Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Big East Day 3

by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY - For the quarterfinal game of the day/night I was certain to report on Georgetown-Syracuse. A number eight taking out the top seeded team, in conversation this week about a possible number one seed in the NCAAs. The Notre Dame - Pitt sealed it . Especially from a tempo free analysis angle.

Quarterfinal scores:

Team	Score		Team	Score
Georgetown	91		Syracuse	84
Marquette	80		Villanova	76
Notre Dame	50		Pitt	45
West Virginia	54		Cincinnati	51

In a 50 possession game, the four factors:

			FTM
	ORtg	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Notre Dame	102	62	24	20	25
Pitt	90	40	21	38	22

Perception. This is why tempo free studies are so great. At the half ND leads 32-29. The assumption from yours truly, and others, is the defense is dictating. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Case in point:

	Off.
	Eff.	eFG%
Notre Dame	139	74
Pitt	116	50

Those numbers are not reflective of good solid defense. The score was low due to an extremely pedestrian 25 possession pace. The second half both defenses stepped up. Notre Dame had an offensive efficiency of 69 while Pitt checked in at 64. Even coach Mike Brey noted his club sealed the win by getting crucial stops in the stretch.

Luke Harangody gave a good 12 point effort in 22 minutes. Tory Jackson also had 12 points and came up big in the stretch making several key shots and plays. Brad Wanamaker scored 16 to lead all scorers and was a defensive task off the dribble for the Irish all night.

The slower paced offense has been a charm for ND. Mike Brey instituted it after Harangody’s injury in February and has kept it in tact. It is not a Princeton offense per se but it milks the clock and uses passing and good player movement. During the Big East I am keeping Synergy results. Remember Synergy is FG Pct + (Assists/FGM). For this game the numbers reflect the ball distribution, beauty and execution of the ND offense.

	Synergy
Notre Dame	1.307
Pitt	.915

The ND Synergy numbers on this night were superlative.

Notre Dame Cheerleaders

A Georgetown-Syracuse note. The offensive numbers were impressive. Georgetown had a 125 OE while Syracuse checked in at 114. The deciding factor was turnovers. Hoyas cared for the ball with a 16% rate while Syracuse was too high at 23%.

Georgetown missed a number of free throws in the stretch but still had a significant 58-15 edge in free throw rate. A look at three point attempts shows why. The Orange took 39% of their attempts beyond the arc. Georgetown took only 20%. In late game Syracuse was in a fouling mode which inflates the FT rate. But the rate takes in free throws made and most of Georgetown’s nine misses were in the stretch. The Hoyas simply did a better job attacking the basket.

A final Villanova note. greyCat will undoubtedly elaborate in detail but here are a few press row thoughts…A major factor in this one was Marquette’s three point shooting. They actually shot better from three than two. Marquette was 11 of 18 (61%) from three and 14 of 34 (41%) from two. Darius Johnson-Odom with 24 points did a great deal of damage to Nova beyond the arc (5 of 7). Corey Stokes came off the bench to supply a team high 22 points. Jay Wright’s club had difficulty matching up with Lazar Hayward (20 points). Hayward hit a couple three pointers but mostly operated inside where ‘Nova did not have a big man to consistently step up and defend him. Several times I have seen good things from Mouphtaou Yarou. Today he had an uneventful 15 minute outing with a 4 point 4 board performance. This was a day Wright could have used more from the 6-9 freshman. Antonio Pena had a creditable 14 point 6 board outing but was the lone inside threat for the Wildcats.

“This Villanova team is one of the best we played in my two years at Marquette. They are hard to guard and have five guys out there who can pass, penetrate and shoot.” - Marquette coach Buzz Williams

“Marquette is a team that uses their possessions well…the great thing about this (Big East) tournament is the games are great. We are all familiar with each other so it is harder to win.” - Jay Wright

Coach Wright fields questions after the game

Marquette Post Game: Senior Leadership

Alpha & Omega
For Isaiah Armwood, Dom Cheek, Taylor King, Maurice Sutton and Maalik Wayns, this was their first trip to Milwaukee (and Marquette's Bradley Center). In the dead of winter no less. The newbies logged a collective 68 minutes (35% of the available minutes), took 18 shots (30%) and scored 28 of the team's 74 points (37.8%). But the last 2 minutes belonged to the seniors, specifically Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding. Reynolds scored 23 points, the 6th time in 13 games he has scored more than 20 points in a game, while Redding scored 11, his 3rd consecutive double digit game since returning from his suspension. Down 2 at the 2:19 mark (Marquette had gone up by 2 at 4:12, each team logged 3 scoreless possessions...), Reggie Redding stepped to the line and hit 2 free throws to tie the game. Jimmy Butler countered with 2 free throws of his own on a Taylor King foul. The war of nerves continued with Redding countering with 2 more free throws at the 0:56 mark. Then Marquette blinked. All Big East candidate Lazar Hayward missed the front-end of a 2 free throw sequence, but hit the 2nd shot, putting the Warriors up by 1 again. Scottie Reynolds brought the ball up and hit a jumper at 0:18. Scottie missed the and-one; Marquette's Jimmy Butler missed a jumper and Reggie was fouled while securing the rebound. Though Reggie missed the 2nd free throw, his 1st put the 'Cats up by 2 (74-72), and handed Marquette 3.3 seconds to make a miracle. The Golden Eagles' play took too long to develop, giving Villanova a win in their 1st Big East game, and a valuable road win, one they could not secure under similar circumstances last season. Between them, the 2 seniors scored Villanova's last 7 points, 5 of them at the line. They went 5-6 from the charity stripe with the game on the line.

The official web site has AP wire story and the box score. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	Marquette
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	30.6	35.8	66.4
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	114.2	109.1	111.4		111.0	106.3	108.4
eFG%	56.9	43.3	50.0		48.3	45.8	47.2
TORate	16.3	5.6	10.5		16.3	8.4	12.0
OR%	35.7	18.2	25.0		38.9	13.3	27.3
FTA/FGA	13.8	60.0	37.3		16.7	87.5	48.1
FTM/FGA	6.9	43.3	25.4		16.7	66.7	38.9
ARate	50.0	41.7	46.4		66.7	80.0	72.7
Blk%	3.4	0.0	1.7		0.0	0.0	0.0
Stl%	12.9	2.7	7.4		6.6	0.0	3.1
PPWS	1.13	1.01	1.07		1.05	1.12	1.09
2FG%	60.0	41.7	51.0		41.2	61.5	50.0
3FG%	25.0	33.3	30.0		38.5	18.2	29.2
FT%	50.0	72.2	68.2		100.0	76.2	80.8
%2FG	85.7	51.3	67.6		41.2	42.1	41.7
%3FG	8.6	15.4	12.2		44.1	15.8	29.2
%FT	5.7	33.3	20.3		14.7	42.1	29.2

Half-time Adjustments
The Wildcats shut down the inside in the 1st half, but Marquette hit their 3s at a 38% clip (equivalent to about 58% for 2 point shots), as the 1st half played much like a typical motion offense chess match. Each team played for 30-31 possessions, low by D1 standards this season, and well below Pomeroy's anticipated 36 possessions (estimated as ½ of the 72 possessions calculated for the entire game). Villanova adjusted to contest the outside shot, but opened up the inside. In a statistical day-and-night sequence, Marquette hit everything (practically) inside the arc, but could not convert efficiently from beyond the 3 point line. Marquette's point distribution went from 40% 3 pointers and 15% free throws to 40% free throws and 16% 3 pointers. Possessions per side increased to 35-36 per side, consistent with Pomeroy's projection. Offensively, the 'Cats went inside the entire game, exploiting their height/size advantage between the two front court contingents, and the relative speed and athleticism of their guards. The points in the paint difference was 44-18, clearly an indication the 'Cats held and pushed the advantage.

