Villanova Post Game Thread

[uchusky32]

Close road win in the BE. Not DePaul. I'll take it. These were games we lost last year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

... and Duke goes down to Pitt. This has turned out to be a good day.

Texas over Baylor is also a sneaky-nice result for our resume and for knocking off another prospective top 2 seed.

 

[Zonepress]

I’m not saying I thought it was lopsided, they just allowed tons of off-ball contact and holds. It just is what it is, it’s clearly how this league wants the games called, but it’s an ugly brand of basketball. There’s a reason there were SO MANY late game heaves on both sides.

Couldn’t agree more
If it wasn’t UConn playing
Would u really want to watch a 60
Point wrestling match

 

[BGesus4]

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

 

[superjohn]

Huh? He had some brain farts but he also shut down the paint.

He's an incredible defender. I can live with the occasional brain fart. He'll tighten things up as he rounds into form.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Runs of 11-0, 11-0, and 13-0 and we win by 1(4). Strange game.

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.

 

[slepers]

Or the free throw shooting yikes

They shot 75%

 

[Huskyforlife]

Why do some people yearn for negativity? That was a really big Q1 win. And you found a way to harp on negativity. Sorta weird.

Because this place would be boring if every post was “yay we’re so awesome go UConn.”

We looked vulnerable without Castle and Don. Injuries are a real thing, and we’ll be lucky if nobody in our top 7 misses anymore time. Ball and Stewart are real talents, capable of more than what they’ve shown, I believe in them to figure out a contributing role this season. Also having depth keeps your starters fresh, and less worried about picking up fouls.

 

[navery12]

Made 75% and shot well late but missed some front ends of one and ones. Every point counts and it’s not deniable that this year’s squad hasn’t shot free throws as well as last year’s. I’m very happy with the win but would love to see a slight uptick at the line.

This is just blatantly not true. We missed 6 free throws and not a single one was the front end of a 1 and 1. Clingan and Johnson both had 0/2 trips on a shooting foul, and Newton/Castle both had a 1/2 trip

 

[uconngb]

Justin Moore applying the same hook move on back to back possessions sure was veteran savvy.

Until he got called for it…..,twice!!!

 

[HooperScooper]

I thought the refs did a very good job

21 fouls called on Nova and 14 on the good guys. No complaining about the refs for the next 8 days please.

 

[navery12]

Because this place would be boring if every post was “yay we’re so awesome go UConn.”

We looked vulnerable without Castle and Don. Injuries are a real thing, and we’ll be lucky if nobody in our top 7 misses anymore time. Ball and Stewart are real talents, capable of more than what they’ve shown, I believe in them to figure out a contributing role this season. Also having depth keeps your starters fresh, and less worried about picking up fouls.

If the standard is that we'll struggle without 2 of our 5 starters then there are 0 good teams this year. It would be nice to get more from Ball and Stewart, but that's a nice bonus, not necessary

 

[Palatine]

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

 

[Kolumbo]

I don’t disagree that they pushed his minutes a bit more than they should, but you’re focusing on the negative and not recognizing that when he was in, Nova guys were by and large settling for bad mid-range shots or pulling the ball back out because his drop coverage was dominating the pick and roll.

Well, if he's gonna play just dunk once in a while rather than miss bunnies and post up once in a while.

 

[uconngb]

I'm pissed it came down to the final seconds. Clingan should not have played 24 minutes. I mean, he was just not good.

What are you talking about???

 

[TheHorde]

This is just blatantly not true. We missed 6 free throws and not a single one was the front end of a 1 and 1. Clingan and Johnson both had 0/2 trips on a shooting foul, and Newton/Castle both had a 1/2 trip

I may have that wrong. But we are shooting 72.8% from the line this year. That is blatantly true. I really really really hope that does not come back to bite us in a nail biter during the tournament. Villanova shot almost 83% tonight. That’s more along the lines of what the 2022-2023 UConn team brought.

 

[Huskyforlife]

We also executed well the last 3 minutes. Didn't like the crazy long three from Tristen with a minute left but everything else was spot on. It's so rare we've been tested like that which made it nice to see them look calm in handling their business.

Newtons never phased by anything. Sometimes you wonder if he’s too relaxed, but he tends to make enough big and clutch plays because the moment never bothers him.

 

[Bomber36]

Because this place would be boring if every post was “yay we’re so awesome go UConn.”

We looked vulnerable without Castle and Don. Injuries are a real thing, and we’ll be lucky if nobody in our top 7 misses anymore time. Ball and Stewart are real talents, capable of more than what they’ve shown, I believe in them to figure out a contributing role this season. Also having depth keeps your starters fresh, and less worried about picking up fouls.

Remember when El-Amin got injured in the post season. Not saying we win that year, but we probably get closer.

 

[GameTime]

This game is the official requiem for "Hurley cannot win a close game".
He has won multiple close games, home or away, big or small ball.
This team has the mettle of a champion led by veterans Sir Newton and Spencer.
A special shout out to Castle, calmly sunk 2 free throws after that nasty fall.

You only spitting facts!

 

[DogMania]

Gritty win on a night where Spencer and AK struggled with their deep ball.

I'm still a tad concerned with Castle. The half court motion offense seems to lose its mojo with Castle out there. He's simply not decisive in the flow of the offense. He needs to make quicker pass/drive decisions. We all can see he's struggling with his 3 ball. He makes some nice ad-lib passes and has an impressive one-on-one iso power dribble game, which translates more to the NBA game. Though I wish he'd be more decisive more often with his power game. He's a great defender. Just wish he'd figure out Hurley's motion-O since the team is at their best when executing it with pace. Still a lot of games to improve.

Newton keeps on coming up huge late in games.

It was a gritty win. They never lost their composure in a tough hostel court.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

We also executed well the last 3 minutes. Didn't like the crazy long three from Tristen with a minute left but everything else was spot on. It's so rare we've been tested like that which made it nice to see them look calm in handling their business.

With an offense this good that’s all it comes down to. Execution. There’s not much of a need for hero ball. The shots are going to be there.

Part of the reason there’s not much reason to worry in situations like tonight.

 

[TheHorde]

They shot 75%

Yup. And 72.8% on the season. Now compare that to last year. The margin of error in the tournament will likely not be nearly what it was last year. Villanova shot almost 83% tonight.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Well, if he's gonna play just dunk once in a while rather than miss bunnies and post up once in a while.

He went 3/4 in 24 minutes in his second game back while being pretty dominant defensively. Whatever you expect from him, it’s unrealistic.

 

[HooperScooper]

Whille he did take some head scratching bad shots Tristen imho put to bed the argument that this teamd doesnt have a guy that can go get a bucket when we need it.

The three he took from 30 feet after making one on the previous possession from 25 feet was a head scratcher. But he came up big when it counted.

Anyone else as nervous as I was when he went to the line with 4 seconds left? But he calmly nailed them both.

 

[uconnfan68]

21 fouls called on Nova and 14 on the good guys. No complaining about the refs for the next 8 days please.

Only 21? They fouled every possession.