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Cats, Owls and the Story of the Shot Clock
I discovered a forgotten treasure in my attic this weekend, The Year of the ‘Cat – Villanova’s Incredible 1985 NCAA Basketball Championship Story, written by sports journalist Craig Miller. Flipping through the pages, I was struck by one passage covering Villanova’s 46-43 victory over Len Bias’ Maryland team in the 1985 Southeast Regional Semifinal. Mr. Miller wrote, “holding a 43-36 lead and with 5:40 remaining on the clock, Rollie Massimino screamed to his squad ‘ENOUGH!’ The team immediately switched to its delay game, something the trio of seniors had become successful with over the prior four seasons.” Villanova went on to win 46-43. Read more
Big East / SEC Invitational
Villanova by the Numbers just posted the news that the Big East and SEC are likely to let the Big East/SEC Invitational expire after the initial four-year contract ends this season. As greyCat wrote:
The most memorable game in the Invitational series is probably the LSU-Villanova game from the Invitational’s first season (December 2007). Played in the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Villanova, down through most of the game, and trailing by 15 with 3:30 left in the second half, put on a closing blitz which stunned the Tigers and allowed the Wildcats to win it at the buzzer, 68-67.
VBTN also notes that the Invitational was flawed from the beginning, playing only four games, rather than a true top-to-bottom challenge format like the ACC/Big Ten and without the possibility of the Battle for the Bluegrass match-up between Louisville and Kentucky ever being a part of it. Read more
Suns Invite Scottie to Training Camp
After an injury kept him out of two Summer League games, some of us thought that Scottie Reynolds‘ NBA chances were dead in the water. Then he came back and performed admirably in the Suns last few games, averaging 10.3 points and 4.7 assists. Although he only put up 7 points and 2 assists against the Warriors summer squad this week, the Suns have already invited him to their training camp.
Reynolds hasn’t decided to accept that offer yet, or to go to training camp with one of the other few teams that have invited him to join them. The Suns are looking to have a third point guard on their bench and would like Scottie to compete with Zabian Dowdell (who averaged 10 points and 3.8 assists over five games) for that job. Read more
Cavs reach deal with Lowry; Rockets Match
(UPDATED 6:06pm) In a post-LeBron world, the Cleveland Cavaliers have decided to move on to plan B: Signing another Philadelphia guard for their backcourt. The Associated Press is reporting that Kyle Lowry has signed an offer sheet with the Cavaliers to join fellow Big 5 guard Delonte West in Cleveland.
The offer is a three year deal with a team option for a fourth year, worth around $24 million total. Since Lowry is a restricted free agent who was tendered by the Rockets, they will have seven days to match his offer sheet. If they do not match, Lowry will become a Cavalier.
He would be expected to back up Mo Williams at the point. In Houston he currently serves as a backup point guard to Aaron Brooks.
Update: The Houston Rockets announced this evening that they will match Cleveland’s offer sheet and retain the services of Kyle Lowry.
The Week In Review (Week of July 4)
In a week when Brian and Mike battled it out to earn the distinction of most prolific Nova blogger in the universe, you might wonder what’s left to cover in my post this week. Well, to paraphrase Gilda Radner’s SNL character, Roseanne Roseannadanna, “there’s always something.”
Nova Notebook featured Corey Stokes this week. They write, “[i]n three seasons, he has evolved from a stand-still jump shooter to a more well-rounded player. There were numerous occasions in 2009-10 that Villanova head coach Jay Wright and his staff leaned on Stokes to slow or stifle an explosive scorer on the opposition. “When I first came in I was just shooting jump shots,” Stokes states. “Now I think my game has expanded. I can drive to the basket. My ball-handling has gotten a lot better. I am working on becoming a great defender “As a staff, we really thought Stokes had his best year (in 2009-10),” stated Wright. “He made plays, got big rebounds and defended well. We think he has completed himself as a player and is much more than just a great shooter.” “I think since this last season ended we all feel like we have a chip on our shoulder and have something to prove to people,” he states. Stokes likes what he sees in sessions of open gym in the months since 2009-10 closed.”
Randy Foye Signs with LA!
After LeBron made his decision (Miami), it seems that the rest of the NBA got rolling on free agency. It was announced a few moments ago that Randy Foye will sign with the Los Angeles Clippers for next season.
A return to the West means that he will be facing off against former teammates Dante Cunningham (Blazers) and Kyle Lowry (if he re-signs with Houston) as well as with fellow Villanovan Scottie Reynolds (Suns). Read more
The Week In Review (Week of June 27)
While the others slept, Mike and Brian were the first off the ball with this week’s top two stories – Tyrone Johnson’s commitment to Villanova and Matt Szczur signing a minor league contract with the Cubs that allows him to return to Villanova to help the Cats defend their football national championship.
Zagsblog quotes Derrick Bobbitt, Tyrone Johnson’s mentor and assistant AAU coach, as saying, “if Ty continues to improve at the rate he’s improving, he can have an immediate impact as a freshman,” Bobbitt said. “He’s a relatively big guard who can keep pressure on the defense a lot like Rajon Rondo with his play-making ability on the offensive end and can potentially create havoc on defense with his length and athleticism.”
Szczur Signs with Cubs. Returns for Senior Year.
(UPDATED 7/10) The good news is that Matt Szczur, the 5th round pick of the Chicago Cubs, agreed to terms on a contract with the North Siders. The even better news is that the Cubs have agreed to allow Szczur to return to Villanova this fall to finish his Football eligibility for the Wildcats.
Szczur will play baseball this summer in the Cubs farm system before returning to school in time to begin preseason football workouts. Regarding the arrangement, he said:
Randy Foye Rumors
As we noted earlier, Randy Foye is a restricted free agent this summer. It was widely expected that the Wizards, having added John Wall, would hold off on making Foye a qualifying offer in order to retain a right of first refusal for his services. With a glut of point guards on-board in Washington, that expectation has become a reality. Randy is now free to pick a team that will fit him best.
On draft day we had heard rumblings that a trade between Washington and Orlando could have seen Foye being swapped with two others for Vince Carter. Of course, in order to do so, the Wizards would have had to first made him a qualifying offer to complete the sign-and-trade.
With today’s news, that Orlando trade is clearly off the table. Leading us to ask: Where will Randy Foye play next year? While Randy hasn’t yet reached Dwayne Wade-like superstardom, he is a useful and versatile player at both guard positions. Free agency will allow him, for the first time, to choose his own destiny and find his way to a team where he can succeed. Read more
The Week In Review (Week of June 20)
Brian broke the story on Scottie and the Suns yesterday. DigitalSportsDaily.com fills in a few of the details. They report, “Scottie Reynolds is expected to join the Phoenix Suns summer league roster. “It’s fantastic,” said Suns Director of Player Personnel Todd Quinter. “He had a great chance of going in the draft. We were really fortunate he wanted to play for our summer team.” He plays with a lot of heart. He might not be a traditional point guard but he’s a scorer and can distribute. He can be really good at our pace. He wants to be in the NBA badly.”
“If Phoenix even has a spot on their roster for Reynolds is yet to be determined. Reynolds became the first Associated Press first-team All-America selection to go undrafted into the NBA since 1976. I think (Reynolds) looked at it and said that’s what the NBA is. It’s size, it’s speed, it’s length,” Wright told the Associated Press. “He was the underdog coming out of high school and now he’s going to be an underdog making the NBA and he’s taking on that challenge. I don’t think he’s disappointed about it anymore.” Read more
