Hoyas Hold Off Late ‘Nova Rally + Player Grades

I have to say this is disappointing. 3 losses in 4 games and all games we could have won. I feel strongly that Villanova and Syracuse are losing because they are becoming predictable and easy to scout. Villanova needs to change it up.

1. It is absurd that Villanova has small (6 foot guards) and is not pushing the ball up the court. After made baskets we walk it up soooooo sloooow and teams set up the defense. Push the damn ball. How many fastbreaks are we getting??
2. We dribble way too much. Watch how Georgetown and Marquette move the ball and cut and keep the ball moving compared to Nova. We dribble twice as much as any other team.

We need to change it up a bit. Either now or we will be a mediocre team.

Jay Wright better get his head out of his ass and let this fast Nova team run and gun LIKE THEY SHOULD BE DOING. Who wants to watch this talented Nova team play a slow down offense. Weak teams run that! Scared teams run it! Not a top 10 team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I blame it on the lack of suit

UConn lost as well sporting the coaching Polos. Coincidence?

Why won’t anybody just at least consider the fact that we are overrated/not that good? It is what it is. Simple as that.

I disagree we are good we just are not playing to our talents. Think about it Wayns cannot be stopped on a drive in the open court nor can Fisher but we walk the ball up and dribble and dribble. Teach this team how to pass and we would have won all three games we lost. I do feel that our other weakness and I have gotten flamed for this but I think we would be better if we had King and Pinkston as you would get some energy from the bench. Right now we get some from Cheek but very little otherwise.

I guess we would be overrated given the #7 ranking. I see us definitely still a second round team like last year with a good shot at sweet 16. I do agree that an elite 8 bid right now looks to be more of a lucky hope rather than a well earned right. The athletic talent and basktball IQ is just not quite good enough to be consistent.

Pena is literally 6 years out of high school and still throws a defensive rebound to the other team under his own basket. I’m just not sure how you can coach that out of a player. What do you say, “Don’t throw it to the other team wide open under your own basket”? There were too many times when one of our players was literally guarding NO ONE and Gtown got wide open layups and mid range jumpers. One of Armwood’s sweet blocks was because he was the weak side help on his own screw up. Those kind of mental and miscommunication lapses have definitely put a ceiling on how far this team can go. It is a shame because there is so much goodness with the team too.

I do have to say that I appreciate the class with how this team plays. There were a couple of obvious hacks that essentially proved the refing crew had money on the game (in G’town’s favor). Our boys and even Jay stayed well more restrained than I would have been given the obviousness of the officiating. Our team is just not good enough to out-play 8 guys at the same time. It was another one of those games where all the previous comments about “take it to the rim to draw the foul” proved that it is really the refs that are effing us. Cheek got killed twice, Mouph at least twice, going hard in the paint and the refs did nothing. Worse, it really set up GT for fast breaks the other way. Just too much to overcome on an off shooting night.

The problem is that Nova never gets these calls in the Mar either. Need proof, anyone remember Ray’s ghost travel when the UNC player admitted to fouling him (sweet sixteen)? Nova just needs to be about 10 points on a neutral ref better than a team to win, and against most top 20 teams we just aren’t there. A net of ten points of refs effing us is normally going to be too much for us to overcome during the NCAAs. I do wonder why such an obvious bias against Nova. Even the anouncers today talked throughout the game about Nova not getting any calls. Probably cause we aren’t in FBS football or have the Gtown darling JT3 name brand to remind old people about JT2.

I’m not buying the overrated view. We’ve been rated and will be rated about where we deserve to be. Our resume stacks up with most some impressive wins, and we have the potential to get much better. I think what we’ve grown accustomed to that we lack this year is that guy or guys that have the killer instinct and simply won’t let us lose. Look at 2 of our last 3 losses both to top ranked teams…UCONN and Gtown were both 1 possession games…Kemba hit that stupid step back three over great D from Stokes. That baseline J that Freeman hit today was crazy. There just isn’t much separation these days in the Big East. Scottie used to be the guy to hit that shot. Lowry, Foye and Ray before that…We have nice players now who can play with anyone on a given day but none of these guys has yet shown the ability to step up in that spot and be the guy to carry the team. That’s simply the difference between a mid pack BE team and a final 4 team.

