Villanova game thread

Quote from: Snazzy on January 07, 2015, 01:52:59 AM

The only thing going for St johns is they have a week off to rest. And if you look at their next eight games in BE play all seem winnable even with 6 men. They seem to all come against opponents that we match up well(errr..OK) against. 6-2 in their next eight conference games doesnt seem out of the question. That would get them to 6-5 with a tough finish to the schedule. Trying to be optimistic with my first post


And btw,coming from someone at the game Black Jesus looked like a stud tonight. Loved his hustle and demeanor.
#why.....

Finally a much needed rest.  4 games in ten days against teams with 11 or more wins while dealing with this whole Rysheed Jordan saga. The week of practice without class will be huge for this team. 

A solid RPI and a respectable 11-4 record against a very tough schedule:

#7 Gonzaga 14-1
#8 Villanova 14-1
#19 Seton Hall 12-2
St. Mary's 12-3  (4-0 in WCC, 6-0 since losing to us)
Tulane 11-3  (Just beat Memphis for second road win to start AAC 2-0)
Syracuse  10-4
Minnesota  11-5
#28 Butler 11-5

Even NJIT won @ Michigan, Long Beach State beat Xavier, and FDU won @ St. Joe's.

Quote from: Snazzy on January 07, 2015, 01:52:59 AM

The only thing going for St johns is they have a week off to rest. And if you look at their next eight games in BE play all seem winnable even with 6 men. They seem to all come against opponents that we match up well(errr..OK) against. 6-2 in their next eight conference games doesnt seem out of the question. That would get them to 6-5 with a tough finish to the schedule. Trying to be optimistic with my first post


And btw,coming from someone at the game Black Jesus looked like a stud tonight. Loved his hustle and demeanor.
#why.....

Finally a much needed rest.  4 games in ten days against teams with 11 or more wins while dealing with this whole Rysheed Jordan saga. The week of practice without class will be huge for this team. 

A solid RPI and a respectable 11-4 record against a very tough schedule:

#7 Gonzaga 14-1
#8 Villanova 14-1
#19 Seton Hall 12-2
St. Mary's 12-3  (4-0 in WCC, 6-0 since losing to us)
Tulane 11-3  (Just beat Memphis for second road win to start AAC 2-0)
Syracuse  10-4
Minnesota  11-5
#28 Butler 11-5

Even NJIT won @ Michigan, Long Beach State beat Xavier, and FDU won @ St. Joe's.

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Some thoughts re Villanova: http://www.bigeastboards.com/

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 09:15:12 AM

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Nowhere we want to be....nit.  9-9 is my realistic observation, 10-8 may get us in NCAA, 11-7 definitely.  Id like to be optimistic but CO foul problems and resulting defensive deficiencies will probably be the kiss of death.  WIldcard is the development of Joey, can he bang effectively enough for 10M or so?.  If so, CO problem not as acute.  Jones looks like he will give us little or nothing and Lavin doesn't seem to be pressing the ADR matter.  Too bad because the quickness on this team would and could carry them a long way with just a few bigs.  Our losses are against good teams but eventually we have to get some impressive wins to be considered for NCAA

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 09:15:12 AM

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Nowhere we want to be....nit.  9-9 is my realistic observation, 10-8 may get us in NCAA, 11-7 definitely.  Id like to be optimistic but CO foul problems and resulting defensive deficiencies will probably be the kiss of death.  WIldcard is the development of Joey, can he bang effectively enough for 10M or so?.  If so, CO problem not as acute.  Jones looks like he will give us little or nothing and Lavin doesn't seem to be pressing the ADR matter.  Too bad because the quickness on this team would and could carry them a long way with just a few bigs.  Our losses are against good teams but eventually we have to get some impressive wins to be considered for NCAA

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

Quote from: Marillac on January 07, 2015, 03:27:32 AM

Quote from: Snazzy on January 07, 2015, 01:52:59 AM

The only thing going for St johns is they have a week off to rest. And if you look at their next eight games in BE play all seem winnable even with 6 men. They seem to all come against opponents that we match up well(errr..OK) against. 6-2 in their next eight conference games doesnt seem out of the question. That would get them to 6-5 with a tough finish to the schedule. Trying to be optimistic with my first post


And btw,coming from someone at the game Black Jesus looked like a stud tonight. Loved his hustle and demeanor.
#why.....

Finally a much needed rest.  4 games in ten days against teams with 11 or more wins while dealing with this whole Rysheed Jordan saga. The week of practice without class will be huge for this team. 

A solid RPI and a respectable 11-4 record against a very tough schedule:

#7 Gonzaga 14-1
#8 Villanova 14-1
#19 Seton Hall 12-2
St. Mary's 12-3  (4-0 in WCC, 6-0 since losing to us)
Tulane 11-3  (Just beat Memphis for second road win to start AAC 2-0)
Syracuse  10-4
Minnesota  11-5
#28 Butler 11-5

Even NJIT won @ Michigan, Long Beach State beat Xavier, and FDU won @ St. Joe's.

Talk about an enabler. How is this any different when all the Yesmen (yourself included) praised norm for winning games against the little sisters of the poor in non conference play/this year it'll be different in conference play and then continued to get shellacked. 0-3 in conference play. A respectable schedule also means nothing if you can't beat any of those teams. Just shows the committee that you've built your resume on beating cupcakes. Syracuse has a young team and they caught them at the right time...making their best win against Minnesota. Give me a break.

