Ha, ha, ha: AP ranks 'Nova #23
posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com1/12/2009 02:35:00 PM
And the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll ranks Villanova at #22.
Both these rankings come after a week when the Wildcats needed overtime to beat a bad Seton Hall team and then lost at home to Louisville, which shot 3-25 from the three-point line.
I guess the AP voters and coaches are also not subtracting much for the residual effect of Marquette's complete domination of Villanova last week, dropping Villanova's record in the last three games to 1-2.
Villanova remains without a win over a likely NCAA tournament team, and now is 0-3 against any team with a pulse.
The Wildcats do have some talent, but there is no way this team is top-25 right now. I would predict this is the last week Villanova will be ranked, but the only game this week is at the Pavilion against St. John's.
Even I am not delusional enough to think that Jay Wright could lose at home to St. John's.
Could he?
Labels: 2008-2009, Big East, Jay Wright, polls, practical jokes
85 Comments:
BC lost to Harvard. So it's possible. Another performance like Saturday and we'd be lucky to get an NIT bid. This team doesn't have the talent or the heart to be winners. Hope the recruits aren't rethinking their commitments.
Thanks for pointing out that the coach doesn't play. Brilliant!
Wow, thank you for telling me what opinions I should post on my own Web site.
Would you mind if you and I had a discussion on what you should have for dinner tonight?
This team doesn't have the talent or heart to be winners? Really Anon @ 4:58.
This team rose from the dead to get into the NCAA, responding very well to a terrible call in the Georgetown game. Furthermore they beat a sexy pick in Clemson, and then were lucky enough to draw Siena before being dismantled by Kansas, yet another tournament champion.
Just because Malcolm Grant isn't here and Drummond is gone does not make this team THAT much worse than last year. This is the same team. A little more execution down the stretch of the Louisville game and it's a completely different feel.
Why are we so quick to dismiss this team? It CAN GET BETTER!
Nobody likes all your negativity... Why do you have a blog if you just rip the coach all the time?
Nobody likes your negative references to my negativity.
You can't win with Reynolds and Fisher throwing up prayers after they penetrate - they are not Foye or Lowry. Cunningham is a decent inside force, but he needs scoring help, and Reynolds does not get great looks when he's set. I don't know what Wright has against Stokes, but Redding and Clark are not scoring options - Note To Jay Wright: GET STOKES INVOLVED in the inside outside game or this year is a wash!!!!
Can the Anons utilize online handles? I would think if you take the time to write a long diatribe, you wouldn't want to be lumped in with all of the other anons. This, of course, assumes there are more than one anon and not one single, crazy person. It would just make these threads easier to read.
i actually like the negativity and the negative responses to the original negativity. quite entertaining! although pete, i would appreciate it if you were a little more supportive of the team you claim to be a fan of.
The supportive part is running this Web site and devoting several hours per week to chronicling the season.
Does anyone else realize we still have 15(!!!!!) games left?
Pete - you have become quite non-constructively negative. Hey, it's your Blog - do what you want. From a frequent reader's perspective, your blog would improve if you dispensed with the bitterness, and harness your negative powers for good.
In my opinion, Pete is simply trying to generate posts and website hits. I am not sure he is a fan or a non fan, just a feather ruffler.
Fire Pete...let the anon guy who writes poorly written posts do it. I want to know how "mega-sweet" that layup was that "the point guard" did even though Villanova is shit and continually lose b/c of shite coaching. B/c that "thunder-dunk" was "totally awesome"
Agreed, 12:53!
What happened to NovaFan09 and FoyeBoyes posts? This site sucks cause you only have one "fan" blogging.... You don't have anyone else blogging for you because you would probably disagree with their ideas, or make homosexual advances towards them.
I think Pete once said he is a journalist... I think. Though his writing would lead me to believe otherwise (not hating Pete but a monkey + tv + typewriter could spit this out).
My guess is Pete realized he could bump his hits when he saw the amount of "WTF is wrong with you" responses he was getting. It would make sense that a journalists resume would look better with "Blogger: received over 50,000 responses to my entries". I'd do the same.
Pete, can you just change it to Let's Go Jayhawks after this season? As an actual fan I don't like that Google searches for Nova related things often bring people to this awful place. It's terrible for the program. Plus it would offer you another Resume Blogger line. If you can rip Jay apart like you do, Bill Self's coaching would offer you years of material.
Long time reader, first time poster....
First, I enjoy this blog
Second, I don't understand why everyone is down on Pete's comments. He's right...right now we are not a top 25 team.