Notes & Observations
1. Scottie Reynolds took 27% of the shots when he was on the court, nothing unusual for the senior. Corey Fisher logged only 21 minutes in the game, taking about 20% of the shots when he was on the court. Maalik Wayns and Reggie Redding, like Fisher, logged about 20% of the shots, making themselves a collective 2/3 option on the offense. The front court (Pena, King, Armwood) stepped back to a 15-19% shot role.
2. Scottie Reynolds scored 23 points, the 6th time this season he has logged points > 20. Through 13 games in 2009, Scottie had 20+ points only twice, 18+ only twice more.
3. The staff ran the starters for about 66% of the time. Normally that would suggest a rather large scoring margin favoring the Wildcats. That makes the size of the rotation and starter minutes logged a bit unusual -- the rotation should have been shorter (it was 10, 8 logging double-digit minutes and 1 getting 7), and the starter minutes a larger portion of the total minutes available (>70%). The staff may be developing a strategy for running more players through the game without compromising the quality of play. A larger rotation should help later in the season (when the players are a bit ground down from the schedule).
4. The 'Cats held Lazar Hayward to 17 points, about 2.5 point under his season average. Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, about 4 above his average for the season. What they were able to do was put Darius Johnson-Odom on the bench for much of the 2nd half. Johnson logged 2 fouls in the 1st half, limiting his minutes before the intermission. He took the next 2 whistles before the 14 minute mark of the 2nd half, the staff thought it wise to sit him rather than lose him too early. Johnson-Odom came back into the game at the 3:53 mark and played for another 3½ minutes before fouling out.
5. Mouphtaou Yarou did not play, despite his medical clearance. No word (from the game announcers) as to when he would make an appearance.

Ref Notes
Jeff Clark, Tim Clougherty and Ed Corbett comprised the reffing crew. The "C" team seemed to go a bit light on the whistles, stopping play 39 times. That is just below (by 1 or 2 fouls) from the average for road games. Each has run at least 1 other game this season. The Wildcats are a collective 7-0 when one of these guys has been in the crew this season.

Preview 2009-10 -- Marquette Golden Eagles

Too Busy for the Details?
The Golden Eagles return 2 players from the team that went to the Sweet Sixteen last season. They were led by an experienced trio of guards, anchored in the low post by a forward who played an out of position #5. The good thing about getting a class like the one Marquette just graduated is that they play together for four years and develop into a very good squad. The bad news is they graduate and move on. Coach Williams has a lot of parts to replace, and while he brings in a stellar class of freshmen, supplemented with a very good JUCO player or two, they will need time to learn how to trust one another and become a team. A good season for the Golden Eagles will have them playing better in February (and March) than in November and December (and January?). Prognosis -- A 3rd quartile finish.

3 Years At a Glance

	Returning...
	2010	2009	2008
%Min	39.5	78.7	93.9
%Pts	34.3	84.6	96.7
%FGM	31.2	84.3	96.6
%3FGM	33.7	84.1	98.2
%OReb	53.4	69.2	94.1
%DReb	41.9	73.7	92.4
%TReb	45.7	72.1	93.0

The passing of Dom James, Jerel McNeal and Wes Matthews (& center/forward Dwight Burke) was predictable, all were on track to graduate/finish their eligibility at the end of the 2009 season. Maurice Acker's exit, announced in July, was not. Acker, on track to graduate in December, had a final year of eligibility available, but decided to forego the season. Will his experience/maturity be missed? The staff, judging from the statement announcing Acker's decision, does not appear troubled with the prospect of entering the season with so few returning minutes (and points) available. [Note] -- Maurice Acker did return to the team in late September, after freshman Brett Roseboro left the program and enrolled at St. Bonaventure.

	According to Pomeroy...
	2008-09		2007-08		2006-07
	#	Rank	#	Rank	#	Rank
Overall ORtg	117.3	9	116.2	24	113.0	49
Overall DRtg	93.9	51	87.8	10	91.0	31
Big East ORtg	112.1	2	106.1	5	101.3	8
Big East DRtg	103.7	8	98.8	3	98.7	7
Four Factors -- Overall
All Off. eFG%	51.2	85	50.6	141	49.4	198
All Off. TOv%	16.5	11	18.4	37	21.0	158
All Off. OReb%	34.8	97	37.8	23	39.2	19
All Off. FTA/FGA	45.4	12	37.5	138	39.9	90
All Def. eFG%	50.9	252	46.3	30	47.2	58
All Def. TOv%	21.1	122	23.4	49	24.3	26
All Def. OReb%	30.7	85	33.4	197	35.0	244
All Def. FTA/FGA	45.4	12	41.0	262	39.9	236
Four Factors -- Big East
BE Off. eFG%	52.2	4	48.7	9	47.5	9
BE Off. TOv%	14.9	2	17.5	4	20.6	12
BE Off. OReb%	30.3	14	34.2	6	37.9	5
BE Off. FTA/FGA	41.5	3	35.7	11	41.5	3
BE Def. eFG%	53.2	14	48.4	5	47.2	6
BE Def. TOv%	20.9	5	23.4	1	21.0	5
BE Def. OReb%	32.8	8	35.1	13	35.9	13
BE Def. FTA/FGA	26.5	2	50.0	15	43.9	14
Miscellanious
All Gms Cons	21.9	241	25.4	315	20.7	172
All Gms Luck	-.021	200	-.034	228	+.000	156

Coach Williams worked with a veteran, Crean-recruited team last season. That team was, by and large, a finished product; the staff was more focused on polishing and perfecting a style shaped by Crean and the unique, collective talent they had, rather than building and teaching a "new" team. Note their year-over-year progress with shot efficiency (eFG%), even as they cut down on turnovers (TOv%). If the Warriors regressed on offensive rebounding, they compensated with better shooting, reduced turnovers and more frequent trips to the line (FTA/FGA) to finish the play. The same process -- becoming more of itself -- can be seen in the defensive factors. If the Golden Eagles let up a bit on shot defense, they compensated by cutting down on opponent's opportunities to shoot (TOv%), reduced 2nd chance opportunities (OReb%) and avoided the fouls that allowed the opponent an opportunity to finish the possession at the free throw line (FTA/FGA). The more interesting numbers will be those generated by the 2010 squad. That squad's mix of four factor stats will probably more closely reflect Coach William's philosophy of the game (tempered by the talent he is able to collect and mold).

	For the Record...
	2008-09			2007-08			2006-07
	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.
Overall	25	10	0.714	25	10	0.714	24	10	0.706
Big East	12	6	0.667	11	7	0.611	10	6	0.625
Post Season?	NCAA/Rnd 2			NCAA/Rnd 2			NCAA/Rnd 1

There may be some disappointment with the Class of 2009, but note that those Marquette squads extended their post season in each suceeding season. They went to the NCAAs without pg Dominic James, but nevertheless made it to the Sweet Sixteen, is a tribute to their overall skill and experience. Marquette and Coach Williams start over in 2010.

