Nova game thread
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:43 am
On paper,
This appears to be the wrong time to be playing Nova. They’re coming off their best consecutive and overall games of the year, beating both DePaul and Temple at their place by 20. They were blistering from three point land against both, hitting 18/26 – 70% -from 3’s against DePaul (X ‘s percentage at the rim might be lower), and 17/36 – 46% from 3’s against Temple. They shoot 37% from three point land for the year, but it was probably closer to 33% before the Temple game. They also shoot a ridiculous 78% from the line, which I would bet is in the top 3 in the country.
A number which jumps out against both opponents is that Nova out rebounded both by a cumulative total of 16, and were even with offensive rebounds. Inexcusable. Saddiq Bey is paving his way to becoming a lottery pick with his 47% shooting percentage and solid defense. He and Gillespie (38% from 3’s) are the Bluiett-Macura of Nova. Marshall will have to do what he’s done all year and make life tough for Bey. I fear Gillespie is going to get bait foul prone Scruggs into a couple of cheap ones, but he is just going to have to show discipline, and punish him on the offensive end with his quickness and length.
As usual, the most glaring advantage for X will be in the post, with freshman Robinson Earl (R-E) trying to match up with Jones. Roundtree only plays 7 minutes a game, so hopefully Jones can get Earl into foul trouble, and force Roundtree to play more minutes. Last year, Jones lost his man on 3-4 slips at Nova, so I’m sure they’ll try and exploit that this year as well, because R-E sets a lot of high ball screens, as all their bigs do. Jay Wright is a great coach, and while Nova will do what they do, and shoot-make a high number of threes, they will also drive the lane and shot fake a lot to draw and get Jones and others into foul trouble. Ty has been very disciplined into not getting into foul trouble this year, but he will be tested today.
If X out rebounds Nova, switches and defends the slips on ball screens, & stays out of foul trouble (especially Scruggs & Jones), they have a chance. As usual, I'm hommering. X wins 68-67.
This appears to be the wrong time to be playing Nova. They’re coming off their best consecutive and overall games of the year, beating both DePaul and Temple at their place by 20. They were blistering from three point land against both, hitting 18/26 – 70% -from 3’s against DePaul (X ‘s percentage at the rim might be lower), and 17/36 – 46% from 3’s against Temple. They shoot 37% from three point land for the year, but it was probably closer to 33% before the Temple game. They also shoot a ridiculous 78% from the line, which I would bet is in the top 3 in the country.
A number which jumps out against both opponents is that Nova out rebounded both by a cumulative total of 16, and were even with offensive rebounds. Inexcusable. Saddiq Bey is paving his way to becoming a lottery pick with his 47% shooting percentage and solid defense. He and Gillespie (38% from 3’s) are the Bluiett-Macura of Nova. Marshall will have to do what he’s done all year and make life tough for Bey. I fear Gillespie is going to get bait foul prone Scruggs into a couple of cheap ones, but he is just going to have to show discipline, and punish him on the offensive end with his quickness and length.
As usual, the most glaring advantage for X will be in the post, with freshman Robinson Earl (R-E) trying to match up with Jones. Roundtree only plays 7 minutes a game, so hopefully Jones can get Earl into foul trouble, and force Roundtree to play more minutes. Last year, Jones lost his man on 3-4 slips at Nova, so I’m sure they’ll try and exploit that this year as well, because R-E sets a lot of high ball screens, as all their bigs do. Jay Wright is a great coach, and while Nova will do what they do, and shoot-make a high number of threes, they will also drive the lane and shot fake a lot to draw and get Jones and others into foul trouble. Ty has been very disciplined into not getting into foul trouble this year, but he will be tested today.
If X out rebounds Nova, switches and defends the slips on ball screens, & stays out of foul trouble (especially Scruggs & Jones), they have a chance. As usual, I'm hommering. X wins 68-67.