ve probably seen the highlights ad nauseum on SportsCenter and if you live in the Northeast you’ve definitely read about it in the morning papers.

UConn ’shocked’ Villanova last night at The Wachovia Center, making it the 4th loss in 4 days for BIG EAST Top-10 teams. During the game, I really wasn’t even worried as we were only down a few points midway through the 2nd half. I figured the Huskies’ would stop hitting literally every shot (I’m pretty sure they didn’t miss a 2nd half FG attempt until under 10 minutes left in the game) and that our shooting would miraculously pick up. Neither occurred.

Kemba Walker delivered the best game of his career in my opinion, and virtually every Wildcat turned in one of their worst of the season. That’s a recipe for a loss. More concerning though, is that we’ve now seen the best game a team can play (Georgetown and now UConn) and we’ve gotten beaten soundly. Great teams can fight off those performances, at least in my mind. I’d like to see us find a way to adjust.

Some other random thoughts:

• After a brilliant first half, Scottie Reynolds didn’t do much after the break, and that really hurt us. Usually it’s the opposite with Scottie turning it up in crunch time. Jerome Dyson (one of the best defenders in the country) deserves a lot of credit as he made the proper adjustments to slow him down.
• Taylor King has hit the proverbial wall. His shooting is atrocious, and he’s beginning to make some boneheaded passes. The hustle is still there, but the confidence isn’t.
• When Antonio Pena gets in foul trouble, we’re in deep shit. Simple as that.
• Maurice Sutton has got to learn to stand and take a charge, or at the very least stand with his hands straight up. Jumping and trying to block every shot against elite guards is why he fouled out in just 9 minutes.
• The refs weren’t great (UConn certainly got the better whistle), but we forgot what has allowed us to succeed against them recently. The extra pass off the drive when their shot-blockers go up has led to easy buckets. Last night was a display of selfish basketball where we were constantly getting ours shots stuffed or altered. Their is a reason why they have been the best shot-blocking team of the past decade. Adjust.
• Since when does UConn shoot 80% at the FT line? Jesus.
• Our last two losses our opponents have shot 23 and 24 more FT’s than us respectively. Ummm?
• Scottie Reynolds did not attempt a FT. Wow.
• Foul trouble is becoming an increasing problem for Corey Stokes. And a lot of them are cheap ones around the hoop.
• Mouphtaou Yarou showed us something last night. Probably the only player that I came away impressed with in a loss (that never happens). I’ll get to Jay in a second, but Mouph should have played A LOT more last night.
• And finally, to our coach, who I love. I really do. But he needs to be called out when it was apparent to everyone but him that what was going on was not working. Yes, UConn shot the ball great. But they are awful in the halfcourt set. They have 2 guys who can create their own shot (Walker and Dyson). So what do we do? Press them, and allow them to run and throw alley-oops, which they are very good at. It was maddening. Come on Jay, you’re better than that.

Villanova gets a much-needed full week of practice (and hopefully a humbling, verbal berating from the coaching staff) before they travel to Pitt, where the Panthers will most certainly be out for blood. Right now, I don’t know if we can win that game. We need to refocus.

4 years ago I never thought I’d see the day when we were double-digit favorites over the Connecitcut Huskies. Times sure have changed (although this is more of an aberration than anything else, they’re still a great program in a down year).

• 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 line for tonight is Villanova -10. Go ahead and guess.

The Game: #3 Villanova(22-2, 11-1) vs. UConn (14-11, 4-8)

Location: The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: Big Monday on ESPN

Brief Rundown: Villanova played one of its sloppier games of the year during Saturday’s matinee with Providence, but they turned it on late to pull away by double digits. Corey Fisher had one of the best games of his career with 22 points and 5 assists to lead the charge. No time for rest though as a desperate Huskies team comes to town looking to possibly salvage a very disappointing year.

UConn is a team with great talent, but outside of Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson, there are not many scoring options on this team, and they do not have great depth in the backcourt. They are dangerous though for a couple reasons. First, they do have great talent. Alongside Dyson and Robinson is Kemba Walker, who while having a sophomore slump, is capable of turning it on. The Huskies have a deep but inexperienced frontcourt, so the Wildcat bigs will need to step up.

What I Want To See: I want to see us come out and destroy this team. Give them no hope early, and they’ll fold. The longer we let them hang around the more they’ll start to believe. Also, they are a  BIG team, and rebounding will not be easy. It’ll be a team effort to have success against the Husky bigs, led by Gavin Edwards.

…Lets Go Nova!…I of course do not have President’s Day off from work, or I’d be at the game…but I will be on Twitter for the 2nd half if anyone wants to chat!…

You may have already seen this on ESPN, but the network did a great job of putting together a bevy of things to remember from college basketball in the last 10 years.  Brings back some great memories.