The Golden Eagles' Nucleus
Coach Buzz Williams will build this season's squad around returning forwards Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler for a reason...both are good.

On Offense
Player	Min%	Ortg	Poss%	Shot%	eFG%	PPWS	OR%	FTR%
Hayward	78.9	114.1	24.0	27.2	53.0	1.14	10.3	30.6
Butler	48.9	131.2	14.1	10.8	51.4	1.22	12.7	104.7
Acker	38.1	99.7	12.7	11.8	40.1	0.90	2.4	31.9
Cubillan	21.1	86.5	12.1	12.9	36.4	0.80	0.8	23.6

David Cubillan, an off guard recruited out of St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, New Jersey, had a promising freshman season, but has been pushed deeper into the rotation with each passing season. He might get a few looks in practice and early in the season, but if he does not rebound and step up his defense (not to mention his accuracy) he will have problems playing over JUCO Dwight Buycks, among others. Butler is a 6-6 guard/forward who scores by penetrating and gathering putbacks. A good offensive rebounder, he did not show the same knack under the defensive basket. He took all of 4 3FGAs last season, compiling a 100.9 inside/outside rating. That made him possibly the most "inside" rated guard in DI ball last season (but not unusual for a forward). Given their respective roles in the offense last season, expect Hayward to take as much, if not more offensive responsibility, becoming the "go to guy", a role shared unselfishly among McNeal, James and Matthews, while Butler's role will also grow (it has to grow for Marquette to have a successful season), but most likely he will become the 3rd or 4th option on offense, rather than the 4th/5th option as he was last season. Hayward got an early start at leadership, as he was one of the scoring threats on the USA's World University Games men's team this past summer.

On Defense
Player	Min%	DR%	Ast%	TO%	Stl%	Blk%
Lazar Hayward	78.9	21.6	7.5	14.0	0.9	1.8
Jimmy Butler	48.9	10.8	6.6	10.0	2.5	1.4
Maurice Acker	38.1	7.5	19.0	21.1	2.5	0.0
David Cubillan	21.1	6.0	12.4	20.8	0.4	1.6

Competing with an undersized front court was a fact of life under Coach Tom Crean. Buzz Williams, though he recruited a pair of big bodies over the summer in 2008 saw neither Liam Morrow (who left the program) or 6-10/245lb Chris Otule (who played 60 minutes in 9 games) make any impact. Maurice Acker's return, coming as two new members of Golden Eagles' back court contingent log injuries, has to be welcomed by the staff and fans. I suspect Acker's offensive role will grow very little, but his maturity (and assist rate) will help to steady the team during the transition.

Significant Additions
Coach Williams will bring in a combined class of transfers (2 JUCOs) and true freshmen (4 from 4 different states), 6 in all, which should give the early practices the look of a travel team tryout. Competing with senior Maurice Acker for time at the point will be Darius Johnson-Odom, a North Carolina native by way of Hutchenson CC in Kansas. Milwaukee HS scorer Dwight Buycks spent last season in Iowa where he played for Indian Hills Community College. The Golden Eagles will need a shooter who can score on the inside and outside, and Buycks will try to fill that need.

Including Junior Cadougan, Coach Williams brought in five High School recruits (3 by consensus ranked in the Top 100), to fill out the roster. Playing beside (or behind) Lazar Hayward will be 6-6 Jeronne Maymon, a well-regarded if undersized #4 who uses his athleticism to get to the rim, but also shoots from as far out as 15 feet. Small forward Erik Williams will, unlike Jimmy Butler, take shots from the outside. Coach Williams also brings in another tall man, 7-2 (220lb) Youssoupha Mbao out of Stoneridge Prep in CA (the same school as Rutger's Hamady N'Diaye). The entire contingent will not, however, be available at the start of the season, Junior Cadougan, a Top 100 ranked recruit reputed to be jet fast with a high IQ and rocket pass, ruptured his Achilles' tendon during conditioning training in mid-September. Many anticipated he would step right into James' spot in the Golden Eagle offense, but with 4-6 monthes of rehabbing in front of him, his season is over. Johnson-Odom also suffered an injury in early September, but should be ready for the beginning of full squad practice in Mid-October. Whether he will be 100% is another matter. Mbao's amateur status has been the subject of an NCAA investigation, which, according to the Journal-Sentinel's Todd Rosiak, may result in a suspension of 2 - 8 games.

Explode If...
Hayward has to be close to his ceiling as an offensive force. He may be able to replace some of the offense provided by Matthews, James and McNeal (and Burke), but the balance will have to come from the new faces.
1. Dwight Buycks becomes 1st/2nd Team All-Big East good, while Odom & Cadougan step in and share the point with ease.
2. One of the big men, the freshman Mbao or the sophomore Chris Otule, mans the #5 and becomes a rebounding force. The Golden Eagles relied on fast breaks and quick hitters for points. The smaller lineup yielded few 2nd chance opportunities with the three guards, but Williams has taller trees, and no doubt a different approach to the game.

Implode If...
That Marquette will take a step back is almost a forgone conclusion (the coaching staff and die hard fans excepted), the question may be how much ground the Golden Eagles surrender.
1. Injuries to any combination of Hayward, Buycks, Butler, Odom and Cadougan. The team is not deep with Big East level talent (the jury is out on many of the newcomers), so taking out any of the established talent (Hayward, Butler) or the most well regarded of the incoming squad will be problematic. The season-ending injury to Cadougan, Acker's return notwithstanding, will test this theory.
2. The newcomers cannot provide consistent scoring. Right out of the gate, defenses will work to shut down Hayward. If the rest of the rotation cannot punish opponents for over-defensing Hayward, Marquette may be forced to compensate by reverting to a grind-it-out style of basketball.
3. Integrating many new faces can be a challenge, not only in learning the routine and systems of a new staff, but with players learning to trust each other and work together under pressure. Bad chemistry can be an accelerant if the team struggles early.

Crucial Run/Bellweather Games
Marquette has 4 warmup games against low-major DI squads going into Orlando, Florida for the Old Spice Classic. Should the Golden Eagles struggle against the likes of Centenary, Maryland Eastern Shore, Grambling or South Dakota State, the staff may be nervous when they have to face a field that includes both power conference name programs like Michigan, Baylor, Florida State and Alabama, and Xavier and Creighton, a pair of mid-major conference teams also looking for credibility. The 1st round match-up against Xavier should be telling, as both squads have to replace critical players. The X-Men lost their head coach to Arizona over the summer, an NBA-level forward and all conference guard to graduation (and the NBA draft), so the Muskateers will also be looking for answers. Marquette will follow with a game against either Creighton or Michigan, both squads returning intact from the 2009 season. Their third game will come from a team in the other bracket (Alabama, Florida State, Baylor or Iona). Their post Old Spice homestand includes a visit from a struggling North Carolina State of the ACC, followed by a road trip to Madison to take on Big Ten power Wisconsin. Beating NCSU would be a good sign, as their Head Coach Sidney Lowe is under the gun for managing an underperforming team. But the Wisci game, realistically a loss, should be a good measure of how much ground Marquette will have to cover going into the Big East season.

