Villanova Game thread 01/10/2018

[muskieman]

This team is going nowhere fast. I hope I’m wrong but, they better hope they get a favorable matchup in the tourney or they lose in the first round.

bet you said that last year about this time.

[X Factor]

good take aways for this game...the play of Naji and Scruggs as freshman . We will need them now X needs to figure out how to get JP and Tre back on their game. tonight they are 6-21 with 2 minutes to play

The play of Scruggs? He's thrown it right to Nova at least THREE times tonight leading to layups.

considering how he has played yes....he had two more TO's than JP and 3 more points and he played point.

5 turnovers is not a bright spot.

[olsingledigit]

18% from 3. Only 3 3s made for X. Tre 1-5 from foul line

[Anti-Homer]

For all of Mack’s accomplishments and they are many he cannot come within 20at Nova.

Agreed. I think he'd give up 20% of his salary to take Nova off the schedule. It's not even that he can't beat them. It's that it's not even a competition.

[X4LIFE]

Maybe I did muskieman. And they were the last team in, had favorable matchups in the first and second round won, got some confidence and made the elite 8. Like I said they are going nowhere fast right now and if they don’t get a favorable matchup they will lose in the first round. I don’t think that’s a wrong assessment. It’s an honest one.

[mumuskie87]

For all of Mack’s accomplishments and they are many he cannot come within 20at Nova.

Agreed. I think he'd give up 20% of his salary to take Nova off the schedule. It's not even that he can't beat them. It's that it's not even a competition.

I think Mack will say in his presser that Brunson told him to go "eff himself".
Oh...I'm sorry that's the other D1 coach in Cincinnati.

[olsingledigit]

For all of Mack’s accomplishments and they are many he cannot come within 20at Nova.

Agreed. I think he'd give up 20% of his salary to take Nova off the schedule. It's not even that he can't beat them. It's that it's not even a competition.

I guess everyone has their nemesis. Chris is our best coach ever and I am sure he loses more sleep over Nova than I do. It is even more frustrating in thatnlesser teams like Butler play very well against them. We are their Dayton.

[madness31]

Scruggs did some good things but he gives up so many fast break layups with his terrible passes that he is a huge liability.

JP had a terrible 2nd half. He fumbled the ball away 2 or 3 times and probably didn't have an assist. His shooting didn't drop but he continues to barely miss so I have no problem with him shooting.

Bluiett has not shot well the past 7 games. His shots are generally not that close either. Unfortunately he shoots too many times for this to end well for the team. He continues to rebound well but does nothing beyond that other than sometimes turning it over.

Gates is incredibly 1 dimensional but he doesn't hurt the team offensively so I'm in favor of starting Kanter over Bluiett until his shoulder heals.

X needs to put more pressure on the defense. It probably makes sense to play JP and Marshall together more since they can both drive to the rim as well as take open shots. Once Tre heals or gets out of his shooting slump (not sure what the real issue is) then he can command more time on the floor.

Kanter is consistent on offense, I'm not sure about his defense but the team is generally terrible on defense so at least he matches what he gives up.

[mumuskie87]

We don’t belong in the top 25

While this tough to watch, still think X is a top 25 team.
I mean Nova is ranked #1 and is playing on their home court.
[/quote]
Top 25 teams don’t lose by 30 anywhere and not to an average Providence team.
[/quote]

Digit - I'm channeling my inner Bill Clinton and say "I feel your pain".
Ed Cooley has had a solid program and actually has the 3rd best conference record in the New BE.
He always seems to get the most out his teams.
I'm less disappointed to losing to PC than getting beat 4 straight years by an average of 23 points each game
My advice to you -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LARx7M9s15w

[madness31]

Winning the 2nd most or even the most games is not the same as being the best coach. Mack is not even close to being a good coach. He is a good recruiter but he has no idea how to coach defense. His offensive sets are lacking and he doesn't even do a great job of getting the most out of his players.

The basketball community sees wins and tournament appearances and that is enough to validate him as a coach. In reality his coaching ability is very modest. He has brought a lot of talent here and he gets out of the way of his star players. That is the bulk of his coaching.