Villanova Game thread 2/21/23

[Anti-Homer]

Boum has lost the last 2 for Xavier. 2 TOs in the last 40 seconds against Marquette and then a wild shot with plenty of time left against Nova. Certainly Kunkel deserves a lot of credit for this loss given his 2 turnovers late combined with giving them a 3 point play and 3 off those turnovers.

X has lost to 3 of the worst 4 teams in the BE. This team can lose to anyone but also capable of beating anyone.

The defensive effort is improved from earlier in the season. Decision making is much worse. Going for the high risk pass to the block is not a good idea unless you are outmatched and desperate. Work the ball for the right angle into the post.

Free will increase the margin of error. He will allow more rest for the bigs and create more offensive efficiency. He won't however fix the decision making issues. The team has to fix that before he returns or they will eventually lose, even at full strength.

Good post, but harsh to say Boum lost the last two. Against Marquette, he did have a horrendous seven T.O.s and two turnovers in the final minute but shot almost 70% from the field and scored 24 points. Today, he made four threes and had 17 points. I agree with my nephew. It's time to pass the mantle to Jones for the last shot. The only issue is his shaky free-throw shooting.

[muskieman]

Colby, Colby, Colby not on the three point shot

Colby was outstanding defensively but forced more shots today than in the last five games.

someone needs to have him watch the nit games highlights because he would see himself in successful situations. When he missed his early shots and then make an "and one" only to miss the foul shot and then to miss two more foul shots I saw the Colby that goes dark on the offense. Granted he played decent D on Whitmore, but when he guarded Moore he couldn't stop him

X had about 33-34 plays in the second half, and 10 were Turnovers so you do the math

I think Jones as bad as he was on O today should have taken the final shot because he is bigger and problem better in clutch situations over his career

Neptune won the coaching war today.

[Kevin Reilly]

Muskieman don't forget about Jones. He is a beast himself. LOL. It would be nice if we had a Basketball jones or a Jalen Reynolds or a Derrick Strong or Brian Grant but we do have a good team. Edwards can bang with any of them too.

[muskieman]

Muskieman don't forget about Jones. He is a beast himself. LOL. It would be nice if we had a Basketball jones or a Jalen Reynolds or a Derrick Strong or Brian Grant but we do have a good team. Edwards can bang with any of them too.

the problem with Edwards, and I like him, is he does not play well enough so that the coach can't take him out. Hunter has done that this year

[Kevin Reilly]

I agree Muskieman. I would have had Jones take the last shot too.

[Anti-Homer]

Colby, Colby, Colby not on the three point shot

Colby was outstanding defensively but forced more shots today than in the last five games.

someone needs to have him watch the nit games highlights because he would see himself in successful situations. When he missed his early shots and then make an "and one" only to miss the foul shot and then to miss two more foul shots I saw the Colby that goes dark on the offense. Granted he played decent D on Whitmore, but when he guarded Moore he couldn't stop him

X had about 33-34 plays in the second half, and 10 were Turnovers so you do the math

I think Jones as bad as he was on O today should have taken the final shot because he is bigger and problem better in clutch situations over his career

Neptune won the coaching war today.

With a couple of exceptions, the only time anyone beat Jones was rubbing off a pick. He was a beast definitely. So was Nunge. What would you have done differently if you were Miller?

[Anti-Homer]

Colby was outstanding defensively but forced more shots today than in the last five games.

someone needs to have him watch the nit games highlights because he would see himself in successful situations. When he missed his early shots and then make an "and one" only to miss the foul shot and then to miss two more foul shots I saw the Colby that goes dark on the offense. Granted he played decent D on Whitmore, but when he guarded Moore he couldn't stop him

X had about 33-34 plays in the second half, and 10 were Turnovers so you do the math

I think Jones as bad as he was on O today should have taken the final shot because he is bigger and problem better in clutch situations over his career

Neptune won the coaching war today.

With a couple of exceptions, the only time anyone beat Jones was rubbing off a pick. He was a beast definitely. So was Nunge. What would you have done differently if you were Miller?

Mman,

If you're suggesting Jones should have taken the last shot, I do agree in the future. However, with no timeouts, and having only 11 seconds to go 90 feet, there isn't a lot of time to execute.

[muskieman]

I agree Muskieman. I would have had Jones take the last shot too.

Had Souley made the shot we would be saying he is the man, but this is and should be Colby's team, and so he should be the go-to guy more than any other because they need to bring someone to help defend him and that leaves someone open (like Jack) for an open shot.

[muskieman]

someone needs to have him watch the nit games highlights because he would see himself in successful situations. When he missed his early shots and then make an "and one" only to miss the foul shot and then to miss two more foul shots I saw the Colby that goes dark on the offense. Granted he played decent D on Whitmore, but when he guarded Moore he couldn't stop him

X had about 33-34 plays in the second half, and 10 were Turnovers so you do the math

I think Jones as bad as he was on O today should have taken the final shot because he is bigger and problem better in clutch situations over his career

Neptune won the coaching war today.

With a couple of exceptions, the only time anyone beat Jones was rubbing off a pick. He was a beast definitely. So was Nunge. What would you have done differently if you were Miller?

Mman,

If you're suggesting Jones should have taken the last shot, I do agree in the future. However, with no timeouts, and having only 11 seconds to go 90 feet, there isn't a lot of time to execute.

As Souley was letting the ball roll down the court, he could have picked it up and thrown it to a cutting Coby. A 10-foot jumper by either Colby or Souley would have been preferred rather than the contested shot hoping for a foul that we know no ref will call on Nova as time runs out. Colby and Souley made that shot earlier in the game with a put-back if missed.

[skyhops]

Problem with Jones shooting the last shot is he is shooting around 47% from the FT in BE play and he picked a bad time to play his worst game since the Cintas was loaded with NBA scout. At one point Nova had a 16-0 point advantage off turnovers, which is recipe for defeat. Miller decided to complain more about the AK travel then focus at game end. Everyone knows Boum is going to shoot it at the end and a left handed off balance drive is ridiculous. The Feb curse continues hopefully we beat Butler and slide into the tourney.