Marquette's first four games, a road opener at West Virginia followed by a two game homestand (Villanova and Georgetown), followed by a road game at Villanova, could well start the Golden Eagles in an 0-4 hole (anything better would be a mild surprise...and bad news for the 'Eer, Wildcats or Hoyas), but tempered expectations aside, the next four games (hosting Providence, traveling to DePaul and Syracuse, then home again to host Rutgers) has to produce a 2-2 mark if Marquette has any expectations for finishing in the third (or higher) quartile. Through the last ten games, Marquette will host DePaul (their second mirror opponent), South florida, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame. Among those five games the Golden Eagles will need to find 3 (or more?) wins. The home games, plus a road trip to Providence (their third mirror opponent) represent Marquette's best oppportunity to garner 6 (or more) wins. 2010 could be a very tough year for Marquette fans.

25 Top PPWS Returning Players

True Shot or PPWS?
John Hollinger developed the True Shot statistic as a way of expressing a player's overall shooting capability with a single value. True Shot folds the player's free throw proficiency into his field goal efficiency (2FGA & 3FGA), expressing all three elements of shooting as a single number. If eFG% can, with a single number, provide a sense of the player's ability to convert field goal attempts (2s and 3s), True Shot provides a sense of a player's ability to convert field goal attempts into points, whether those points come with successful 2s, 3s or free throws. The specfic calculation varies slightly from DI to the NBA, and from author to author, the idea (and elements) however, remain the same. Points Per Weighted Shot (PPWS) is the same calculation with one difference -- True Shot calculations multiply the player's points scored by 50, while PPWS does not. True Shot then is expressed as an implied percentage (ie xx.x), while PPWS looks more like...well points per shot (ie x.xx). True Shot's advantage is that it provides a "normalized" representation of the conversion metric, consistent with eFG%, 3FGM%, and FTM%, which makes it easier to compare the values. I like PPWS because it can tell me at a glance how many points a player can score every time he takes a shot. He will either convert from the field, or at the line (or not). The PPWS calculation (for DI)...

PPWS = Pts / ((0.475 * FTA) + FGA)

Want the True Shot? Just multiply Pts by 50 before dividing. For True Shot, anything above 60 is very good, while 50 is the threshold for "good". By the same token, a PPWS of 1.20 or greater is very good, below 1.00, and the player is not at all efficient at converting his field goal opportunities. Freshmen will typically have PPWSs ranging from the mid 80s to the high 90s, though some of the best will record PPWSs > 1.00 (see Greg Monroe below -- a PPWS of 1.22).

Top Guns
I have listed (about) 25 Big East players, returning for 2010, who recorded the highest PPWSs in 2009. The player had to log => 40% of the time in his position. I included the player's eFG%, field goal attempts (FGA), 3 point attempts (3PA), free throw attempts (FTA), minutes (MIN), points (PTS) and percentage of available shots taken while the player was in the game. The players highlighted in dark green were the focal points (to use Ken Pomeroy's term, the "Go-to Guys") for their team's offense. Light green suggests a prominent (but not overwhelming -- per Pomeroy a "Major" or a "Significant" Contributor) role, a player who may share the 1st option on offense role with another player, or one who is the 2nd option on offense.

Player	Team	MIN	%Min	PPWS	%Shot	eFG%	FGA	FTA	3PA	PTS
J Smith	Ville	785	52.9	1.28	16.9	63.1	195	65	131	289
Butler	MU	687	48.9	1.22	10.8	51.4	107	112	4	196
Monroe	GTown	958	76.0	1.22	20.8	57.6	250	150	6	393
N'Diaye	RU	745	58.0	1.22	10.8	58.7	109	79	1	179
Clark	GTown	568	45.1	1.22	16.1	57.0	115	36	50	161
Jackson	Cuse	839	53.4	1.21	18.3	62.3	223	77	1	315
Samuels	Ville	929	62.6	1.21	20.6	57.8	282	165	1	436
Onuaku	Cuse	1017	64.8	1.21	18.1	66.7	267	124	0	393
Wanamaker	Pitt	683	47.4	1.18	13.9	54.2	143	71	59	208
Stokes	Nova	868	56.9	1.18	21.5	55.2	268	66	182	352
Garcia	Hall	803	62.0	1.17	13.7	60.6	165	56	0	225
Freeman	GTown	913	72.5	1.15	21.7	53.4	249	102	85	343
Wright	GTown	1021	81.0	1.15	22.0	53.7	282	116	96	387
Hayward	MU	1109	78.9	1.14	27.2	53.0	435	133	148	570
Knowles	Ville	619	41.7	1.12	21.0	56.3	192	19	111	226
Hazell	Hall	1161	89.7	1.12	31.6	52.3	550	204	290	726
Reynolds	Nova	1223	80.2	1.12	23.9	48.9	420	205	215	578
Echenique	RU	909	70.7	1.11	15.0	50.8	185	122	1	270
Fisher	Nova	925	60.6	1.10	22.3	48.0	296	162	94	410
Walker	UConn	907	61.5	1.10	18.1	49.8	234	123	48	321
Rautins	Cuse	1059	67.4	1.10	21.6	53.3	332	45	279	387
Sanchez	USF	535	43.0	1.09	12.9	53.3	92	47	0	125
Koshwal	DPU	1026	77.7	1.08	20.0	52.7	298	134	2	391
Pena	Nova	652	42.7	1.08	14.2	48.1	133	89	1	189
Vaughn	Nati	1146	88.5	1.07	24.1	49.0	399	120	240	488
Robinson	UConn	696	47.2	1.07	19.4	51.3	192	63	23	237
Brooks	PC	696	52.5	1.07	26.4	50.9	279	79	128	338

Providence's Marshon Brooks and Corey Stokes out of Villanova will get more recognition when they are logging more minutes. For Brooks, playing in a rotation with (senior) Weymini Efejuku and (sophomore) Brian McKenzie last season, the door is wide open as the Friars lost 3 starters and McKenzie aside, the team has few bench players when the Class of 2009 moved on. Coach Davis has some replacements coming in, but a shallow bench leaves few to challenge him for the starter's nod. Stokes will play in front of freshman Dominic Cheek, but expect Cheek, and when he returns, senior Reggie Redding, to push Stokes for time. Lazar Hayward, fresh off of a bronze medal (a teammate of Corey Fisher on the USA team) run at the World University Games this past summer, will get as much offensive responsibility as he can handle when he takes the court for Marquette. With the departure of the 3 Amigos and front court player Dwight Burke, Hayward is the only experienced volume scorer returning this season. Marquette will have a handful of JUCOs and true freshmen to compete for the vacated starting spots, but the newcomers will initially complement Hayward's offense. Jeremy Hazell's Pirates will have something they have not had in a few seasons -- legitimate 2nd and 3rd scoring options to draw some of the defensive attention that Hazell has drawn. Hazell will most likely scale back (or at least stay about where he is) his shooting, but with more space to work in, expect him to become even more efficient at scoring. Between them Louisville's wings, Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles have accounted for over 93% of the minutes, converting shot to points very efficiently as 3rd/4th options in the offense, complements of the attention Williams and Clark drew from opposing defenses. The Cardinals may need more from these two in 2010. Whether they play together or in sequence, they will most likely be expected to take more liberties with their shooting.

