VU Hoops: FanPosts

Dalembert to announce 5/20

2013-05-19T02:10:31Z

Looks like Lower Merion senior Yohanny Dalembert will announce his college decision this Monday 5/20. Not sure if Nova ended up offering him or not. Some have speculated about the Reynolds/Dalembert package deal and some also suggested a red-shirt year for Dalembert, if Nova does indeed land him. Don't know if know Nova will land him or not but the guessing games can end after this Monday. Best of luck to Yohanny wherever he chooses.

http://aceshoops.com/news/586

New Big East Supervisor of Officials

2013-05-02T15:11:52Z

John Cahill has ended a 40 year career as a basketball referee and accepted a position as supervisor of officials for the new Big East Confeerence. He is replacing Art Hyland, who is retiring. Cahill's new role involves training, development and assigning of officials, conducting a rules clinic at each of the member schools, and traveling to game sites to evaluate crews and stay in touch with coaches and athletic directors.

After working the NCAA Tounament championship game in Atlanta, which marked the 11th time he had called a Final Four game, the 60 year old attorney said there will be travel, but not to the extent of when he was working between 60 and 90 games per college basketball season.

A real plus getting someone of his caliber, who was rated as one of the nation's most-respected officials.

Why Villanova isn't involved with Tarik Black

2013-04-25T16:57:03Z

6'9" Tarik Black will be graduating this spring after 3 years at the University of Memphis. He is looking to transfer with 1 year of immediate eligibility.

A Big Man mercenary with major college experience seems like a wonderful thing for Villanova fans and has been talked about in the VU Hoops comments, but it seems the Wildcats aren't even on his radar.

Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Miami, and Minnesota are all in the picture according to CBS.

But Rob Dauster at NBC says, "Be Wary."

Black is a rotation big, and while it seems that all of the big time programs are interested in his services, he isn't the type of player likely to make or break any team. His value is in his ability to fill a gap for those teams, not necessarily in his ability to star.

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish was somewhat surprised about the level of interest in this player, but offered a very cogent explanation.

Black finished his career at Memphis with an all-too-familar six-point, two-rebound, four-foul effort in a loss to Michigan State in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. The 32 minutes played in that game were representative of his junior year in general and Exhibit A of why this prospect once projected as a first-round pick in the NBA Draft would now go unselected even if the draft were stretched to three rounds.

I'm not saying Black isn't very good or that he can't be very good.

I'm just saying he wasn't very good at Memphis.

But that doesn't matter now because, even at his worst, Black has shown he's at least capable of playing rotation minutes at the high-major level, and who couldn't, at this point, use a big who can play rotation minutes at the high-major level? Answer: Almost nobody.

Villanova, meanwhile, isn't usually a big player in the transfer market. While last season's sudden departures of Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek pushed the program to seek out two transfer guards, that, along with Taylor King, are more exception than rule for the Wildcats.

Instead, Nova has sought to add rotation minutes in the frontcourt through the Class of 2013 -- bringing in Darryl Reynolds from their own backyard to fill that role and perhaps still seeking out another big body to add as a freshman.

Villanova will always prefer to bring players in as freshmen over adding a transfer to be a mercenary for a year. It's a preference of the coaching staff, for admissions, and in many ways for the university community. There will be exceptions, of course, but if rotation minutes are what you need, the benefit of playing Tarik Black for 15 minutes or Reynolds for 15 isn't great.

Except that Reynolds can stick around long enough to play 20 or 30 minutes a few years down the line.

6'9" Tarik Black will be graduating this spring after 3 years at the University of Memphis. He is looking to transfer with 1 year of immediate eligibility.

Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Miami, and Minnesota are all in the picture according to CBS.

But Rob Dauster at NBC says, "Be Wary."

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish was somewhat surprised about the level of interest in this player, but offered a very cogent explanation.

Black finished his career at Memphis with an all-too-familar six-point, two-rebound, four-foul effort in a loss to Michigan State in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. The 32 minutes played in that game were representative of his junior year in general and Exhibit A of why this prospect once projected as a first-round pick in the NBA Draft would now go unselected even if the draft were stretched to three rounds.

I'm not saying Black isn't very good or that he can't be very good.

I'm just saying he wasn't very good at Memphis.

