We are not going to win the championship playing the way we have been and rebounding is the biggest reason
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Villanova Post Game Thread
- Thread starter temery
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I love that we are winning.
What I don’t love is that I feel like there’s been regression as a team from the beginning of the season, specifically offensively (defense is fine). There’s time to put it together, but it seems like the ceiling for this team offensively is noticeably lower from the 22-23 and 23-24 teams.
At some point, we are who we are. Atleast we know how to win!!!
What I don’t love is that I feel like there’s been regression as a team from the beginning of the season, specifically offensively (defense is fine). There’s time to put it together, but it seems like the ceiling for this team offensively is noticeably lower from the 22-23 and 23-24 teams.
At some point, we are who we are. Atleast we know how to win!!!
Yeah, that’s because the refs let everyone foul us constantly. I’ve never seen so much fouling. Wait to we get into the tournament.
nelsonmuntz
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Acaden Lewis played a stupid, selfish game today, and was a big reason for UConn’s win. Freshmen become sophomores, and some start to do that by the end of their freshman year. If Lewis grows up just a little, Villanova could be really dangerous in the Tournament.
Have you been to the Kentucky forum, yikes
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Def an ingredient missing in this offensive stew. We get no easy buckets at all.
We got nothing on Rupp Rafters. No one does.
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The offense looked like it got bogged down but there were plenty of easy buckets we just missed most of them. Missed around 10 layups.
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Thanks man! Much appreciated.
One thing I wish that Silas did more is press his advantage and get his defender to foul him when Silas’ defender is playing too close to him. I feel that Silas could just attack at the defender’s side who wouldn’t be able to get out of the way and would get called for a blocking foul. UConn could get into the bonus sooner if he did this more; the opportunity was there today.
My concern was his needing assistance walking off. I've had a few concussions myself and even though I didn't remember anything, I stillhad my balance. He will probably be out multiple games.
Danny was pretty blunt in his post game interview today. Basically he said this team currently is not ready to win the title. They can't close out games and they can't sustain high performance. Lots of improvement needs to occur over the next few weeks.
He also implied that Reed has to dramatically improve his rebounding and his play around the rim. I think the inside game is and Reed's game in particular is one area that Danny is probably the most disappointed in so far this year. Of course he's used to recent Uconn great centers leading them to championship so I think he expected more from Reed coming into this year.
He also implied that Reed has to dramatically improve his rebounding and his play around the rim. I think the inside game is and Reed's game in particular is one area that Danny is probably the most disappointed in so far this year. Of course he's used to recent Uconn great centers leading them to championship so I think he expected more from Reed coming into this year.
Still he was on the bench cheering them on for the rest of the game. I highly doubt if he was feeling dizzy or any symptoms at all that they would let him sit on the bench like that.
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Florida last year shot 72.8% as a team on the season. Kansas in 2022 shot 71.7% overall on the season. Is that any different than this UConn team who is shooting 71.2%? I could go through all the other championship teams of the last 10 years if you'd like me to.
I don't really understand the consternation over the free throw shooting. Is it great? No. Is it bad? No. Will it be an issue? Well overall I would say no but I'm sure there will be a game or two where they don't shoot free throws well and it will cost them. But in general it's not a problem. 4 starters are 80% or better. Reed is the only real issue at 61.2%, which isn't terrible for a center. Reibe, Stewart and Smith off the bench are the problems but generally in crunch time they're not on the floor, barring foul problems. Today and some of the other close games the team nailed them late and in OT when they needed them because the right guys were shooting them.
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And I ultimately think that will have been the right call, as long as the offense cleans up by March. As nerve racking as it has been, we would not be 19-1 right now with last year's defense.
Its an OK but not great passing team. That's the biggest difference. 2023 had Newton, and Jackson as plus passers in the starting lineup and Diarra and Clingan off the bench (who were, positionally at least, plus passers). 2024 had Cam and Castle (who are getting 10+ assists here and there in the NBA) plus Newton and Clingan in the starting lineup and Diarra off the bench.
So far this year the only consistently plus passer is Silas and he took some time to figure out the offense. Mullins is a great shooter and a solid post entry passer but not really a creator for others. Ball is much much better than last year as a creator but he's not close to any of the ones I listed in 2023 or 2024. Reed is mercurial as a passer. Stewart is actually a very good post entry passer and shows flashes from the foul line down to the post but is far from consistent.
So you get a lot of quick passes around the perimeter and solid post passes but no real creation with passing from the squad as a whole which makes for harder looks all around. Similar issue to last year in that (especially once Liam and Diarra got hurt). Maybe just me seeing this but when it isn't Silas delivering the pass the pass seems just a fraction late to the cutter, or guy curling off a screen which is giving defenders enough time to get around the screen and challenge shots.
Note: I just left Karaban off all of this because he has been the same as a passer for four years, solid but not creative. Great screener though.
On the game:
On the plus side Silas is an absolute defensive monster this year, and he is running the PG position really well. Ball finally started making some shots and really scored from all over. I hope that isn't just this game with his three shot - the rest of his game is so much better than last year already. Tarris played decently in a game where they just let over the back calls not exist. Karaban came alive in the second half. Stewart played some solid defense for the most part. And Reibe was mostly very solid. Overall, both teams missed so many layups it was frustrating to watch. I hated how the refs called over the backs this game - or rather, didn't. Also, I get why UConn hedged but this was the most aggressive I've seen it in years. Not sure how I feel about that, but it did work in mucking up Novas offense, though it did give some open shots also.