Third, that doesn't mean we are NIT bound. The Big East is nasty and it didn't help that Nova played the cupcake out of conference schedule in terms of preparing a team to play a full game of basketball. However, our team has plenty of time to mesh together and get wins (and those loses were pretty close). In the end, its all about whos peaking at the right time come March. When this team peaks.... watch out, lets just hope its at the right time
NovaFan09 and Foye'sBoye stopped writing on their own. I've asked them both to post again, but they are too busy with school.
Is the 2:50 comment implying I am a Kansas fan? Totally confused by that. In any event, I am not trying to "stir up comments."
Regardless, what differentiates Let's Go Nova from a site like vuhoops is that Let's Go Nova offers opinion and analysis as well as news. I do not only have "negative" opinions. Case in point: Last year, with many media members and even 'Nova fans pessimistic about our NCAA chances, I was adamant that we'd get in.
I've never understood the psychological phenomenon of objecting to any form of dissent. Basketball is a friggen' game. If I write that I think Jay Wright can't draw up a play, how is that something to get upset over? I welcome your counter-opinions and arguments, but a lot of you are just saying 'close this blog down,' etc -- which is hilarious.
Thanks to Steven @ 2:58 for the support. I think a lot of people enjoy this blog. The site gets about 500 visitors a day, well beyond the 5-10 vocal commenters who call me a Jayhawks fan and make remarks about my alleged homosexual attraction toward Malcolm Grant.
@ 3 pm anon --
I also hope that recruits are not reconsidering their commitments. Why would any fan of the program hope otherwise. As for why they would reconsider, I would point not to the team's recent losses, but to the five players Jay Wright has lost in the past few years. When someone like Malcolm Grant, who preps for a year just to go to Nova, is sent packing to a major program like Miami, that is not a good sign, combined with four other transfers in the past few years.
If I were a recruit, I would also be concerned with Jay Wright's stubborn and erratic and seemingly arbitrary lineup choices. If I were Dom Cheek, for example, I would be very worried about that.
Hopefully Jay's skills as a recruiter have neutralized all these concerns. But I would not be surprised to see us lose another player to transfer, with five new players coming in next season.
Pete there is a reason that you are no longer the best villanova blog anymore. I have followed your blog for a while now, and it used to be the best blog nova had. But your pathetically poor attitude on life turns away viewers. Explain to me how people can be too busy with school to write something on a website. It takes a few seconds, and I am pretty sure I have seen FoyesBoy and NovaFan09 comment on other nova websites...Bottom line other websites can see that nova is struggling too. They are just able to express that without being an ass like you do at times.
Ha, JWS -- I don't even know what to say to this. Am I lying about NovaFan09 and Foye's Boy? What do you think, that I banned them? They both told me they were too busy to write for the site. What do you want me to do?
Let's Go Nova used to be the best Villanova blog because it was the ONLY Villanova blog. It was the first. Now there are four others, and I read all four. I love how you frame this like this is some sort of competition.
I can tell you that Let's Go Nova posts the most in-depth analysis of any other blog. IBBW is great for an on-campus perspective. Nova News covers the NBA a lot more than anyone else. VUhoops updates the most frequently. VBTN has its unique quantitative approach. They are all good. I couldn't care less whether you think LGN is "the best one' of those.
I think it is out of line, though, for you to accuse me of having a "pathetically poor" attitude on life because I don't agree with you about a basketball game. Get some perspective.
I would also like to point out that 71 percent of voters in the Let's Go Nova poll agree with me that Jay Wright has below average in-game coaching skills.
So it looks like your vocal, ironic minority of people complaining about negativity is actually a very small minority indeed.
Blaming transfers is dumb because...say it with me now...EVERYBODY HAS THEM! http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=667122 .
Please look at the link. Check the names. Literally every good program is on there. Nova is getting higher quality players than in the past so currently enrolled less talented players were suddenly left with no PT. Pretty fucking simple. Nova WILL have at least one more transfer within the next 2 years.
Putting 90% of the onus on Jay for the teams performance is dumb because...no offense to Jay, but say it with me...COACHING BASKETBALL IS SOMETHING A WELL TRAINED MONKEY COULD DO. Johnny Flynn did not dunk over a 6-9 guy the other night because Jim Boheim is a great coach (I just wanted to bring that up because it was ridiculous). But the fact remains, the players make the team.