But that doesn't matter now because, even at his worst, Black has shown he's at least capable of playing rotation minutes at the high-major level, and who couldn't, at this point, use a big who can play rotation minutes at the high-major level? Answer: Almost nobody.

Except that Reynolds can stick around long enough to play 20 or 30 minutes a few years down the line.

Villanova being headlined on CNBC tonight !!!!

2013-04-25T16:15:08Z

Jim Cramer's Mad Money show is being televised live from Villanova tonight from 6 - 7 pm on CNBC. Hopefully we'll get some stock tips that will help pay for a new on campus basketball arena. Help spread the word to give Villanova some publicity and let people know about the quality of our Business School. Who knows ? Maybe it will help with our enrollments and possibly with our recruits. Go Cats !!!!

John-knee V '63

So what is the Nova plan for Athletics facilities?????????

2013-04-20T15:53:49Z

Last I heard, Nova was cancelling its "Future of Villanova Athletics" tour while they worked on a more credible future of athletics plan.

Early offerings from the tour were a possible renovation of the Pavilion for $75M or $80M that would likely reduce slightly the capacity of our 6,500 Pavilion.

So what is the current plan? Is a new arena in the discussion for those deciding Nova's future?

http://www.vuhoops.com/2013/2/25/4028408/the-future-of-villanova-athletics-unofficial-version

The Pavilion is the second lowest capacity primary home in the new Big East, including the new programs. Thank you St Johns for being last.

DePaul is looking to improve their arena position. Even with little on court success, they have a formal team together to improve their position and are looking to build a new arena. Even DePaul.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-17/business/ct-biz-0417-arena-20130417_1_mccormick-place-depaul-university-site

Even in the Big 5 our Pavilion doesn't rank well. Our home capacity is only 3rd of 5.

So what is Nova doing? What is our plan? Do we have a plan? Do we have anyone planning?

The Future of Villanova Athletics? Silence.

Last I heard, Nova was cancelling its "Future of Villanova Athletics" tour while they worked on a more credible future of athletics plan.

Early offerings from the tour were a possible renovation of the Pavilion for $75M or $80M that would likely reduce slightly the capacity of our 6,500 Pavilion.

So what is the current plan? Is a new arena in the discussion for those deciding Nova's future?

http://www.vuhoops.com/2013/2/25/4028408/the-future-of-villanova-athletics-unofficial-version

The Pavilion is the second lowest capacity primary home in the new Big East, including the new programs. Thank you St Johns for being last.

DePaul is looking to improve their arena position. Even with little on court success, they have a formal team together to improve their position and are looking to build a new arena. Even DePaul.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-17/business/ct-biz-0417-arena-20130417_1_mccormick-place-depaul-university-site

Even in the Big 5 our Pavilion doesn't rank well. Our home capacity is only 3rd of 5.

So what is Nova doing? What is our plan? Do we have a plan? Do we have anyone planning?

The Future of Villanova Athletics? Silence.

SB Nation needs a Big East Conference site

2013-04-20T13:05:01Z

With the new conference alignments, SB Nation is left without a site for the Big East Conference. There seems to be a lot of quality variation in the individual SB Nation team sites for the new Big East, with the Georgetown and Nova sites being 2 of the better sites in my opinion. But there should also be a conference site where there is more cross traffic, especially with the new schools.

Big East Coast Bias was that site before the old conference alignment fell apart. But it is still there, abandoned. Why doesn't someone just pick up the editorial responsibilities for that site? Maybe one of the VUHoops editors? Maybe one of the budding bloggers from Nova Nation that is on VUHoops?

In the absence of a SB nation conference forum, there are other sites to turn to outside of SB Nation that have this forum and this discussion (I won't name them here). It seems that VUHoops and Casual Hoya and SB Nation would want to keep that traffic here. In my opinion, SB Nation has a better format and platform.

If not "Big East Coast Bias" because the abandoned site won't turn it over to another, then maybe start a new SB nation site. It seems like an opportunity for someone and a service to the Big East community here.

Just a thought...

