Villanova post game thread

[Hunt for 7]

I think the problem is Hurley continues to put the ball in his hands at the end of games and in tight spots expecting magic like Tristen could make, but it just doesn't happen. We need the ball in McNeeley's or Reed's hands in those moments.

I think he has to hope that Alex somehow snaps out of this and starts to shoot better. Liam is clearly our best player and as far as ceiling Alex may be our 5th best player again. But for this team to be competitive and make some noise in March Alex is going to have to resemble more of the shooter he was as a Freshman and Sophomore.

He is definitely a better defender this year than he was the last two years.

But if he is not shooting it well it has a negative impact on the rest of the team. The reason we went on the run while he was out is it freed up Liam to take charge and that is our best offense.

Also a shout out to Diarra we need him to play well too. But what you are seeing is a fifth year senior and I still think Nowell if he is playing as a fifth year senior would be every bit the player Hass is right now probably better.

Unfortunately, Pitino is right, when he said he is not recruiting high school players because there are like 5 or so of them a year that are good enough to compete and contribute right away and there is a handful of teams that get those players. That may change now that we are getting past the Covid years but the portal is like going after top level 5 stars.

 

[RuffRuff]

And we were down 14 with him playing the entire game until he hit the bench.

I love AK but the way he's been talked up doesn't match his performance on the court IMO.

Not sure we've ever had anyone quite like AK in a prime role. When we orbit around him, we feel like a stodgy team. When you stuff him in a 4-5 man role, he can splinter off productivity being in the periphery. He's best when he's hiding in the weeds, sneaking into the lane, popping out for an open 3, grabbing an offensive board. Clandestine he is, focal point he is not.

 

[Drfla]

I know Ball had a good game stats-wise dishing the ball (6 assists), but there was 1 fast break where if he gets Reed the ball properly, it's an easy dunk/layup, but Solo waited too long to feed Reed, and he ended up catching the ball almost under the basket. Got hacked and went to the FT line (made 1 of 2), but I was like "Man, that should have been an easy alley-opp/dunk". But I'm more nitpicking...the fact Ball had 6 assists is very good for him.

Ball did a nice job feeding the post; running the fast break, not so good.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think he has to hope that Alex somehow snaps out of this and starts to shoot better. Liam is clearly are best player and as far as ceiling Alex may be our 5th best player again. But for this team to be competitive and make some noise in March Alex is going to have to resemble more of the shooter he was as a Freshman and Sophomore.

He is definitely a better defender this year than he was the last two years.

But if he is not shooting it well it has a negative impact on the rest of the team. The reason we went on the run while he was out is it freed up Liam to take charge and that is our best offense.

Also a shout out to Diarra we need him to play well too. But what you are seeing is a fifth year senior and I still think Nowell if he is playing as a fifth year senior would be every bit the player Hass is right now probably better.

Unfortunately, Pitino is right, when he said he is not recruiting high school players because there are like 5 or so of them a year that are good enough to compete and contribute right away and there is a handful of teams that get those players. That may change now that we are getting past the Covid years but the portal is like going after top level 5 stars.

Pitino is right. HS recruiting is also a bear, going out on that trail, wooing families. You're kicking out NIL to unprovens. There are also some programs that are so far ahead from a HS recruiting perspective, it would hard to crack the nut. The ROI is way better in the portal, which is 30 days long and transactional, not a 2 year court.

If the NYC streets were still filled with Kenny Anderson's, maybe you go for it. Those kids are all going out to prep schools to play away from home.

Five is too small a number, it's probably closer to 20. Still a small number. Most programs are figuring this out, some faster than others. Save you time and dollars for kids that are more mature, and proven.

 

[Gurleyman]

I still can't forget Taliek's 30 footer against Pittsburgh in the Big East championship game in 2002. Biggest shot that I remember from him.

One weird outlier is that Caron was pretty much the 9th best player on the floor in that famous 100-98 win at Arizona when Emeka and Ben had their national introductions.

But sophomore Taliek also had 21 on 8-11 shooting, 2-3 from 3 and 3-3 at the line, with five assists and one turnover - and hit back to back driving layups in OT to take us from down 3 to up 1. He looked like the player we thought we were getting.

 

[3rdbass]

I like Deni a lot. Think he can bring more to the table than Max. I’ll throw Jamie Jaquez in there as a wing who can do some of everything too

Jamie is more athletic than McNeeley and a little better creating offense but I can see some comparisons. Though Jaime was a Sr. and McNeeley is only a Freshman so he had a lot more time to mature his game. I hope McNeeley can get more athletic as I think that is the only part that holding him back a little(Still a decent athlete).

