Villanova faces Louisville in Big East semifinal
posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com3/13/2009 02:43:00 AM
#10 Villanova (26-6) vs. #5 Marquette (26-5)
7 p.m., 13 March 2009 at Madison Square Garden
TV: ESPN
Line: Louisville -4.5
Villanova survived its scare with Marquette on Thursday to advance to the Big East tournament semifinal, where it will face the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals.
While the Wildcats needed a buzzer-beating Dwayne Anderson layup on a broken play to get past Marquette, Louisville had a much easier time with the Providence Friars in Thursday's early game.
With Oklahoma losing on Thursday, Louisville will have that much more motivation to advance to the BET finals and earn a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. Pitt and UConn are both out, so Louisville has a chance to argue that it finished ahead of both of those likely one-seeds in the regular season and the championship tournament.
Villanova needs to keep winning for a shot at a 2-seed, though the Wildcats are most likely now assured of a 3-line and the Philadelphia date that will probably accompany it.
Take a look at the other five 'Nova blogs linked at right for their previews, and then come back into our comment section to predict the final score.
7 p.m., 13 March 2009 at Madison Square Garden
TV: ESPN
Line: Louisville -4.5
Villanova survived its scare with Marquette on Thursday to advance to the Big East tournament semifinal, where it will face the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals.
While the Wildcats needed a buzzer-beating Dwayne Anderson layup on a broken play to get past Marquette, Louisville had a much easier time with the Providence Friars in Thursday's early game.
With Oklahoma losing on Thursday, Louisville will have that much more motivation to advance to the BET finals and earn a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. Pitt and UConn are both out, so Louisville has a chance to argue that it finished ahead of both of those likely one-seeds in the regular season and the championship tournament.
Villanova needs to keep winning for a shot at a 2-seed, though the Wildcats are most likely now assured of a 3-line and the Philadelphia date that will probably accompany it.
Take a look at the other five 'Nova blogs linked at right for their previews, and then come back into our comment section to predict the final score.
Labels: big east tournament, bracketology, Louisville, lous, predictions, preview, seeding
59 Comments:
Louisville 81
Villanova 71
Pete = rePete
Your like a kid that never gives up Pete. Win or lose your message is the same. Off base.
Anyone know if this guy went to Villanova? And when?
Wildcats 91
Louisville 90
so wright got lucky with his end of game coaching but Buzz was perfect?
kys
Nova 72
Louisville 68
Everyone keeps calling that a broken play to DA for the win. Jay drew that up. I don't know how many times I've seen him park a cold hand under the basket for an easy lay up in the last seconds to pull out the win.
There is no such thing as a broken play at the end of a game...no such thing. We had the ball in the hands of one of the smartest players out there and he made the play to another smart player. Great job guys!
And by the way, Pete, if your Buzzy is such a good coach how come he had 2 guys on Scottie and left the other play makers alone? I'll take Scottie being the decoy any day of the week. That is what being a team is all about....guys make plays and believe in each other.
Go Wildcats!
Louisville 74
Villanova 57
The first game we played shouldn't have been close. This one won't be close.
How are we playing today? No way Wright outcoached the GREAT BUZZ WILLIAMS yesterday. I am surprised we made it through the Wednesday games.
The Double Bye is Gone, and it is not Coming Back.
Buzz Williams will outcoach Jay Wright.
You are bound to get something right.
11...think you missed about 24 hours of news....we beat Marquette last night dude.
12, I think your sarcasm detector is broken.
Great teams find a way to win close games... even when they are not playing particularly well. That's what happened yesterday.
Nova 72
L'ville 65
Pete, Buzz's tech cost marquette 2 points, we only won by 1, if Jay had pulled that you'd be all over him...just saying.
nova 82
ville 79
If we win tonight, we have a great chance to win the BET and get a #2. Going to be a great game.
We have no incentives to win this game...as long as we dont get blown out, we will still have the three seed and the Philly site tournament location locked for the first 2 rounds.
