Early Exit For Villanova

Well, so much for my bracket. With the early exit of Villanova from the tournament, Scottie Reynolds will graduate falling 29 points short of breaking Kerry Kittles record. Thanks for a great 4 years and good luck in the NBA.

Lets hope that next year with the maturity of our four young freshman and the continued development of players like Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, Antonio Pena that Nova' will continue to improve next year and play a lot more consistent then they did this year. If all that happens I see no reason why the Wildcats don't have a shot at winning the championship.

By: Paul Malamood

An early exit?

Having lost 5 of their last 7 games many are considering Villanova as one of the favorites to be upset early in the tournament. I however am not worried about this, I have a feeling that Villanova is setting up to make a deep run in the tournament. If they can manage to stay out of foul trouble there is not a single team in the country that they can’t beat. This is how I imagine Villanova’s tournament going. After beating Robert Morris in a blow out I believe that Villanova will face Richmond in the second round. I see this being a toughly contested game until the Spiders inability to get rebounds on the offensive glass starts to hurt them. Once Richmond is forced to start fouling the game will turn into a blowout, but the final score will be deceiving.

In the sweet 16 Villanova will face a very tough team in the 3-seed Baylor. Baylor’s zone defense has the potential to cause the same problem for the wildcats that Syracuse did in their game on February 27^th. However, if Villanova’s outside shooters are on and something tells me that at least 2 of them will be, there is nothing Baylor will be able to do but push out on the perimeter, this allowing the Wildcats to toss the ball down low to big men Mouphtaou Yarou and Antonio Pena. In the Elite Eight Nova’ will face a rematch from last year Sweet 16 trouncing of Duke. The Blue Devils got the #1 seed by winning of the slumping ACC regular season and the tournament championship. They have a lot of size which could pose a problem for the cats however if they can stop Dukes ace in Jon Scheyer the same way they did last year I see Villanova winning and advancing to their 2^nd straight final four.

Once you get to the final four it is everybody’s tournament to win. In the semi-finals I think that Kentucky is actually a pretty good matchup for Villanova. In this game I am willing to bet that the Villanova’s experience will play a huge factor against the youth of Kentucky. The Wildcats of the south are led by their two freshmen G John Wall and F DeMarcus Cousins. Nova has the athletes to cover this dynamic duo and with the clutch shooting of Scottie Reynolds Villanova has a great chance to beat Kentucky. If Villanova does advance to the championship, it will most likely be a rematch of the 18 point butt-kicking they received in February. If Syracuse is on their game like they were in February it may be near impossible for Villanova to beat them. The thing is Villanova was far from being at the top of their game in February. If they can cut down on the fouls and countless stupid plays they committed then Villanova has a chance to beat Syracuse no matter how good they are playing. As a long time Villanova fan I can’t bring myself to pick Cuse to beat Nova, BUT I also do believe that the wildcats can win. Therefore I believe that Villanova will beat Syracuse in the championship game with a score of 82-76.

BY: Paul Malamood

Two Realizations About Villanova Basketball

Watching today’s game against West Virginia I came to two realizations about Nova’s hoop team. First, that anytime they are going through a cold streak, the first person that Jay Wright should send in off the bench is Isaiah Armwood. To me Armwood has stepped into the role that used to be filled by Dwayne Anderson. Armwood is a tall athletic player who seems to be able to do a little bit of everything. That however is not the reason why I feel this way about Armwood. It is more of the way that he plays the game. As a fan watching him play it just looks like he truly loves the game and this love of the game is displayed by the passion he plays with. He always seems to be hustling and doing everything he can to help the team. A perfect example of the player I believe Armwood will turn out to be is last year, when Anderson hustled back down the court and then dove to knock the ball loose from the opposing players hands. Nova then went on to score on their next possession after the turnover and it seemed to be the turning point in a big game that Villanova ended up winning.

Secondly, while watching the maturation of Mouphtaou Yarou and the improvement of Antonio Pena I realized that next year could spell the end of the Nova small ball offense as we know it. Next year could be the first time since Curtis Sumpter got injured in the NCAA tournament in 2005 that Villanova has had two very good big men. Pena in my eyes is the most improved player in the Big East. He really stepped up his game this year to fill the big shoes left behind by Dante Cunningham’s graduation. As for Yarou, all of Villanova’s opponents this year should be counting their blessings that Mouph had to miss so much time with Hepatitis B. Every game Mouphtaou seems to get better and better. Watching Yarou mature as a player right before my eyes, and realizing that he has only been playing basketball for a few years now, I can only imagine how good he is going to be next year, after having a full year of Jay Wright coaching under his belt.

By: Paul Malamood