Obviously Jay deserves a lot of the credit/blame for the team. His inbound plays often go 4.9 seconds before the toss in which is painful... and yet with the game on the line they should have won the Louisville game because of the inbounds play. He might sub too much, but when I watch Pitino, or Calipari, or Bob Huggins coach they yank players after one or two dumb plays every time. The only ones that stay in are the court leaders for the team (unquestionably Scottie and Dante for Nova). And Jay's "take em" offense is 90% of the reason he has become the recruiter he is. Players like it. If they are good, they get free forum to display it. That definitely is not a defense of Jay so much as an observation. Besides entry (not inbound) passes and Scottie beyond the arch screens, the team has no set offense. They just don't. Until they get that legit big guy it's hard to play the Big East with a set offense when your average height is 6-4.
I'm probably 15 of the 500 hits a day and I am not a fan of Pete's at all. Weird.
Wow -- If someone who visits "15 times a day" is not a fan of me, I wonder how many times my adoring fans visit.
how come this team isn't a cohesive unit?! theyre almost exactly the same as last year;s sweet 16 squad! riddle me that!!!
well, they did lose 2 important players from last year while adding none -- so it makes sense, as i have been predicting since before the season, that the team will be worse.
The team is better than they were at this point last year. Just sayin'.
I know I said I was done with this site after some comments by Pete late in the SHU game, but the brutality of the last 2 posts drew me back. I need to come to defense of Jay Wright a bit, because in my eyes he always puts his players in a position to best utilize their personal strengths and in a position to succeed. Pete will certainly lose it with regard to this and Pena being in the end of the Louisville game, but hindsight is 20/20.
Anyway with that out of the way, I just wanted to say that I think there are 3 things we can all agree on with regard to Jay's weaknesses.
1. In-bound plays. This is just terrible and it really needs to improve. Against most teams it shouldn't be difficult to just get the ball in play. However, I personally have FINALLY seen an improvement in the last 2 games.. this was about 8 years in the making.
2. X's and O's. This mostly stems from #1 and from the "Take 'em Offense." I personally think the "Take 'em Offense" is great. Watch some of those games from 04-05 and 05-06. This worked with the quick, experienced guards we had, in addition to a viable wing player that could be counted on inside and out (Sumpter when he was healthy). However, Jay could adapt more, knowing he doesn't have quite the talent or experience level right now to get it done. Fisher is too raw, and Reynolds maybe a step to slow. And don't get me going on wing players.... wow. I think Jay HAS adapted some and included more set plays, the problem is that the team just is not all their yet, hurt by inconsistency and lack of depth.
3. Substitutions. Too frequent? Maybe. However for every game Nova loses that we blame on Jay's subbing, we also win one because of it. So we don't blame the team out... who cares? We get wins when our team looks flat; does it really matter who isn't on the court to get the W? A lot of development takes place in practice, it's not only in the games.
So for even those 3 most frequently cited Jay Wright weaknesses, there is a counter argument that is not some type of rose-colored view that distorts reality. Pete you always take the other point-of-view, which is fine, but I personally cannot find much rationale behind your criticisms. Way too much blame is put on Wright, and Way too much praise is placed on particular players each and every game (example: Grant and Fisher).
And with this, I ask all readers of LGN and especially Pete: Do you think my analysis of Wright's weaknesses is ridiculous? Would you add any other weaknesses?
Let's get a decent discussion going, most of us are VU students/alumni, and it's embarrassing how we are all acting. VUHoops.com msg boards have not taken off as I have hoped, so if we all chat here, let's make it something we can be proud of, even if we can't be proud of the things Pete sometimes says about the team and coach (which he is certainly entitled to do).
End of rant.
-imisskylelowry
oops #3 is f'd up.... I think I changed my thought mid-way and my stream of consciousness is left.
Ignore the "So we don't blame the team out... who cares"
IMKL --
I agree that your three criticisms are valid. Where we may disagree is as to the severity of these shortcomings. Substitutions and X's and O's are huge parts of being a basketball coach. They are the most fundamental parts. I know that in major college hoops, the head coach also has recruiting and public relations functions, which Wright seems good at. Wright may be great at the game of life, but he is totally lacking as a coach at the game of basketball.
So, what can be done about it? Short of bringing in a better coach, there's not much that can be done when the head coach clearly doesn't understand some of the fundamentals of basketball. And given Wright's successes on the recruiting trail and in the image and brand building for Villanova, I am not sure replacing him would be the best thing.