2 Nova Greats Heading to Hall of Fame

2013-04-02T01:15:48Z

Just announced - such great and well deserved honors - not just for Rollie and his legacy but for George as well- truly part of the history of the Cats and such a cornerstone of the program and the Big Five - the fabric of the Big Five and the coaching tree live on to this day. If you grew up in Philly and remember the Palestra, triple headers, roll-outs and Yo-Yo - you know and understand the Philly coaching tree that blossoms to this day
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9122617/gene-keady-rollie-massimino-headline-hall-fame-class

Athletic Facilities

2013-03-24T22:14:58Z

What a great school. What a great community that prides itself in its academic reputation with many home grown athletes. The question is how to create the ultimate institution that strives for academic and athletic excellence." If you build it they will come"... A philosophy that is needed for all of their sports. The obvious revenue generating sports need this to compete but there are many playing with sub par surfaces that impede forward progress within their given sport. There is a need for a soccer-hockey complex on west campus that puts field hockey on the same surface as every other big east conference school. The field turf surface is not approved by the federation of international hockey and prevents top opponents from wanting to play nova and it places our athletes at such a disadvantage. It hurts recruiting and it forces the hockey program to have to train at Ursinus to get exposure to the faster and different style of play. A small investment considering all the huge plans. There are many options but surrounding schools like st.joes are making these moves going fwd. There is so much pride at this school and the community, we are hopeful that conversations look to grow every sport from field hockey to soccer to lacroose.....live green- bleed blue.....go nova!

Villanova Basketball: Offseason

2013-03-24T15:44:46Z

Ryan Arcidiacono - Needs to work on getting stronger and has to work on not just settling for threes.

James Bell- Needs to be more consistent, and has to work on his ball handling.

Darrun Hilliard - Like James Bell, he has to be more consistent. Some games he would show up and be fantastic and help Nova pull off a big win. For example, vs Syracuse, he had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, all were career highs. Nova beat #5 Syracuse and he was huge for Villanova.

Tony Chennault - Needs to work on his outside game. He hasn't developed a good jump shot in his 3 years at college, so I wouldn't expect him to be much of a factor next year from the outside.

JayVaughn Pinkston - Needs to work on playing more under control. He has great low post moves, but to be an even more dynamic threat, he needs to be more consistent with him jump shot.

Achraf Yacoubou - Don't be surprised if he transfers out of the Program.

Daniel Ochefu- Will develop more next year in every aspect. Big men usually play great defense their freshman year but struggle on the offensive end. That is what happened with Ochefu in the 2012-2013 season. He will need to get stronger and will need to be a dominate force down low considering he is the only guy on next years Nova's team over '6,"7

2013 recruits

Dylan Ennis PG (Transfer from Rice)

Kris Jenkins G/F

Josh Hart G

All of them should contribute good minutes next year.

Ryan Arcidiacono - Needs to work on getting stronger and has to work on not just settling for threes.

James Bell- Needs to be more consistent, and has to work on his ball handling.

Tony Chennault - Needs to work on his outside game. He hasn't developed a good jump shot in his 3 years at college, so I wouldn't expect him to be much of a factor next year from the outside.

JayVaughn Pinkston - Needs to work on playing more under control. He has great low post moves, but to be an even more dynamic threat, he needs to be more consistent with him jump shot.

Achraf Yacoubou - Don't be surprised if he transfers out of the Program.

2013 recruits

Dylan Ennis PG (Transfer from Rice)

Kris Jenkins G/F

Josh Hart G

All of them should contribute good minutes next year.

Villanova Basketball: Keys to Victory vs North Carolina

2013-03-19T19:17:18Z

On Sunday, March 17th, Villanova gathered as a team to watch 'Selection Sunday". After not making the tournament last year, the players were anxious to see where the team would land in this year’s March Madness tournament. The Wildcats heard their name called and will be the 9-seed taking on 8-seed North Carolina on Friday, March 22nd at 7:20pm. The game can be seen on TNT.

Villanova improved greatly this year after last year’s dreadful 13-19 season, ending with the ‘Cats not making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 7 years. Many thought the Wildcats would struggle again this year after losing their two leading scorers, Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek to the draft, along with losing soon-to-be sophomores Markus Kennedy and Ty Johnson due to transfer.

Villanova looked like they would continue that losing trend from the previous year after they lost to Ivy League squad Columbia by 18 points early in the season. Villanova continued to show a slow but steady improvement throughout the year, and had a number of very significant upset wins later in the season including top-5 wins against Louisville, Syracuse, and Georgetown. Additional significant wins included Connecticut on the road and Marquette at home. They finished the season 20-12 and 10-8 in the Big East.

