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Villanova Game

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Piratz

Senior
Mar 24, 2004
433
875
93
I saw a few minutes of them against Wisconsin, but not much overall. Anyone watch them more closely?

Their metrics (NET #29, KP #28) seem better than their actual resume. Their best win - by far - is that OT victory against Wisconsin (NET #77, KP #44). Other wins were Queens, Sacred Heart, Duquesne, LaSalle, Old Dominion, Temple, Penn, Pittsburgh.

They are bombing from 3. We need to stay disciplined. They're 39th in 3PA:FGA and 63rd in 3PT% as a team. 27th in the country in % of points from 3 and 301st in % of points from 2. Whew.

Defensively they don't foul much and are benefitting from opponents shooting the 5th-worse from the line against them. 🤣
 
H

hallwins

Junior
Sep 7, 2001
148
228
43
Nova is metric friendly from am offensive perspective. Lack a rim protector.
Brennan is good. If guards are on, can be tough.

I put stock in the ability of our bigs to defend and our overall defensive ability to shut down the other team's leading scorer and hold teams well below overall FG percentage.
 
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Pirates94

Redshirt
Dec 21, 2021
37
34
18
If they don’t protect the rim that spells success for our style. You saw what happens against Providence with vs no rim protector.
 
N

NYShoreGuy

Junior
Jan 7, 2006
659
352
63
For those that seek this info this game is available only to peacock subscribers or if you have nbcsn through a YouTube TV package or Comcast xfinity is your provider
 
N

NYC Pirate

Junior
Nov 11, 2007
270
257
62
So, this an interesting game to say the least. What counts are the 40 minutes played on the court. The Willard sideshow should only last a minute or two.

Nova like Providence has a solid offense. They rely on the three ball for the most part. If The Hall comes out with that crazed defensive intensity it will set the tone. Add into the equation a frenzied mainly Hall crowd, ready to unleash its frustrations from last season. So The Rock could be rocking.

Hines availability? The bench production of Seton Hall may be the difference.
 
T

The Crows Nest

Sophomore
Jun 3, 2001
89
116
33
NYC Pirate said:
So, this an interesting game to say the least. What counts are the 40 minutes played on the court. The Willard sideshow should only last a minute or two.

Nova like Providence has a solid offense. They rely on the three ball for the most part. If The Hall comes out with that crazed defensive intensity it will set the tone. Add into the equation a frenzied mainly Hall crowd, ready to unleash its frustrations from last season. So The Rock could be rocking.

Hines availability? The bench production of Seton Hall may be the difference.
Click to expand...
Does Willard play zone against us?

You know he’ll have something up his sleeve
 
S

Silkcity Pirate

Sophomore
May 12, 2009
525
148
43
The Crows Nest said:
Does Willard play zone against us?

You know he’ll have something up his sleeve
Click to expand...
Don't give Mr. Personality any credit about having anything up his sleeve. We have seen enough of him to realize that whatever he runs with Nova is what you will see all game . He sticks to his game plan to the end .
 
Bud Boomer

Bud Boomer

Senior
Dec 24, 2007
257
728
93
Piratz said:
I saw a few minutes of them against Wisconsin, but not much overall. Anyone watch them more closely?

Their metrics (NET #29, KP #28) seem better than their actual resume. Their best win - by far - is that OT victory against Wisconsin (NET #77, KP #44). Other wins were Queens, Sacred Heart, Duquesne, LaSalle, Old Dominion, Temple, Penn, Pittsburgh.

They are bombing from 3. We need to stay disciplined. They're 39th in 3PA:FGA and 63rd in 3PT% as a team. 27th in the country in % of points from 3 and 301st in % of points from 2. Whew.

Defensively they don't foul much and are benefitting from opponents shooting the 5th-worse from the line against them. 🤣
Click to expand...
I’ve watched them a bunch. Hard to get a read. The frosh Lewis plays the Willard alpha dog role (though they’re more balanced than most Willard teams), but he’s been a flat track bully. Duke Brennan rebounds like Angel, will definitely need to keep an eye on him. He’s probably the key to the game. They’ve got shooters, so second chances will be a killer.

Also, funny Devin Askew has been playing well for them. That guy has been in college 30 years and sucked for 29 of them. Only a matter of time before he comes back to earth.
 
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F

Fishjam

All-Conference
Mar 27, 2016
373
1,215
93
They are a solid all-around team and Willard is a solid coach. I'd expect him to use his classic 2-man matchup zone with his 2 guards to limit Clark from penetrating. I'm shocked that so many teams try to guard Clark aggressively near half court.

They play at a slow pace on both offense and defense. They don't draw many fouls and they don't commit many fouls on defense. They help defend, they wall up near the rim and force you to move the ball well and hit open shots. Their 3-point defense is ranked 344th in the Country so we should have some open looks. Like every Willard defense they over help which makes them tough to drive to the hoop on but they have huge holes if we can make the extra pass to find open shooters. Willard's D is always vulnerable in the corners. If we make the extra pass the corner 3 will be wide open as teams have hit 48.9% against them on corner 3s.

