Signs of the Off Season, 2011-04 -- Where in the World is...?

Ogo Adegboye? -- St. Bonaventure's point guard graduated in May and returned to England as a member of the British National Team. And as a senior national team member he had time to cut an Addis advert (as the Brits would say...) for the 2012 Olympics to be held in London. Adegboye (wearing #6) and two teammates play a 3-on-3 game against rappers Snoop Dogg and Warren G and reigning world-champion triple jumper Phillips Idowu (a member of Great Britain's Olympic track team). The handiwork...

Reggie Redding? -- The former Villanova wing played for InterCollege ETHA Engomis in the Cyprus Premier League in 2010-11, and inked a new contract in mid-July to play with The Walter Tigers Tuebingen of the Bundesliga (German League) in 2011-12.

Beau Knight? -- The center on the University of the Redlands men's team that hosted Villanova on November 22, 2003 (and led the 'Cats 50-49 at the half) is a Broker Sales Associate with Trulia.com in San Francisco, California. Knight took time on June 9, 2011 to serve as a groomsman for his high school buddy Darren Buss, when Darren married Josephine (Joey) Bloomfield in Mount Tamalpais, California. Beau and his wife recently bought a house just outside of Los Gatos, California, where he went to high school.

Corey Fisher? -- The starting point guard for Villanova in 2011 collected his diploma in May and signed a contract with Antalya of the Büyüks,ehir Belediyesi, Turkey's premier league, for 2011-12. While he waits to ship out, Fisher has put some time in the Dyckman Summer League and made summer league headlines again July when his Ooh-Way team knocked off a star-studded Team Nike 66-61 on the courts at Monsignor Kett Park. Fisher led Ooh-Way with 17 points.

The La Salle University Explorers? -- The Atlantic 10 Conference and Big 5 member is back in Tom Gola Arena running full team practices for their August 6-9 tour through Ottawa Canada. The Explorers are slated to play the CIS champion Carleton University Ravens twice (August 6 & 9), sandwiching a game with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees (August 7) and a squad of Carleton University alums (August 8) in between.

EZ Ed Pinckney? -- The star center on the 1985 National Champion Wildcat squad and current Assistant Coach with the Chicago Bulls is criss-crossing Europe this summer as an Assistant Coach for the Ukranian National Team, which is trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Fratello is the Ukrainian National Team Head Coach.

Ray Floriani? -- The veteran basketball writer and statistician is logging another summer in the Hamilton Park summer league, refereeing games in Jersey City, New Jersey. Ray also blogs about the WNBA (the Liberty sometimes play at the Rock in Newark), and files reports with the folks at Swish Appeal and on his own blog at Yesterday's Basketball.

Scottie Reynolds? -- Villanova's #2 all-time scorer finished the year with Springfield in the NBDL, and signed on to play with Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters of the Philippine Basketball Association, pending a successful tryout.

Susan Herbst? -- The University of Connecticut's President is packing her bags in preparation for an NCAA Presidential retreat in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 9-10. The retreat, sponsored by NCAA President Mark Emmett, will focus on continued expectations for student athlete academic success, fiscal sustainability in Division I and fortification of the integrity of the enterprise. 50 university presidents, four athletic directors and four conference commissioners will attend, thus refuting a rumor that the only other schools invited were Ohio State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Southern Cal and Tennessee.

Signs of the 2010 Off Season #1 -- Where in the World is...

Ogo Adegboye? -- St. Bonaventure's returning point guard was named to Great Britain's National Team in June and play in the Eurobasket Tournament that begins August 8. Adegboye will return to the Bonnies in September and resume his studies in the fall semester.

Lavoy Allen? -- Temple's rising senior forward is in Las Vegas, invited to join the USA Select Team that will help prepare the USA National Team for the World Basketball Festival, a four-day series of exhibitions, August 12-15, in New York City. The National Team will also play a series of exhibitions the following week -- two games in Spain (August 21 & 22) followed by a third game, versus Greece, in Athens, Greece, on August 25. The USA National Team is scheduled to compete with 23 other teams, in the FIBA World Championship for Men, to be held Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri, Turkey.

Eric Devendorf? -- The former Syracuse wing spent his first year as a professional in New Zealand where he helped his Wellington Saints team win the NZBL Championship on July 1. Devo then signed with the Melbourne Tigers of Australia Basketball. The Tigers are taking a preseason tour through Europe and China before starting their season in October. One of their European stops will be Ireland where they are scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Panthers on Friday August 6. Some things never change.

Pico Dulce? -- The Blogger-in-chief for The East Coast Bias and columnist for The Johnny Jungle's "Calm Before the Storm" series is in Chicago, putting together off season roundtables about the Big East -- check out Roundtable #2, Part 1 here. Parts #2 and #3 to follow. Pico also penned an excellent possession-based comparison of Steve Lavin's UCLA teams with those of Norm Roberts' St. John's teams. One of the better reads this summer, required reading for those who are wondering where Lavin will take the Johnnies next season.

Jason Donnelly? -- The Villanova assistant coach has been on the recruiting trail this month. That trail led through Morgantown, WV last weekend, where West Virginia University hosted the West Virginia Jam Fest where he caught a game or two of 2012 prospect Ricardo Ledo and 2011 prospect Alex Murphy (son of Boston College player Jay Murphy).

Ray Floriani? -- The veteran basketball writer and statistician is logging another summer in the Hamilton Park summer league, refereeing games in Jersey City, New Jersey, and filing reports with the folks at Hoopville and College Chalktalk.

Markus Kennedy? -- Good question actually. The Villanova commit has decided to do a prep year, the question is...where? A return to Winchendon Prep is out of the question, which leaves one of the two remaining candidates, Brewster Academy (NH) and NIA Prep (NJ) as the most likely destination. Given that AAU teammate Naadir Tharpe is Brewster's pg, the New Hampshire Academy may have the inside track.

Kevin McKenna? -- The three year head coach at Indiana State resigned June 14 to take an Assistant Coaching job on (newly hired) Dana Altman's staff at Oregon. McKenna becomes the fourth "below the Red-Line" head coach to take an "above the Red-Line" assistant coaching job this off season.

DJ Newbill? -- The Philadelphia guard (Strawberry Mansion) was set to enter Marquette in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in September, but the Big East school abruptly withdrew it's scholarship offer to make room for Jamil Wilson, a rising sophomore sf and Wisconsin native, who transferred out of Oregon at the end of the 2010 season. Newbill is headed to Hattisburg, Mississippi, wher he will enroll in Southern Mississippi and play the point for Larry Eustachy's Golden Eagles. Despite the uncertainty (and change of venue) Newbill will be a Golden Eagle next season after all.