Senior Mouphtaou Yarou and junior James Bell stepped up and took leadership roles for this young basketball team. JayVaughn Pinkston and Ryan Arcidiacono were arguably Villanova's best players this year. A growing chemistry was also a key factor for Villanova this year, which they did not seem to have much of last year. Ryan Arcidiacono stated after the overtime win over St. Johns in early January,

"We have great chemistry, we really do, we just play together, stick together through the ups and downs, we were really hot today playing, we were up 12 and then they came back and got a lead and we just stuck together with our core values. Our chemistry is just out of this world."

North Carolina has played much better basketball in the second half of the season. After struggling offensively and defensively earlier in the season, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams decided to go to more of a 4-guard offense and it has paid huge dividends, with UNC finishing 8-2 over their last 10 games. However, while the Tar Heels finished the season at 24-10, they are just 1-6 vs AP top 25 teams.

They do not have many big wins, but on the flip side, they don’t have any glaring bad losses either. Unlike Villanova, UNC beat the teams they were supposed to beat, but just didn't have enough firepower against the better teams in the ACC like Duke and Miami. However, they are still a very dangerous team. At this point in time, North Carolina does not compare to the teams of five or six years ago with players like Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, yet they are still a formidable opponent that will be tough to beat come tournament time.

I expect that this will be a very good match-up.

Here are some things to watch for:

JayVaughn Pinkston Has to Assert Dominance Over North Carolina's Reggie Bullock.

This will be one of the better personal matchups to watch in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. JayVaughn Pinkston and Reggie Bullock are two players who love to score. However, they play two different styles. JVP loves getting the ball on the low block where he is able to show off his plethora of moves to the basket. He also has a decent mid-range game. On the season he is averaging 13 points per game while grabbing 5 boards per game. It seems that when Pinkston is on, Villanova has much better flow on offense. Bullock, on the other hand, is a great 3-point shooter. He shoots 44% from downtown which is 65th best in the nation and the best on the Tar Heels squad. Bullock averages 14 points and 6 rebounds per game. If Pinkston is able to control this matchup, both offensively and defensively, the 'Cats have a great chance at winning the game.

Villanova Has to Defend the 3-Point Line.

North Carolina shoots 37% from deep on the season. They attempt an average of 20 3’s per game and knock down 8 of them. You could say they live and die by the 3-ball. For those that watch Villanova regularly you know that the ‘Cats have struggled trying to effectively defend against hot 3-point teams. While ‘Nova has pretty good help-side defense, one of the main reasons why the opposition has been so successful against the ‘Cats at times this season is due to ‘Nova’s weak-side defense not rotating properly, leaving shooters open for wide open 3’s or easy layups. With this North Carolina team, you cannot afford such defensive lapses.

In addition to shooting the 3-ball, the Tar Heels, in general, are a very good offensive team. They are averaging 77 points per game which is 14th in the nation. Villanova and Jay Wright haven't given Nova fans any reason to believe they can limit 3-point shots, but they will need to do so in order to stop the Tar Heels’ 3-point shooting tandem of P.J. Hairston (39%) and Reggie Bullock (44%). If Jay Wright can get his team to properly defend the perimeter, the ‘Cats have a real opportunity to take down UNC. With five days to prepare for the Tar Heels, ‘Nova should be prepared for a game plan that will see their opponent stretching the floor and letting it fly from deep.

The Wildcats Have to Limit Turnovers.

Ryan Arcidacono will be playing in the biggest game of his life on Friday night. As a freshman, he will be playing on a huge stage versus one the premier tournament and postseason teams of all time. With that being said, you have to expect him to have big game jitters, somewhat similar to how he was against St. Johns in his first Big East Tournament game at MSG. In that game he turned the ball over 8 times. Yes, St. Johns pressed and Arch and company had a tough time bringing it up court. The North Carolina press isn't like St. Johns, but they are certainly capable of putting the pressure on the ‘Cats on out of bounds plays.

Villanova has shown that they are vulnerable to the press, and I expect Roy Williams and UNC to exploit that weakness. Villanova needs to focus on getting the ball inbounds quickly and not wait for the defense to set up. Once past half court, ‘Nova will need to get into their offensive sets and make sure to focus on making crisp sharp passes, moving the ball quickly, all while making smart decisions to put them in a position for good solid offensive looks. They need to come out with confidence and get on the board quickly to spark their confidence.

FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of VU Hoops.

"We have great chemistry, we really do, we just play together, stick together through the ups and downs, we were really hot today playing, we were up 12 and then they came back and got a lead and we just stuck together with our core values. Our chemistry is just out of this world."

I expect that this will be a very good match-up.

Here are some things to watch for:

JayVaughn Pinkston Has to Assert Dominance Over North Carolina's Reggie Bullock.

Villanova Has to Defend the 3-Point Line.

The Wildcats Have to Limit Turnovers.

FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of VU Hoops.

Expansion East? Lots of Land

2013-03-08T15:39:29Z

This is interesting article from Philly.com. Having grown up just a mile or so from St. Charles, there is a ton of open land access - and close enough to Main Campus to take a look - big enough for a new multi-purpose facility with parking and amenities? imagine if we could build our own 12,000-15,000 seat arena , play all games there, increase revenue for the school and finally be able to implode the Ski Lodge and make better use of that land.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Who-will-buy-St-Charles-Seminary.html

Bubble Watch - March 5th

2013-03-05T19:19:32Z

An updated Bubble Watch for the week of March 5th, 2013.

Seeding from Joe Lunardi's Bracketology - via ESPN. Stats from CBS Sports. I used the same teams as last week's bubble watch.

All stats are based off opposing teams RPI. Green stats are where the team is above the average (of teams considered in the post - that are "in" the tourney), red stats are below average. Asterisk signifies where team is the best in a particular stat.

An updated Bubble Watch for the week of March 5th, 2013.

Seeding from Joe Lunardi's Bracketology - via ESPN. Stats from CBS Sports. I used the same teams as last week's bubble watch.

Poll

If today was Selection Sunday, are we in?

Yes

29 votes

No

14 votes

43 votes | Poll has closed

Enough Groundhog Day, Fire Jay Wright

2013-03-03T19:42:46Z

Now that Villanova will miss a second consecutive NCAA appearance, the administration has to take control of this train wrecked basketball program and Fire Jay Wright. Jay Wright is simply terrible at managing the tempo of a game, recruiting NBA talent, and maintaining a lead in the last 2 minutes. 2 Losses to Providence, losses to Seton Hall and Columbia cannot be tolerated and Villanova needs to bring in a coach that can once again make Villanova a power in the new conference.

Many on this website will say that the team was greatly improved over last year, but in my opinion the team didn't make any progress because they will still miss the NCAA.

Hopefully Ed Pinckney or some other NBA assistant is available.

Many on this website will say that the team was greatly improved over last year, but in my opinion the team didn't make any progress because they will still miss the NCAA.

Hopefully Ed Pinckney or some other NBA assistant is available.

Bubble Watch - February 26th

2013-02-26T17:39:46Z

I wanted to do a little bit of an overview of the current bubble situation. I figured it would be fun to get everyone's thoughts with some numbers to back them up. The numbers are based off of CBS Sports' web site, while the projected seed is based off of Joe Lunardi's bracket for today (February 26th).

Green Cells are areas in which the team is above average.

Red Cells are areas in which the team is below average.

Asterisks mark areas in which the team is the best of the bunch.

**All averages are among the 16 teams not firmly "OUT".

Click on image for a larger view.

Green Cells are areas in which the team is above average.

Red Cells are areas in which the team is below average.

Asterisks mark areas in which the team is the best of the bunch.

**All averages are among the 16 teams not firmly "OUT".

Click on image for a larger view.

FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of VU Hoops.

Poll

As of right now, is Villanova in the tourney?

Yes, they are firmly in.

6 votes

Yes, but they need some help.

55 votes

No, but they just need to do a little more

63 votes

No, no matter what they do - short of winning BE tourney.

6 votes

130 votes | Poll has closed

Awful Clock Management = NIT

2013-02-26T04:30:38Z

In 3 week we will look back as Villanova is playing in the NIT. The reason, Jay Wright doesn't know how to manage a game. Wright should have immediately called a time out when they had trouble inbounding the ball, or when Bell was trapped.

For all the talk of Jay Wright being coach of the year in the Big East, the bottom line is that Nova will again miss the NCAA tournament. In my opinion Nova should still fire him at the end of the season.

FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of VU Hoops.

FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of VU Hoops.