The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - Villanova

The Good
- The effort was there.  Our guys showed up for the game.
- Lavin didn't shoot himself in the foot as much as he could have with his personnel decisions. He generally played the guys who deserved PT.   You could  complain about a few too many minutes for Hooper, but aside from that I was ok with his rotations.
- I thought the game was enjoyable until the last 5 minutes.  If we hadn't lost the previous two games in the fashion we did, a loss like this would be entirely tolerable.  Overall though I felt the game was worth the price of admission.
- Villanova games bring more cute girls to MSG than any other opponent we face.   Which is nice.   

The Bad
- Our rebounding and 3pt shooting.   
From the tip it seemed Villanova had an advantage on the boards the entire game.   Our bigs didn't get good position when shots went up, and as a team we didn't crash the glass en mass.   A shot would go up and one or two of our guys would be battling 3 blue jerseys.   I understand that we want to get out and run, but at some point you have to abandon that for team rebounding when you're getting killed on the glass.
Our three point shooting was the other noticeable gap between the two squads.   We had the right guys shooting, but they didn't convert.   Max, D'angelo, and Phil need to hit open shots.   As much as I think this whole season is a reflection of Lavin's ineptitude, there exist a plethora of opportunities where our players could have risen above his incompetence, and they didn't.   
- Hooper needs to be told he can't put his hands out in front of him when he sets a pick.   I would've whistled him for 5 offensive fouls yesterday.   

The Ugly
- No damn ball movement.   Against a trap that could've easily been beaten our guys put the ball on the deck before they ever looked to pass.   How the hell does a coach not call a timeout right away and address that?  Remind the guys of the one or two go-to plays you have to break the trap.. and you could've created odd man rushes for us for the rest of the game. (or until Villanova backed off).   
- Awful defense.   I've seen posters say our on-ball defense wasn't that awful, I don't know what game they were watching, and I don't know what game Lavin was watching.   From their very first possession Villanova ran screens and picks (which we always switched on) and created mismatches like Jordan guarding Pinkston on the low block, or Sanchez fouling 3pt shooters.    Say what you want about the officiating - I thought it was roughly even-handed - but how does coach Lavin not address the switching and the mismatches early on?    When are we going to learn to guard the pick and roll/pop?   Stop switching on everything.   And if you do switch, at the very least that should 100% ensure that you cut off penetration!?!   How do we get beat over the top (which would be expected) AND let ball handlers turn the corner on us if we're always switching?   The paint should be cut off.

I disagree somewhat about the effort. And to me 1 play describes the game. There was a play with maybe 4 minutes left maybe more where the kid who I hate on their team whose named I can never spell ( arcidanco or whatever it is ) literally dove across the floor for a loose ball and our guy I forget which one maybe Dom ( it was over near the Nova bench ) basically just bent over trying to get it and of course we didn't get it. The game was still in question.

That play to me was just basically how I fell all season. We don't play 40 minutes of ball and the other team just wants the game more each time

I disagree somewhat about the effort. And to me 1 play describes the game. There was a play with maybe 4 minutes left maybe more where the kid who I hate on their team whose named I can never spell ( arcidanco or whatever it is ) literally dove across the floor for a loose ball and our guy I forget which one maybe Dom ( it was over near the Nova bench ) basically just bent over trying to get it and of course we didn't get it. The game was still in question.

That play to me was just basically how I fell all season. We don't play 40 minutes of ball and the other team just wants the game more each time

It was Karr

The Good
- The effort was there.  Our guys showed up for the game.
- Lavin didn't shoot himself in the foot as much as he could have with his personnel decisions. He generally played the guys who deserved PT.   You could  complain about a few too many minutes for Hooper, but aside from that I was ok with his rotations.
- I thought the game was enjoyable until the last 5 minutes.  If we hadn't lost the previous two games in the fashion we did, a loss like this would be entirely tolerable.  Overall though I felt the game was worth the price of admission.
- Villanova games bring more cute girls to MSG than any other opponent we face.   Which is nice.   

The Bad
- Our rebounding and 3pt shooting.   
From the tip it seemed Villanova had an advantage on the boards the entire game.   Our bigs didn't get good position when shots went up, and as a team we didn't crash the glass en mass.   A shot would go up and one or two of our guys would be battling 3 blue jerseys.   I understand that we want to get out and run, but at some point you have to abandon that for team rebounding when you're getting killed on the glass.
Our three point shooting was the other noticeable gap between the two squads.   We had the right guys shooting, but they didn't convert.   Max, D'angelo, and Phil need to hit open shots.   As much as I think this whole season is a reflection of Lavin's ineptitude, there exist a plethora of opportunities where our players could have risen above his incompetence, and they didn't.   
- Hooper needs to be told he can't put his hands out in front of him when he sets a pick.   I would've whistled him for 5 offensive fouls yesterday.   