Negatively I was hoping Ross would heal up and get back to what he was playing like before his injury but maybe he needs actual game time to get there - he did look mostly better than last game on defense (Aside from that really nice dribble-drive by Lewis). Need Smith to get back in form also, he has been off since Silas started playing well. As much as I like Stewart on defense, he and Ross need to combine for about 10-12 a game, they have been zeros (not literally but close) recently on offense. That Mullins injury, man he looked like he got knocked out, glad he made it back to the bench and appeared focused from there. I expect he'll be out for a bit, hope he can come back and be OK this season.
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Fascinating is that our OKP last year was ranked 15th, in what was a much stronger overall field. Our defense was 74. Now we are 37 in O, 4 in D.
Meanwhile we should have a better offensive roster this year. It's hard to figure out why this O is struggling so much.
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FIFY
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Where do you see Malachi looking for his own shot? His problem offensively is ball pounding aimlessly and not delivering passes on time.
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I do think UConn's FT shooting needs to be better in the clutch as their 2-8 down the stretch of the Georgetown game left me incensed. However, if UConn gets their FT % around 75% and shoots them well in the clutch (last 5 minutes of a close game) they will be good. Almost every year the top 10 FT shooting teams in the country shoot between 78%-81%. That's what Villanova did for a while as they lead the country in FT % few years in a row. UConn's 2014 team, which was their best FT shooting team was at 77.7%, but was in the 90% range in the NCAAT.
I also think his teammates can do a better job of getting themselves open so he can make that first pass and then Malachi and others can move and run their offense. If Malachi gets the ball of DHOs while he is in motion it will help him penetrate as he is a fast player or get wide open 3s.
Right now, the Malachi and the bench are simply not doing enough. I know role players play better at home then on the road so I gave a pass or mulligan to them at Providence where they got outscored 41-3-Jaylen was the only impact player off the bench in that game. However, since that game the bench has not given enough whether on the road or at home even if they are better at home. Just look at Hurley's actions and his substitution patterns. It reveals he doesn't trust the bench and I don't blame him. Ross and Stewart played a 19 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively in this game and produced a grand total of 2 points with some good hustle plays and defense here and there. That's not good enough.
Remember the whole idea was UConn would wear teams down with their depth? That idea is on life support at the moment. Hopefully, the bench can raise their level. Hurley will most likely have to stagger his substitutions more. For example, have Ross sub for Solo/Mullins with the other 4 starters in the game. This of course includes the situational offense for defense substitutions. He might have to resort to having no more than 2 bench players on the court at the same time.
Yeah I was excited when UConn got fouled on the defensive rebound when they were up 59-58 with 2:23, but immediately got less enthusiastic when I saw it was Ross going to the line. He did not look like he wanted to be on the line as he made the Josh Boone face.
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I think they've done a pretty good job of that this season. Karaban, Demary and Ball have been pretty good on FTs in those spots. You think they haven't?
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Dan Hurley said we were 3 for 14 or 4 for 13 at the rim this game. That is not a recent anomaly and watching Villanova today it seemed they don't get as deep when they're putting the ball up and thus have some space to get the shot off cleanly as opposed to our guys putting up the same type shots more in traffic and missing.
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They too often execute the multi-action motion offense slowly and ineffectively. Too much standing around at times. Not sure why they can't run it with energy on a consistent basis.
Teams often grab and clutch off the ball to mess with the timing, but too often I see them just stand there, then run slowly to where they're supposed to go. This offense is supposed to produce offensive advantages, but we're not seeing from them quick, effective and efficient execution, and I don't know why.
Smith, who I root for and hope he gets back on track, dribbles way too much and fails to deliver the ball when teammates do run the sets adequately and get open. There are times as noted above, the off the ball movement and screens are ineffective and teammates aren't presenting Smith or Demary good passing options. But too often I see the player with the ball missing the open teammate rolling or back cutting to the basket or flaring out for an open J. When they do execute these types of play it's beautiful to watch. Just not seeing enough of it.
With that said, they seem to execute just enough to make plays, have some spurts and make winning plays when needed.
A side note, if in the first half they simply made most of their layups, makeable middies and a solid % of their 3s, they win that game game by a wide margin.
I realize they are 19-1, ranked #2, and have beaten a bunch of very good teams, but they sure seem to make it harder for themselves to pull out the W.
We've seen in the past some of our championship teams, have some rough stretches and multiple bad losses, to later put it all together and win it all. Maybe this year's team will continue to gut out some ugly wins but eventually put it all together and steamrole everyone in their path like they did in 2023 and 2024. I remain hopeful.
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We were waiting for the official review as well and couldn't believe the refs just moved on after watching a player being guided off the floor by two people to keep him upright and balanced.
Anyone here know the rule on when a play is automatically reviewed?
Would Dan Hurley have been allowed to challenge a "no call"?
If he could have called for a review can anyone suggest why he didn't ask for a review?
It was like a bad joke that a player gets hit in the head practically in front of the ref and the player ends up on his back unable to get up without assistance and nothing gets called.