Reggie Redding? -- Villanova's all-purpose wing/forward went undrafted after a number of tryouts, including one with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Villanova graduate celebrated his 22^nd birthday (July 18), by signing to play for Intercollege Etha Engomis in the Cyprus A Division, and will head over to Cyprus to play for them next season. Congratulations Reggie and Happy Birthday.

Scottie Reynolds? -- Villanova's #2 All-Time Scorer went undrafted in June, but has been in Las Vegas playing NBA Summer League games for the Phoenix Sun's team. The guard may well sign with that NBA club, according to Arn Tellum, his agent. Scottie was ranked #8, with 4.7 assists per game in Summer League action.

Pitt Panthers? -- The Big East team hit the gym this week, running a series of supervised practices in preparation for their summer tour of Ireland, July 29 through August 9.

Maalik Wayns? -- Villanova's rising sophomore guard is staying in Philadelphia working out on campus (taking summer classes?) and playing summer ball with teammates Dominic Cheek, Maurice Sutton, Antonio Pena, Isiaih Armwood, Corey Stokes, Mouphtao Yarou and the Wildcats' newest walk-on player, Dallas Ouano, in the Hank Gathers Division of the Sonny Hill League. The games, normally played in Temple University's venerable McGonigal Hall, have been moved to Charles Audenreid High School, 32^nd and Tasker Streets in Philadelphia. Rumors have Cheek, Wayns and Yarou scoring a lot of points in their games so far.

Chris Wright? -- The rising senior forward joined A10 conference mate Lavoy Allen, Las Vegas. Wright was also invited to join the USA Select Team and help prepare Team USA for the FIBA World Championships to be held later this summer.

Jay Wright? -- Villanova's head coach is in Las Vegas working as a Co-head Coach of the USA Select Team, along with Washington's Lorenzo Romer. The USA Select Team, co-coached by Wright and Romer will help prepare the USA National Team for the FIBA World Championship. Five Big Ten players were invited to join the team, the largest number of any D1 conference. Two players, Scoop Jardine and Kemba Walker will represent the Big East.

Joseph Young? -- Providence's incoming freshman guard says he does not want to go to Providence after all. Citing an ill aunt, Young's father has requested a release from his son's NLI, which to this point, Coach Davis has refused. Unlike the much publicized Walter Pitchford-DePaul standoff (which was resolved late last week when DePaul formally released Pitchford), which was triggered when DePaul fired Jerry Wainwright, the coach Pitchford had signed on to play for, the coaching change that may be the motivator for Young's request occured at the University of Houston, where the elder Young was rehired by the Cougars' new head coach, James Dickey. If Young (the younger) does indeed ignore the NLI and go to Houston, he will have to pay his own way and sit the first year and lose a year of eligibility.

Departures -- St. John's Thru West Virginia

The Clearing Fog...Part 4 of 4
Unlike the 2009 off season, 2010 attrition from transfer and early NBA entry seems to be low and very school-specific. Of the 12 departures listed for these last four schools, only one is a transfer and two others are early entries in the NBA draft. All of the others are seniors, no small coincidence given that three of the four schools listed were the #1, #4 and #6 seeds in the BET.

St. John's

Player	Class	Pos	Status
Omari Lawrence	FR	G	Transf
Anthony Mason Jr.	RS SR	F	Grad

Heralded as an incoming recruit, Mason had a promising freshman campaign, but did not become the anticipated impact player after a series of injuries derailed his sophomore and junior seasons. 2010 was his fifth with the program, but even his re-introduction to the lineup was delayed this season with lingering injuries. He appeared in last 19 of the Johnnies' 33 games, starting 17 of them while averaging 24.7 minutes per game. Lawrence announced his intent to transfer in the middle of May. At 6-4 and 210 lbs, Lawrence found himself in competition with junior Paris Horne and JUCO Dwight Hardy for minutes last season. With the possible return of injured Quincy Roberts, those minutes will get tighter. An 11 day search process established to replace the fired Norm Roberts, tabbed Steve Lavin after several feelers and denials were processed. The administration had a list and worked through their options at a business-like pace. No signs of faltering or indecision/confusion in Queens. Coach Lavin moved with similar decisiveness as he put together his staff and pursued several late spring recruiting prospects. The competition for NYC bballers will increase over the next few years. Let's hope the bold moves translate into results on the court.

Syracuse

Player	Class	Pos	Status
Wesley Johnson	JR	F	NBA-In
Arinze Onuaku	SR	F	Grad
Andy Rautins	SR	G	Grad

The departures of Rautins and Onuaku were expected, even scheduled. Both took redshirts for injuries as underclassmen, and filled significant leadership roles for the team this season. The Orange may have several who may be ready to fill Onuaku's role, but Rautins' role, with his maturity and basketball IQ and deadly outside shot, may be more problematic. Coach Beoheim is the Dean of the Big East Coaching Fraternity. Despite several rebuffed initiatives to secure a line of succession back in the 2008 off season, there has been no word from Coach Boeheim about retirement. If he can repeat the 2010 season a few more times, he may never retire.

Villanova

Player	Class	Pos	Status
Reggie Redding	SR	G	Grad
Scottie Reynolds	SR	G	Grad
Russell Wooten	SR	F	Grad

I never understood how a player who took the Big East Rookie of the Year his freshman season (2007), was an All big East Team (1st, 2nd or 3rd) virtually every year he played, finished as the #2 scorer in Villanova history, only the second player to score more than 2,200 points in his career, was the #6 assist Villanova all-time leader, was named 1st All-American and Big 5 Player of the Year in his last season, could be so controversial, even after he played his last game for the Wildcats. Can the Nova Nation move on? Can the basketball program move on? Also departed is four year (off and on) starter Reggie Redding, who in a few ways was even more controversial than Reynolds. Which is a shame as both were, to all appearances, good players and even better people. Russell Wooten was a walk-on player and a fan favorite who saw minutes in out-of-reach games. Another member of Coach Wright's staff left to take a better job with another program. Despite off season job speculation that almost rivals the buzz surrounding Pitt's Jamie Dixon, the Coach is comfortable on the Main Line and intends to remain there...for the time being.

West Virginia

Player	Class	Pos	Status
Da'Sean Butler	SR	G/F	Grad
Devin Ebanks	SO	F	NBA-In
Wellington Smith	SR	F/C	Grad
Jonnie West	SR	F	Grad

Butler was arguably the Big East Player of the Year, especially during February. The Mountaineers advanced to the Final Four due to a team effort, led by the always-reliable Da'Sean Butler. Wellington Smith, a John Beilein-type (ie undersized and mobile) center, started all 38 games his senior season and logged 20+ minutes per game in a front court rotation of Kevin Jones, Devin Ebanks, John Flowers and Deniz Kilicli, all starters or regular substitutes. Ebanks' departure creates a need for front court help, something addressed with a late April signing. Jonnie West averaged 3.6 minutes per game in his 20 appearances last season. The program administration is solid and staying in place. Coach Huggins looks for all the world as if he has taken his last job. Morgantown is again a desirable destination for basketball talent.