Nova 73
Louisville 81
Nova 76
Ville 70
We do not have Philly locked down. If Pitt remains a 1 and UCONN drops to a 2, we might get bumped from Philly.
In that scenario, Pitt could take our spot in Philly.
Villanova 64
Louisville 71
Pitt is not going to philly. Pitt is going to its closest location no matter what.
@21
Well, considering the only 2 possibilities for Pitt would be Philly (300 miles) and Dayton (260 miles), there is a very good chance they play in Philly.
1) The travel distances are negligible, and Pitt may very well have more fan support in Philly than Dayton.
2) Michigan State and Louisville, if they both get 1 seeds, would have no option OTHER than Dayton. That would mean Pitt goes to Philly.
3) Jerry Palm seems to agree, considering he bumped Nova to Miami in his latest bracket.
Villanova scores about 83 pts
Rick Pitino's flaming cardinals score about 77 pts
Ok, 22, well let's just hope that MSU falters a bit. I still think MSU is going to Minneapolis.
Dayton is only a 4 hour drive from MSU. Minneapolis is a plane flight as it would be over 10 hours by car.
We definitely need to root against MSU, and obviously hope for a Nova win tonight to keep Louisville out of a 1 seed.
You guys think Nova has any shot at a 1 seed?
I think the ceiling is #2.
And 25, I think Pitt stays ahead of MSU and gets Dayton. 40 miles is not that much, but Pitt would get preference. Even if MSU wins out, I doubt it passes Pitt.
Villanova 80
Louisville 77
Umm... note to Jay Wright:
Ville presses. It's what the Cards are known for. Maybe you should have a plan to inbound the ball so we don't blow a timeout on the very first possession as everyone but Scottie stands around.
If Fisher comes in off the bench after two minutes every game, why doesn't he just start?
Is it just Wright being stubborn? Honest question.
Haha.. Clark's hands are made out of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
So many turnovers... ugh.
What a genius halftime adjustment!
looks like it's going downhill from here
johnnyb1
Villanova makes its living blowing halftime leads. Why do you think that is?
Typically, we start out slow to begin the game, then recover, then we start out slow to start the half.
That tells me that Wright is being outcoached -- badly. Villanova uses its talent to fight back, but every time the coaches have a chance to script a few minutes of the game, Villanova gets killed.
I think it's safe to say that Villanova has been winning in spite of, not because of, its "coach of the year."
Pete what do you think of Corey Fisher's 7 turnovers and Scottie's 4 TOs? I think those may have hurt this team the most. It seemed every time this team was going to make a push the second half Scottie or Corey made some ugly plays.
I also think Jay is horrible at anticipating and planning for opposing coaches halftime adjustments. But to be fair, Pitino and Williams are two of the elite coaches in college basketball...
Why does everything come back to Jay Wright?
Chill out, we lost. You were blaming Jay 20 seconds into the game. Sometimes teams use TOs because they can't in-bound the ball. Maybe too much adrenaline in the players and they had a lapse that they should come back to the ball. How is this Jay Wright's fault? You don't think he knows how L'Ville plays after all these years?
We were awful in the 2nd half. No response, tired and lazy play. Jay couldn't inspire the troops. But wow, Stokes had some AWFUL passes. Fisher made some boneheaded plays, including the 1 on 3 charge for this 4th foul.
We played just as poorly in the first half, however it looked better since Dante and Dwayne were hitting shots. There were some ugly interior passes.
It was a bad game all around. Why do you feel the need to pin everything on Jay Wright and compare his coaching to Pitino? Who cares. These are both great coaches and Pitino is a legend.
Read the shit you used to write... you were never this much of a fucking kill joy. We lost a game, it was painful. Coming here to see you crush (except Fisher) everyone is ridiculous. And your Twitter reads like a "Fire Jay Wright" push.