I was a bit surprised to see no less than 4 Hoyas, Greg Monroe, Jason Clark, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, among the 25 (27 actually, I used 1.07 as the cutoff point for list), about 1/8 of the list then comes from a single team. With four players (3 starters) drawing a PPWS of 1.07 or better, how could Georgetown have a raw offensive rating (per Ken Pomeroy) of just 106.4? The guys over at the Hoya Prospectus Blog partially answered that question in their August 14 post on turnovers during conference play. Of the 4 on the PPWS list, only Freeman appeared to value the ball. Monroe and Clark were worse than the team average, while point guard Chris Wright with a turnover rate of 22%, was just below the team's average of 23% for conference play. That 23% turnover rate ranked the Hoyas #14 among conference teams. Ouch.

Rising Seniors -- Ten Nine to Watch

Last Impressions?
Luke Harangody won't make this list. Neither will Lazar Hayward nor Scottie Reynolds. They are names already, having made their marks during their freshmen or sophomore seasons. Every season a Hilton Armstrong, or a Rob Kurz, a Jon Wallace or a Dante Cunningham lands in the national press (and picks up a post season Big East award or two) seemingly out of nowhere. Invisible to all but their team's fans, these seniors tend to start somewhere back in the pack, but unlike their classmates, they improve every season. By Pomeroy's classification system they may start as "Role" or "Limited Role" player, and grow into a "Major" or "Go-to Guy" player over the course of their four years. Pomeroy discusses growth "probabilities" in "Putting Individual Efficiency into Perspective" over at The Basketball Prospectus back in 2007. One thing about these players is clear -- they tend to push at the upper limit of their growth curve each season. A few things are clear about the Hilton Armstrongs and Dante Cunninghams -- they are drawing a good share of the minutes at their position going into their senior seasons and they are drawing somewhere between 18% - 20% of the possessions when they are on the floor...their teammates know who they are and can find them on the floor...and trust them.

			On Offense...
Player	Team	%Min	ORtg	%Poss	%Shots	eFG%	PPWS	OR%	FTR%
Dixon	Pitt	61.5	112.2	17.2	19.2	50.2	1.05	2.5	27.2
Curry	PC	79.2	111.9	18.4	18.7	50.8	1.12	1.2	32.6
Onuaku	Cuse	64.8	107.5	18.2	18.1	66.7	1.21	12.6	46.4
Rautins	Cuse	67.5	105.6	18.6	21.6	53.3	1.10	1.5	13.6
Walker	DPU	86.1	104.8	21.4	26.2	49.8	1.03	2.4	18.2
Redding	Nova	71.9	104.5	15.8	13.8	48.8	1.06	6.3	38.2
Robinson	Conn	47.2	104.2	18.7	19.4	51.3	1.07	9.4	32.8
Harvey	SHU	83.9	101.9	22.9	19.9	45.4	1.03	3.4	41.0
Mitchell	SHU	83.7	98.9	23.0	25.0	45.7	0.98	7.5	22.9

Jermaine Dixon, a JUCO out of Tallahassee JC in Florida, will spend his second (and last) at Pitt as a wing, distinguished as the lone returning starter. Dixon was shy about contact, an unPitt-like characteristic, taking about 42% of his FGAs from beyond the arc and hitting at a < 30% rate. He will draw more attention this season, but will no doubt improve his accuracy as well. If he can step in and take some of the production left by the exits of Same Young, Levance Fields and DaJuan Blair, he will get noticed. Sharaud Curry, Arinze Onuaku, Stanley Robinson and Andy Rautins, like Dixon, face similar circumstances, they have started (and will start next season) for teams depleted by graduation and NBA dreams. Rautins split time on the wing with Harris and Devendorf (both departed). Alongside a well regarded transfer from Iowa State, Wesley Johnson, Rautins will have a few more opportunities to contribute, both as a scoring option (expanding his reportoire of shots) and as a distributor. The De Paul staff encouraged Will Walker to take a larger share of the offense at the end of last season. With off guard Dar Tucker off to Europe(?), the immediate responsibility for outside scoring will fall to Walker, at least in the near term. Whether he can keep it will depend on whether he can improve on his 36.8% conversion rate.

			On Defense...
Player	School	%Min	DR%	Ast%	TO%	%Blk	%Stl
Jermaine Dixon	Pitt	61.5	9.2	13.7	14.0	3.0	3.4
Sharaud Curry	PC	79.2	5.4	23.4	19.4	0.0	1.8
Arinze Onuaku	Cuse	64.8	16.6	4.3	17.8	5.3	1.0
Andy Rautins	Cuse	67.5	10.5	18.0	20.8	0.6	2.8
Will Walker	DPU	86.1	6.0	10.0	10.8	0.5	2.9
Reggie Redding	Nova	71.9	13.0	18.8	23.6	2.2	2.2
Stanley Robinson	UConn	47.2	15.4	8.8	19.6	3.9	1.4
Eugene Harvey	SHU	83.9	6.9	27.5	21.1	0.3	2.5
Robert Mitchell	SHU	83.7	16.8	9.2	15.6	2.3	2.0

The Pirates expect their new faces (transfers from Missouri, Memphis and New Mexico State) will give the squad an upgrade in talent. On that theory both Eugene Harvey and Robert Mitchell should get better. For Mitchell, a transfer himself, playing his 2nd season in the Big East, the expectations for improvement should be high. Pending resolution of a legal matter,Villanova's Reggie Redding, a versatile guard-forward, has at one time or another, played anywhere from the #1 to the #4. Versatility -- and defense -- has been the key for Redding, who started a handful of games his freshman season when Mike Nardi was hobbled. Though his shot lacked accuracy, Redding got the nod over older, more polished scorers. His long range shooting stills (30.3%) still need work, but if he can improve that feature of his game he will contribute even more to the team his last season.

And Then There's...
Ok, I know I said I would not mention Lazar Hayward (among others), but the rising junior will be the 1st and 2nd option on offense until transfer Dwight Buycks gets up to speed. Hayward was one of the go-to guys on the World University Games that won the bronze medal in Belgrade in July. He will get a lot of looks next season.

And a thank you to Ken Pomeroy for use of the stats from his Scout Pages.

WUG 2009 -- USA Downs Isreal, Takes Bronze

Starting Gate to Finish Line
The first quarter was the most competitive, featuring 2 ties and 4 lead changes before USA team managed a 2 point to close out the quarter. The USA did not yield that lead through the end of the game. The Isrealis did outscore the USA, 28-27, in the third quarter, but that only shaved the USA's lead to +6. Coach Bo Ryan and several players spoke of how the Isrealis pushed Team USA throughout the second half, closing the lead several times in the last three quarters. Three of Oliver's four factors (and a few other stats)

On...	Eff	eFG	PPWS	OReb	DReb	TReb	TOR%	AST%	BLK%	STL%
Offense	118.4	50.7	1.12	37.5	70.0	107.5	13.0	35.5	6.0	7.8
Defense	104.1	48.5	1.03	30.0	62.5	92.5	15.6	41.9	10.4	6.5
Pace	76.9

The pace, 76.9, was close to the average for the USA team during the World University Games, and lower than their pace during the warmup tournament. The team's defensive efficiency (104.1) was among the weaker efforts for the team, but the offensive-defensive differential (+14.3) was one of the team's best for the medal round, surpassed only by the quarter final game versus Bulgaria (a very uncompetitive +36.8). The team controlled the boards, posting a very good 37.5% offensive rebounding effort, while holding the Isrealis to 30% offensive rebounding. The team also took care of the ball, limiting turnovers to only 13% of their possessions, the best effort since their game with Greece (11.3%, 2nd preliminary round). The USA may have blocked a few more shots (the highest percentage since the Finland game), but had fewer steals than their opponent for only the second time since arriving in Serbia. Here is the individual possession-based stats for the players

