A Look at Villanova Since Our Last Matchup | The Boneyard
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A Look at Villanova Since Our Last Matchup

Hey Adrien!

Hey Adrien!

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Winning six straight since the last time we played Villanova, the Wildcats' success has been driven by balanced scoring, improved defensive intensity, and strong late-game execution. Personally, I find Villanova as one of the hotter teams in college basketball and they are trending up to impress in the NCAA Tournament.

Rather than relying on one primary scorer, multiple players have stepped up offensively, while the team has done a better job limiting opponents’ efficiency, particularly from three-point range. Different guys have stepped up in different games: Duke Brennan had a big night in a recent victory over Creighton, leading with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Acaden Lewis scored 21 points with seven rebounds and seven assists in an overtime win at Xavier. In a road win over Georgetown, Lewis scored a career-high 26 points on efficient shooting, helping Villanova control the game down the stretch. Tyler Perkins has been consistently scoring, adding 17 points in both the Xavier and Georgetown games, while Devin Askew supplied 13 points off the bench in the Creighton win.

The Georgetown, Marquette and Xavier wins were close, but Villanova has also shown resilience in those games and Willard has done a good job displaying in-game adjustments in the previously mentioned games.

Honestly, the tough stretch ahead for UConn is a needed. Villanova, St. John's and Seton Hall each bring something unique to the table that is a challenge, so if UConn can come away these last few weeks on an upswing, that can be huge for the team's mojo.

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If, and its a big if, we can get Brennan in foul trouble, I like our chances. They really don't have anyone behind him, and without him, will have major trouble protecting the rim.
 
Oversimplification but I think it comes down to guard play. Can our starting guards limit their starting guards with strong perimeter D? And can our shooters shoot a reasonable % from 3? If Tarris can level up to Brennan's energy and play smart D- Don't waste fouls on the perimeter- We should be in a strong position to steal a W
 
Hurley has been emphasizing in the media this past week how bad the defense has been recently. He's talked about possible player minute changes. And he has also emphasized that our centers need to provide better rim protection.

Our centers continue to do a high hedge out to the 3-point line, and farther. Clingan and Johnson were able to do that and STILL get back to the basket to defend the rim. Tarris can't and Eric is only slightly better.

Teams have scouted this and now wait for our center doing a high hedge and they drive to the basket with Tarris trailing behind, unable to alter or block the shot. Stopping the high hedge would be the easiest and quickest solution to one of our major defensive problems.
 
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MuchoDogYears said:
Hurley has been emphasizing in the media this past week how bad the defense has been recently. He's talked about possible player minute changes. And he has also emphasized that our centers need to provide better rim protection.

Our centers continue to do a high hedge out to the 3-point line, and farther. Clingan and Johnson were able to do that and STILL get back to the basket to defend the rim. Tarris can't and Eric is only slightly better.

Teams have scouted this and now wait for our center doing a high hedge and they drive to the basket with Tarris trailing behind, unable to alter or block the shot. Stopping the high hedge would be the easiest and quickest solution to one of our major defensive problems.
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The hedge is one thing for Tarris that hurts our D overall. The other is his help defense as he defends on the low block. He doesn’t leave on time to help impact a driver who beat his defender. He needs to leave his guy earlier because Villanova will also be trying to beat their guys off the dribble. But he has to do it without getting in foul trouble. Reibe also, big minutes for him today as well.
 
If Hurley coaches and plays the guys the way he did against Creighton, we lose IMHO. He needs to make changes and we will see if he does, and how that goes. I do not feel confident about this game.
 
Last game we had Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay absolutely clamped up. They shot something like 1-20. It was close because Duke Brennan was able to stay on the floor and dominated

The way our perimeter defense has been trending, I’m nervous relying on locking down their perimeter again. Force it to Tarris early, get Brennan out of the game, win the paint and win the game!
 
This game will show us the intestinal fortitude of this team. We got punked on Wednesday, fine. I wanna see fight today. I wanna effort and grit.
 
mauconnfan said:
The hedge is one thing for Tarris that hurts our D overall. The other is his help defense as he defends on the low block. He doesn’t leave on time to help impact a driver who beat his defender. He needs to leave his guy earlier because Villanova will also be trying to beat their guys off the dribble. But he has to do it without getting in foul trouble. Reibe also, big minutes for him today as well.
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You are right. He is slow to react. Not sure if he is hesitant or just foot speed slow. There are just times when he needs to abandon his normal big matchup and take on the driver. It is a big problem because it is being played again and again without adjustment.
 
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REB1094 said:
Last game we had Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay absolutely clamped up. They shot something like 1-20. It was close because Duke Brennan was able to stay on the floor and dominated

The way our perimeter defense has been trending, I’m nervous relying on locking down their perimeter again. Force it to Tarris early, get Brennan out of the game, win the paint and win the game!
Expand ...
Yea. I'm not confident. Those 2 won't play as poorly.
 
MuchoDogYears said:
Hurley has been emphasizing in the media this past week how bad the defense has been recently. He's talked about possible player minute changes. And he has also emphasized that our centers need to provide better rim protection.

Our centers continue to do a high hedge out to the 3-point line, and farther. Clingan and Johnson were able to do that and STILL get back to the basket to defend the rim. Tarris can't and Eric is only slightly better.

Teams have scouted this and now wait for our center doing a high hedge and they drive to the basket with Tarris trailing behind, unable to alter or block the shot. Stopping the high hedge would be the easiest and quickest solution to one of our major defensive problems.
Expand ...
Clingan was used in drop coverage not the high hedge
 
BTW I wouldn't consider this a bad loss if they dropped this one. Villanova has only lost to BYU, Michigan, St. John's ,Creighton (only outlier loss) & UCONN. Their coach is competent and they have enough guardplay to exploit our deficiencies.
 
If the guys Dan Hurley was blaming for the level of play versus Creighton and Georgetown don't get their zasses in gear this will be an embarrassment like Creighton.
St. John's beat Creighton by 27 today as one measure of how bad we were Wednesday.
 
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Scrutineer said:
If the guys Dan Hurley was blaming for the level of play versus Creighton and Georgetown don't get their zasses in gear this will be an embarrassment like Creighton.
St. John's beat Creighton by 27 today as one measure of how bad we were Wednesday.
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But is that something that he fixes in 2 days?
 
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