Villanova Post Game Thread

[gsmooth]

It was a great battle that didn't go our way. March is so much better in the Big East.

I wanted a win badly but man it was a good game and we continue to trend up folks.

Very true. Jubilation after a win is great. a heartbreak after a loss in MSG to a rival hurts some, but I like that too. It is apathy and irrelevance that is the wors. we had that in 2017-2019 in the AAC especially in AAC tourney. Today it looks like less than 300 people are in Fort Worth for the Memphis-UCF game

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Hurley implied in an interview earlier this week that there were multiple players who caught the stomach bug thing over the last week but didn’t really elaborate exactly who got it other than Polley.

The efforts the guys all gave were great. Execution was off just off enough that we didn’t make 3-4 plays we usually finish. That was the game.

 

[superjohn]

I wasn't able to pay as close attention as I wanted, but I watched most of the game. I couldn't believe how many times I saw Sanogo missing not just layups, but like ... uncontested no question layups. Then he lost the rebound at the end too. He struggled mightily tonight.

Overall, our offense just doesn't have enough bucket getters. Martin is turning into a heckuva player, though.

Sanogo was fouled on the rebound, he couldn't secure it because Nova player was holding one of his arms.

 

[connVA]

yea the 15 and 13… on 15 shots. The rebounds are nice but missing 10 shots from 2 feet was absolutely the difference in the game. Also Cole 1-6 from 3 didn’t help. That being said they were still an awful call away from being tied at the end.

Yeah. Can’t win when your post guy is that inefficient. Even 50% is poor for a big man but less than that is a killer.

 

[AdamaNation]

The 13 rebounds is very good but he took a tremendous amount of shots, all with 3 feet of the basket and missed 75% as he did vs Hall - that is not a good look or going to get UConn where they need to be. Both he a Cole were not good this tournament offensively and UConn needs their offense.

His left hand is clearly bothering him. I think it’s a release thing as he moves a lot with the ball. Last night and tonight.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Nova played great and they are solid dudes. It's tough to consistently watch guys like Gillespie beat us with relatively simple isolation plays. A big part of me wishes he was somehow gone 2 years ago. But long term guys like Gillespie and teams like Nova are great for the league. Which is great for us. Tonight I bite my tongue and wish them well. If we are lucky we'll see them one more time.

 

[gsmooth]

Somethings off with his hand. He’s never been incredibly efficient. But something is bothering him

It might be from that game in Omaha

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Never will forget that Sanogo missed like 6 bunnies. Absolute heartbreak. Goddamnit

Im fuming in this fvc$ing subway ride home

 

[Austin316]

Nova played great and they are solid dudes. It's tough to consistently watch guys like Gillespie beat us with relatively simple isolation plays. A big part of me wishes he was somehow gone 2 years ago. But long term guys like Gillespie and teams like Nova are great for the league. Which is great for us. Tonight I bite my tongue and wish them well. If we are lucky we'll see them one more time.

Agreed.

Credit to Gillespie. Kid is a big east legend and he orchestrated Nova’s slow game plan well to UConn’s fast pace style of play.

 

[Marbles90]

Did I miss something? Was Polley in bounds on that 3 he shot?

I watched several times and he looked inbounds to me.

 

[Horatio]

His size and body type isn’t great for back to backs. He couldn’t get off the ground

This. Good point.

 

[connVA]

He complimented us post game. You always hate what beats you.

Looks like he should be a Duke-esque AH but, yeah, he seems like a good kid. I wish he were more hateable.

 

[huskyfan224]

That Dixon 3 was a killer

I laughed out loud when he hit. Of course he hits that in that moment, so lucky

 

[AdamaNation]

Gillespie is very easy to hate. He’s good, but he’s smug and annoying and gets all the calls.

In his defense. They called his wing thing that Gus mentioned in this game, like 2 or 3 times last night. We played well. Didn’t foul until the end. Went cold but didn’t get run out the gym. Actually hit threes just not at novas clip. What do you do? Seriously?defense totally fell apart at the end as they shot like 60% in the second half. But pick your poison. Gillespie is heady and essentially did what sanogo does under the rim but passed it to the open guy each time. Usually samuels. I would bet jay told him to just chuck it under as there will be someone there.