Time to build a football basketball dome on campus. Don’t we have any billionaire alums looking to help. I know when I was their one of the students fathers landed his helicopter on the football field. Where are you guys, we need you now.

I hate to lose, and losing to G is the worst.

http://independentphilly.com/2011/01/29/villanova-vs-georgetown-struggles-continue-for-wildcats-in-69-66-loss/

Freeman killed Nova. Temple did a great job of shutting him down earlier in the year. Stokes really needs to get back to form and start hitting his shots. With quality wins over Temple, Cinci, Louisville at home (all ranked) and Syracuse on the road, there is still plenty of time to wind up in the top 4 of the BE, get a double bye, and make a case for a high seed in the NCAA.

Jay needs to install a motion offense option. Pearl and Tennessee showed us how to man up and jump the guards to prevent penetration thus causing Nova’s offense to stall (stand around).

Yes Honey Badger- we are just not that good. Losing to G’town in a close game after getting blown out at a mediocre Providence team is not encouraging. Usually by this time of year we can all get a realistic idea of where this team in headed. As much as we would like to see it, I don’t see any dramatic turnaround this year.

We could always just hope to shoot 50% from thje field (46% 3pt) and win games that way. After all, that is the only reason we don’t have a 4 game losing streak right now because of miraculous shooting in the Carrier Dome to pull off a nice win.

Again, I wonder aloud, who in the Big East should finish ahead of us other than PITT?
I know who is playing better than us right now, but that doesn’t let these 3 seniors or the coaching staff off the hook for simply underachieving as a group.
Fisher, Pena & Stokes…how many times was it asked here last summer about WHO would be this year’s Leader(s) ?
It’s now becoming FEBRUARY. WHO will LEAD this team?

Jay clearly has had numerous dicipline and attention issues with Fisher & Pena and to a lesser extent has been frustrated by Stokes mind-numbing inconsistency. I feel for Jay because he often looks more frustrated by some of the poor decisions on the court then we are. Weak passing skills, poor shot selection, players napping on defensivee assignments or not getting back on transition. We all know they work hard on this stuff in practices but this is not a cohesive group even in many of their wins. Missing Coach Scottie on the floor is a part of it but it’s not like these seniors weren’t given plenty of minutes on the court in their careers to assert themselves as leaders. It’s disappointing to watch them struggle and play disjointed basketball.

Jay got a significant amount of credit for the Final Four team that had 3 seniors taking the lead along with Scottie, but with this particular team Jay will probably get a disproportionate amount of the blame if these 3 seniors fail as leaders.
This season, the Big East has a lot of teams (other than PITT) who lean heavily on one or two players so if somehow Jay can get this unit to bond better and figure out the right combinations regardless of whether they are seniors or sophomores, they still have a chance to turn this around.

Time for Marquette to come on Campus.
If this Nova team can’t play well at the Pavillion…yikes.

Jay I hope you read this! PUSH THE FREAKIN BASKETBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep playing this slow down crap and all you’re doing is relying on shots to fall to get a W. Out run the other team we have the players to do it! Let’s not let the same thing happen to this team 2 years in a row!

Don’t worry Bombastic Barney. If you have it your way Jay will be leaving to pursue new opportunities rather than coaching in your CYO dream league. Fortunately, Jay will be here along with FBS football. You as a fan (that’s questionable) – I could care less what CYO school you go cheer for in the future. Try Sloppy Joe’s (PA) you would fit right in – Good Riddance!

Obviously, we haven’t played anywhere near our best in 3 of these past 4 games. Non-coincidentally, those 3 games all resulted in losses. The Big East is a grind. We can still finish 12-6 in conference, 24-7 overall and get at least a 3 seed in the tournament. Do some damage in the BE tourney, and we’re up to a 2 or possibly a 1 seed. This team has enough talent to go to the Final 4 and compete for a championship, but we also aren’t good enough to play bad and beat good teams. So yes, we can be bounced in round 2 again if we don’t show up. People need to stop overreacting to both wins and losses. Just take every game in stride and move on to the next. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We hold serve at home these next 2, we’re 7-3 in conference and that should be good for at least top 4. If anything, I hope we get this out of our system now rather than later. We still have another 11+ games before the NCAA tourney, so just take it game by game and see how things progress. It’s way to early to be saying this team is just mediocre, or they’re just like last year’s team. Last year’s team had some chemistry issues, we had 5 freshmen, and we relied way too much on one player. If anything, I think we’re built much better for a deep run this year. But we got to start playing better obviously, and it starts Wednesday. We haven’t lost on campus in what, 47 games? Let’s get that to 48 vs Marquette and start putting this minor skid in the rear view mirror.