Wright may well win a championship at Villanova. But if he does, it will be in spite of his technical coaching skills. Maybe recruiting could overcome his coaching deficiencies. I am pretty sure that if I were able to coach the New York Knicks in the NCAA tournament, I'd win a championship despite my lack of coaching skills, as well.
One more issue I take with Wright his what I have identified as hypocrisy. Wright spends hours and hours spewing bullshit about how Villanova basketball is a "family." Every player I have ever talked to has totally bought into the concept. But Villanova basketball is the furthest thing from a family. It is a multi-million dollar business, and people get hurt in businesses all the time. Do you think that Malcolm Grant, Casiem Drummond, Bilal Benn, Andrew Ott, and Kraidon Woods weren't promised by Wright, at some point, that they would be integral members of his "family?" Of course they were. Grant had offers from any number of power-conference schools, and chose to prep a year to attend Villanova.
Such is the power of Wright's sales pitch. My worry is that eventually, savvy recruits will begin to see through the bullshit. Maybe Tyreke already has. But I know if I were a recruit, I would NOT play for Villanova under Wright, knowing that I could fall out of favor with him and then be forced to uproot, interrupt my education, and leave behind cherished friends in order to transfer to another program.
I am glad that, so far, Villanova's recruits disagree with me and still seem to trust Wright. Let's hope that I am wrong on this one.
Pete - Is the transfer issue common in college basketball or just a Villanova problem? I honestly don't know, but it seems like what you sign up for when you play division one basketball.
Transfers are not rare in college basketball, but they're not something you want to make a habit of. Cynicism aside, college athletics are supposed to be about more than just winning games and making money. They are supposed help student-athletes become better people in order to better serve society.
With that in mind, you don't want your roster to look like a pro team's, adding and losing players every year (except to graduation or, less palatably, to the pros.) When a recruit commits to Villanova, Villanova and Wright are also making a commitment to him -- not only to give him a scholarship, but to help him grow into a better person, through education as well as athletics.
Circumstances sometimes intervene, and transfers are necessary. I can understand the Benn transfer -- he was going to be buried on the bench. But I can't understand the Ott, Drummond, and Grant transfers -- each should have had more than enough minutes.
Major, respected programs like Duke lose transfers (T King), but not five in a few years. That is unacceptable and a black eye for the program., much like the black eyes that were the cheesesteak fiasco and the phone-code NCAA violation, also during Wright's tenure. One could argue that sustaining five transfers, or five broken commitments, is much worse than having kids steal a few long-distance calls hime.
Did all five leave quietly and not make negative public comments? It seems like if there was truly a lot of screwing over and ill will, the transfers would have been more outspoken.
I'm not sure about that, anon 5.4. The leaving kids have futures to consider at their new colleges. I am sure their new directors of sports information would not want a player arriving with a trail of negative comments. And why publicly burn a bridge? If you've ever quit a job because of a disagreement with an employer, did you leave with a lot of public negative comments?
I'd guess there were plenty of negative comments in private.
I can live with your take on Jay's coaching shortcomings, despite the extreme hyberbole about being "totally lacking as a basketball coach." Whatever, we're partially on the same wavelength.
However, I do have to disagree with your take on Wright's preaching about family and his "bullshit." While it may be Nova spin and propaganda, I swore I've heard and read articles that Jay Wright and his staff are alway very honest in recruiting efforts and with their players.
First there was Dwayne Anderson being told there was not PT for time and may never be, yet he stuck with the team regardless and sure enough was given an opp last year and ran with it.
There was also Wright being forthright with Tyreke Evans in that there was not a starting spot waiting for him at Nova, that it would be earned with hard work.
Finally, how many times have we heard recruits say that Jay and the rest of his staff have been their from the start, before any other programs. Yarou, Cheek, and Wayns as the latest examples of this.
I don't think there is much "bullshit" to see through. Malcolm Grant said it you himself "MG: The only reason I transferred was because of playing time, nothing else. I still love Villanova and the team and the coaching staff" and "...I still speak with the staff. Congrats to my man BG! Coach West e-mails me to check on me, and I saw Coach Chambers at an AAU tournament. So yeah, I stay in touch."
You are making something out of nothing. I think this is what aggravates us (me?) with your point-of-view. I try to respect your opinion, but I can't when you start trying to start and feed your own conspiracy theories.
Final note, rumor has it there were issues with Drummond and his situation. No idea what is true, but if any of it is, then it's not hard to understand his transfer situation. I will give you Grant though, there should've been more minutes for him available, especially in some of the brutal stretches Nova endured last year.