Still Pending...
Ignoring for a moment the 900 pound gorilla, there is a "regular" ebb and flow to off season roster moves...
1. the coaching carousal -- the end of the spring signing period (May 19 this year) generally signals the end of the most active phase of coaching job turnovers among Division 1 schools. It is not in either party's interest to create (or take) a vacancy this "late" in the recruiting and hiring cycles. If any of the "untouched" positions turns over now, the catalyst will be a crisis -- life, health, propriety -- among the most likely causes. As Tim Welsh's tenure at Hofstra illustrates, these situations tend to develop and resolve quickly. Age may be a question with respect to Coach Boeheim, but given his attempts to develop a succession plan several seasons ago, I doubt he will would simply put in his papers and walk away. Especially now. Only Coach Calhoun at Connecticut has known health problems. Coach Pitino's moral crisis from the 2009 off season lingers, as the lady whose alleged extortion demands triggered his fall from grace is scheduled to go on trial this summer. The defendent's motion to change venues was denied, so Louisville (and the national press) may well mull the details and allegations one more time before the next school year. The Louisville program may be other shoes to drop, but most likely the worst has passed. Since 2007 (three cycles), the turnover rate after the Spring Signing period has ranged from 2% of the vacancies up to 18% of the vacancies, so expect a few more vacancies to open before Fall Practice.
2. Post regime house cleaning -- four coaching jobs turned over in the season/off season. The coaching jobs at DePaul and Rutgers have been "on the clock" for the past 2+ seasons; those programs have been bled dry by the prolonged process. Bobby Gonzalez almost casually turned over his rosters as players, exhibiting signs of burnout, routinely transferred to less stressful (lower major) programs. Omari Lawrence might be an early sign that some more of the St. John's roster will be heading out as Coach Lavin, alone among the new hires, is out of scholarships at this point.
3. Academic dismissals -- confidentially makes these difficult to keep track. Student-athletes on the brink often register for summer classes to clean up transcript/gpa problems. Summer school reports trickle out beginning in early July and running through late August. Given there is no Division 1 requirement or procedure for reporting and tracking academic qualifiers, we will not have a definite count of players until the rosters are published in September and October.

About That 900 Pound Gorilla...
Conference realignment speculation flew around the internet and in the national media just three weeks ago, but has largely died down in the wake of "no action" after the Big Ten ADs meeting last week did not result in any (public) offers. For the Big East programs that may receive invitations, the deadline to notify the conference of plans to withdraw pass at the end of June. Even should the Big Ten stage (and complete) a full-scale "ACC style" raid, the resulting realignment will happen after the 2010 basketball season.

St. John's Post Game: Ebb and Flow

The Homecoming, Part 2
Coach Wright's first head coaching job was Hofstra Univesity, a D1 program and member of the Colonial Athletic Association Conference. And located on Long Island, just east of New York City. Coach Wright has scouted the talent in the New York metropolitan area, maintained contacts with local high school and AAU coaches and has persuaded a steady stream of New York and New Jersey high school players to take their college educaton on the Mainline. Home-and-home contracts with Stony Brook and Fordham, unusual in an era of guarantee games, are common with Villanova but carry an ulterior motive. The Wildcats want games that New York and northern New Jersey fans (and prospects) can get to easily.

The Official website has an AP wire story, some post game notes and the box score. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	St. John's
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	37.5	36.6	74.1
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	98.6	120.2	109.3		101.3	90.2	95.8
eFG%	57.4	50.0	53.6		63.0	32.9	44.3
TORate	32.0	19.1	25.6		24.0	13.7	18.9
OR%	20.0	52.9	37.5		18.2	40.0	34.1
FTA/FGA	29.6	65.5	48.2		47.8	34.2	39.3
FTM/FGA	22.2	51.7	37.5		39.1	21.1	27.9
ARate	42.9	50.0	46.4		69.2	27.3	50.0
Blk%	11.1	17.2	14.3		17.4	13.2	14.8
Stl%	10.1	11.1	10.6		8.5	5.4	6.9
PPWS	1.20	1.16	1.18		1.35	0.75	0.98
2FG%	68.8	50.0	57.1		55.6	29.6	40.0
3FG%	27.3	33.3	28.6		60.0	27.3	37.5
FT%	75.0	78.9	77.8		81.8	61.5	70.8
%2FG	59.5	59.1	59.3		52.6	48.5	50.7
%3FG	24.3	6.8	14.8		23.7	27.3	25.4
%FT	16.2	34.1	25.9		23.7	24.2	23.9

Notes & Observations
1. Possessions for each half was very consistent. I did not have that impression as I watched the game.
2. Strong scoring from the field in the first half was undermined (for both teams) by turnovers. Note that both Villanova and St. John's lost over a quarter of their possessions. For Villanova, the culprit was, to a significant degree, steals by St. John's. Villanova point guards Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns in particular had two turnovers apiece.
3. Villanova's first half offensive rebounding was weaker than usual. The Johnnies' front and back court contingents can split credit, even as they did the defensive rebounds -- each group had 6.

Did St. John's Hit the Wall?
Among other questions asked in the post game press conference, one that was asked several different ways (reporters are funny that way...if they don't get the answer they want/expect, they simply rephrase the question and ask again...or get a colleague to) was whether the Red Storm team had not learned how to close out an opponent yet. The observation was that they had "stayed with" the Wildcats for 30 or so minutes, but could not "finish". I decided to break the game down into four minute segments to look a the scoring. How long did the Johnnies stay with the 'Cats?

	Game Score			Pts. in Segment
Time	Nova	John's	Diff	Nova	John's	Diff
1st half
16:00	12	7	5	12	7	5
12:00	14	18	-4	2	11	-9
8:00	18	29	-11	4	11	-7
4:00	28	32	-4	10	3	7
0:00	37	38	-1	9	6	3
2nd half
16:00	44	46	-2	7	8	-1
12:00	52	49	3	8	3	5
8:00	62	52	10	10	3	7
4:00	67	57	10	5	5	0
0:00	71	61	10	4	4	0

Though not timed to the minute, the segments suggest that while St. John's came out strong in the second half and turned back a Villanova 19-9 run that closed out the first half by adding a point back onto their lead, the tide was turning before the 30:00 minute mark of the game (before the 10:00 minute mark of the second half). An 8-3 run through the segment that marked the first 28 minutes had put the Wildcats back on top. The next 4 minute segment (28:00 through 32:00) continued the Villanova run by adding another seven points onto the Wildcats' lead. the teams traded points and possessions through the end of the game. By the 32:00 minute mark it was pretty much over.