Ok it was a game i didn’t want to lose but i figured i may as well still make a highlight video of some up and downs because I recorded the game. I still used hip-hop because thats what i like and the roots who are from south philly are awesome. the lyrics are clean, so here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_UGdo6iIuI hope you like it

shades of last year…after 21 games, J Wright is saying that team not there yet…but getting close? after 21 games? Tough living in DC.

I hear you brother. Insult to injury.

At times this team looks like 5 pinballs let go at the same time with all the flippers stuck in place. Seems like winning against the strong teams has now become an option. Jay needs to take a few of these guys and introduce them to the bench and not because they are tired. As for Jay he needs to step up and make changes especially with the starting lineup. We just can’t afford to get behind early, that’s when the pinball stuff starts. We have the players we need the team.

This is really getting hard to watch. Mucho mental mistakes and about as much chemistry as Charlie Sheen and a substance-abuse calendar.

Well Said.

At times like this I always try to remember the saying…. Things are usually not as good or bad as they first appear.

Things don’t look as rosey as we ‘Cats fans would like at this point, but the schedule gets tougher as the season goes on, and that’s a good thing; this team has plenty of time to redeem its self, but just remember when we start winning a few,…. Things are not as good or as bad as they first appear.

THE NEXT GAME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME, and at this point that game is a tough one.

schedule got tougher last year and they flatlined.

I agree with Jim about pushing the ball up the court. Why are they always walking the ball up the court and then waiting until there is only 10 seconds left on the shot clock? There doesn’t seem to be any set plays on the offensive side of the ball. I don’t know how many times Fisher or Wayns was at the top of the key with the shot clock running down, and they would try to drive the ball and put up a bad shot.

The 2009 Final Four team had the same 17-4 record at this point of the season. Yes, we have A LOT to work on and I’m extremely bitter after giving that game away yesterday, but the truth of the matter is that we are two possessions away (UCONN, G’Town) from a 19-2 record. We are missing that killer instinct right now and are struggling in close games (aside from Temple and La Salle our “closest” win was by 8 pts). By comparison undefeated Ohio State is scraping by in league games, narrowly winning against NIT caliber teams like Northwestern (1 pt), Penn State (3 pts), Michigan (4 pts) and Iowa (5 pts).

Didn’t like the flow yesterday AT ALL. But in all reality that game doesn’t matter all that much. We have exactly 10 games to get things right before the Big East tournament. Half those games will come against some of the best teams in the country (Pitt twice, ‘Cuse, ND, WVU).

anyone feel like pena needs to shoot the ball more – seems to be our most consistent offensive threat. He’s becoming more and more dante like every game.

Absolutely agree.

boooo.

Way too defensive and harsh in my opinion. You doth protest too much. He makes some good points. You clearly are threatened by any sort of blame going to Saint Jay and his flock.

We were overrated as the 2nd best team in the BE and as a top ten team. We’ve done nothing to deserve either of those rankings. At this rate we’ll finish 4/5 in BE and make make it to the second weekend IF WE ARE LUCKY. Sweet 16 seems to be a stretch at this point.

History does not necessarily repeat, but it sometimes rhymes. It is time to be nervous, but not pessimistic.

Yes, I think due to the presence of Mouph, and to some extent Sutton he does not feel bound to the low post, and is becoming more comfortable facing the basket on offence.

The point is this. We do not push the ball up the court so we are very predictable. Teams that do the same things in the Big East run into trouble in the Big East as teams have seen them before and you can prepare easy. That is why we have done well out of conference the last two years.

With two small point guards playing guards and no set plays it becomes easy to defend. Neither Wayns or Fisher are great at driving and dishing so we are easy to defend. The one- four set might have worked in the past with other players but is not working now. Watch other teams and how much movement they get on offense and how many people touch the ball each possession. We dribble so much. This has been my point going back to last year when we had the great record. We are very easy to scout and prepare for. Syracuse is easy to prepare for as they never change anything up. Change is vital to survive. I honestly have not seen a team that so methodically brings the ball up after a made basket Fisher and Wayns stare at each other as to who will bring it up and defenses set up. If you are going to play Fish and Wayns at the same time play into their strengths push the ball.

but that final four team had senior leadership….Dante, Dwayne.