I honestly think this loss isn't as bad as it looks on paper. In 2010/2011 we got blown out constantly. It happens. We're not a juggernaut, and we knew that. Lavin has made progress this year. I don't like that Christian Jones plays, and after the last couple of games, Lavin probably won't either. Next year looks like an absolute disaster, but for now, let's chill out just a little bit. I didn't expect to beat Nova, and give them credit, they took our zone apart because they are coached by a future HOFer, and we ain't.

Some thoughts re Villanova: http://www.bigeastboards.com/

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

We would have to make it to Saturday in the BET to have a chance to get in at 9-9

Quote from: goredmen on January 07, 2015, 03:29:54 AM

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

We would have to make it to Saturday in the BET to have a chance to get in at 9-9

I think we finish 10-8 in conference and make some noise in the BE tourney. We should still dance this year. Losing to Butler at home hurt, but Villanova is just better than us. They had 4 players score in double digits and 2 other players scoring 9 each. We just don't have enough players that can be a threat on offense. We need Jordan to get his act together.

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2015, 09:34:49 AM

I honestly think this loss isn't as bad as it looks on paper. In 2010/2011 we got blown out constantly. It happens. We're not a juggernaut, and we knew that. Lavin has made progress this year. I don't like that Christian Jones plays, and after the last couple of games, Lavin probably won't either. Next year looks like an absolute disaster, but for now, let's chill out just a little bit. I didn't expect to beat Nova, and give them credit, they took our zone apart because they are coached by a future HOFer, and we ain't.

I agree with you Poison, its just a shame that we put ourselves in a hole for the 2nd year in a row.  Butler is the game we should have won.  This loss is just frustrating because of the total unraveling at home, and the fact that it follows the home loss to Butler.

I think we need to go 11-7 in the BE to not worry about needing a win in the BE tourney to make the field of 64+.  That means we need to go 11-4 in conference the rest of the way, with only 7 home games left.  That's somewhat daunting with the depth-less team we have right now.

Quote from: Tha Kid on January 07, 2015, 09:57:03 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2015, 09:34:49 AM

I honestly think this loss isn't as bad as it looks on paper. In 2010/2011 we got blown out constantly. It happens. We're not a juggernaut, and we knew that. Lavin has made progress this year. I don't like that Christian Jones plays, and after the last couple of games, Lavin probably won't either. Next year looks like an absolute disaster, but for now, let's chill out just a little bit. I didn't expect to beat Nova, and give them credit, they took our zone apart because they are coached by a future HOFer, and we ain't.

I agree with you Poison, its just a shame that we put ourselves in a hole for the 2nd year in a row.  Butler is the game we should have won.  This loss is just frustrating because of the total unraveling at home, and the fact that it follows the home loss to Butler.

I think we need to go 11-7 in the BE to not worry about needing a win in the BE tourney to make the field of 64+.  That means we need to go 11-4 in conference the rest of the way, with only 7 home games left.  That's somewhat daunting with the depth-less team we have right now.

I think 10-8 gets us in. We have a road win at SU, Minnesota, Tulane, LBS and St.Mary's + we made the NIT finals. That's the 2nd best pre season BE resume. It matters.

Quote from: SJUFAN on January 07, 2015, 11:27:26 AM

Quote from: goredmen on January 07, 2015, 03:29:54 AM

Quote from: paultzman on January 07, 2015, 12:16:09 AM

Quote from: cjfish on January 07, 2015, 12:07:51 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2015, 11:56:43 PM

It's just one game. They played very well for 30 minutes. Jordan, hopefully is just an emotional mess, and he'll calm down. Jones can't be out there. He isn't able to play at this level. He's a D2 player. There is a 6'7 walk on that looked good in practice. Give him Jones' minutes. All of them.

I thought we committed some stupid ticky tack fouls in the first half and it bit us in the second half. Obekpa really has improved, but he faced a pro big man today, and he got beat bad. He's coming back next year. He's not a pro yet.

You are right on point....30 good minutes.....problem is what was gonna kill us would happen late.  CO simply can not handle big bigs, cant handle wide Charles Barkley-like asses...he gets pinned and is in trouble, which means he fouls....which means he is not there to anchor the D re overplay coverage....no bench leads to a tired last 10.....re next year, looks like CO and Jordan will be back given their play (Jordan of course could leave for a variety of reasons not connected to his play)    If Jordan practices for the next week things may improve.  Meanwhile, what about Jones...way to go up strong.....need to see more Joey D,  like to see him in there using 3 or 4 fouls as needed and taking up space.  Right now I make it even money we go 9-9 if there is no more drama.

And 9-9 gets us where?

We would have to make it to Saturday in the BET to have a chance to get in at 9-9

I think we finish 10-8 in conference and make some noise in the BE tourney. We should still dance this year. Losing to Butler at home hurt, but Villanova is just better than us. They had 4 players score in double digits and 2 other players scoring 9 each. We just don't have enough players that can be a threat on offense. We need Jordan to get his act together.

What SJU does in next two road games should shed light on your prognosis. If they don't fare well in these games, I can't wait for theories of us winning BE Tourney on our home court.

Harrison will get 20.  But who can consistently give us 12 points after him?