A Funny Thing Happened in the Post Game Presser
I have learned there is a rhythm and flow to questions at post game press conferences, apparent if one hears the post game pressers typically televised after each NCAA tournament game. One reporter was interested in player and coach (from both teams) reactions to Scottie Reynolds as the Big East Player of the Year. Variations of this question found their way into the several exchanges in the Villanova segment. Scottie and Coach Wright (Reggie Redding, the other Wildcat present at the conference did not offer an opinion) did not seem prepared for that one. Was it "out of context"? Or had they simply not considered the possibility that Scottie would be a serious alternative to preseason favortie Luke Harangody? I suspect it was a little of both. The coach talked about focusing on the games and letting the team (and Scottie's) performance "make the case". A good answer, but it did take him a few sentences to fix on it as "the response". The same reporter raised the question to the St. John's players during their post game interview. Seated as bookends to Coach Norm Roberts, Malik Stith and DJ Kennedy looked at each other after the question had been posed. Clearly they had not anticipated the question either. Stith fielded the question (and did a good job under the circumstances) and complemented Scottie's play with "He's a big shot taker and a big shot maker. He doesn't worry about missing, he focuses on his next shot...".

Georgetown Post Game: Laissez les bons temps rouler

The 6th Man
Since I was doing a live blog for Rush the Court, I arrived early and settled in to the press section (going back eight rows, we split the space under one of the baskets with the Villanova Student Section). The student section began to fill 30 minutes before the tip off. They roundly booed as the Hoyas came out for warmups, but the arena, at 20 minutes til tip off, was barely 40% full. The nose bleed section -- the balcony above the club boxes -- showed very few open seats with 10 minutes before the ceremonies, but the lower bowl had many more open seats than faces. The Hoya fans arrived to take their places (appropriately, the poorest seats in the lower bowl) in the corner behind press row.

The first surprise was how quickly the lower bowl stands filled. 7,000 fans arrived and took their seats in something less than six minutes. The second surprise was the Villanova Men's Chorus. Their a cappella rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" was flawless, and the crowd (surprise #3) voiced their approval loudly. Very, very loudly. A hint of things to come? Absolutely, and then some. The crowd stood for large portions of the second half, chanted in one voice frequently and supported the Wildcats, loudly, throughout the entire game. I heard chants from the Georgetown contingent several times, particularly during their second half rally, but they were drown out quickly by the very partisan, very hometown, crowd.

The Official website has an AP wire story, some post game notes and the box score. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	Georgetown
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	36.0	38.6	74.6
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	127.8	93.4	110.0		86.1	119.3	103.3
eFG%	60.9	32.3	46.8		41.1	51.5	46.7
TORate	19.5	10.4	14.8		25.0	15.6	20.1
OR%	35.3	26.9	30.2		36.4	36.8	36.6
FTA/FGA	28.1	67.7	47.6		42.9	45.5	44.3
FTM/FGA	21.9	51.6	36.5		28.6	36.4	32.8
ARate	70.6	44.4	61.5		88.9	66.7	75.0
Blk%	6.3	19.4	12.7		25.0	3.0	13.1
Stl%	18.8	7.9	13.3		8.6	12.8	10.8
PPWS	1.27	0.88	1.06		0.92	1.15	1.04
2FG%	54.5	35.0	45.2		26.7	57.9	44.1
3FG%	50.0	18.2	33.3		38.5	28.6	33.3
FT%	77.8	76.2	76.7		66.7	80.0	74.1
%2FG	52.2	38.9	46.3		25.8	47.8	39.0
%3FG	32.6	16.7	25.6		48.4	26.1	35.1
%FT	15.2	44.4	28.0		25.8	26.1	26.0

A quick calculation at half-time and I realized the pace was closer to Villanova's comfort zone at 36.0 -- that translates to 72 possessions for the game -- than Georgetown's. This might have been the best half of basketball the 'Cats have played this season, or as Coach Wright suggested in the post game presser, the 2nd half at Louisville and the 1st half versus Georgetown is probably the best "game" Villanova played this season. I suspected the Hoyas would slow it down a bit and run their screen and back-cut offense. Their 2nd half strategy was counter-intuitive -- they bumped the pace up and scored far more efficiently (119.3 -- see table above), taking back the 15 points they gave in the 1st half and tying the game at 4:37 mark on a Greg Monroe put-back of his own miss. The Hoyas would tie again at the 4:01 (Monroe again, this time on a driving lay-up). Over the last 4 minutes Monroe would take only one more field goal attempt, a 2 pointer on a driving lay-up, as four other Hoyas went 1-5 from the field (and 3-3 from the line).

"We Can Play Fast; We Can Play Slow...it's the Quality of the Shot That Matters"
I suspected the Hoyas would slow it down and run their offense. Boy was I wrong, the Hoyas came out blazing, despite three fouls on Chris Wright the Hoyas threw caution to the wind and combined defensive board domination (they out rebounded the 'Cats by an uncomfortable margin) with outlet passes and lane penetration to switch to a transition offense. Greg Monroe was everywhere. If he wasn't grabbing a rebound (he had 10 in the 2nd half, eight on defense) and throwing an outlet pass to a streaking Austin Freeman or Wright (or Jason Clark), he was at the other end, taking a pass and going strong to the hoop (Monroe went 6-9 from the floor & 4-6 from the line).

Notes & Observations
1. The offense (Min%/Poss%/Shot%) went through Reynolds (72.5/31.9/32.8), Wayns (when he was in -- 35.0/41.0/40.8) and Redding (72.5/31.5/28.5). Fisher (70.0/25.4/15.9) went to the lane several times, but worked more later to set up Redding and Reynolds. The offense came through the back court, as the staff dipped deep into the bench to find an answer for Monroe and Vaughn.
2. The starters logged 65.0% of the minutes, a bit low for a close game. Two most obvious reasons -- fouls (Stokes picked up #2 quickly in the first half and sat for over 10 minutes before starting the second half; Pena fouled out; Reynolds and Redding had four apiece) and Greg Monroe. Though Stokes and Pena started, King (who fouled quickly), Armwood and Yarou logged minutes early and often as the fouls mounted. By the final buzzer Pena had to take a seat and the quintet loggedd 16 fouls combined.
3. Maalik Wayns has been accumulating minutes lately. With the advent of the Big East season, Wayns has seen his minutes grow from 15.8 mpg to 19.0 mpg. His scoring average has nearly doubled, from 6.5 to 12.4 over the last five games. Having been recognized by the conference twice already as Rookie of the Week, Wayns is putting together some numbers for the All-Rookie Team, and perhaps ROY consideration. No small feat given the depth (and seniority) of the Villanova back court.
4. The starters took 63% of the playing time, unusually low given the closeness of the game. 10 players logged >10 minutes apiece, and the staff used 11 players total during the course of the game. The staff has not played a rotation this deep this long ever. The chemistry looks very good.