More comfortable is one thing but Pena is as similar to Dante Cunningham as Dallas Ouanu is to Kyle Lowry.
We’ve been fed enough gobbly-gook about Pena wrapped in the word “improvement” over his career. If he had been anything but ineffective as a 22yr old sophomore then there would be no reason to discuss his so-called “improvements” as a 24yr old senior. It would be an improvement if he actually makes it to this year’s NCAA tournament without being BENCHED again by Coach Wright.

Marquette is the first game of February and unfortunately the 2 bigs sytem is not working as well as planned in BE games. That is because neither Pena nor Mouph are where they should be in their careers. Time to pull back their roles and give Armwood & Cheek more minutes and consolidate some of Mouph & Pena’s presence in to the low post.
I am not saying Pena shouldn’t get any time facing the basket but moving him back inside and having Fish-Wayn-Stokes-Cheek on the floor will improve our basketball IQ which is why Jay’s comments above appear so frustrated about passes and decision making.

We have two PGs who naturally like to push the ball up the court and look for an opportunity to get to the rim. If you are going to play two PGs you’d like to play to their strength and offset that weakness. Unfortunately there are not the same number of 3pt shooters to kick to as there were last year. We also don’t have the depth we had last year. We won some games by running them off the court. Against Gtown Pena and Fisher played 35+min. Could Jay be forced to play at a slower pace?

Anyone have any idea where Bell is? Earlier in the season he looked like he was going to be a nice contributor.

Mr Cheeks,

How do you feel about Pena being the guy shooting the 3 at the end of the game yesterday?

Barney has been making good points about the challenges Nova will confront with the football decision. He is perhaps being too rational for your taste, but you don’t have to get personal about it.

Barney, I defended you up above, but I disagree with you here. If we go small, we will become a team limited on its upside. We must go with Mouph and give him time and experience to develop his inside game. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like to see Pena play with his back to the basket some more and use post moves for some of his points. If we become a jump shooting team, we will be .500 from here on out at best.

Also, I’m not sure that Wayns always shows good basketball IQ. How many times does he take a quick, contested 3 off a dribble when we are trying to battle back from a deficit?

Maybe they should learn something from this woman. All she does is win. http://www.villanova.com/sports/w-track/recaps/013011aaa.html

I mean i’m not saying he should be taking 3s (even though if he did his % made might be close to the teams avg which i think is in the mid 30% range – wayns is shooting around 25% – pena at about 25% too), but his mid-range shot seems to have been pretty decent lately. I don’t remember exactly how much time was left on the clock (pretty sure it was under 5 seconds) so he had to act fast and really can’t fault him too much for that — especially if no one else had been open. If he made it he would have been the hero (a la armwood last season), but he didn’t. He shot around 50% on the day and has been doing that for the past few games it seems like. Should he be the go to guy like dante, prob not, but he’s still a reliable option WHEN he gets aggressive and takes a shot which is dante-like..

On positive note, the Wagon had a excited crowd of 19,914 despite the road conditions.
I hate to say it but maybe the current on-court struggles might get some of the fans more rambuctious when this team plays better down the stretch.

Barney, I was very dissappointed by the Nova crowd until the last 10 minutes of the game. They were very quite before then. There was a group of Georgetown students (about 200 sitting together in the rafters) that were louder than the Villanova faithful until the end of the game. I think the crowd can do much more to energize the Cats. The crowd seems to wait for the team to get them up … sometimes it needs to go the other way.

BDB, I am not in disagreement with you but I think we are now limited by the slow development of Pena/Mouph. I have been huge proponent of going bigger but it appears to me we just don’t have the right combination of bigs currently based on their development. I have hopes that JVP & Kennedy will prove to be a better finishers for us at some point.

I think when we go “small”, we have a better chance of cleaning up our passing and decision making as a unit. Cheek is a long-armed 6’6 so he isn’t exactly shrinking us very much and I don’t have objections to having Armwood being used defensively in a line-up next to either Pena or Yarou..
Cheek was the glue on a undefeated National Championship High School team at St Anthony where he played a variety of roles as a junior and even deferred to older teammates. I think we should be asking the same of him on this team. He was NOT a great HS scorer and he may never become a great college scorer but he has outstanding athleticism and plays to the team concept as he was taught by Coach Hurley.

