Film Room: Breaking Down No. 9 Villanova vs. Providence

Double overtime for the Wildcats against a tough Providence team on the road either shows a bunch of grit from a team learning how to win in rough situations or shows a team letting an unranked conference foe stick around past regulation with 15+ turnovers. Or, it's somewhere in the middle.

Fun Facts from the readers:

Expanded from Coach "JimDribbles"

• Five players in double figures love the balance
• Arch really hustled he had six assists and three steals. He does the little things at times stepping in or deflecting a ball.
• Bell really played strong his 9 boards helped.
• Pinkston had a great game 8-12 from the field.

Now what I do not understand.

• Hillard had zero boards. You cannot have that from a big guard-forward. Hart fouling out hurt us on the boards. Not to pick on Hillard but on the last play that Providence had he was standing in the lane with Pinkston. The three is the only shot they could take so no need to be hanging around in the lane???? To have two guys in the lane when Providence needed a three with three seconds left is not good. He did have some nice dishes to Ochefu tonight but he was not mentally in the game.
• When the game is tied drive the ball to the bucket for the win. Good things happen when you do that .
• I would have gotten the ball to Pinkston at the end of the game or Bell. Yes, Arch hit the shot but Pinkston going to the bucket would have been good.
• Why a foul was not called when Ochefu grabbed the rebound and went up with two seconds left. The refs made the call at the end of the half 50 feet from the basket soCALL IT when it is two feet from the bucket.
• We really have to practice our passing to the post. Pinkston and Ochefu had men sealed and we did not pass over the top. Once again there could have been a few lobs to Ochefu but we never do that
• Ochefu played tenative some. He has to play with confidence. He had too many turnovers this game. I also think we were exhausted as the bench did not play much and I think this is the most Chef has played in a game.

From "Colin_D"

• Putting aside OT they had a 10 pt advantage at end of regulation on free throws. That swings a game from us having a comfortable victory to this. Uncharacteristic of JVPgoing 40% as well, he's normally a better FT shooter than that - I think he is the key cog to this team, was a shame to see him struggle on the line like that.

From @RyanShock24

Bench becoming an issue @VUhoops @TylerRickyTynes "Villanova's bench outscored Providence's bench tonight (2-0)."

— ryan schock (@ryanschock24) February 19, 2014

From "SpotCK"

• The bench that got us our ranking has gone poof! It's worse than scary, it's fatal!!! As JW says you keep getting better or you get passed. Hmm aren't you supposed to get better as the season progresses. Once again, INEXPLICABLE!!! (2Pts. from the bench, didn't think possible).

The gamer can be found here

Lastly for Villanova

• The last time Villanova started the season 23-3 was 2005.
• Villanova has played in four overtime games this season. Over the last five seasons, the Wildcats have played in 17 overtime games with a record of 12-5.
• The Wildcats have won nine close games this season (a win by five or fewer points). Since 2008, Villanova is 36-26 in close games.
• The Wildcats have won every game this season (13-0) after recording 82 or more total points.
• Villanova has won 90 percent of the time this season (9-1) after committing 14 or fewer turnovers.
• Villanova has won every game this season (16-0) after holding an opponent to under 41.0 percent field goal percentage.
• Villanova has won 86 percent of the time this season (18-3) when opponents record three or fewer blocks.
• This season Villanova has won 100 percent of the time (18-0) when Darrun Hilliard has 11 points or more, 86 percent of the time (12-2) when James Bell has six field goals made or more, and 88 percent of the time (14-2) when JayVaughn Pinkston has four free throws made or more.
• The Wildcats have recorded more blocks than their opponents for the past five games.
• The top two scorers (Ryan Arcidiacono and JayVaughn Pinkston) accounted for 50.0 percent of the points.
• The top two rebounders (Bell and Daniel Ochefu) accounted for 50.0 percent of the rebounds.
• Bell has led the team in rebounding in 10 out of 26 games this season.
• James Bell has 10 straight double-digit point games.
• Pinkston has nine straight double-digit point games.
• This marks the seventh 20-point game of Ryan Arcidiacono's career.
• This was the first foul out of the season for Josh Hart

Lastly for Providence

• The Friars have lost five times this season in games decided by five or fewer points. Since 2008, Providence is 26-32 in close games.
• The top two scorers (Bryce Cotton and Kadeem Batts) accounted for 54.4 percent of the points.
• The top two rebounders (Tyler Harris and Batts) accounted for 51.1 percent of the rebounds.
• Cotton has led the team in scoring 22 times in 27 games this season.
• This marks the 47th 20-point game of Cotton's career.
• Cotton has three straight 20+ point games.
• Batts has three straight double-digit point games.
• This was the sixth foul out of the season for Batts.
• Batts recorded a double-double. It was his seventh this season and 15th of his career.

Note: Player's are graded on a scale of 1-10 and given a letter grade as follows...