-imisskylelowry
For the two recent transfers that were relevant and affected the program, (Drummond and Grant) there was good reason for them to leave. Jay Wright is the type of person who tells things like they are.
He told Grant that he would not get much playing time because he would always be behind Fisher Reynolds and Stokes. He advised Grant to leave because he was concerned about Grant's future, and believed that he had potential to thrive, but not at nova.
As for Drummond, Jay also made the "wright" decision because Drummond was so incredibly lazy. When you're a college basketball player, you can't be lazy and just expect playing time, as he did. After his injury, he digressed while Pena improved, and took all of his minutes.
You cant criticize Wright for these decisions that he made, because he made them with the program in mind and the individual players in mind.
Anyways, I would gladly trade Drummond and Malcolm for TK.
gregg -- the point is that you don't trade players in college basketball. losing a player is a bad thing, no matter who you get in return.
IMKL, speaking of Chambers, he's actually the one who is the great recruiter. He goes everywhere and finds everybody. Wright has also said that Cheek will not automatically start.
Pete, true, but we have no control over the things that happen, and I'm just saying that King will be more of an asset to the team than Grant and Drummond were.
Ok Gregg, so if Wright told Grant to leave because he would always be behind Fisher and Stokes, then that proves my other point: Jay Wright does not understand basketball. It is obvious that Grant is way better in every aspect of the game than either Fisher or Stokes -- and proved it last year.
When Grant is all ACC next season are you going to come back and concede that Grant was better than Fisher, Stokes and King?
When Grant isn't all ACC next season are you going to concede that Grant wasn't better than Fisher, Stokes, and King?
Yes, if Fisher, Stokes and King also make all-big-east.
Will we be at an impasse if Grant makes all ACC and Fisher, Stokes, and King make all big-east?
Then we might have to go to some sort of tie-breaker.
I think I win if Jay is coach of the year.
Funny how Jay was coach of the year when he had three NBA guards on his roster. I'm sure it was the coaching.
Funny how much you hate Jay, you even find fault when he is named the coach of the year
Never said I hated Jay. I just think it was funny that he won coach of the year with a roster including three NBA players. I think coach of the year should go to someone who accomplishes something without an abundance of talent. Anyone can go to the elite eight with three pro guards on the team.
Jodie Meeks!!! What a game. 54 pts -- 15-22 from the field, 14-14 from the foul line.
Sigh... Pete you just refuse to let up. Just cut the conspiracy theories and Grant obsession. You have nothing to back up your criticisms of Nova's recruiting, transfers, family, and bullshit, etc etc.
I try to interject reasonability and decent debate. Gregg added to that. Then here comes Pete and goes off on some wild tangent with Grant again.
I expect Grant to play very well in the ACC, but I don't see what that proves, disproves, or accomplishes. I'll go back to my mantra here at LGN.. Who cares? Too much bickering about stupid soap opera shit here, let's have a basketball discussion for a change, preferably free of wild distorted stories of a program built on Jay Wright and his staff's "Bullshit."
-imisskylelowry (who is close to thinking this site is doomed forever)
Your credibility may be in question. You are over at VUHoops claiming that Ray chose to leave the NBA to pursue opportunities in Europe (He was cut by the Celtics.)
So maybe this site is doomed, but looks like you're doing a great job spreading misinformation and ignorance elsewhere on the Web.
Do you often go around making pronouncements that things are "Doomed"? You may have a future as a fortune teller or a TV minister. For someone who hates what I write, you sure spend a lot of time here.
I am all for basketball discussion. This post was about basketball! Then a few people, including you, started to talk about how my "negativity" is "ruining" this site.
OH SNAP! GAUNTLET THROWN!
Wikipedia:
"Ray was not drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft, surprising many Big East fans and some NBA experts. On July 6, 2006, he was signed as a free agent by the Boston Celtics. During the last two months of the season, Ray began receiving extended playing time with the Celtics due to the many injuries on the team, and had two 22-point games and three others where he scored 20, 18 and 17 points. Ray asked to be waived by the Celtics on July 27, 2007, in pursuit of $2 million contract in Italy."
Perhaps Wikipedia is wrong since it's user submitted, but that's where I got my info. If you can show me information to the contrary then I'll absolutely correct myself and admit I'm dead wrong.
And I spend time here because I'm an alum and a fan of Nova basketball. Your negativity is fine, I just can't help but be aggravated by the stuff that you seem to cook up yourself.
-imisskylelowry (Zero credibility)
All of the real news articles about Ray's being waived make no mention that he asked to because he wanted to play in Europe. The only place I can find that info is on Wikipedia and other blog comments ... so it's hardly proven.