Player	%PT	eFG%	PPWS	Shot%	Ast%	OReb	DReb
Anderson, James	22.5	50.0	1.02	26.5	0.0	0.0	11.1
Battle, Talor	42.5	57.1	1.36	24.6	7.6	0.0	0.0
Booker, Trevor	40.0	40.0	1.02	18.7	16.1	0.0	12.5
Brackins, Craig	35.0	33.3	0.72	25.6	0.0	22.0	7.1
Butler, Da'Sean	45.0	100.0	1.94	13.3	0.0	0.0	11.1
Fisher, Corey	57.5	27.8	0.56	23.4	5.6	3.3	8.7
Hayward, Lazar	55.0	59.1	1.13	29.9	0.0	14.0	22.7
Hummel, Robbie	47.5	28.6	0.63	22.0	20.4	4.0	10.5
Pondexter, Quincy	17.5	NA	NA	0.0	18.4	0.0	0.0
Thompson, Deon	32.5	40.0	1.03	23.0	0.0	11.8	30.8
Turner, Evan	60.0	83.3	1.67	14.9	16.1	3.2	8.3
Varnado, Jarvis	45.0	66.7	1.46	10.0	0.0	8.5	38.9

Quincy Pondexter's NA for eFG5 and PPWS indicate that because he took no FGAs (Shot% is 0%), there could be no numeric representation for his effective field goal percentage nor his points per weighted shot. Representing those stats as zero would be misleading (suggesting he attempted to score, but did not convert).

Coach Ryan returned to the more familiar line-up for his starters -- Fisher, Hayward and Turner -- for this last game in Belgrade (starters are highlighted in green). Starting Varnado over Thompson may seem puzzling (Thompson did get very little PT in this game), but Varnado single-handedly dominated the defensive boards -- he out rebounded the Isreali squad (relative to the time) on missed Isreali shots. The offense was carried by Hayward, Anderson (when he was in), Craig Brackins (Iowa State) and Penn State's Talor Battle. Anderson, Battle and Hayward converted efficiently, and were largely responsible for the strong offensive showing. Brackins may have had a poor night shooting, but he did grab an unusually large proportion of team USA's missed shots. Villanova's Corey Fisher scored 5 points on 2-9 (1-6, 1-3) shooting. Fish dished an assist, grabbed 3 rebounds, had 2 thefts to go with 3 turnovers and 2 personal fouls.

Additional Links
The AP wire story posted at USA Basketball.
The box score in .pdf format.
Some additional post game quotes. "...I do this for the players. It's done out of passion and that drive to want to make people better. We are better right now than when we came. Not just the basketball, but we are better as people. ..."
Bo Ryan, Wisconsin Head Coach

WUG 2009 -- USA Downs Greece by 31; Serbia Next

It Was Close...for About 25 Minutes
The USA and Greece were locked in a 5 point shootout (44-39) going into the locker room at half time. Team USA came out in the 2nd half and exploded. Literally. The Greeks matched their 1st half production, notching 38 points in the 2nd half. Team USA dropped 64 2nd half points on the hapless Greeks to pull away. The 3rd quarter was decisive, as the USA doubled the Greek offensive production 31-15 to blow their 5 point margin out to 21. The discouraged Greeks lost the 4th quarter by another 10 points, leaving the final margin at 31.

Five players (Deon Thompson, Lazar Hayward, Quincy Pondexter, James Anderson and Da'Sean Butler) scored in double figures as all 12 squad members put points on the board. Thompson scored a team high 17 points with Big East player (Marquette's) Lazar Hayward and Quincy Pondexter of Washington contributed 13 points each on (collectively) 6-11 (4-6, 2-5) shooting from the field to go with Pondexter's 9-12 from the line. The USA dominated the Greeks on the boards, pulling down 40% of their own misses and virtually denying the Greeks 2nd chance opportunities by grabbing nearly 85% of the Greek's misses. The game was relatively turnover free, as both squads kept turnover rates under 13%, but that should not imply a "no touch" game. Collectively the teams were whistled for 46 fouls, nearly equally sharing the guilt (22-24 in favor of the Greeks), but the Greeks converted FTAs at a sizzling 81.5% rate, while the USA left points on the table, converting only 70.4% of theirs (improving, but still well behind their European counterparts). The four factors breakdown:

On...	Eff	eFG	PPWS	OReb	DReb	TReb	TOR%	AST%	BLK%	STL%
Offense	135.6	63.6	1.31	40.7	84.2	125.0	11.3	54.8	3.2	1.3
Defense	96.7	43.7	1.02	15.8	59.3	75.0	12.6	30.8	0.0	7.5
Pace	79.7

This effort exceeded the USA's game with Finland for offensive efficiency, while matching the South Korean game's rather impressive PPWS of 1.31 (suggesting the USA squad converted FGAs efficiently, but also hit their FTAs). The assist rate (54.8) bested their previous high of 47% versus the South Koreans, indicating the players are beginning to rotate the ball through the post players more consistently than in earlier games. Quotes from squad members (see Butler's response to questions about team chemistry). Individual player efficiency stats...

Player	%PT	eFG	PPWS	Shot%	Ast%	OReb	DReb
Anderson, James	30.0	62.5	1.25	38.1	0.0	10.1	8.8
Battle, Talor	47.5	40.0	0.79	15.0	20.1	0.0	5.5
Booker, Trevor	22.5	66.7	1.28	19.0	0.0	0.0	11.7
Brackins, Craig	40.0	62.5	1.43	14.3	6.0	15.2	32.9
Butler, Da'Sean	50.0	83.3	1.67	17.1	19.0	18.2	21.1
Fisher, Corey	52.5	58.3	1.15	16.3	13.6	5.8	10.0
Hayward, Lazar	42.5	61.1	1.31	30.3	0.0	21.4	18.6
Hummel, Robbie	52.5	50.0	1.00	21.8	18.1	0.0	30.1
Pondexter, Quincy	47.5	40.0	1.25	15.0	10.0	0.0	5.5
Thompson, Deon	55.0	80.0	1.63	26.0	0.0	0.0	19.1
Turner, Evan	30.0	66.7	1.45	14.3	39.7	10.1	26.3
Varnado, Jarvis	30.0	100.0	2.00	14.3	0.0	0.0	8.8

The starters are highlighted in green. Coach Ryan returned to his three most consistent starters, Da'Sean Butler (West Virginia), Corey Fisher (Villanova) and Deon Thompson (North Carolina). Lazar Hayward, the last of the Big East trio and Purdue's Robbie Hummel rounded out the starting five, though from each player's %PT, it is clear the staff distributed the time fairly evenly through the squad. The starters received 51% of the PT. Hayward, Butler and Craig Brackins (Iowa State) all registered impressive rebounding rates on the offensive boards.