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I like Deni a lot. Think he can bring more to the table than Max. I’ll throw Jamie Jaquez in there as a wing who can do some of everything too

That’s why I said better Strus. Strus can do a bit of everything too. I think Liam is more versatile and creative than Jaime.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I used to feel badly about commenting mid-year on whether certain players should or should not return. I no longer feel that way. College players are free agents every year. They can leave at will for greener pastures. Why should I not comment on their status, whether positively or negatively? With that premise out of the way, Ross and Stewart are not what we thought they were. Aidan is not what we thought he was. Reed, Jr. is an enigma; which version do you get on a given night? Grizzly Bear or Pooh? Nowell and Abraham clearly must suck in practice because if they brought anything to the table they would have played more this year. I know that we cannot and will not replace all of these guys. I am not saying we should. All I am saying that these players were recruitment errors. Five recruitment errors in the same time frame is hard to overcome. If we want to recreate the last two years, we need to plug those holes.
Next year's roster is incomplete. And while I think that Alex is playing himself into a 4th year of college ball, these errors have to be fixed.

 

[3rdbass]

That’s why I said better Strus. Strus can do a bit of everything too. I think Liam is more versatile and creative than Jaime.

I don't see it. Also, Jaime has Liam beat in pure athleticism. He is a really good jumper and can move laterally pretty well. I think this is where Liam needs to improve to bring his game to the next level.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Unfortunately, Pitino is right, when he said he is not recruiting high school players because there are like 5 or so of them a year that are good enough to compete and contribute right away and there is a handful of teams that get those players. That may change now that we are getting past the Covid years but the portal is like going after top level 5 stars.

The research we just did on the guards alone a few pages ago shows that’s not true.

Maybe St John’s can’t draw the highly rated ones that are top 50. So it would make sense for him to hit the portal rather than scrap the barrel finding fringe top 100 gems.

 

[freescooter]

I never saw people crucifying Bazz for being the worst PG in Calhoun's era. I think most in the BY loved what he brought to the game and his killer instinct.

Right. He was the 6th man as a freshman for the most part.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Jamie is more athletic than McNeeley and a little better creating offense but I can see some comparisons. Though Jaime was a Sr. and McNeeley is only a Freshman so he had a lot more time to mature his game. I hope McNeeley can get more athletic as I think that is the only part that holding him back a little(Still a decent athlete).

Yeah he doesn’t have the athleticism of a Jaime and he doesn’t have the length of a Deni, but they’re good comps for him skill wise.

 

[RuffRuff]

Reed can do some serious damage if we get him the ball where he needs it. One good thing I noticed yesterday was that Solo made a couple of nice passes into the post to Reed. Love just about everything about Diarra but the thing I noticed is that he is terrible feeding the post. So maybe Solo will be a better option getting the ball to Reed in the right place.

My question has been whether Reed makes himself available enough as I have watched him daisy pick on offense. Yesterday he was sealing his man actively, often and calling for the ball. We missed plenty of opportunities dumping the ball into him. Need more of that.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I don't see it. Also, Jaime has Liam beat in pure athleticism. He is a really good jumper and can move laterally pretty well. I think this is where Liam needs to improve to bring his game to the next level.

He’s more athletic, he’s not like some crazy athlete though, and certainly doesn’t play like one.

 

[3rdbass]

He’s more athletic, he’s not like some crazy athlete though, and certainly doesn’t play like one.

Not sure Liam will ever jump as high as him but definitely an area where he can improve is his lateral quickness which will help him do well in the NBA.

 

[Gurleyman]

I used to feel badly about commenting mid-year on whether certain players should or should not return. I no longer feel that way. College players are free agents every year. They can leave at will for greener pastures. Why should I not comment on their status, whether positively or negatively? With that premise out of the way, Ross and Stewart are not what we thought they were. Aidan is not what we thought he was. Reed, Jr. is an enigma; which version do you get on a given night? Grizzly Bear or Pooh? Nowell and Abraham clearly must suck in practice because if they brought anything to the table they would have played more this year. I know that we cannot and will not replace all of these guys. I am not saying we should. All I am saying that these players were recruitment errors. Five recruitment errors in the same time frame is hard to overcome. If we want to recreate the last two years, we need to plug those holes.
Next year's roster is incomplete. And while I think that Alex is playing himself into a 4th year of college ball, these errors have to be fixed.