"Villanova uses its talent to fight back, but every time the coaches have a chance to script a few minutes of the game, Villanova gets killed." GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IMKL
Look, the facts don't lie. My grandmother, who hasn't seen a basketball game in 25 years, knows that Rick Pitino presses.
So what happens on the game's very first made basket? Ville presses (surprise!) and we need to burn a timeout because 3 players were just standing around.
What does that say except LACK OF PREPARATION?
Even I don't think Wright is dumb enough to not know Ville presses... so I can only assume he is lazy enough to not have prepared the team.
What else could have happened? Your theory of "too much adrenaline" to start the game caused it? That goes back to Wright. Prepare your team.
"Villanova uses its talent to fight back, but every time the coaches have a chance to script a few minutes of the game, Villanova gets killed."
And it's okay to say something bad about Fisher every now and then. We all love him, but you don't think clearly. You say something bad about everyone else without hesitation.
36,
I agree, bad games by both of our guards. I don't think Villanova had a plan to handle the Ville pressure. I don't know why. Other teams with way less talent have handled it easily.
Cunningham is better than any of Ville's big men, and Fisher and Reynolds are better than any of their guards. Ville has the advantage at the wing forward, though.
I think the bottom line is that Louisville gets better results from less talent, and Villanova gets worse results from better talent.
I think that comes back to the difference in the talent wearing suits on the sideline.
Hopefully we won't draw any brilliant coaches early in the NCAAs... that's all I can say. Because we can match up on the court with anyone, but we can't match up on the sideline.
IMKL,
I just said Fisher had a bad game! Breaking news!
Still blame the lack of preparation and the total collapse at halftime, as usual, for this loss. And I think we know who that goes back to.
Quote from the Rivals message board (not from me) --
"Oh please, I never badmouth us but that was flat out awful coaching and a horrible performance by pretty much everyone in the 2nd half. It is obvious they are not that much better given that we played them very cllose in the regular season and were up in the 1st half tonight. Dante was invisible in the 2nd half, Scottie sucked the whole game. No one could handle pressure to save their lives. 2 games in a row we BLOW a big lead at the half. We better hope the team gets it's act together and that Jay wakes up and learns how to make in game adjustments before next Thurs/Fri or else our season will be over really quickly."
WELL SAID.
"I think the bottom line is that Louisville gets better results from less talent, and Villanova gets worse results from better talent. "
Louisville has 2 clear cut NBA players, with Samardo Samuels ready to join them. But hey, at least you said "I think" so that you even acknowledge it's debatable.
Anyway, IBBW posted a great quick stream of consciousness recap. You both have opinions, except he lacks an agenda. He doesn't have to keep hammering home the same shit. I thought this RePete nickname was stupid, but maybe not.
Pete we get it, you don't like the coaching. Keep finding shit around the net that says the coaching was bad. Hammer it into us. Shove it down our throats. Post a picture of your grandmother drawing up plays on her white board.
Hell, get your grandmother out there to coach us in the 1st round. You can twitter her your substitution plans.
46,
I think even my grandmother would have recognized that the Ville press was killing us and made the proper adjustment. I guess Jay Wright was too busy thinking about what suits he is bringing to the NCAA tournament. My grandmother pretty much wears the same thing every time I see her; that may be the edge she has.
Jay Wright must have done something REALLY bad to Pete. Did he not shake your hand one time? Did he refuse to sign your media guide? Seriously, what is your deal?
He didn't coach a great game. It happens. Louisville is a very good team and had something to do with that as well.
Wright is a Division 1 coach at a top 10 team in the nation. He played bball collegiality and has been a high level coach for over 2 decades. He has forgotten more about basketball than all of us will ever know. He's not the best coach in D1, but he's certainly in the top tier. Perhaps you forget what this program looked like before he arrived.
Get a life. This agenda crap is tiring.
48
The only agenda I have is to write my opinions about the game.