-Top Games

-Fondest Memories

-Witnessing the Classics

-Headlines

-Best Teams/Programs

-Best Players/Coaches

So hard to choose my #1 favorite memory of the decade.  For college basketball as a whole, it would either be George Mason’s run in 2006 or Stephen Curry’s heroics in 2008.  In terms of best Villanova basketball memory, the experience of a Final Four last year and seeing it in person is something I will never forget.  A close second is storming the court after beating UConn at the Wachovia Center. 

It’s BIG EAST Media Day (I’m so pumped that the season is almost here) and this is the time when coaches get together and vote on the various pre-season lists.

Villanova was picked to finish 1st in the conference this year, narrowly edging out West Virginia, who finished just 3 points behind them in voting.  UConn and Louisville round out the Top 4. Villanova was last picked 1st in 2005-2006.

Scottie Reynolds was selected as a 1st-Team All-BIG EAST member, but he was the only Wildcat to garner such honors. Luke Harangody was picked as the Player of the Year (no problem there, he’ll have the stats but not the team) and Lance Stephenson was picked as the freshman of the year.

…Good for the team, now you’ve just got to go out and actually earn it…congrats to Scottie as well who I feel has never gotten the respect he deserves with these types of things…

…A little shocked Redding didn’t make the 2nd-team or Honorable Mention…he may be out for the fall semester but he’ll be back for the conference slate…I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on one of those teams at the end of the year…

Guard might be Jay Wright’s favorite word in the English language.  Zagsblog reported that Rivals’ #19 shooting guard, Achraf Yacoubou, will visit Villanova on October 23rd for Hoops Mania.  Currently, Yacoubou is a 6′4″ 200 lb. junior out of Long Island Lutheran.  Along with the Villanova visit, he will visit Kentucky on October 16th for their Big Blue Madness.  The other school on Yacoubou’s top three is UConn.  Is there a leader yet though?  According to Yacoubou, no.

They are all equal.  I don’t have a leading school just yet.

Today, ESPN announced their Big Monday schedule for the upcoming college basketball season.  Every Monday between January 4th and March 1st, there will be a doubleheader on ESPN, with a 7 p.m. Big East game and a 9 p.m. Big 12 game.  Villanova will be featured in this time-slot 3 times, including January 11th at Louisville, February 8th at West Virginia, and February 15th vs. Connecticut.  The rest of Big Monday slate, along with my initial reactions to each game, is as follows:

January 4
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati *Pitt at Cincy to kick off the Big Monday season-couldn’t find a better Big East matchup?

January 11
Villanova at Louisville *Need some revenge from last year’s 2 losses to the Cardinals

January 18
Syracuse at Notre Dame *Fighting Irish need to put up a solid showing on national TV to show they are back

January 25
Georgetown at Syracuse *Great rivalry

February 1
Connecticut at Louisville *No more Thabeet to match up with Samuels

February 8
Villanova at West Virginia *1-2 in the conference (better be a lot closer this year)

February 15
Connecticut at Villanova *Remember storming the court in 2006 at the Wachovia Center (place should be rocking)

February 22
West Virginia at Connecticut *Dislike both of these teams a lot

March 1
Georgetown at West Virginia *Georgetown competing for a Big East crown this year?

There you have my thoughts.  What does everyone else think about this schedule?

Added by Chris:

…2006 Wachovia game was the best home game I’ve ever been to…my first “it’s so cold it hurts to drink beer” experience at Villanova…so worth it though…I’m marking Feb. 15th down as a sick day right now…

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.

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.

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.

ESPN writer Andy Katz and Scouts Inc. National Director of Recruiting Paul Biancardi completed a very thorough break-down of the ACC today.  While covering key offseason stories, important players, and primetime freshmen, they also discuss 10 non-conference games they “can’t wait to see” this year.  #6 on the list represents the Maryland Terrapins vs. the Villanova Wildcats, which will take place on December 6th down in Washington D.C. at the BB&T Classic.  Katz, on the game:

The highlight matchup of the BB&T Classic will be Greivis Vasquez versus Scottie Reynolds at the point.  But both teams will want to push the ball and get after each other defensively.  The Terps are a trendy pick for a top-four ACC finish, while the Wildcats should be the Big East favorite.

Other ACC-Big East matchups that Katz points out are Duke at Georgetown (date TBD) and a potential classic if Duke and UConn both make it to the finals of the NIT Season Tip-Off (Nov. 27th).  With the ACC being analyzed today, one would think that the Big East is next on the list so stay tuned.

Remember that soft nonconference schedule Villanova played last year?  Not so much this year.  Personally, I would rather take a few lumps early in the season, if it means being better prepared down the stretch.  Any thoughts?

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.