We may not like Wayns’ decisions and he deserves criticism as a PG but he isn’t as weak as Pena or Mouph in ball-handling on the court. I just feel there has to be a way to get this to be a more cohesive unit on the court even if we have to give up a few inches.
Mouph can continue to mature getting 15-20 minutes because we aren’t getting any more out of him with more minutes…he shows only spurts of effectiveness. When Mouph is on the court, I think they should still look inside to him but I don’t think he gives us any consistency at this point.

Name me 16 better teams than the ‘Cats right now. We are two possessions away from being 19-2. There’s a ton of parity in college basketball this season. Hell, SJU just destroyed Duke today. That’s the same SJU team that lost to Georgetown by 25 just four days ago.

I’m not saying we looked like a Top 10 team yesterday or vs. Providence. But I think you are being a bit of a drama queen right now.

Why 16 teams? Let me repeat, we are not the 2nd best team in the BE and certainly not a top ten team. That means I believe there are at least 10 better teams. Do I really need to name them? Really? And BTW, your logic sucks man. You can make excuses and imagine scenarios to say we should be undefeated if you would like. Why stop at two possessions and 19-2? Using your line of reasoning, I could play devil’s advocate and name you at least a few games we easily could have lost dummy. How many open looks did L’ville, Temple, and St,. Joe’s miss when we were busy pretending to play tough D? How about all those gifts actually called fouls in our favor against Cincy? We easily could have lost that Maryland game if you watched that debacle. I could go on and on and on. I do my best to trade in facts, not take mental short cuts, pay my mortgage in La La Land, and push bullshit based on ifs and buts out of my fat ass. If I’m a drama queen, you’re Santa Claus cause every day is Christmas in your little pea brain reality. Keep things civil and impersonal and I’ll do the same ass clown.

Agree.

you said “Sweet 16 seems to be a stretch at this point” which implies there are 16 better teams in the country.

Relax pal. Wasn’t trying to personally attack your commment — just the general “sky is falling” tone amongst the consesus

There you go honey, showing your ass again…all you do is whine about being civil while taking rediculous personal shots at Nova fans with different opinions…I don’t know what agenda you’re pushing but apparently you want people on THIS BLOG to agree that Nova and Jay Wright are overrated…Please tell me you’re not just looking at the week’s standings to make your proclamations that we’re not top2 BE or top10 nationally…Overrated is UCONN or UNC picked top 10 and missing the tourny. If you’re taking the snapshot today, Nova’s clearly in the discussion for top 2 BE and top 10 nationally and like everyone not named OSU, we’ve done plenty to deserve that and a few things to make you question it. But assuming you’re offering some analysis and not just looking at the standings, mprams’ point is, if Nova’s not in that discussion then who ya got???? Lville?( lost to the same frairs team and lost badly to Nova), ND? (3 losses), Cuse? (come on.), Gtown?( 4 losses), Uconn (just lost to the same lville team that Nova beat)…

How was the attendance at your CYO schools this past weekend? Again, our affiliation with a FBS conference know as the Big East separates us from them.

Sorry “Chill,” its clear your still bitter about running into my chainsaw when you decided to tangle with me and get personal first — just like mprams, who called me a “drama queen” for having a different take than him/her. Why else would you decide to jump in? Seems immature and childish at best. And don’t you realize that you just did it again in this post by calling me a whiner. That’s not personal? Again and again you just can’t stop the hypocrisy and nonsensical rants.

Regardless, noone here is whining at all, and if you read a lot of the posts on THIS BLOG, lots and lots of the fans on THIS BLOG already agree with me that this squad is barely treading water and needs a huge shift in effort and strategy to reassert some dominance in the conference and on the national scene. This presupposes something I am still not willing to concede — that the talent level is as top tier as you and your ilk seem to believe. Regardless, I could care less if others agree or not. I don’t need validation. I could care less what you post for.