Ref Notes
The crew of James Breeding, Bryan Kersey and Mike Kitts whistled the teams for a combined 52 fouls. This was the second Villanova game for each, though none has been teamed with any of the others for a Villanova game this season. The 'Cats are 2-0 with each referee. The game was within the standard deviation for Oddly, 52 fouls was pretty much in line with expectations for Kersey, but high for the others. Does Kersey have a "happy whistle"?

Impressions from the Post Game Press Conferences
Jon Tannenwald recorded the two press conferences and has the audio available over at his Soft Pretzel Logic Blog (thanks Jon).

James Bryson Sighting
As I wandered the bowls of the Wach looking for access (back) to the arena to reconnect with the wireless service and shut down my live blog, I spotted two men across from Coach Wright, who was informally answering a few more questions from reporters, waiting patiently for a moment with the Coach. While the shorter of the two was just an inch or two taller than I, the other, at 6-7 (at least) had to be a bballer. We exchanged greetings and a handshake. The name brought back memories of the early 1990s teams, some of Coach Mass' last teams and Coach Lappas' first. Frustrating at times, but those guys showed flashes too. Bryson started for the 1992 and 1993. After noting we both graduated in years ending in "3", I thanked him for some good memories and went off to find the arena floor again. He looked healthy and in good humor. And why not, the 'Cats beat Georgetown?

Press Clippings
The seating chart for the contained a number of familiar names, many of course are local ink or electronic (Tim Welch, former Providence Head Coach who announced the game for ESPN) or net-based media (Jon Tannenwald of Soft Pretzel Logic). In addition to the visiting press (Liz Clarke from the Washington Post), there were a few names known to audiences larger than the Delaware Valley (yes there was a DelCo Times reporter there) national name or two as well, New York (and Philadelphia) Daily News sports columnist Hoops Weiss, ESPN writer Dana O'Neil and Luke Winn to name three. The game drew more than a little ink...

1. Luke Winn drew much of the material for his 5 Lessons... article from the post game pressers. Though Coach Thompson felt he could get good games out of his bench, the collective 1-12 (1-8, 0-4) and 1-2 performance from the field spoke volumns. Coach Thompson acknowledged the bench has to get stronger.
2. Dana O'Neil's My Guy versus Your Guy game-day blog entry was vintage work. Well thought-out and well written.
3. Liz Clarke provides a Hoya perspective to the game in her recap, "Georgetown rally falls short this time...". Her piece also touched the Hoyas' very short bench.
4. Soft Pretzel Logic's Jon Tannenwald wonders Does Georgetown-Villanova matter anymore?. He raised the question to each coach individually in their separate press conferences. Both coaches couched their answers in the context of the Big East conference and where they felt their team was at this point in time. Hardly a rousing endorsement for the rivalry perhaps, but Greg Monroe's demeanor during the press conference suggested this loss stung. A lot.
5. The Hoya Prospectus has an HD version of the boxscore.

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.

Delaware Post Game -- Hen Pluckin'

Well, Pomeroy Said The 'Cats Were Favored by 29...
...and in an unusual development, the Wildcats actually exceeded the projected winning margin against this mid-major opponent, 97-63. Having won the tip, the Wildcats' Antonio Pena scored a layup at the 19:40 mark of the 1st half that broke a 0-0 tie. And it was downhill from there for the Blue Hens. The Official website posted an AP wire story and (of course) the box score. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent	Delaware
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	34.8	36.3	71.1
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	137.8	135.2	136.5		91.9	85.5	88.6
eFG%	60.9	69.0	64.8		53.7	39.1	45.8
TORate	19.8	16.6	18.0		26.4	16.6	21.0
OR%	46.7	35.7	41.4		21.4	21.7	21.6
FTA/FGA	28.1	41.4	34.4		18.5	25.0	22.0
FTM/FGA	28.1	31.0	29.5		11.1	18.8	15.3
ARate	43.8	47.1	45.5		76.9	40.0	60.9
Blk%	0.0	0.0	0.0		3.7	6.3	5.1
Stl%	3.8	14.0	9.7		11.6	8.2	9.8
PPWS	1.32	1.41	1.37		1.09	0.87	0.97
2FG%	47.4	64.7	55.6		58.8	27.8	42.9
3FG%	53.8	50.0	52.0		30.0	35.7	33.3
FT%	100.0	75.0	85.7		60.0	75.0	69.2
%2FG	37.5	44.9	41.2		62.5	32.3	47.6
%3FG	43.8	36.7	40.2		28.1	48.4	38.1
%FT	18.8	18.4	18.6		9.4	19.4	14.3

Only the George Mason, Drexel and Temple games saw the Wildcats get fewer possessions. Slowing it down appears to have worked well against the Hens as the Wildcat shooters had their most accurate night since Penn (note the gree highlighting in the table), and their most dominant night on the defensive boards since Fairleigh Dickinson (see green highlight above).

Half-time Adjustments
Though leading by 16 at the break, Villanova's shot defense was not working particularly well as Delaware managed to shoot 10-17 inside the arc (58.8% -- note the red highlight above). Note that while the Hen's were shooting well (from inside the arc anyway), their efficiency was not particularly good because they were turning the ball over (23%), not rebounding their misses (21.4%) and not getting to the line for additional scoring opportunities (18.5%). A rare case where good shot efficiency was completely negated by inefficiency in the other 3 areas of offense and defense. At the break the 'Cats figured out how to shut down the Hens' inside scoring. The Hens had to look outside for more shots. While Delaware improved their conversion rate (30% to 35.6%), the difference did not keep up with their 1st half 2 FGM numbers (35.6 for 3 FGMs is equivalent to a 53.6% conversion rate for 2 FGMs).

Notes & Observations
1. Scottie Reynolds moved 22 points closer to the 2000 point career mark, as he has logged 353 points so far this season, ahead of marks from his previous 3 seasons. His per game average to date, 17.3, is the best in his career, for this point in (12 games into) the season.
2. Taylor King broke out of a mild scoring slump, hitting 5-8 (1-3, 4-5) and 8-8 for 19 points. King also grabbed 12 rebounds (6-6-12), making this the 1st double-double of his collegiate career. And he did all of that in 23 minutes of play. King has to be an early favorite for a 6th man award, as he seems to be instant energy off the bench.
3. Corey Fisher had another mediocre night from the field, shooting 4-10. He did however, go 2-4 from beyond the arc, nail all 4 free throw attempts, grab 5 rebounds (love the rebounding guards...) and dish 4 assists with no turnovers. So it was not a bad night overall for the junior guard.
4. Reggie Redding is back. With a vengence. The swing man went 6-7 from the field, (1-2, 5-5) and nailed all 3 of his free throw attempts for a 16 point night. That translates to a 1.90 PPWS and a 92.9% eFG%. That's not a typo. Reggie grabbed 6 rebounds (love those rebounding guards), dished 2 assists (against a turnover) and had a steal to boot. Redding is not a 1st option on offense, but he seems to often be the 3rd choice. He logged 30 minutes of play.