On offense they take a lot of 3s and they are strong finishers at the rim. 5 of their top 6 players finish at better than 70% at the rim. Their Big Man is a throwback big who has not taken a shot outside of the paint all season. He gets great positioning with his big body and is a very strong rebounder on both ends. 2nd in Nation in Offensive Rebounding %. We need Hines in this game as we need to box this guy out and have to be careful of going for too many blocks.

The freshman Hodge is playing better. He's big and athletic and is a strong finisher. Their guards are skilled and shoot well from 3. We need to guard them close and not leave our feet.

It will be a good challenge and could be an important game for our resume as both teams appear to have NCAAT chances.
 
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T

The Crows Nest

Sophomore
Jun 3, 2001
89
116
33
Fishjam said:
They are a solid all-around team and Willard is a solid coach. I'd expect him to use his classic 2-man matchup zone with his 2 guards to limit Clark from penetrating. I'm shocked that so many teams try to guard Clark aggressively near half court.

They play at a slow pace on both offense and defense. They don't draw many fouls and they don't commit many fouls on defense. They help defend, they wall up near the rim and force you to move the ball well and hit open shots. Their 3-point defense is ranked 344th in the Country so we should have some open looks. Like every Willard defense they over help which makes them tough to drive to the hoop on but they have huge holes if we can make the extra pass to find open shooters. Willard's D is always vulnerable in the corners. If we make the extra pass the corner 3 will be wide open as teams have hit 48.9% against them on corner 3s.

On offense they take a lot of 3s and they are strong finishers at the rim. 5 of their top 6 players finish at better than 70% at the rim. Their Big Man is a throwback big who has not taken a shot outside of the paint all season. He gets great positioning with his big body and is a very strong rebounder on both ends. 2nd in Nation in Offensive Rebounding %. We need Hines in this game as we need to box this guy out and have to be careful of going for too many blocks.

The freshman Hodge is playing better. He's big and athletic and is a strong finisher. Their guards are skilled and shoot well from 3. We need to guard them close and not leave our feet.

It will be a good challenge and could be an important game for our resume as both teams appear to have NCAAT chances.
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Fish, as usual, very nicely done. I have only seen them once, and that was for a short snippet against Michigan and well....yeah. So this gives me a much better understanding of what we are up against.

I think a lot of us have that Michigan game in the backs of our minds...but as with most things, don't judge based on either their very best, or very worst moments...and that was certainly a "very worst" moment.

I think we are in for a battle tonight without a doubt, and defending the 3 and minimizing second chance points to me are the keys on D; on offense, based on your report, sounds like it may be tough to get to the rim...but have TJ and AJSM, Williams and Fisher poised to receive some drive and dish chances...just have to bury them.
 
P

Piratz

Senior
Mar 24, 2004
433
875
93
Gotta clamp down on the outside shooting. It’s the equalizer even if we’re outplaying them. The disparity in how these two teams treat the arc is a ton.
 
R

radecicco

Senior
Jun 24, 2013
372
498
63
I think Brennen is the key. If our wings can get to the rim and have him pick up fouls, they have no one behind him. If Hines is available that really gives SHU an advantage at the 5 with our two quality centers. If Not Hines, can Godswill give some quality minutes. I like our guys but don’t underestimate Willard.
 
P

Pirate Russ

Redshirt
Jan 13, 2012
11
8
3
PiratePride said:
I'm not getting all the negative vibes about Willard. I think he did a good job for the Hall.
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I agree. He took over a dumpster fire. While the tournament success was not as much as we wanted, he got us to tournament 5 of last 6 years (and it should have been 6 of 7 due to Covid). We won Big East tournament in '16, and lost in finals in '19. We reached Big East semis in 14, 16, 17, 19, and 21 (and would have in '20). The only thing i will say, is i hope the video doesn't include highlights from TCU game.
 
H

hallwins

Junior
Sep 7, 2001
148
228
43
Pirate Russ said:
I agree. He took over a dumpster fire. While the tournament success was not as much as we wanted, he got us to tournament 5 of last 6 years (and it should have been 6 of 7 due to Covid). We won Big East tournament in '16, and lost in finals in '19. We reached Big East semis in 14, 16, 17, 19, and 21 (and would have in '20). The only thing i will say, is i hope the video doesn't include highlights from TCU game.
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People forget what a big deal it was to get to Friday night of the Big East Tournament. Willard made it a regular occurrence.
 
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Seton75

All-Conference
Jun 3, 2001
35,533
1,075
113
hallwins said:
People forget what a big deal it was to get to Friday night of the Big East Tournament. Willard made it a regular occurrence.
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IMO, saying he was a failure cause of the NCAAs is and always has vbeen ridiculous. Yes, I want to do better. Yes, those teams were often good enought to do better. But we made it. Consistently. Remember the elation when we beat XU in Nwk in IW's soph year and we KNEW we were going to make it. And the watch party when we sat in Walsh and heard our name get announced. They were great moments, a huge part of my Pirate memory bank.
 
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