Nova Gets Smoked

UNC didnt miss… Nova couldn’t buy a bucket… The END

Villanova Moves On: Dominates Duke

Total domination from start to finish.  Nova came out with a chip on their shoulder and locked down the Dukies beginning on their first possession.

The Wildcats beat Duke to advance to the Elite Eight, getting 14 points and 11 boards from Dante Cunningham.  Nova now draws Big East rival and #1 seed Pittsburgh on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. The Wildcats beat the Panthers 67-57 in their regular-season meeting in Philly.

Shane Clark and Reggie Redding held Duke star Gerald Henderson in check all night, holding him to 1 of 14 shooting and only 7 points.  Scottie Reynolds paced the Cats with 16 points while Reggie Redding added 11 points and 9 boards.

Jay Wright now lands his squad back in the Elite Eight for the second time in the past 3 seasons, but can he take them to the Final Four.  It would be his first and Villanova’s first since their championship season.

Coach K Has Utmost Respect for the Villanova Wildcats

A pretty good read over at Philly.com if your a hoops guy.  I have always hated Coach K, but I love Villanova.  Maybe my feeligns towards Coach K are starting to turn after reading this.  He is a damn good coach, but I was always a North Carolina guy myself, and we all know you can’t like anything Duke if your a Tar Heel fan.  Anyway check out this link and give it a read.

Yeah, I think we’re similar in a lot of respects.  I think the very first thing is we don’t have players who are positioned. We have basketball players . . . You’re not going to call [Dante] Cunningham a center, but you call him a really good player. [Scottie] Reynolds, he can play with the ball or off the ball. And [Dwayne] Anderson – we’re very similar in that regard.

And I think Jay has done a good job in allowing his kids to use their abilities and trust them and I think we do, too . . . They’re probably a little bit deeper offensively than we are, because when they have [Corey] Fisher and [Corey] Stokes off the bench, it raises their offensive abilities. They can really put out an outstanding offensive team when those two kids are on the court with Cunningham, Anderson and Reynolds. And they can score from every position.

Coach K sees some Villanova in his Duke team

‘Nova Tonight

YOUR Villanova Wildcats, the No. 3 seed in the East, take to the floor tonight as they are back in the regional semifinals for the fourth time in five years.  They will face Coach K and the second-seeded Blue Devils, who made the round of 16 for the ninth straight time.

Let’s go Wildcats.  Take it to those losers from Durham.  Look for Dante Cunningham to have a field day inside against that wuss Kyle Singler.  Guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey “Fisher Price” Price (cuz he toys with you) will dominate Duke’s backcourt of Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus.  The only Dukie who I can see posing a threat is Gerald Henderson (the dude is the real deal, he’s from Philly, what did you expect).  He knows what he’s up against though, a tough, gritty defensive basketball team from the 215.

Other Sweet Sixteen games Tonight:

• (5) Purdue at (1) Connecticut – 7:07 Tip
• (4) Xavier at (1) Pittsburgh – 7:27 Tip
• (3) Missouri at (2) Memphis – 9:37 Tip

The Big 5 SHUT-out?

As we steamroll towards the final  weekend of the regular season of college basketball and prepare for the major conference tournaments to start next week, all of the Big 5 schools are in danger of failing to make the big dance.  This would make the city of Philadelphia un-represented in the NCAA tournament for the first time in over three decades.  Here is the tale of the tape for the Big 5 (6 schools) and their chances at getting into the field of 65.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way:

• U of Penn  OUT – Cornell wrapped up the Ivy League title last week. The Ivy League has never sent multiple participants to the Tournament.
• Drexel  OUT — The Dragons are 12-19, sitting in the 11th seed in the Colonial Athletic Conference at 5-13. The only way they can cash in a ticket to the dance is by winning 4 games in 4 nights next week at the CAA conference tournament to capture the automatic berth.
• La Salle  DOUBTFUL — The Explorers still have an outside shot at a first round bye in the A-10 tournament in Atlantic City next week, and that will be a helpful boast. The only way we see La Salle making into the field of 65 is with a conference tournament title as well.

Now, the three semi-legit contenders:

• Villanova  QUESTIONABLE — The ‘Cats too, will need to do some work in their conference tournament next week in the Big Apple. Of all the Big 5 teams, Villanova being in the Big East tournament gives the Wildcats the best opportunity to make a splash with a couple wins.  With only two quality wins over ranked opponents this year (Pitt and UCONN) combined with a weak strength of schedule and a recent double digit loss to city rival St Joe’s, ‘Nova’s bubble might have already burst. 
• St. Joseph’s  QUESTIONABLE — The Hawks have been playing themselves right out of the big dance the past couple weeks. Once a solid number two in the Atlantic Ten, a recent slide has moved the Hawks out of that position. Combat that with a low RPI, and a handful of embarrassing loses (at Creighton & Holy Cross) and it all might be too much to overcome. The silver lining is the Hawks still appear to have their fate in their own hands, with two strong opponents left on the Hawks schedule (Xavier and Dayton).  If St. Joe’s can run the table all the way to the A-10 final, they could find themselves in the field of 65.
• Temple  QUESTIONABLE — Lead by senior co-captain Mark Tyndale, junior Dionte Christmas, and Suburban One League’s own Pennsbury grad, freshman LaVoy Allen, the Owls are playing their best basketball at the right time. A classic victory over St. Joe’s followed up with win Wednesday night vs. Duquesne and the Owls have a decent chance to finish 11-5 and in sole possession of second place in the Altantic Ten. Their win over Duquense last night clinched a first round bye next week in Atlantic City.  An impressive 35th ranked strength of schedule might be filled with too many loses (7) to carry much weight, and again it might take a run to the A-10 final for the Owls to be invited to the dance.  Of all the Big 5 teams, the Owls have the best shot at representing the city when the field of 65 is revealed Sunday March 16th.

‘Nova’s Hopes Still Alive

‘Nova, who is right on the bubble as we near March Madness needed this win, and when I woke up today (2:30 pm, rough night), to my surprise, found them to be winners by 2.

The Villanova Wildcats came up with a huge victory Saturday morning against Big East rival, #13 Connecticut Huskies.  Freshman Corey Stokes and sophomore Scottie Reynolds both scored 18 points and the Wildcats beat Connecticut 67-65 on Saturday, snapping the Huskies’ 10-game winning streak.

After a 22-point loss to city rival Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 4 extended the Wildcats’ losing streak to five games and dropped them to 13-8 overall, they have rebounded in a big way. Villanova has won four of five since then with the only loss being a heartbreaking 55-53 defeat at Georgetown that was decided on a foul call 75 feet from the basket with .1 seconds to play, WHICH WAS COMPLETE BULLSHIT.  How that ref made that call, but not on Scottie Reynolds’ drive prior, blows my mind.

In my opinion Villanova needs to win out to perhaps have a legitimate shot at a NCAA tournament berth.  With a sub-par record (17-9), by recent standards, and .500 in the Big East it’s pretty obvious the ‘Cats need to finish strong against some very formidable upcoming opponents.

Coming up on their schedule is #24 Marquette at home on Monday and then they go to #23 Louisville next Sunday; two tough games that Villanova really needs to win.  They finish up the regular season with South Florida and then at Providence which have to be wins in order for them to have a strong case for on Selection Sunday.