Ref Notes
Bernard Clinton, Mike Kitts and (Coach Calhoun's favorite...) Wally Rutecki made up the referee crew. They must have been in the holiday spirit; they were restrained with their whistles. While the number of fouls called, 38, was on the low side, it was still within the "normal range" for Villanova home games. The number of free throw attempts (34) was, however (for both teams) lighter than expected for the number of fouls called. That accounts for Villanova's relatively low FTA/FGA rate for this game (see the half splits above). All three referees have worked Villanova games in prior seasons, but for Clinton and Kitts, this was their first Villanova game of the 2010 season. Wally Rutecki worked the Penn game back in November.

Roster Notes
1. Maurice Sutton was DNP with an upper respiratory problem. He should be ready for Marquette on January 2nd.

Fordham Post Game: The Return of Reggie Redding

The Jersey Meadowlands
A vast saltwater estuary, for nearly 400 years settlers along the coast west of New York (or back in the day, New Amsterdam) pondered what to do with the low lying land that stretched along their backdoors, just west of the palisades. An expanse of mucky wetlands that would be incredibly valuable if they "develop" it, the settlers of Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark tried to drain it with canals, build it up with vast amounts of fill dirt (and garbage), built factories and railway yards, all the while calling it "Meadowlands" to conjure visions of pastures, grazing cows and rosey cheeked Dutch milk maids(?). Rather than what they in fact had -- a vast expanses of sea grass, nesting places for migrating birds, an inexhaustible supply of swamp rats and snakes.

The New Jersey Sports Authority, backed by the state, spent the better part of the 1970s & 1980s developing a few thousand acres into a sports complex that included a flat track, football stadium, 20,000 seat sports arena...and indoor ski jump (best not to ask about Xanadu...). Going to the Izod Arena has become something an inconvenience, especially since Seton Hall moved into Newark (and the Rock), and the Nets have fielded such a miserable pro team. Add to the trek up the Turnpike an impending snowstorm, and I have to wonder how many fans, of either Villanova, Fordham or D1 basketball, would show up for this, the "return" game to Villanova & Fordham's home-n-home contract. The attendance records say there were 5,137 fans present, and frankly I thought there might be more than that, closer to 6,500 I thought. 4,000 of that 5,100 had to be of the Nova Nation. The official website has an AP wirestory and the box score. The breakdown by halves.

Opponent	Fordham
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	40.0	34.3	74.3
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	115.0	145.8	129.2		92.5	61.2	78.0
eFG%	51.4	67.2	58.8		50.0	21.0	35.5
TORate	12.5	14.6	13.5		20.0	26.2	22.9
OR%	35.0	53.8	42.4		11.1	36.0	25.6
FTA/FGA	33.3	25.0	29.4		22.6	25.8	24.2
FTM/FGA	25.0	21.9	23.5		19.4	25.8	22.6
ARate	43.8	60.0	52.8		28.6	33.3	30.0
Blk%	5.6	3.1	4.4		3.2	6.5	4.8
Stl%	12.6	5.9	9.5		14.9	17.2	16.0
PPWS	1.10	1.40	1.24		1.08	0.60	0.84
2FG%	47.8	77.3	62.2		57.9	26.3	42.1
3FG%	38.5	30.0	34.8		25.0	8.3	16.7
FT%	75.0	87.5	80.0		85.7	100.0	93.3
%2FG	47.8	68.0	58.3		59.5	47.6	55.2
%3FG	32.6	18.0	25.0		24.3	14.3	20.7
%FT	19.6	14.0	16.7		16.2	38.1	24.1

The pace of the 1st half suggested another high-possession, exhibition type game. Both teams seemed to slow it down a bit in the 2nd half, bringing the game more in line with a typical D1 game. Going into the game the Rams, whose 2-6 record came compliments of a smattering of teams from MAAC, American East and NEC (and a MAC team), along with cross-town rival St. John's of the Big East, had developed efficiencies (points per 100 possessions), offensive and defensive, of 86.1 and 99.0 respectively. As the orange highlighted line above shows, the 'Cats exceeded both, exploding for nearly 1.3 points per possession (above their own rating of 1.15) while holding the Rams to 0.78 points per possession (again besting their own defensive efficiency of 0.96). The 1st half defensive numbers were typically Villanova -- high field goal conversion (eFG% at 50.0, PPWS at 1.08), good (but in this game, not great) turnover rate (20.0), control of the boards (OR% at 11.1), while keeping the Rams off the free throw line. The Rams were converting well, but (nearly) every possession did not yield a field goal attempt, and when they missed, they were not likely to get a 2nd chance. The Rams' conversion rates collapsed in the 2nd half (note the green highlighted field goal percentages under defense), which combined with their (even higher) turnover rate, translated (much improved rebounding aside) into a much lower offensive efficiency (61.2).

Notes & Observations
1. Reggie Redding started the game (despite speculation that he would come off the bench in his first game, then start all subsequent games), scored 15 points and was a single rebound shy of a double-double. Redding converted at a very efficient 77.8% (eFG%), logging a 1.37 PPWS, suggesting he converted 3s and free throws. A very good start for the returning senior -- welcome back Reggie.
2. By my very unofficial count Scottie Reynolds surpassed off-guard Gary Buchanan's career output (1799) and assumed the #10 spot on the All-time list. Scottie has 1805 points so far.
3. Corey Fisher scored a very efficient 17 points on 6-9 (3-5, 3-4) and 2-2 shooting. Those numbers translated into an eFG% of 83.3% and a PPWS of 1.56, the best numbers Fish has posted this season. Fisher took 23% of Villanova's shots when he was on the floor, and along with Reynolds (25.6%), Stokes (a very inefficient 28.1%), Pena (20.4%) and Wayns (23.5%) presented a "5 headed" scoring monster (though no more than 4, along with Redding at 19.?%, were on the floor simultaneously) that the Wildcats seem to threaten in any given game.
4. The squad controlled the boards, one of those "four factors" the 'Cats must dominate in if the squad is to succeed.
5. The Villanova-Fordham series, which dates back to 1921, now stands at 13-8 in favor of the Wildcats. Villanova has now won the last 6 and 10 of the last 11 meetings.

Ref Notes
Bill McCarthy and Ed Corbett, familiar faces in season's past, teamed with Jeff Clark to run the game. The teams were whistled for 35 fouls (16 for Fordham and 19 for Villanova), low, but not exceptionally low, for a Wildcat road game this season. The same holds for FTAs -- low, but not the lowest for either the Wildcats as visitors, nor for the host. Villanova's record in Jeff Clark games so far is 2-0.