I don't think it's safe to assume that Ray chose to be waived.
He did sign with an Italian club less than 48 hrs later, which was mentioned in real news articles as well. Who really knows for sure. Delusional theories are aggravating aren't they?
The main point of my post on VUHoops.com was that Ray was an NBA player, which the previous comment that I replied to claimed otherwise. Sorry if my little aside to that main point was spreading "misinformation" and "ignorance" all over the internet. You clearly uncovered my true purpose, which is to spread Nova happiness and propaganda across all Nova sites, quieting all of the evil negativity. Bending the truth is my weapon, however I've now been made... thanks a lot Pete.
-imisskylelowry (replacing Miss Cleo as the #1 fortune teller)
Hey Pete,
On a game with a one point line, the coach you love to hate ad nauseam and are loath to credit for anything, PUT his team in a position to win. It wasn't "in spite of" or "by accident" That's what good coaches do.
And man that ND team and Mike Brey sure are over rated. A 13 rating and they LOST BY 14 to the Ville!? How did that happen?
I can't wait to see how that #1 Pittsburgh team and Jamie Dixon handle Louisville this week. Why, that's got to be a blow out game, Pitt of course! NOT.
We all can nit pick.But that dreaded in-bounds play did get a point blank look and put back attempt.(Was it the same or did he change anything?) And we did get to the line on that 2 on 1 break at the end) But it's a tough league and the season is far from over.
Pope -- you are conveniently leaving out some of the facts. For example, yes, the line was Villanova -1. However, if you told gamblers that Louisville would miss 22 of 25 threes, I am guessing the line would have been more like Villanova - 20. The fact that the game was so close despite UL's poor shooting was a major point of my last post.
Also, it's true that Louisville beat a good ND team by 14. What you fail to mention is that game was in overtime (meaning it was tied after 40 mins) and that UL didn't shoot 3-25 from the three in that game, which was a major factor in my argument.
So, yes, Jay Wright put his team in a position to win against a team that missed 22 three pointers. I will give him that. I would hate to see a coach who couldn't "put his team in position to win" (and then lose) against that kind of cold shooting.
Nova shot the lights out vs L'Ville too, let's not forget that. Don't tell the gamblers how well Nova shot the ball.
-imisskylelowry (spent for the night)
Pete,
I'm not leaving out anything.
Do you think that our defense had anything to do with that stat?
Don't you think odds makers consider all aspects of a match-up when making a line?
And like I said, you seem loath to give JW any credit. He didn't miss free throws or shots.
It's a TEAM game. The TEAM came up short.
AND BTW, defense ultimately wins championships. I said defense, not ugliness.
Early appointment. Good night.
Pope,
I think defense had a little something to do with it, but as I said in my post -- did you read it? :-( -- most of UL's shots were wide open and we just go lucky.
You refuse to respond to the fact that Jay has lost less players over the last 5 years than Coach K, and that literally every top 20 program has a transfer rate close to one a year. Does coach K suck or is the problem too little playing time? In case you were wondering, it's the playing time you fuck. Sometimes you don't fit in the line up...so you go somewhere else. Or you stay and get that free education promised (which leads to my next topic)... your rant that went something like "Villanova hoops should be all about the family and education and its so sad that Jay make promises and breaks these poor childrens hearts and ruins lives..." Are you fucking kidding. What is wrong with you. Serious case of Bacterial Vaginosis? Were you tearing when you wrote that? Good god buddy...you have seriously lost it.
Also, Malcolm Grants name comes up a lot. If he happens to be Googling his name and stumbles here, I'd just like to say to him good luck next year. I hope you single handily beat Duke and BC everytime you play them. That would be great.
Pete please shut the site down... You obviously aren't a NOVA fan and I am glad to see Nova back as a national recognized program. Did Lappas do a great job??? What are your expectations of a coach. Jay has Nova Back on the national radar and I commend him for that and even though we might not win every game against traditinal powers we don't get blown out anymore. Why don't you scan the Lappas years and see the 15-30 point blow outs to traditional powers. Anyone rememeber the 20 point loss to Kentucky in 1996 or what about the 18 point loss to Duke in 1997 at home. We might not win allthe big games but we are always in them and we don't get embarrassed... We have the number 1 class coming in and I believe the Temple, Rhode Island, St. Joes wins will be good wins once the season evolves. We most likley will be a 9-9 team in the toughest conference in the NCAA. If we played in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, & PAC10 we would be league champs..