 

[BGesus4]

Should have never even been this close. Can't beat contenders with a center that is scared to dunk. Hope Sanogo figures it out this week

If he hasn’t figured it out yet, we may eventually have the best center to touch a basketball on our hands

Here I was thinking first team all big East and top 5 center in the country as a sophomore meant he knew how to play

 

[karstenkibbe]

Really frustrated with Sanogo’s performance tonight. And stop with the argument that he had a ton of rebounds.. he kept missing his own bunnies over and over and grabbed the offensive boards. Numbers sometimes lie. They did tonight for Adama.

On a positive note, I like where this team is at right now. Polley has been shooting well for the last few weeks and has been creating his own shots. Needs to do more of that. He can elevate and shoot over most of his defenders. I was an AJax pessimist for the first half of the season. He has changed my mind over the last six weeks. He can be a one-man difference maker in the NCAA tournament. Martin playing with focus and determination. I think we surprise some people, no matter where we’re seeded or who we’re matched up against.

 

[gsmooth]

Don't understand the hate for the kid. He's a great player, we took away his scoring so he killed us with the pass.

Me neither. I have no hatred towards Gillespi. He gave UConn tons of credit in his post game interview.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

I watched several times and he looked inbounds to me.

Does anyone have a picture of the shot? Couldn’t see on TV. Just a bizarre call for a ref to make if he was inbounds.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Can we talk about the AJ alley-oop at the end of the game…absolute killer demonstrating no situational awareness. Coming off a needed turnover where we really needed to convert he was playing like it was First Night.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

Tough loss to swallow. There were so many missed opportunities to win the game.

We don't have the depth yet to beat a team like Nova when our best player has a subpar game. I am giving Nova credit though, they played stellar team defense all night. Sanogo was rushing everything because of their swarming D.

We couldn't exploit our size. Sanogo and Whaley shot 6/18. Sanogo is getting a lot of heat but Whaley didn't score and had four rebounds. He played good defense but if we're playing two traditional bigs to counter Nova we need more. Those two shot 6/23 last night. 12/41 in the tournament. Not ideal from your frontcourt.

Guards and wings played a typical game. Quiet night for Polley. Defense was good across the board. On to the Big Dance.

I noticed Whaley passing up open shots trying to get it to Sanogo. It's waaay too forced. Everyone knows what we are trying to do and it's to our detriment. Our offense needs a more natural flow where everyone gets involved. Shoving down Sanogo's throat ain't it and it affects the other guys.

 

[traitor71]

This has been the issue all year. It’s just a fact. Play hard, but just not enough offensive firepower.

It's why I don't let myself get too up or down about this team. You know when you have a winner so to speak, and those are the teams that frustrate you when they don't execute. This team isn't quite there yet. They are going to have a chance to win most games they play, but if the opponent is a good team that knows what to do with the ball in their hands, then it's a lot of pressure for our offense to keep up. Thankfully there are only a handful of teams that fit that bill, so let's see what the bracket looks like.

 

[AdamaNation]

Just not enough shot making, period. They play hard, they play physical, they just aren't dynamic enough on the offensive end. Very difficult to win these games when you leave points off the board. Just get everyone ready to go for next week and see what the bracket looks like.

We lost on the defensive end in the second half yo be honest. The shot the lights out despite our best efforts. A little luck. Experience, game plan. Whatever we gave up some points.

 

[jdb50]

Scramble for the ball in the second half, we come up with it, Jackson passes to open Martin who had a layup blocked. Huge play in the game. Despite playing poorly on offense especially in second half we hung in there and had a chance. Seeing the missed free throws pile up you knew we could not afford it. Agree about getting Gaff in in the second half but Hurley seems to just go with his starters in the second half late in the season. No idea why Polley did not get a couple more second half minutes. We looked to be collapsing around the 8 minute mark of the second half and rallied. Credit to the team now let's go win a few more ballgames!

 

[traitor71]

We lost on the defensive end in the second half yo be honest. The shot the lights out despite our best efforts. A little luck. Experience, game plan. Whatever we gave up some points.

This is true, but there are going to be times when you have to shoot it out a bit, especially against upper tier teams. If we had one more creator, or one more shooter, someone who could open things up a bit, we would be there. I really believe it. We're just a little shy on firepower.

 

[AdamaNation]

I get upset at Sanogo then realize he's a soph not going pro. Eases the sting. He kind of seems gassed. Love ya kid. He needs to realize who he is again. A beast.

If Cole doesn't come back, maybe Hurley has evil plans for Andre as PG? May not be a bad idea.

Kids played hard. Nova did too. Could have gone either way, we definitely had our chances.

On to the big dance. Proud to be a Husky.

Speaking of Jackson. What a coming out for him. Great week. He really showed up.