Ray Floriani Sighting
Ray Floriani was at the game, and kind enough to come up to Section 104 during halftime. We exchanged views about a number of the teams in the A10 and Ray indicated that Jarrod Grasso, Fordham's interim coach really had the Rams motivated. Despite the loss of Jio Fontan Fordham has been competitive in most of their post-Whittenburg games. "Hire him" says Ray. And given Grasso's recruiting record, I agree.

Preview 2009-10 -- Villanova Wildcats

Too Busy for the Details?
The seniors who departed from the Wildcat's Final Four squad have left large gaps to fill in 2010. Not so much the glamor stuff, the high arcing 3s, the end-to-end races with an almost arrogantly understated layout at the bucket, the lane drives, but rather the grunt work, chasing down rebounds, setting picks, finishing the seeing-eye entry pass with a 2 (or an and-one). Most of a very experienced, if undersized, front court has departed, and Coach Wright has some rebuilding (or reloading? -- see Significant Additions below) to do. With a returning nucleus of Scottie Reynolds (3rd Team All-Big East), Corey Fisher (Big East 6th Man), dead-eye wing man Corey Stokes and all purpose glue guy Reggie Redding (after he completes his Fall Semester suspension), Coach Wright's job may be less brick-and-mortar and more finishing touches...if everything pans out. Prognosis -- A 1st quartile finish.

3 Years At a Glance
The returning percentages hint heavily at which positions the staff will have to replace this season. Note the drop in minutes, combined with the relatively high return of 3 point field goals (and very low returning percentage of offensive rebounding) -- the staff is not looking for perimeter players this off season. If some of the returning numbers resemble those from 2008 (defensive & total rebounds), the expectations are a good deal higher.

	Returning...
	2010	2009	2008
%Min	63.1	90.6	53.1
%Pts	61.7	89.5	50.8
%FGM	57.1	89.6	50.1
%3FGM	81.4	86.0	49.6
%OReb	38.4	86.1	52.9
%DReb	50.7	90.9	50.4
%TReb	46.7	89.3	51.3

Villanova returns more minutes than they did in 2008, an especially dicey season that saw a 5 game skid and a 9-9 Big East finish. The biggest difference between the two seasons is the large percentage of returning senior minutes in 2010. In 2008 the returning nucleus was largely juniors and sophomores, this season the returning nucleus is seniors and juniors. Most of the Wildcat's perimeter game returns, though it has been a declining part of their offense. For outside shooters the 'Cats will need offensive rebounding. The greatest need area they have to replace with the departure of Cunningham, Anderson and (especially) Shane Clark (a Top 300 offensive rebounder according to Ken Pomeroy).

	According to Pomeroy...
	2008-09		2007-08		2006-07
	#	Rank	#	Rank	#	Rank
Overall ORtg	115.0	22	110.2	61	114.3	36
Overall DRtg	89.6	15	91.7	34	89.1	18
Big East ORtg	110.0	3	100.3	12	102.4	6
Big East DRtg	101.0	4	100.2	5	99.5	9
Four Factors --
All Off. eFG%	50.8	100	49.1	196	48.8	220
All Off. TOv%	18.8	70	20.4	142	19.9	89
All Off. OReb%	36.5	52	36.0	61	39.1	22
All Off. FTA/FGA	41.9	40	38.9	107	41.7	55
All Def. eFG%	47.3	89	51.1	223	48.2	94
All Def. TOv%	21.4	113	23.4	48	23.1	60
All Def. OReb%	29.9	49	31.2	96	32.1	96
All Def. FTA/FGA	38.8	230	46.4	322	42.0	262
Four Factors --
BE Off. eFG%	51.9	6	46.7	13	47.0	11
BE Off. TOv%	19.2	10	20.5	10	21.1	13
BE Off. OReb%	35.4	7	34.6	5	41.3	2
BE Off. FTA/FGA	44.9	1	37.4	8	40.9	4
BE Def. eFG%	49.5	10	49.9	9	49.4	10
BE Def. TOv%	21.8	2	22.8	2	21.6	2
BE Def. OReb%	32.8	7	32.8	8	30.4	3
BE Def. FTA/FGA	39.7	14	51.4	16	46.6	16
Miscellaneous
All Gms Cons	19.1	121	19.5	42	20.0	98
All Gms Luck	+.013	110	+.026	87	-.046	266

Villanova's defense has kept them in ball games when the offense has been slow to start. Last season was the exception, and Villanova was able to climb back into the first quartile. Note that shooting has been the lagging indicator on offense. Bringing their shooting up to a middling 51.9% (eFG%) provided a huge boost to the Wildcat offense. On defense, the combination of forced turnovers and defensive rebounding largely compensated for mediocre shot defense.

	For the Record...
	2008-09			2007-08			2006-07
	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.
Overall	30	8	0.789	22	13	0.629	22	11	0.667
Big East	13	5	0.722	9	9	0.500	9	7	0.563
Post Season?	NCAA/Rnd 5			NCAA/Rnd 3			NCAA/Rnd 1

The Wildcat's Nucleus
If the entire back court (and wing) are available next season, Coach Jay Wright still has to find replacements for graduated front court players Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark. Junior forward Antonio Pena will be available, and having played two seasons in and out of the starting lineup, he should be ready to step into a bigger role. Red shirt freshman Maurice Sutton practiced all through 2008-09. Though he logged no game time, Sutton did provide a lot of energy from his spot on the bench.

On Offense
Player	Min%	ORtg	Poss%	Shot%	eFG%	PPWS	OR%	FTR%
Reynolds	80.2	107.8	24.1	23.9	48.9	1.12	1.8	48.8
Redding	71.9	104.5	15.8	13.8	48.8	1.06	6.3	38.2
Fisher	60.7	106.4	23.7	22.2	48.0	1.10	2.7	54.7
Stokes	56.9	115.3	17.5	21.5	55.2	1.18	3.1	24.6
Pena	42.8	101.7	17.7	14.2	48.1	1.08	9.3	66.9

The returning players can provide offense as the numbers suggest. Though only Stokes had an eFG above 50.0, the others provided assists and rebounds. And if they did not always hit their shots, they surely made it to the free throw line.

On Defense
Player	Min%	DR%	Ast%	TO%	Stl%	Blk%
Scottie Reynolds	80.2	8.2	20.4	19.3	0.4	2.8
Reggie Redding	71.9	13.0	18.8	23.6	2.2	2.2
Corey Fisher	60.7	8.1	22.6	19.7	0.3	2.9
Corey Stokes	56.9	13.6	8.2	15.0	1.4	1.7
Antonio Pena	42.8	17.2	10.6	23.1	3.6	0.9

Reggie Redding (yellow highlight) has been suspended from playing in Fall semester games. While he is can attend class and participate in team practices he is prohibited from traveling with the team and participating in games. He will be restored to full status on December 18.