What do you think, I have some sort of vendetta against our coach? I happen to like the man. I just have a problem with some of the coaching issues.
Boo hoo hoo.
For the record, Jay Wright has come across very nice in every personal anecdote I hear about meeting him. I have zero personal animosity toward him. I just don't agree with some of his coaching moves.
Do you not see how that is possible, to like and respect someone, and think he or she is bad at a certain part of his job? Well, it's possible.
50, I absolutely see that is possible. You have a very strong opinion which is fine... but go back and look at your posts. They are heavily littered with criticisms of the coaching. We get it. You don't like the coaching. It doesn't have to infiltrate every post.
How do YOU not get that your blog comes across as agenda driven? Take a step back. You get a lot of heat on here and elsewhere from A LOT of people. Can't you concede that maybe others have a point as well?
What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want them to fire the guy? If so fine, it just seems very strange to be calling for the head of a guy who has done so much for the university and the program.
It's very, very easy to coach from our seats. No matter what we may think, we really don't know what is going on on the sidelines, in the locker room, etc. In my opinion, scale back on the coaching criticisms and you'll get more respect. When that is the only message you are delivering, people tune it out. But hey, what do I know.
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http://www.wfan.com/pages/744503.php
should listen to this.. as you can hear jay wright explain his reasoning for the TO with 40 seconds and 35 on the shot clcok in the marquette game. may be good for you to hear since you seem to think it's the wrong move just because fisher isn't out there.
whether or not it is, his reasoning is sound. if he saves the TO for when there are 5 seconds left, not as useful. wanted a defensive team in there, and to run the offense through scottie.
it worked.
but yes, he sucks as a coach. next time get fisher in there and just let the talent take over. dont let coaching get in the way.
Oh come on, 54.
The offense DIDNT run through Scottie.
1. We got lucky McNeal shot with 15 secs instead of 5.
2. When we had the ball, Redding had it the whole time.
3. The pass to DA was very nice, but it was very lucky too -- the play was completely broken down.
Jay loves to put in his "defensive team," but that is not a good idea when we are trailing and need to score. As you saw, we nearly didn't get a shot off -- unless Jay's plan was to have the play break down completely and then have MU miraculously leave DA open under the basket for no reason (no screens or cuts) with 1 second left.
pete fisher and scottie turning the ball over 23 times is why we lost, coach wright is the best coach nova has ever had. are you even a freaking fan your ridiculous you need to get a life. go back to st joes and cheer for them we dont need you
Also, 54 --
The timeout is much more useful when there are 5 secs left than when there are 40. Say MU fires off a shot at 6 secs left and we catch it in the corner or baseline -- which is pretty likely. We can call timeout to set up a hail mary play. Like Duke-Kentucky at the Spectrum.
By spending that timeout at 40 seconds left, almost everything had to go right for Villanova to have any chance. Fortunately, everything did go right.
But make no mistake, in my opinion, Jay choked at the end by calling that timeout and leaving his best ballhandler on the bench. We were down 1, not tied.
Personally, trailing by 1 with 40 seconds left and a full 35, I'd go for a steal and then foul. Extend the game. Then you get the ball back with a chance to tie. Jay, obviously, disagreed with me. It worked out for him this time. The end.
Hmm, 56,
I think I am going to go with Rollie as the best coach Nova has ever had. You know, the guy who won the national title.
I will even go as far to say that Lappas was a better coach than Jay Wright. If you look at the first three years he was here, Wright coached some awful teams. Lappas, even in his worst years, was never that bad.
And yes, I am a Nova fan -- and my opinion counts just as much as yours, so buzz off.
Pete did you even listen to the audio clip????
Jay explained that they wanted to trap MU to force up a shot earlier in the shot clock. It happened, Dante stepped up big-time by blocking the shot, and the rest is history.
But whatever, you will never be convinced that there are other ways to do things. It all comes down to Fisher or Grant for you.
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Cory Fisher blows cock bring on Malik Wayans please!
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