Thursday, December 23, 2010

Monmouth Post Game: An Early Christmas Gift


An Evening in South Jersey
What can anyone say about a 76-36 win? I guess the coach summed it up nicely with "I like where we are right now".

The Athletic Department website posted the official boxscore and the AP wire story, "No. 8 Villanova Cruises to Easy 76-36 Win Over Monmouth", took a break from the negative tone of the past three games. I am confident the Philadelphia press will find something wrong with the Wildcats' performance. And if they do not, then they will complain about scheduling soft opponents. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent:Monmouth University 
 1st2ndGame 
Pace35.033.068.0
 Offense Defense
1st2ndGame1st2ndGame
Rating125.896.9111.848.657.653.0
eFG%65.546.656.025.028.026.5
TORate11.415.113.217.221.219.1
OR%12.526.320.014.820.017.0
FTA/FGA34.534.534.550.036.043.1
FTM/FGA20.717.219.015.420.017.6
ARate41.275.055.266.757.161.5
Blk%3.40.01.715.40.07.8
Stl%2.811.97.211.715.513.5
PPWS1.300.951.130.530.650.59
2FG%72.250.061.135.738.937.5
3FG%36.427.331.88.30.05.3
FT%60.050.055.030.855.640.9
%2FG59.156.357.958.873.766.7
%3FG27.328.127.617.60.08.3
%FT13.615.614.523.526.325.0

We will dispense with the green highlighting this time. Just assume that what is not red highlighted is green. There appeared to be a pronounced drop off in efficiencies the second half. The 44-17 scoring gap in the first half may have had something to do with that.

Notes & Observations
1. For the second straight game the staff emptied the bench, using 11 players in all. Eight of the 11 players logged 10 or more minutes apiece, a strong suggestion that the Wildcats controlled the game early.
2. Corey Fisher again led the 'Cats, this time posting 20 points on overall shooting of 8-10 (1-3, 7-7) and 3-3 from the line. The senior guard had a five rebound night for the second consecutive game, even as he dished five dimes (and had a single turnover).
3. Three other 'Cats, Corey Stokes (19), Maalik Wayns (11) and center Mouphtaou Yarou (14) also scored double digit points. The offense went through those four for the most part, with Stokes and Yaour being the first options (when each was on the court) with Wayns and Fisher as second options.
4. Antonio Pena may have had a quiet (but efficient) scoring night, he was a vacuum cleaner on the defensive boards, scooping up 34% of the defensive boards when he was in the game. .
5. The walk-on Dallas Ouano logged five minutes recording a steal and a turnover.
6. Freshman James Bell played for 21 minutes as he continues to get into game shape. The wing went 1-5 (0-3, 1-2) without getting to the line.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The AP wire took a break from it's negative tone because Dan Gelston wasn't covering us for the AP this time. Gelston wears his bias on his sleeve.

greyCat said...

Actually I noticed the negative slant only in the last several recaps Brian. The Philadelphia media is notorious for anti-Villanova takes, but the AP wire story recaps have, over the years, tended to be balanced and an outbreak of enthusiasm once in awhile. Which made the three Big 5 recaps stand out for me.