1:52: " If we played in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, & PAC10 we would be league champs.."
Christ, I have some delusional readers. You are aware that the ACC has three of the top four teams in the nation? Or do you like our chances playing Duke, UNC, and Wake twice?
@ 1:32:
You shouldn't make fun of bacterial vaginosis. It affects millions.
Pete, you really shouldn't be complaining about the Louisville game considering that you said that "Villanova will may lose by 25 to teams who have a good press like Louisville."
You are still avoiding the fact that 90% of what you say does not make sense. 10% good points and 90% psycho babble is not a way you go about making a point Pete. You pick out retarded statements like Nova would be the best ACC team and avoid the valid arguments people make because you realize they make you look like a fucking retard. Seriously though, you have issues. Did your basketball coach touch inappropriately when you were younger? Were you a victim of NACBLA (North American Coach/Boy Love Association) and this is your way of fighting back. I don't think Jay molests children. You should change the site to LetsGoVolunteers.com because I am pretty sure Bruce Pearl does.
Pete,
Per your comment about elite teams not having transfers, our hated rival Georgetown has had 8 that would be EIGHT, one more than 7) transfers in the last 5 years. They have had 5 (the same number of tranfers Villanova has had in the last 5 years) in the last 3 years.
http://www.hoyabasketball.com/rosters/transfer.htm
There's the link for anyone who would like to look at it.
ha, pete speaks some truth and everyone gets offended. the take em offense doesn't work all that well when you dont have clear cut nba guards to take em. now its just really ugly basketball a lot of the time.
Wow, 72 comments on a post about nova's current ranking?!? Who would have thought? Is this the record for most posts? (It also has over 7,000 words) I'm struggling to dertermine why the site is getting more popular despite the fact that 75% of us disagree with Pete's opinions.
75%? where do you come up with that. sure the comments are mainly negative but who knows about the rest of the readers. just because you are a jay wright / nova homer and see others posting the same way in the comments here doesn't mean everyone is of the same mind as you. i had never commented but felt the need once i saw the blindness and aggressiveness of the jay wright apostles. WATCH THE FRICKEN GAMES: without clear nba stars, jay wright basketball is ugly basketball.
I agree with Greg Monroe on his point that we lack NBA talent on the team. Scottie is nowhere close to being NBA talent, both too short and too slow. He looked a step slower than the Louisville Forwards on Saturday.
I think Pete is like many Villanova students and alumni that have an inflated opinion of Villanova's place on the college scene. We are not a destination for top notch college coaches to land. They do not have Villanova on their top 5 places that they would want to coach. If Wright were to leave, we would not be stealing Thad Matta from Ohio State. Most likely, we would get another assistant from the Massimino/Wright coaching tree to come here and be the caretaker of the team for the next 5 years before that person moved along to a more prestigious university or to the NBA.
I look at Wright as someone who restored dignity and competence to the Villanova program. I was a student when Massimino quit to go to UNLV and that rat faced idiot Lappas ran our team into the ground over 5 years. Watching Wright is day vs. night in comparison. He recruits well, we don't have anymore Tim Thomas debacles (which would have been Tyreke if he had come to 'Nova), and the team, year in and out, is largely successful.
Do I think Wright is going to get us an NCAA championship? No, but then again, we've only had one, and that one was a fluke in itself. I do expect to field a competitive team who should make it to the NCAA tourney 4 out of every 5 years, and win a game or two when you are there. Wright provides that, and he's successful in that regard.
I, like greg monroe, only post to this site when it's getting out of control.
We all need a strong dose of reality, and a little perspective. Pete's opinions his right, and it's his site. He can say what he wants, we can agree or disagree with him.
Pete provides a valuable service, allowing us to discuss this stuff. I hope he keeps posting incendiary content (even when he doesn't check his facts), and people continue to get pissed off. And I thank him for that.
Probably the most sensible post to ever come across this blog. Well done Jason.
I would say one thing in response. While the school is in no way a destination for high profile coaches as you noted, there is no reason the school cannot transform into a program like Duke has. Small private school suddenly competing with the power house of the conference. First there was UNC, then there was Duke. First there was UCONN, then there was Nova? It will require final four teams and Jay keeping up on his recruiting (which if you check through 2011, they already have great players locked) but they may just do it.
And I definitely hope for a championship with Jay at the helm. If Bill Self's National Championship ring should teach everyone anything, it's that recruiting is 95% of the battle... and in 2009 that would have Jay leading the way (with Roy following right behind with his typically ridiculously talented class).