The Greeks attempted only 1 in 4 FGAs from beyond the arc, a stunning change of strategy from their three previous games, punched the ball inside to 6-9 center Savas Tzougkarakis who converted more efficiently than any Greek not named Verginis, going 6-12 from the field (all 2FGAs) and 9-11 at the line to provide secondary support for Verginis with 21 points. Point guard Dimitrios Verginis hit a sizzling 9-17 (0-1 from 3s) and 7-8 from the line to carry Greece with a game high 25 points. The rest of the Greek squad shot an appalling 30.6% from the field (8-21, 3-15). Their saving grace was the free throw line, where the Greek squad (minus Verginis and Tzougkarakis) 5 of 6 FTAs for 85% conversion rate. The Greek's 2nd and 3rd scoring threats in this tournament, guard Dimitrios Kompodietas and forward Sotirios Manolopoulos, were simply not a factor in this game, going a collective 2-9 (2-5, 0-4) from the field and 2-2 from the line.

What's Next?
In an odd seeding quirk, the USA squad will play Serbia in the second game of Preliminary Round #2. The game is set for 7/7 at 8:00pm Belgrade time (2:00pm EDT). Serbia defeated Finland 82-70 today (Monday 7/6), so there is no chance of a three-way tie in Group I. The USA and Serbia are competing for seed in the quarter final round, as they both will advance, irrespective of the outcome of their second tilt. Tomorrow's winner will get the 2nd place finisher from Group L, the loser of the Bulgaria-Turkey game, the loser will draw the Group L winner (the winner of Bulgaria-Turkey). From the quotes page, West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler (Newark, NJ) on round #2 with Serbia...
Q:  Are you looking forward to playing Serbia again?
A:  Definitely. I feel like they got us the first time. They have been playing together for a while, and we are starting to get the hang of playing with each other and knowing what people's weaknesses and strengths are. I think it will be a better match up than last time.

Let's hope the boys are rested and ready.

Additional Links
The AP wire story posted at USA Basketball.
The box score in .pdf format.
Some additional post game quotes.

WUG 2009 -- Serbia Downs USA (Exhibition)

Home Court Advantage
The USA squad faced the home team Sunday evening, and dropped a 16 point decision (98-82) while picking up a surprising 31 fouls. A total of 59 fouls were called, the host team tagged for 28 fouls. Unlike their host, who knew how to convert when the opportunity presented (the Serbs converted 39 of 46 FTs, 84.8%), the Americans shot 65.6% (21-32) from the charity stripe. The possession-based stats show a breakdown on both sides of the ball.

On...	ORtg	eFG	PPWS	OReb	DReb	TReb	TOR%	AST%	BLK%	STL%
Offense	99.9	47.7	1.05	25.0	58.3	83.3	18.3	28.6	3.1	12.2
Defense	119.4	46.1	1.16	41.7	75.0	116.7	11.0	35.7	6.3	9.8
Pace	82.1

The USA squad was out rebounded for the second game in a row. The offensive rebounding rates (OReb) continues to be the more troubling stat, especially when coupled with poor shooting. Note the Serbs had a lower field goal efficiency rate (eFG), but nevertheless were far better at translating their shots into points (PPWS) than the USA squad (better free throw percentage in part, but also a 54.5% conversion rate on 2FGAs). The USA's turnover rate (TOR%) is a killer, especially when working to overcome a deficit.

Individual player stats show that again, a few squad members had a good game, but that poor shooting (and lack of rebounding) continue to undermine the squad's efforts

Player	%PT	eFG	PPWS	Shot%	ARate	OReb	DReb
Anderson, James	30.0	58.3	1.16	31.3	0.0	7.1	9.3
Battle, Talor	52.5	44.4	1.01	26.8	0.0	0.0	10.6
Booker, Trevor	42.5	100.0	1.58	3.7	25.2	10.0	0.0
Brackins, Craig	27.5	33.3	0.67	17.0	0.0	0.0	10.1
Butler, Da'Sean	52.5	70.0	1.47	14.9	0.0	0.0	5.3
Fisher, Corey	47.5	33.3	0.87	39.5	7.5	0.0	0.0
Hayward, Lazar	40.0	20.0	0.68	19.5	0.0	0.0	27.8
Hummel, Robbie	55.0	25.0	0.56	11.4	6.5	3.9	15.2
Pondexter, Quincy	40.0	50.0	1.12	15.6	17.9	5.3	6.9
Thompson, Deon	45.0	50.0	1.01	20.8	0.0	0.0	18.5
Turner, Evan	45.0	92.9	1.65	24.3	7.9	4.7	30.9
Varnado, Jarvis	22.5	0.0	0.34	13.9	0.0	18.9	0.0

Starters are highlighted in green. The Big East contingent received the starting nod, but Fisher again logged <50% of the time at the pg, most likely due to his poor shooting (and lack of rebounding?). Hayward too was plagued with shooting (and turnover) woes, but he did a credible job on the defensive boards. The squad tightented up on their 3 point defense, against the Canadians they allowed a 50% conversion rate, but the Serbs were limited to a 17% conversion rate. Which makes their low conversion at the line (65.6%) and in 2 point defense (the Serbs converted 54.3% of their 2s) all the more glaring.

Additional Links
The boxscore in .pdf.
Post game quotes from the coach and several players (Corey Fisher & Ohio State's Evan Turner).
The AP story released by USA Basketball.

Corey Fisher Named to World University Games Squad

USA Basketball announced the players who earned positions on the World University Games 12 man squad today. The tryouts, a series of 2-a-day practices conducted June 14-16 narrowed the pool of invitees to 12.

Other Big East players named to the squad -- Lazar Hayward of Marquette and Da'Sean Butler of West Virginia, will, along with Fisher, train at Colorado Springs for another week, and then leave for Begrade, Serbia on June 24. The World University Games will be played over 9 days, July 2-11.

Congratulations to Corey and the other team members. Best of luck fellas.

Signs of the 2009 Off Season #2 -- International Teams

After a few early roster adjustments the USA Basketball organization has announced the preliminary rosters for this summer's teams. The USA will enter a team in the World University Games, to be held in July 2 - 12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Twenty four teams, manned by students currently enrolled in a college or university, will compete for gold, silver and bronze. Tryouts, to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado between June 16-24, according to a USA Basketball press release. Corey Fisher is one of 16 college players invited to compete for one of the 12 available roster spots. Other Big East players invited to tryout include Da'Sean Butler (wing, West Virginia), Lazar Hayward (forward, Marquette) and Dominique Jones (guard, South Florida). Hayward and Butler are rising seniors, Fisher and Jones are rising juniors. Bo Ryan of Wisconsin will serve as head coach, with two assistants to be announced later.

USA Basketball will also field a U19 team for this summer's World Championship Tournament, to be held in New Zealand July 2 - 11/12. Seventeen players will compete, according to the USA Basketball press release, for 12 roster spots during trials to be held at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 16-18. The team will depart for New Zealand on June 25. Villanova recruit Dom Cheek, a veteran of the U18 team that competed in Argentina in the summer of 2008, has been invited to tryout. Another Villanovan, Maalik Wayns, had to decline an invitation earlier due to a minor knee injury. Other Big East players invited to tryout include Kemba Walker (pg, Connecticut), also a veteran of the 2008 U18 team and Darryl "Truck" Bryant (guard, West Virginia). The team will be coached by Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh head coach. Dixon will be assisted by Chris Lowery, head coach at Southern Illinois and Matt Painter, head coach at Purdue. ESPN's Andy Katz provides thumbnails on each invitee in a 5/27/09 entry in his blog.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim will chair the selection committee for both teams.

Congratulations to Dom and Corey and all of the Big East players invited to participate!

