Villanova Post Game Thread

[Deleted at users request]

I think the bigger issue is that he played 3 minutes today and I can think of at least one instance of him getting blown by. He's just a guy who needs a little bit longer. You can see all the tools are there, he's just not at that point where he's playing instinctually at this level yet.

I think Castle is actually dealing with some of the same issues, but he's a 5-star talent for a reason, and really exceptional defensively for a freshman.

He’s far from the only guy on the team with that issue. If he could contribute offensively at all it may be something we could give him rope on like the others. But since he isn’t doing much on that end, there’s no room for it. His defense was a strength when he was playing often too.

I’m fully confident once he has the proper role next year he’ll blossom like we all know he could.

 

[formerlurker]

Did I miss the postgame presser videos?

 

[Tyler2Rings]

How they lost all of their Big 5 games to Philly teams I will never understand.

Villanova has owned the Big 5 for a decade. This year was some Philadelphia voodoo karma

 

[navery12]

I don't think Solo seeing less playing time has anything to do with his offensive performance though. Conference play started so the bench shortened, and Clingan + Castle are both healthy so there's less minutes available. Ball hasn't taken more than 1 shot in the last 5 games, and over that span he's averaging 6 mins a game, compared to the 25-30 he was getting during all of November and most of December.

The reality is that we're going to basically go 7 deep with some cameos from either Ball or Stewart depending on the matchup or the fouls. We only went 8 deep last year and that was with Clingan coming off the bench and a lot more upperclassmen with D1 experience

Don't even waste your time, nothing is ever good enough for him. He's far smarter than Hurley could ever dream of being

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Last year, Neptune reminded me a lot of Lappas. Good X's and O's coach that knew what he was doing, but just not a winner. I am coming around a bit on Neptune, but he has a Sweet 16 caliber team and anything less than a Sweet 16 appearance is a disappointment.

 

[NJHusky]

Villanova is good. Neptune is much more poised and impressive on the sidelines than he was last year. Villanova may actually do some damage this season.

How did they lose all their local games?

 

[freshler40]

Yea, I agree on a few head scratching plays by Newton. But, I am not sure we get the "clutch" Newton, without the "crazy" Newton baggage that comes along with it. It is a risk reward that is working out nicely for us.

The glass is much more than half full with Newton on the court. He is Clutch. Who else can wade in with a good defensive player on his back and make something happen????

 

[REB1094]

Couldn’t watch yesterday so just caught a replay. Why is that what I was doing at 6am? No idea

Congrats to Dan Hurley for ANOTHER close Q1 win

Newton MVP. He had an answer for all of Nova’s second half runs. Yeah he had some questionable shots, but 25 on 47% shooting means he did his job excellently

I said it last game too but Clingan really changes a game. Nova’s guards would stop in their tracks the second they saw him in the paint

Castle is elite at pretty much everything except shooting. Every shot looks different so there’s no consistency. This feels like something that could be ironed out with reps, which makes me think it’s more a confidence issue than an ability issue. Lockdown defense again, as always

If Jay Wright was coaching, that’d be 2 no calls on Moore and 4 points for Villanova. Their reputation is not what it used to be..

Credit Villanova, they fought hard and almost stole one after going down 11-0. But we kept composure down the stretch and closed it out. Rough ending for the people who took -1.5

 

[Eleven]

DC definitely a game changer. We lose last night without his presence in the paint.
Wish he could get his FT% to 70+ to give us another weapon down the stretch. As is, at 50%, can‘t risk having him hacked and missing clutch FT.

 

[freshler40]

I called it out when he was jacking all those 3s instead of driving to the rim that it was going to come back to bite him and here we are. Still not a big threat from 3 and not really comfortable attacking the basket so he has nothing he can go to.

I’m also not sure just how much time Stewart is going to get for the rest of the season now that DC is back. He played 3 minutes this game and 7 last game. Solo has played 3 minutes in his last 2 games too.

I really just don’t think the opportunity is going to be there for them to end up being impactful like a Joey or Alleyne later on. They might have to follow the Hawkins plan and just wait until they have more responsibility to show off their talent next season.

Both of the above-mentioned players have gotten in game minutes on a championship team with experience ahead of them. The get to practice against the best! They are growing within the brand.

 

[KembaRunner]

Newton’s look to karaban on the clutch 3 was a thing of beauty. Threw it to the open spot

Loved this pass so much. Rewound to watch it a few extra times.

 

[rich1122]

Or the free throw shooting yikes

75% . Need 80%+ in this league

 

[navery12]

75% . Need 80%+ in this league

What happens if you don't shoot 80%? Because 10 of the 11 teams shoot below 80%

 

[dingaling]

If SJ is our starting 5 next season, I can't see how that's a good thing at this point. Is anyone else seeing "wall potential"?

A lot of complaints about SJ today but if he transferred, we would be in much worse position right now if we had to rely on Singare instead.

 

[REB1094]

What happens if you don't shoot 80%? Because 10 of the 11 teams shoot below 80%

Not to pile on, but… there are exactly two teams in D1 that shoot 80% as a team. Villanova 81.8% and Stetson 81.1%. Maybe we can round up and include Wake Forest at 79.9%

Recent champions -
UConn 76.1%
Kansas 71.7%
Baylor 70.8%
Virginia 74.4%
Villanova 77.9%

 

[7774]

I don't think Solo seeing less playing time has anything to do with his offensive performance though. Conference play started so the bench shortened, and Clingan + Castle are both healthy so there's less minutes available. Ball hasn't taken more than 1 shot in the last 5 games, and over that span he's averaging 6 mins a game, compared to the 25-30 he was getting during all of November and most of December.

