Villanova post game thread

[Dutch Boyd]

Was at the game tonight. If my math maths I’m 27-0 in games I’ve attended the last 3 seasons. I might have to attend the rest lol

 

[alphasigko]

Finally Coach Dan kept Samson, Ross and Mahaney on the bench during the last 8 minutes. Hopefully Coach learned something tonite: specifically, start Reed from here on out.

 

[ValleyGuy]

That beast rebound and put back by Stewart may have been the punch in the face this team needed. That was a grown man rebound and every person on the team responded.

I went from we may not make the tournament to locking in another UConn natty bet at +8000, after that play.

 

[auror]

I’m a big Reed guy and have been advocating for more of him but don’t the advanced metrics say most of our best lineups are with Johnson? @auror maybe you can weigh in?

I just wonder if the staff sees something we don’t because Reed is that dude!

When teams are switching heavily, Reed becomes the much better option (see tonight, Memphis game, St. John's, I believe DePaul as well). He can punish a switch/mismatch much better than Samson. And in switching games, our flowing offense grinds down. When our offense is allowed to work without switching, Samson has the edge.

 

[storrsroars]

Where's he going?

Who said he is leaving?

I said he's leaving and I said why.

 

[3rdbass]

I said he's leaving and I said why.

Well don't be surprised he stays after this year to redeem himself. He gets a lot of Money from NIL and not sure it is a foregone conclusion he is going to the NBA next year.

 

[3rdbass]

He'll be 23 when next season starts. If he's going to go pro, it's time, even if it's 2nd round. And what @JustbrewitMan said.

He will be on a 2 way contract at best. Not sure that he is salivating on leaving for that.

 

[giddyup]

Don’t under estimate the significance of this win. That was the product of sheer will power overcoming the fear of losing. This might just reset the team’s mentality. Nothing more powerful than confidence.

 

[RuffRuff]

He will be on a 2 way contract at best. Not sure that he is salivating on leaving for that.

Still see lots of mocks with him late first, which is mind bending. Not sure how an NBA team drafts a kid who’s primarily skill is 3 point shooting, and is on a 6-47 ripper. Top that off with form that heaves the ball on a rotational axis similar to earth. I guess he’s tall.

 

[RuffRuff]

Don’t under estimate the significance of this win. That was the product of sheer will power overcoming the fear of losing. This might just reset the team’s mentality. Nothing more powerful than confidence.

So kinda like the Creighton win?

 

[DMIL]

A huge come-back win from 14 points down. Absolutely loved the dawgs in them. Diarra and Reed were huge in back2back key defense possessions that put Huskies up for good.
This game should put Reed vs Samson debate to rest.

Reed has been inconsistent and that's the issue. Sometimes he plays hard and smart, other times he plays uninspired, and not so smart. Certainly, a consistent Reed is the need. An inside out game with balance and that is not overly reliant on the 3 ball puts this team in position to be much more effective.

 

[uh-no]

So kinda like the Creighton win?

they'll practice inbounding the ball this time.

 

[giddyup]

So kinda like the Creighton win?

Na, this was more like pulling a plane out of nose dive that could have been unrecoverable if they lost.

 

[Okafour rings]

Plenty to take from that - he faced solid pressure, even got trapped once, but did not turn it over.

Given our PG play since Diarra's been hurt, that was pretty big.

I don't see anything positive about Nowell at this stage of the season. He got blown by twice with ease by Villanova players; missed his 1 shot that was not in the flow of the offense. He dribbles too long near midcourt instead of moving the ball.

 

[navery12]

He'll be 23 when next season starts. If he's going to go pro, it's time, even if it's 2nd round. And what @JustbrewitMan said.

Well that 2nd round possiblity is becoming increasingly unlikely by the day. Which is why I think he'll be back, something I didn't think was a possibility a few weeks ago. Not to mention it's a huge hole on the roster

 

[RuffRuff]

I don't see anything positive about Nowell at this stage of the season. He got blown by twice with ease by Villanova players; missed his 1 shot that was not in the flow of the offense. He dribbles too long near midcourt instead of moving the ball.

Yeah, I’m in the same boat. If you want to tell amazing value giving Hass rest, that it a low bar. He didn’t really show me anything that some other frosh PG couldn’t do. 100% uneventful minutes. I found him to be kinda unsmooth looking to he honest.

 

[RuffRuff]

Well that 2nd round possiblity is becoming increasingly unlikely by the day. Which is why I think he'll be back, something I didn't think was a possibility a few weeks ago. Not to mention it's a huge hole on the roster

Really is wild to consider. Mixed feelings on it.

 

[Kolumbo]

 

[jake14mw]

Remember back in October when we were all saying that depth was a key strength of this team? Seems like a long time ago.

 

[BoukofJames]

AK has taken over 500 threes in his career and is a 37.5% shooter. Of course he’s trending down but I don’t think a 47 shot sample size is going to wipe him off draft boards in a class bereft of floor spacers

 

[DogMania]

I’m a big Reed guy and have been advocating for more of him but don’t the advanced metrics say most of our best lineups are with Johnson? @auror maybe you can weigh in?

I just wonder if the staff sees something we don’t because Reed is that dude!

Reed had a huge game and played well tonight but it seems everyone seemed to forget that he's had a very bad stretch where he's played poorly on defense, soft on offense and struggling with foul trouble, resulting with him sitting instead of playing. .

When he plays like a Grizzly Bear, he's truly a beast, but he still hasn't shaken his tendeny of playing passively.

Now I do agree the coaching staff hasn't done a consistent job of drawing up some offense that gets him the ball in the paint more often.

I'm curious to see how this plays out down the stretch and if Tarris reverts back to the Teddy Bear or plays from this moment on as the Kodiak Bear.

 

[auror]

I skimmed the comments, but not sure anyone commented on how great the late clock play was compared to other efforts this season. Nova had a guard on Karaban, we used Karaban to set the screen. They didn't want to switch that dude on to McNeeley, so McNeeley got downhill. Drew the help, found Reed early before the defender could get the passing lane. Just A+ execution.

 

[jake14mw]

Was going to a movie so I turned it off at 16-6, we were looking B-A-D...

You lost me here...

 

[bendm]

…it’s just that the recruiting and roster building was being done with the assumption that he’d be a Pro next year.

Transfer / Adams
Ball / Furphy
Mullins / Ross
Karaban / Stew
Reed / Reibe

if Alex isn’t the starting PF next year then we need to get 2 starters out of the portal. Alex can go back to being the fifth leading scorer and glue guy.

 

[Huskies990411]

I did but the whole team played poorly in the first half. He played great D in the second half and he is clearly the most athletic wing we have. In comparison I have seen nothing from Ross to even warrant 2 minutes. He is clearly playing a level above his skillset. I don't feel that way about Stewart. He just needs more confidence and able to play through his mistakes.

I don’t feel that way about Stewart either. I would love to see him play to his ability bc we’d be a much better team if he did, and agree with others he has a lot in his bag.

I just don’t think what’s lacking is a freedom to play through mistakes. He’s seventh on the team in minutes and over the last ten games coming into tonight, averaging 25mpg, all starts. He’s not the only one, but he just didn’t contribute with enough consistency during that stretch and at times has been unplayable defensively (besides the Dixon round one anomaly). Checks in tonight and commits a careless live ball turnover and immediately lets up an offensive rebound off a mixed box out. I think the same could be said for a few others, but with Stewart it feels more like a need to be focused, locked in defensively and consistently playing with the same toughness he showed grabbing the rebound for a put back late in the second half.