Marquette #02 Post Game: Gimme an O!

The Wildcats extended their Pavilion-based winning streak to 26 tonight as they downed the Warriors of Marquette University, 102-84. The ESPN recap says the 'Cats Spanked Marquette. I am frankly at a bit of a loss to describe the game. I watched it and have looked over the box score and I don't quite know how to describe the 18 point margin of victory that the 'Cats just posted. Marquette is a good team that matches up well with Villanova. They are lightening quick & when they shoot the lights out they are unstoppable. I know this because I have watched more than a few Marquette games this season. So ESPN's Dana Pennet O'Neil, in her Instant Analysis, said the game was won "in a blur".

The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	Marquette
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	38.8	38.3	77.1
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	128.9	135.7	132.3		116.1	101.8	109.0
eFG%	59.2	84.0	69.0		69.0	51.8	60.5
TORate	10.3	18.3	14.3		23.2	10.4	16.9
OR%	33.3	18.2	28.1		26.7	10.5	17.6
FTA/FGA	21.1	72.0	41.3		34.5	60.7	47.4
FTM/FGA	13.2	40.0	23.8		17.2	35.7	26.3
ARate	47.4	77.8	62.2		68.8	76.9	72.4
Blk%	5.3	4.0	4.8		3.4	10.7	7.0
Stl%	2.6	13.0	7.8		7.7	0.0	3.9
PPWS	1.20	1.55	1.35		1.33	1.08	1.20
2FG%	54.5	70.6	61.5		57.1	50.0	52.9
3FG%	43.8	75.0	54.2		53.3	37.5	47.8
FT%	62.5	55.6	57.7		50.0	58.8	55.6

Halftime Adjustments...
The 1st half started badly as the Golden Eagles hit back-to-back 3s to start the game. After a brief back-and-forth, the Eagles hit a 20-11 run to go up 32-27 on the Wildcats. The 'Cats closed out the half with a 23-13 run to go up by 5 (50-45) going into the locker room. For the Nova Nation there were many things, mostly on the offensive side of the ball, to like -- the 'Cats were hitting their shots, limiting their turnovers. If their offensive rebounding was not up to standard, it was not terrible either. About the only area of concern was free throws, but the Eagles were not hitting their FTs, so the two squads nearly negated the other on the line. The defensive side of the ball however, was a mixed bag. If the Eagles were shooting the lights out, they were not rebounding, giving up the ball, and not getting to the line as frequently as anticipated. As a follow on to the keys to the game portion of the preview note the red highlighted sections in the table (above). The Wildcats needed to keep Marquette's eFG% under 50.0, and they didn't do it in either half. Marquette was unable to supplement their long range shooting with trips to the line -- a good sign for the 'Cats.

The 2nd half may not have been quite to Nova's standards foro defense, it nevertheless reflected a number of adjustments installed at the half. The 'Cats contested the Eagles shooting much better, on both 2 and 3 point attempts (but much better on the 3s), slicing the Eagles' conversion rate by 17%. Coupled with an even tighter grip on their defensive boards (something of a shock to Marquette, which usually rebounds about 35+% of their misses), reducing their second chances to 10.5% of the Eagles' misses, forced a major reduction in Marquette's offensive efficiency. If the Warriors had difficulty keeping up with the 'Cats in the 1st half, they lost contact completely in the 2nd half, dropping behind by nearly 20 several times. If Villanova could not keep Marquette off the line, the Warriors did not help themselves by converting at a <60% rate.

Notes
1. The seniors, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark are on a tear. The two played a combined 39 minutes last night, scoring 26 points and nabbing 10 rebounds. They dished 4 assists, committed a single turnover and blocked a shot. Nice way to fill a perceived void in the frontcourt. Shane individually had a supurb game, posting an eFG% of 125.0 (extremely rare, due in large measure to his perfect 6-6 from the field) and equally extraordinary 2.30 PPWS.
2. Scottie Reynolds posted a balanced 27 points in 35 minutes of play. Reynolds sank 4 of 9 FGAs (2 from beyond the arc) to post 11 points in the 1st half. He added another 16 in the 2nd half on 6 of 8 shooting (3 3 pointers). He posted a 73.5 eFG% and a 1.39 PPWS, both strong indications of very efficient scoring. Scottie also had 4 rebounds and an assist.
3. Corey Fisher is really coming on. He scored 21 points in 6-10 shooting (4-6 from beyond the arc) to post an eFG% of 80.0 and a PPWS of 1.58, both outstanding efforts.
4. The Wildcat's offense went through Reynolds (30% of the available shots), then Cunningham (23%), the Anderson/Clark duo (about 20%) and then Fisher (20%) -- not a bad set of scoring threats. Combined they hit 64.7% of their shots. Tough to win against those numbers.
5. In the 1st Marquette post game I noted that James and McNeal provided 30% of the FGAs when they were on the floor with individual eFG%s of >50.0. The 'Cats shut McNeal down. The Marquette guard took 37% of the shots when he was on the floor, but could convert with only a 47.5 eFG%. Junior Lazar Hayward combined with Dominic James to provide solid 2nd and 3rd option scoring. They posted an eFG% of 62.5 and 63.6 respectively. McNeal, on his way to breaking Marquette's 40 year old scoring record (George Thompson, 1,773 points), McNeal seemed more like the player from 1 or 2 seasons ago, rather than the efficient scorer that emerged at the end of last season, and continued to progress this season. Congratulations to Jerel on breaking the record.
6. Reggie Redding stepped back from scoring to dish 6 assists (and 4 turnovers...), grabbed 6 rebounds to go with his block and steal.

Ref Notes
Given the foul fests of the past 2-3 games, this game's crew Jeff Clark, John Gaffney & Karl Hess were almost restrained with their whistles. "Only" 44 total fouls called suggests everyone behaved themselves, except for the double technicals called on Antonio Pena and Lazar Hayward about 5 minutes into the second half. To credit the zebras, the play was getting pretty intense as the 'Cats were holding onto a 10 point lead with the Warriors charging hard to close the gap. Play had stopped when Antonio put a hard (but clean) foul Jimmy Butler to prevent an uncontested putback. The squads had been simmering for most of the game, but the boil started as Pena walked through the Marquette squad to get to the 'Cats assembling at the key. A look at the body language of both squads had the refs blowing whistles and Scottie and another Wildcat stepping between bodies and escorting Tone out of harm's way. The fouls continued as the game, by it's nature, was physical, but the focus was back on the game. The crew and senior leades of both squads defused what could have become an ugly incident. Marquette's FTAs, at 27, was right at the high edge. Had they hit a few more of their free throws (they shot a very ugly 55.6%) they would have broken through the standard deviation.

Roster Report
Senior Dwayne Anderson left the game in the first half with what appeared to be a knee injury. He later returned to the bench with his left knee wrapped with an ice pack. Speculation over the seriousness of the injury stopped when Villanova announced an MRI revealed that the knee had been hyperextended and had suffered a bone bruise. Anderson is not expected to play Friday against West Virginia, and will be evaluated day-to-day as the condition of his knee will be monitored. Speediest of recoveries Dwayne.

Recaps/Analysis
Tim over at Nova News Blog posted an early recap with comments about most of the players.
Pete provides player grades over at Let's Go Nova.
The NBE Blogger posted a game recap.
Chris over at posted a good recap with thoughts about each player.