The reality is that we're going to basically go 7 deep with some cameos from either Ball or Stewart depending on the matchup or the fouls. We only went 8 deep last year and that was with Clingan coming off the bench and a lot more upperclassmen with D1 experience

Nothing’s even happening with Solo, he’s playing less because Diarra is playing awesome and taking his minutes.

 

[Dogdeacon]

They should count "deterreds".

Highlight of game was 20+ times when Nova players wanted NO part of shooting in the paint with Clingan nearby.

 

[Edward Sargent]

We should hold onto #1. -- Not that anyone cares.

Dunno that Duke loss to Pitt might push them into 1st

 

[husky429]

I appreciate that we're so good, we're decided the issue now is we shoot all of 3% worse from free throw than we should. I can live with that folks.

 

[Kolumbo]

I agree with everyone who says Clingan is a game changer because at 7'2" his presence alone will deter guards from driving to the paint. I suppose we can question the coaching staff for having Clingan in with the game on the line. Clingan ended up having to defend Moore at the arc with 37 seconds left in a 3 point game. The 4:54 mark of this video.

 

[Palatine]

If SJ is our starting 5 next season, I can't see how that's a good thing at this point. Is anyone else seeing "wall potential"?

Another Boneyard special. Players cannot improve over the course of their careers. What they are today, is what they will always be, this year, next year, forever.

Exhibit A: Diarra.

 

[jojipoji]

So you’ve would have pulled DC with a few mins left and let Dixon just dominate us on the boards. You are so clueless.

I agree with everyone who says Clingan is a game changer because at 7'2" his presence alone will deter guards from driving to the paint. I suppose we can question the coaching staff for having Clingan in with the game on the line. Clingan ended up having to defend Moore at the arc with 37 seconds left in a 3 point game. The 4:54 mark of this video.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Another Boneyard special. Players cannot improve over the course of their careers. What they are today, is what they will always be, this year, next year, forever.

Exhibit A: Diarra.

Who said this?

 

[Dove]

Great win. Except for the bowl of chocolate pudding in my underpants.

 

[mauconnfan]

He let a couple guys waltz right past him for easy buckets and committed some bad fouls. Did you see the end of the first half? And why is he fouling a 3 point shooter, doesn't make sense. He cost them quite a few points, he's just not ready for 24 minutes yet.

What a hangover you must have today? Lol I mean was he great, no but he was solid and made a huge difference. He can’t stand in the lane unless they’re playing a zone so your thought that people were flying by him is off. His foul on the 3 point shooter in the 2nd half wasn’t very smart at all. But his foul end of the first half was Dan Hurleys fault. The fact he was on the floor coming out of that minute time out was sacrilege. He was tired as hell and asked out two trips prior to the time out. He certainly didn’t get back ready to go in a short time out. He proceeded to get pushed underneath the basket by Dixon (who gets away with murder) then couldn’t react as needed. The fact he was out there was a terrible move.

But if you watch the game closely at least 9-10 times Nova players took their guys down to within a few feet of the basket but saw DC close by or on the weakside and threw passes back out not willing to take on the big man. He makes a huge difference to our defensive effort.

And if he doesn’t play 24 minutes we also get killed on the boards. SJ wasn’t awful but he has little impact on the backboards not good.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I think we could have deployed the small ball lineup in this game for a few minutes. It may have impacted their defense enough that we might have been able to get few more open looks from three. Understand Dixon might have been a problem but he likes playing at the three point line. We won so no real complaints. Winning on the road is tough. This was a big road win one of the four most difficult ones we had left.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Wild stat from last night, Lance Ware was -17 in his ten minutes and was not on the court for the 11-0 run to begin the game. Dixon was +20. UConn did a ton of damage with Dixon on the bench.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Ball and Stewart gotta figure out how to contribute, our lack of depth could be the death of this team.

Newton, Karaban and Spencer can all play 33 minutes or more, so having a 7 man rotation is not the end of the world. Whenever Ball
and Stewart enter the game, we immediately lose momentum, so I’d ratherboth just stay on the bench.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

My main point was that DC should not have played 24 minutes and based on your content, you agree. One could argue UConn wins a one point game because of Clingan. One could argue it was only a one point game because of Clingan. We will never know but a game in the 60's is not a game in UConn's wheelhouse. Nova shot slightly better from the field, from the arc, and from the line. Deterring guards is great but not if you can't defend the three. Nova also had more points in the paint. I'm a big fan of Clingan but I have to laugh at everyone who attacks someone for criticizing DC's offense and minutes.

No one is attacking you because you’re criticizing DC’s offense, we’re criticizing you because you called him “bad” overall yesterday, which is just a horrible take. The dude had the highest +/- on the team just FYI.

 

[alphasigko]

That's because Nova not getting those plays with Jay Wright gone as another poster mentioned. In the past we'd see Colin Gillespie's version of "backing down" which was knocking people into left field.

Castle wascall for the offense foul in the 1st half for doing exactly what Gillespie did throughout his career without the O-foul getting called.