Pena is the best rebounder among the returnees, but the Wildcats will need a stronger presence on the boards if they hope to maintain their standing among the conference's best teams. Stokes has improved on the offensive and defensive boards each season on the Main Line; the Nova Nation can only hope the trend continues. The newcomers will have to provide some help, if not on offense (very unlikely given the presences of Taylor King and Dominic Cheeks), certainly on the boards.

Significant Additions
Coach Wright may have to cope with the departure of 3 front court mainstays, but has replacements in the form of 4 Top 100 true freshmen, 2 of whom will find playing time in the front court, a red shirt freshman #4/#5 and a transfer, 6-6, 230 lbs #3/#4 Taylor King, of Mater Dei HS by way of Duke. King, a McDonald's All American out of High School with a reputation as a scorer, will be eligible in the fall of 2009. Maurice Sutton, a 6-11, 215 lb forward from Upper Marleboro, Maryland took the red shirt year and, along with King, practiced with the team as he got control over his academics. If those two put their practice year to good use, they learned how to rebound. Rebounding under both boards is more valuable to the staff at this point than shooting. Of the freshmen, 6-9 Mouphtaou Yarou, a 245 lb #4/#5 graduate of Montrose Christian in Maryland will be relied on early and often. He will most likely team with some combination of Pena, King, Sutton and true freshmen recruit Isaiah Armwood, a 6-8 #3/#4 also out of Montrose Christian in Maryland, to form the front court for 2010 and beyond. While the Wildcats are talented and well stocked in the back court and on the wing, given their talent level, both #2 guard Dominic Cheek, a 6-6 wing out of St. Anthony's in Jersey City, NJ and 6-0 #1 Malik Wayns, a Philly guard who graduated from Roman Catholic, is expected to contribute from the beginning.

Explode If...
1. Mouphtau Yarou is able to effectively anchor the defense in the low post. The Wildcats have not had a shot blocker since Malik Allen in the late 1990s. Shot defense, especially versus bigger players has been a problem. Yarou has to provide shot blocking, rebounding (and an outlet pass?) without slowing the 'Cats down on offense.
2. Reynolds and Fisher become more consistent on offense. Scottie had off nights, as did Fisher, but rarely did both simultaneously. Against everyone but North Carolina, Cunningham was able to bridge the performance "lapse". With consistency from their back court and options on wing and in the front court in the form of Stokes, Pena, King, Cheek and Redding, there will be enough options to keep opposing defenses off balance.

Implode If...
1. Integrating new players in large numbers can be time consuming and tricky. The 2008 squad flirted with disaster before a late season surge creditted to a couple of bench players righted the ship. The staff needed time to find the right combination of players to build the rotation around.
2. Villanova's defense has a reputation for being difficult to grasp because, though implemented as a man-to-man, works to shut down scoring inside of 15 feet by closing off the lane with secondary help and selective switching on screens and picks. When 2 or more players are in "learning mode" they can blow coverage and leave opposing shooters (particularly on the wing) very open. A long learning curve could produce a very ugly sequence of games, similar to the five game skid during 2008 season.

Crucial Run/Bellweather Games
Villanova faces George Mason in the 1st round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, to be followed by either Dayton or Georgia Tech. The 3rd round opponent will come from a pool that includes Kansas State and Mississippi. Projected by consensus to be a Top 10 Team going into next season, which implies a #1 or #2 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament (preseason Coaches and AP polls ranks the 'Cats #4 and #6 respectively). The Big 5 series always promises to have one or two very competitive opponents. La Salle, a team with active wings, a backcourt that features senior Rodney Green and a newcomer at center, Aric Murray, will close out November with what promises to be very competitive game. December also has an early match up with Maryland in the BB&T Classic in Washington DC. and the last two Big 5 opponents (St. Joseph's & Temple). The schedule's biggest challenges will come from the slate in Puerto Rico, Maryland and (as always) the Big 5. Coming to the threshold of the Big East season undefeated would be good, but not necessarily conclusive, signal that the team will secure a #1/#2 seed by season's end. A loss however, would not preclude the Wildcats earning a #1/#2 either. Among the OOC opponents, Maryland and the 2nd or 3rd round opponent in the Puerto Rico Classic should prove to be the most challenging tests. In the Big East, either Temple (Fran Dunphy teams are always tough on the 'Cats) or La Salle could hang the first loss on Villanova.

Villanova will open the Big East season exactly where they did last season -- in Milwaukee, facing the Golden Eagles. Marquette hung a 7 point opening loss on the 'Cats, with a less experienced team the 'Cats may be able to extract a measure of revenge. This is a game they should take if they are, as a consensus of the Big East coaches and the sportswriters who voted in the AP poll suggest, the favored team in the conference this season. Villanova has eight conference games in January (four at home and four on the road), with the second eight coming in February (again 4 & 4, home & away) and the last two to open March (away then home). The first three conference games may be the easiest run of the regular season as the 'Cats face Marquette twice (away then home) and host DePaul at the Pavilion. 3-0 to start the season would be the best case, and pretty much what the Nova Nation expects. Other January road games include stops in Louisville (ouch) and New York City (St. John's at the Garden), two that could cause problems for the inexperienced Wildcat front court, and Rutgers (revenge for the loss at the RAC in 2008?). The Wildcats will host Georgetown and Notre Dame in addition to the aforementioned Marquette and DePaul. The Hoyas beat the Wildcats late last season in a Wachovia game. The two will meet there again on January 17th, a rare Sunday game that I am sure many in the Nova Nation will look forward to. Starting February 8-0 in conference is probably unrealistic, especially with an unsettled front court, but Villanova's Big East schedule is back end loaded this season, so 6-2 (or anything shorter on wins) would be cause for concern. February will not be kind. For Villanova, the road will pass through Washington, Morgantown, Pittsburgh and Syracuse in February. The 'Eers drubbed the 'Cats in Morgantown last season on a dreary Friday night in mid February. Let's hope history does not repeat. If Villanova has done well at the Verizon Center (except the last time they played the Hoyas there), the Peterson Center has been a nightmare (on the scale of the Coliseum). 2-2 on the road in February would be about right. Villanova should prevail in the four home games, though the Pirates have the capacity to surprise, especially if they are hot and the 'Cats are napping. March's two games, at Cincinnati's Fifth Third and back home to host West Virginia are a television executive's dream. If the Wildcats are in the middle of a conference title scramble (they should be), putting them on the road against the Bearcats should, with the title storyline playing against position matchups (Reynolds versus Vaughn, Stokes versus Stephenson), generate a larger than fan-base audience. And if Villanvoa and West Virginia are within a game of each other (and in a wrestling match for the #1 seed in New York City), the Wach will be packed to rafters. Even with a down season conference-wide (which means quite a few teams clustered around the 0.500 mark), I suspect the conference winner will need at least 15 wins to take the #1 seed. That last game (if all goes according to script) will most likely be Villanova's 15th win.