GRADE	RATING
A+	9.7 - 10
A	9.3 - 9.6
A-	9.0 - 9.2
B+	8.7 - 8.9
B	8.3 - 8.6
B-	8.0 - 8.2
C+	7.7 - 7.9
C	7.3 - 7.6
C-	7.0 - 7.2
D+	6.7 - 6.9
D	6.5 - 6.6
F	Below 6.5

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JayVaughn Pinkston: Grade (B+/ 8.9/10)

+ : 8-12 from the field is a bonus, strong on the boards, and the first twenty point game JVP has had in a while. Wildcats will need stronger performances from him if they want to win any more trophies this season. 46 minutes on the court without looking too exhausted

- : 4-10 from the line? Questionable awareness at the end of the game on defense? All negatives, but not too many from JVP

Daniel Ochefu: Grade (C/ 7.3/10)

+ : 11 points and 8 boards, 4 offensive, two steals, one block and only missed three shots from the field. Oh yeah, and this magnificent thing for 73 feet of awesomeness and any other applicable hyperbole.

- : Five turnovers. Missed opportunities at the line and very poor defending an undersized Batts for PC. Not the greatest performance when it comes to on-ball defense and being a key reason PC could stay in the contest. He contributed to nearly 36% of the Wildcats TO's.

James Bell: Grade (B/8.5/10)

+ : Impressive on the boards and in the passing lanes, another 40+ minutes workhorse.

- : turnovers were a problem, eight fouls for Bell in the last two games, missed six shots from deep and 11 total.

Darrun Hilliard: Grade (C/7.2/10)

+ : Hilliard has been consistently average in two games but also consistently strong defensively. Two steals against PC, three assists, perfect from the line.

- : foul trouble again, missed seven shots, 8 attempts from three and three turnovers are bad, even for 43 minutes out of 50.

Ryan Arcidiacono: Grade (A/9.5/10)

+ : Nearly a perfect game for Arch. Game winner and 21 points/6 assists/3 steals is one ofhis best nights this season.

- : Still shot the ball nearly too much, some were off offensive rebounds from shots that he missed and he stepped into another contested one. Wright's got to drill some more shooting fundamentals into him. That aside, he was very patient with the ball in his hands. Won't take that away from him.

*There was no bench tonight. If there was, they receive an F. Some may complain that Tony Chennault played good defense against Cotton in the first half and that's great, but Cotton was still the best player on either team last night*

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Archie-Di-Onions in Overtime

Arch had space. He broke his defender down off the dribble and got to the weak side of the court without running into any help defense. Yet somehow, Arch blows a lay-up high, way high, off the glass with no one around him. Interesting how that happened. Seemed to be a simple left hand lay-up.

Example 2:

Different overtime period, same play on the weak side of the court with time ticking. Yet something went different. Instead of trying to attempt an off-hand layup off the glass over Batts, Arch leaned in for the contact just in case he missed again. Better execution and the Wildcats look like the winners for the moment.

Very good spacing by the Wildcats to give Arch a weak-side ISO. Even better that he took the last shot and not Bell. Only Arch could have got this play done from the left side of the arc.

Double Overtime Defensive Breakdowns

First, there's this play before the end of regulation to make overtime.

Villanova is still getting caught in screens defensively. On this play, Henton is the lone big man streaking down the court and hasn't made a shot until this possession. Great play by Ed Cooley to shield Henton on the strong side because the assumption was to watch for Cotton who'd been so deadly in the later chapters of the game.

Henton hits an easy one from twenty feet. Now to the breakdowns on defense in double overtime.

Example 1:

Not as bad as Doug McDermott and Creighton, but still pretty sloppy defensive awareness to mark the open man at the hottest spot on the court. Four Wildcats swarm to Batts as he grabs the offensive board. He used his pivot and found the open man, luckily it was their best player at the time: Cotton.

Henton was probably close to the last choice to shoot this ball in this situation, making him an even deadlier target. Shot, made, overtime.

Example 2, the last play of the game:

Villanova was inches from triple overtime because of a defensive breakdown that spanned 90 feet of the floor, that and they didn't foul when they had the chance. In this first shot, a PC player grabs an inbound pass from Cotton and original it seemed like an asinine play call because Cotton is the deadliest player on the floor.

That's when you get caught thinking the same way the Villanova players did.

Two players approach where the heave is going, leaving Cotton able to run free up the sideline, grab a pass and watch another screen get set for Henton on the weak side of the arc. A corner three: aka the shortest distance to the cup. This could have ended up very bad because the team didn't play defense for three seconds.

Now after the ball comes down at half court, Cotton takes it up the wing and towards the center of the floor, drawing two more Nova defenders, one from the previous man. Cotton then swings the ball to the weak side where a screen is stopping a player and Henton is waiting for his shot

Henton literally has two more Nova players rushing to his spot on the floor as he is leaving his feet. He has an entire wing full of space and luckily for Nova, he missed the shot. Perfectly thought up plan for Cooley, properly executed by Providence, just not finished by Henton. Villanova got off lucky.

So I don't know if this means Villanova is a better team for winning a tough game on the road, if they added to how tough the game was to win in the first place. I could be wrong.

You decide.