Now on to your next point. Of course it becomes a discussion of “who ya got???” (you are so “street” btw!!!!) now, but that is clearly not what you guys would even concede, but I was saying all along, before the G’town game. I posit that you are having a hard time accepting the obvious — Nova is not playing as advertised and there is not a hint that they will anytime soon. There is more to analyzing games than simple stats, although those haven’t really been working in your favor either. YOU HONESTLY ARE GOING TO DISAGREE THAT THEY DON’T LOOK GOOD RIGHT NOW? There’s a huge difference between being a fan and a blind homer. And just do yourself a favor please re-read his post — he wasn’t even talking about the BE in his stream of consciousness post. He said something about 16 teams, which I’m still trying to figure out, but I do appreciate you rushing in to try to translate.

To sum up, I’ve been minding my own business posting my thoughts, and you and another dude/chick decided to get personal with me and didn’t enjoy the responses. I challenge you to find me not being civil with anyone other than you guys and the douche from providence that was picking on some people who needed defending.

Leave me alone and I’ll do the same.

Bombastic Barney has been hating on Andy and the possibility of joining the Big East as a football member. Now he’s taking his swings at Jay. Just stop the hate!

So said the Hawklet. I guess Saint K and his flock are also to blame. How’s Phil doing?

All relaxed now, although I enjoyed reengaging with your buddy who swiftly came to your defense in a less than endearing way.

OK, now I get the 16. I don’t look at it your way when I assess whether we can make the sweet 16. I think we can both agree that the first 68 and the final 32, 16, 8, 4, etc. doesn’t necessarily mean that the best teams left standing are the best teams in the country. We all know seeding and matchups are uneven and some teams get lucky while others get screwed. Way too early for me to fill out a non-existent bracket.

However, this is how I see things. I understand you and at least one other guy don’t like to read this, but I envision we likely will wind up going close to .500 in conference, which will result in us getting a 7 seed at best, based on how things are going. That leaves us with a tough but beatable opponent in the first round and a much tougher team in the second game. Depending on the seed, of course, it wouldn’t be very promising for us to make it to the second weekend. Noone can accurate predict/project any of these thing at this point, I admit that, so right now I just “have feeling” looking forward to the tournament.

Finally, just because I believe we are not a top tier team does not mean the “sky is falling” in my opinion. I hoped they would live up to the preseason hype, but I’ve readjusted my assessment of the team since the first game. Now I think they’ll win over 20 games, make the tournament, and win a game. Respectable but disappointing. If that is your definition of the “sky is falling,” I can’t help that. Those are your expectations, not mine.

Take it easy. Apologies for my aggressive response. Must have misinterpreted your words.

Ouch. Of all the insults leveled my way, and there have only been a few, that one cuts deep? A hawk in cat’s clothing? And suggesting that Phil and I are pals, or even worse? Low blows BIGshoetoDrop, low blows. I shall cry myself to sleep, if I sleep at all after watching that G’town debacle.

your chainsaw??? I love it…Honey, I’m not going to engage you in this but I do want to share my perspective…You can do with it as you wish. First, go back and check the “chainsaw” post and see who went personal first. Second, this isn’t the huffington post. But for a few trolls, these are mainly Nova fans. Now I might be wrong but I think you’re fairly new here. And judging by the frequency of your posts, you seem like you want to be taken seriously. Some of the posters on this site, mprams among them, have demonstrated over the years that they are fervent Nova supporters with a view and they are deserving of respect on this a Nova blog. Hell I often disagree with Barney’s takes but his support for Villanova can’t be questioned and therefore his takes demand respect. So, I’m happy to respect your opionion that Nova is overrated…but if you want to be taken seriously, you might want to do the same.

ChillCat there’s always haters with agendas. I guess there’s too much hate to get a response to mprams question about 16 better teams. Pooh were’s the honey?

Oh now I get it. Your ticked off again because I won’t jump on your “Nova is still awesome for some reason” and “close losses are almost as good as wins” bandwagons. Sorry, sell your crazy somewhere else.

You mean if you can sleep after the Temple debacle this weekend.

