The Week In Review

This will be an abbreviated Week In Review as I am rushing to airport to begin a nine-day vacation. Sorry for the down and dirty version of this edition. See you next weekend.

CBS Sports reports their five observations about Villanova basketball:

1. UNPROVEN COMMODITIES: Villanova has a slew of players that could eventually turn into decent contributors at the Big East level — but most of them are unproven. The only real guard with tangible is experience is Tony Chennault.
2. OUT OF THE GATE Villanova has an awfully tough OOC slate for a young team trying to find its way.
3. RING THE BELL: James Bell looks ready for a breakout junior season.
4. TONY THE TIGER: The addition of Tony Chennault was much needed for the Wildcats and they’ll especially feel it defensively on the perimeter. Built like a stocky bull, Chennault gets underneath anyone he guards on the wing or at the top of the key. He’ll be a lock down guy for Wright’s team against the opponent’s best scorer.
5. JAYVAUGHN’S TIME: The time is now for Jayvaughn Pinkston to put up big time numbers. Averages of 17 PPG and 7 RPG this season shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if Pinkston plays up to his capabilities.
6. FINAL ANALYSIS: This will be by far the toughest coaching task Wright has had since he’s been head coach at Villanova. Guard play — which has been this program’s greatest strength is now a major question. If Bell and Pinkston have stellar seasons, then this team has a chance to overachieve. If they don’t, the Wildcats are going to have a real tough time scoring, especially early on during their brutal non-conference schedule."

Syracuse.com's ranking of the top five Big East transfers list’s Villanova’s Tony Chennault at number 2, saying"Chennault should step right in as Villanova's starting point guard. He started all 31 games at WakeForest last year, averaging 9.0 points and 3.2 rebounds. His 2.8 assists ranked 8th in the ACC."

Bleacher Report ranks Villanova’s away game at Syracuse and home game vs. Syracuse as the 19th and 14th toughest games on Syracuse’s schedule this season. They write, "The Villanova Wildcats travel to Syracuse relatively early in the Big East schedule, so it will be a litmus test for both clubs, and an especially challenging one for Villanova. ESPN’s Eamon Brennan thinks that a fresh start in the backcourt might end up being a good thing for Jay Wright's club. The phrase addition-by-subtraction is a pejorative, but think Villanova could experience that very sensation in now thatMaalik Wayns has left for the NBA dream. Replacing him will be Ryan Arcidiacono, the No. 6-ranked point guard in the class of 2012 may be just what the doctor ordered."

Double T Nation, a Texas Tech blog on SBN favors replacing Coach Gillispie with former Villanova player and Assistant, Chris Walker. They write, "I think we are in great hands if Chris Walker leads our team this upcoming season. He was a damn good point guard at Villanova. He was on a Villanova team that made postseason tournaments all four years he was a player there. He went on to be an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine,Villanova, Massachusetts, and New Mexico. He has never had the chance to prove himself as a head coach. When Gillispie is terminated, Chris Walker will be promoted to interim head coach. This is Walker’s time to shine. My hope is he comes out and wins games. Walker is a great recruiter. He will get the job done."

Jay’s Tweets: "Good to see JonRothstein at the DavisCenter as part of his swing through Philly – one of the hardest working men in the media! Thoughts and prayers go out to Coach Williams as he recovers! Fun to be in the gym with our guys – working hard to get better each time we are together on the court! #Attitude Looking forward to having theNovaNation out in force for our three games at the WellsFargoCenter this season. Congrats to @NovaMSoccer on win over La Salle – Coach Carlin has ‘Cats rolling at 6-2!"

Bleacher Report predicts the 2012-2013 stats of Villanova’s every player on this year's men's basketball team. They predict a huge season for Pinkston (16.5ppg, 10.5 rpg), improvement for Yarou (14.5 ppg, 10 rpg), big improvement from Johnson (12 ppg, 5 apg), and solid contributions from Chennault (10 ppg, 5 apg). We’ll make our own predictions next month in our Wisdom of Crowds series.