Pete,
i don't know why you get this criticism - it's not like you were wrong about WMD's or screwed up Katrina response - ok, ok, i think you are delicious - i admit i have a big crush ever since i saw you in that two piece bathing suit...the same one that reggie rdding wears and causes jay wright to fawn over him...
-anon for a reason
Jason, BRAVO! Well said.
I think most people are okay with Pete's criticisms of Jay Wright's coaching (even though he picks the stats he wants... example Nova shot 37.7% in the L'Ville game and missed 11 FTs, that helps combat the 3-25 shooting by the Cards pretty quickly to result in a 1 pt loss. yeah only Jay Wright can lose that one). I also think most agree with Pete that this isn't a Top 25 team right now. Those aren't radical opinions by any stretch.
Where I, and I think many other LGN readers, start to lose it with Pete is with the extreme views on transfer problems, Nova recruiting "bullshit" that will be seen through in time, etc etc etc. I just see no evidence of this, and the "warning signs" are common in plenty of healthy D1 NCAA BBall Programs, as many have pointed and and provided examples of. Drummond's transfer decision should not have added fuel to this fire.
I can't help but believe if Malcolm Grant never stepped foot on the Nova campus this entire blog would have a different feel for the last 1.5 seasons, even if results were exactly the same. Jay Wright's coaching shortcomings would remain, but the incendiary language would be reduced, and the conspiracy theories that are cooked up around the Nova program would be nonexistent.
-imisskylelowry (commends Jason once again, an excellent post!)
IMKL
I think you are putting the cart before the horse. Jay's mishandling of Malcolm Grant caused the MG issue, not the other way around. If it hadn't been MG, it would have been someone else -- actually, 4 others, in 3 years, which is unacceptable no matter what you say.
Anyway, the transfer issue is over (until we lose the next one). I didn't bring up transfers at all until someone else did. If you read my last two blog posts you will see they only criticize Jay's in-game coaching.
I've decided to just let it go. I finally realized I was trying to tell you to let it go about MGm but at the same time I couldn't let it go with your overly negative commentary.
No more, it was pathetic it took me this long haha. Keep doing what you do Pete. And I hope your first child is a masculine child.
-imisskylelowry (@ peace with all things nova)
You hope my first child is a masculine child? Non-sequitur much?
Not a fan of Luca Brasi?
You are the Don. This is your home. I am honored to be a part of it. Paying respects now that I have come to just drop the petty quibbling over personal opinion. So I left you with a line fitting of all this.
Capiche?
Ah -- the only thing I know about Italy is sausage lasagna.
You really have to get over this Malcolm Grant issue. Nova has been a Big East Beast for the last 4 years. Lets not forget where the program was before Jay Wright arrived on campus. There is no better recruiter in the business than Pat Chambers with Jay solidifying the recruitments. Its not magic (in case you havent noticed) that these recruits are showing up on campus. As for the Malcolm Grant issue, if you don't play defense, you don't for Jay. We are in a great conference and this team will only improve as the season goes on.
Sorry, "If you don't play defense, you don't play for Jay."
Yeah well I would love to hear how MG didn't play defense. He was the best perimeter defender we had last year.
Anyway, as I said, I didn't bring up Grant! Some vocal commenters like to invoke Grant whenever they are pissed at my "negativity."
Where is the constructive criticism, Pete? Your angle lacks that sort of positive, optimistic that even a mediocre fan possesses and demonstrates. The name of your blog is misleading at best. Please comment.
Where is the constructive criticism, Pete? Your angle lacks that sort of positive, optimistic that even a mediocre fan possesses and demonstrates. The name of your blog is misleading at best. Please comment.
This team is struggling with raised expectations that come with returning the same core set of players from last year. It feels so much worse than last year, yet the records are essentially the same (1 non-conf loss, 1-2 BE). Our three losses at this point last year were to non-NCAA teams. Our three losses this year were to solid teams. Let's not panic! Sure, it stings to lose a poorly-played game against Louisville, but as long as we avoid a five-game losing streak, we'll be fine.
I'm worried that the team has a sense of entitlement from our ranking (though it's more likely that the fans feel entitled to a dominating victory each and every game). Each of the remaining games gives us an opportunity to stir things up - I'm confident we'll pull off a few resume-building wins down the stretch.
I keep reading this site because of Pete's opinions. I bristle at the harshness of some of his negative statements, but on the whole it is entertaining. Keep it up!
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