I don't know about errors just yet - Ross and Abraham were sort of out of the "instant help" section of the recruiting rankings and were more guys we hoped to develop into role players or maybe more. Stewart was a little higher, but wasn't necessarily a plug and play type either, and he had some key contributions last year. Nowell higher than that, but hard to know if his trajectory would have been different if he had been healthy. Half the battle is doing things in practice enough that they become more instinctual on gamedays, rather than something you have to think about.

But all 13 guys aren't going to play and you need some guys waiting in the wings and pushing the starters in practice. Ball and Ross and Singare and Romuglou all had their behind the scenes part in last year's title too, even without playing time.

Mahaney was a miss and it's sort of hard to figure that one out. We watched hours and hours of St. Mary's tape a couple years ago, and scouted him heavily and put in a game plan on how to defend him (and exploit him). We saw him up close and it didn't look like he was out of place on the floor against us. But he hasn't turned the corner with multiple opportunities and it is what it is at this point - and I feel like our staff maybe should have recognized that he is stuck between positions and not a natural for our system (unless maybe we had size at the 1, such as Newton or Castle). Otherwise, our roster construction would probably be ok - with plenty of scoring punch in the starting lineup with some defensive (Diarra, Ross) and offensive (Stewart, Reed) options off the bench, plus whatever Nowell could give us as he cut his teeth.

 

[Deleted at users request]

He’s more athletic, he’s not like some crazy athlete though, and certainly doesn’t play like one.

Hard to remember Jaime was in the dunk contest. Lol

 

[Gurleyman]

Not sure we've ever had anyone quite like AK in a prime role. When we orbit around him, we feel like a stodgy team. When you stuff him in a 4-5 man role, he can splinter off productivity being in the periphery. He's best when he's hiding in the weeds, sneaking into the lane, popping out for an open 3, grabbing an offensive board. Clandestine he is, focal point he is not.

Closest comparison I can think of who struggled with heavier leadership expectations and becoming the focal point is Albert Mouring. He was a bench/role guy on the title team, made a bit of a leap as a junior and was very efficient around KEA/Free/Jake, and then was sort of in a "I have to be the veteran leader" mode as a senior when we brought in Caron and Taliek. He was sort of a quiet, unassuming guy who was better suited in a complementary role.

 

[superjohn]

I get what you're saying but they also would have had a 20pt advantage in that first half instead of 14 if AK could have made a wide open 3 before sitting with 2 fouls, they would have had more of a cushion to play with if he could make a basket on top off of all of the other things he does. he's had way too many disappearing acts offensively in these close losses.

AK is averaging 10 points per game on 16% three point shooting against the 5 top Big East teams this season- St. John's, Marquette, Creighton, Xavier, Nova.

 

[Gutter King]

Ball did a nice job feeding the post; running the fast break, not so good.

Baby steps! Though we are in the neck of the woods where you'd like to see all of these things starting to come together.

One thing is for certain, against St. Johns it would be very key for him to have his second great half court passing game in a row. Reed will be the predominant 5 in that one, and absolutely needs to be involved early and often.

 

[Sibeerian]

Surely winning is better than losing.

Dammit tedstriker you were supposed to say don't call me shirley.

 

[aceboon]

AK is averaging 10 points per game on 16% three point shooting against the 5 top Big East teams this season- St. John's, Marquette, Creighton, Xavier, Nova.

...and when you point this out people think we want him to be Gonzaga Adam Morrison, going for 25+. We just want him to try to get 15 points in games they're losing by 1 or 2 possessions. His lack of production is killing them in these close games.

 

[Zissou]

You hearing any names on who is replacement will be?

We are still collecting names of coaches with good potential but no actual head coaching experience.

 

[HCCForever]

Closest comparison I can think of who struggled with heavier leadership expectations and becoming the focal point is Albert Mouring. He was a bench/role guy on the title team, made a bit of a leap as a junior and was very efficient around KEA/Free/Jake, and then was sort of in a "I have to be the veteran leader" mode as a senior when we brought in Caron and Taliek. He was sort of a quiet, unassuming guy who was better suited in a complementary role.

Didn't Calhoun want Albert to wait a year to start playing?

Speaking of Mouring and NY guards, I remember a game against St. Johns. Albert was guarding Omar Cook. Omar seemed pretty cocky to me. You could easily read Omar's lips saying to Albert, "you think you're macho beech". Cracked me up.

 

[cp176]

My question has been whether Reed makes himself available enough as I have watched him daisy pick on offense. Yesterday he was sealing his man actively, often and calling for the ball. We missed plenty of opportunities dumping the ball into him. Need more of that.

Is there any part of our offense that emphasizes getting the ball to the low post?