The Ugly
- No damn ball movement.   Against a trap that could've easily been beaten our guys put the ball on the deck before they ever looked to pass.   How the hell does a coach not call a timeout right away and address that?  Remind the guys of the one or two go-to plays you have to break the trap.. and you could've created odd man rushes for us for the rest of the game. (or until Villanova backed off).   
- Awful defense.   I've seen posters say our on-ball defense wasn't that awful, I don't know what game they were watching, and I don't know what game Lavin was watching.   From their very first possession Villanova ran screens and picks (which we always switched on) and created mismatches like Jordan guarding Pinkston on the low block, or Sanchez fouling 3pt shooters.    Say what you want about the officiating - I thought it was roughly even-handed - but how does coach Lavin not address the switching and the mismatches early on?    When are we going to learn to guard the pick and roll/pop?   Stop switching on everything.   And if you do switch, at the very least that should 100% ensure that you cut off penetration!?!   How do we get beat over the top (which would be expected) AND let ball handlers turn the corner on us if we're always switching?   The paint should be cut off.

I would add one good and quibble with one of your uglies.

Rysheed is so damn good, its really fun to watch him play. He's still just a frosh 15 or whatever games into his career so he has things to work on, but he's strong as a bull going to the cup and not only does he see the floor the way no one else on our team does, he does the little point guard things like getting cutters or guys coming off screens the ball exactly where they need to get it to be effective. (As opposed to Phil, who waits two extra steps after a guy comes off a screen, allowing the defense to recover and getting the ball to his teammate an extra 6 feet further from the basket.)

As far as the pick and roll defense, I don't know if its so much team policy to switch on all P&R's as it is Obekpa's single digit basketball IQ. Most coaches teach that the fourth man, or the guy covering the pick setter, decides whether to switch or have the ball defender fight through. He has to judge whether the ball defender can get through- the preferable option- or if he has to switch. Obekpa just switches every freakin time, even if its not necessary. DLo was fighting through screens all day yesterday. But Jordan kind of just let Obekpa decide, so he was constantly defending the big guy in the post off the switch. I don't remember it being as bad with Sanchez or Karr on the P&R, but it may well have been. But Obekpa just jumps the ball every time, even if there's a three foot gap for the ball defender to get through. Its maddening.  But you're right that after the first five times, maybe Lavs might want to mention it and tell him to stop.

 We are out hustled for loose balls in every single game we play.. Obviously, we aren't good enough to not fight for 50/50 balls.

Bad combo of players with giant holes in their games and coaches who can't figure out how to get team to play smarter or put them in better positions to succeed. 

The bad...Sampson with the ball within 5 feet of the basket.  He may be the weakest big in the country. This kid should be throwing everything down but if he gets touched at all the ball is coming loose and he's trying to  spin some wild shot in.

Horrible...the officiating. My god it was awful. Had I had a court side seat I would've shoved the whistles of both the white refs up their ass

The Good: Villnova
The Bad: St. John's
The Ugly: 0-3 in BE play

There is a reason why experts are called experts and picked us to finish 7th.
Not saying I am giving up on the season or team but bottom line were 0-3 with too many "almost" games...it is just frustrating how we have not had a game where a player gets hot or basket falls in  to win the game...The Garden had a buzz to it, I thinks there are fans out there ready to support the team, but this team has to do something other then tease the fan base I their potential.

Rotations were better because there was no gimmicks. However, Dom and Phil played too much and branch played too little.

Tnice, definitely true that Rhysheed's play  was a GOOD.     You're right about  that. 

We don't play 40 minutes of ball and the other team just wants the game more each time

I felt that way at the Penn State game.  Particularly the first half.  Jakarr not going to the ground on the play you describe was fugly.

The Good: Nothing

The Bad: Lavin cant coach

The Ugly: Lavin still hasnt been fired

The Good: Nothing

The Bad: Lavin cant coach

The Ugly: Lavin still hasnt been fired

 Not happening.. Deal with it or get off the bus... Sorry to say..  Only shot is if he decides HE has had enough and walks away.   School/ Admin is such a mess right now, the last thing they are concerned with is the hoops coach.