You are killing me. Hilarious. But to your credit I actually hate Temple more than St. Joe’s. They’ve were much more competitive than the Hawks were when I was a kid and through my Nova years. Phil’s crew obviously had that one amazing year in recent past, but meh…

Then please allow me to share my perspective as well. You take yourself, this site, and the need to be “respected” on it way too seriously. Whether I am new to the site is irrelevant. Feel free to waste your energy speculate all you wish about how long I’ve posted and/or why I’ve been posting a lot lately. Again irrelevant and meaningless to me. For some reason you find it hard to believe, but people have many reasons for blogging and many of them don’t revolve around getting respect from anonymous posters. I could care less, just as I could care less about your views of “Barney” and that you both get along swimmingly despite apparently having different views. A nice story, but I can’t pretend like I care. I wonder if Barney feels the same way about you and why you feel the need to bring his name into your problem with me. You don’t have any idea of if or how I support the school, I don’t need to tell you if or how I do it, and I don’t feel the need to justify it either way. Hell, even if I didn’t support the school in any way it shouldn’t matter. It seems kind of sad to me that you take pride fashioning yourself as some sort of keeper of this blog, that your so proud you’ve been a part of it for years, and that you feel the need to remind people you disagree with of that fact and how they should or should not behave on the blog. Just be your own person and mind your own business. I’ll continue to post my opinions as I see fit. Right now I’m enjoying writing about how I think this team is overrated and won’t make it to the Sweet 16. I would say I’m sorry we don’t see it the same way, but I couldn’t care less.

Thanks for that dissertation honey…You’ve told me all I need to know about you…Enjoy your posting experience.

LOL…there are some flies in that honey!

Honey & Chill,

I enjoy your banter, even if it is a little too ad hominem for my liking at times, that’s fine as long as you are both rooting for the ‘Cats come game time.

The thought that crossed my mind during your debate is that the BEST (most talented) team does not always win the tourniment. Do you really think the ’85 Championship team was better (more talented) than Ewing’s Georgetown team, or even that the final four team was a more talented team to PITT? I think there are at least six and possibly as many as ten teams in the Big East that have a shot at going much farther that their present National ranking would indicate, and that certainly includes Villanova.

You got that right Big He is a lukewarm basketball fan NOT a Villanova FANl!!!!!!

PERSONAL THIS GUY INSULTS CALLS ME AN IDIOT AND NAME CALLS OTHERS. I HAVE CONTRIBUTED OVER 40,000 in my life to the school and he calls me an idiot for suggesting like others that we can play football in the BIg East. Three independant studies, one in 1997, said it was not only possible but feasable. I’m an idiot and he loves to insult ,degrade, and mock. Check all my positing on Big east sites, here and elsewhere. I have NEVER insulted or name called. People on here see his hatred for football and his “liking” of our University playing in another league “IF” and “when” we get kicked out of the Big East by the ever increasing powerful football schools. READ his postings and tell me he is rational once he even used the Arizona shootings to make a point. I want to insult him. I will not. Let his words do the talking…………

Now we are talking B-Ball. I noticed that and no one anywhere is really talking about it. This sounds crazy but we appear to be playing a bit too organized. No fastbreaks and no “odd man rushes” where Malik and Fish thrive. I pulled out a DVD of the UConn Nova game and I was shocked (last year).

I was really discouraged after the Providence debacle, but the cats showed that they can be good down the stretch yesterday

I am looking for redemption on Wednesday…bottom line they need to shoot better

Pena really is my 4th choice for the final shot…jay needs to answer for that

Another point that certain people keep glossing over. Fisher, Stokes, and Pena seem to lack the leadership “gravitas” of the guys you mentioned above. Be careful, you are swimming in dangerous waters making statements like that.

Enjoy your company and your posting experience.

Ditto. Try to find some other way to give yourself some “warm fuzzies” other than blogging. Also, try to be more tolerant of divergent views. Following this advice might make you less of a needy, bitter person, and a much more productive member of society. This way we all win.

Be careful Johnny. Only speak pessimism in hushed tones. The self-proclaimed keeper of the blog and his two mindless thugs will seek to silence you.

I am rooting for the Cats all the time.

In other words, anything can happen? Sure, I’ll agree with that.

These guys get personal with anyone they don’t agree with. Its pathetic. For people who supposedly love the school, you really fail to embrace Villanova’s Augustinian roots. Enjoy your posting experience.

great quote Nelly,
apologies to wherever you got it from that I will be using that this week.

I am not happy with recent play by this team, but I don’t buy the collaspe last year will equal the same ending this year because it’s a new set of variables. However, a large chunk of that team is the base of this team so it’s easy to worry when some of the same issues start to reappear.
It’s now February for the Marquette game and the question that was asked last summer still remains…WHO will step up and LEAD this Team?
We know who is leading many other teams around the country, but this team still hasn’t defined itself.