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Ochefu

Surprised he hasn't received his own thread until now with that performance. Not only did he completely outplay a guy who matched him in size, he made life in the paint really hard on Rodriguez and Newton (did Newton play?)

But of all the many tone setting plays last night, none were bigger than Ochefu hobbling around on one leg, draining that 15 footer at the buzzer, then going down the court and denying Rodriguez again.

Senior will!!!

Coach Wright Redefines the "Power 5" -- Post Game Press Conf.

Have seen several references over on Twitter, but Mike DeCourcy over at SportingNews wrote about it earlier.
Link is -- About Villanova's Win
Read the entire article. Good stuff.

DeCourcy (ie the press present) covered all of the previous talking points:
1. Kansas has been equally crappy the past 2-3 seasons and no one noticed.
2. Arch is the man.
3. Villanova's offense is awesome.

But Decourcy ends his article with the quote that has been circulating for the past hour:

“I just think football,” Wright said. “The Power 5 are football conferences, built for football, and some of them — like the ACC — are also great basketball conferences.

“We’re just a basketball league. Our league is all basketball, our schools, our tradition — it’s basketball. It’s for basketball purists.”

The media has had a hard time figuring out just what the heck the Big East is now that the football schools are gone. That ESPN, who now has zero motivation to "assist" the rest of the media in fashioning a proper niche for the Big East in the NCAA sports pantheon has not been lost on Big East fans, but perhaps on the rest of the ink and electronic media. If Villanova can keep this run going maybe, aside from the obvious, Coach Wright will have additional opportunities to make the case for the conference. The definition is not written is stone if guys like DeCoursy can get it.

Hart

While Josh was the 4th leading scorer last night, his play in the second really put the nail in the coffin. I am specifically referring to his numerous 'take'em' plays followed by mid range jump shots. He gives this team a dimension last year's team didn't have. No question Arch's and Jenkins shooting was unbelievable and Oche was dominate in the paint. But eventually a team figures out how to stop it the 3 ball (or shooters go cold). So just about the right point in the game, Josh's 1-on-1 plays and pull up jumpers were unleashed and Miami had no answer. His only glitch was the missed bunnie lay-up followed by his 4th foul. But Miami missed the 1-and-1 and the romp was back on track. I just love his ability to break down his man 1-on-1 style.

The multi-pronged Offensive attack from 3-land, mid range and Oche's post-up play is really hard to stop.

Finally credit to Jay and the D for completely shutting down Rodriguez in the second half. Outside of that great 3-ball he was a non-factor. I honestly don't know what happened there. I guess credit our D but Miami did some strange this in the second half. Larranga often took Rodriguez off the ball and buried him in the corner, Then he had him on bench at many crucial points of the game.
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Extended my stay in Louisville

Decided to extend my stay in Louisville, wife is coming down late late tonight. What are people up to today/tonight for the games? Was going to go the slugger museum this afternoon, then maybe have some bourbon and take a stroll to Indiana, then was going to pick some place to cheer against the ACC teams left. Anybody want to join? Will be with Nardi from the free board, I am not
responsible for his actions.

To my new friend in section 309, will be in the same seats, looking forward to more high fives for 40 minutes, have fun in Nashville!

Ride from Louisville to Pittsburgh

Fellow Nation members, I realize I may be asking for a Hail Mary here, but I'm doing it for a friend -- a fellow Nova grad, class of '06, my roommate for four years who I don't believe missed one Villanova home game in that entire time, and just as rabid a Villanova basketball fan as I've ever seen...

My buddy is in Pittsburgh and has a ticket to the game on Saturday. He has a ride down to Louisville (about a 6 hour drive), but he has to be back in Pittsburgh by 8 am the next day for Easter services and celebrations. He has a one year old son and a pregnant wife, so his concerns are valid.

However, his ride needs to be elsewhere on Sunday and won't have time to drop him in Pittsburgh on their way home. Thus, he'll need other transportation back to Pittsburgh immediately after the game on Sunday (or likely someone leaving by about 1:00 am after the game).

Knowing that we have several loyal members down there, is anyone driving back to the Northeast directly after the game who might be able to give my friend a ride to Pittsburgh? Neither he nor I want to disrupt any plans for anyone here, but I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't try. Again, this is no ordinary Villanova basketball fan -- he is and always has been nuts about this team.

Eric - feel free to remove this if inappropriate - I apologize in advance if so. Thanks.

This Sums It Up Very Well

From the Miami Herald:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Facing a team coach Jim Larrañaga had called “a mirror image” of his University of Miami team, the Hurricanes slammed into a Villanova team that had a senior point guard as good as Angel Rodriguez, as many weapons and tenacious defenders as the Canes, as respected a coach, and — most important on this night — a work ethic that not only matched, but at times exceeded, Miami’s.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-miami/article68164707.html#storylink=cpy

My favorite KU characterization of Villanova

Granted, most KU fans think our tournament shooting is off the charts and unsustainable, but this description is pure gold:

"This team is like a boa constrictor. They start off feeling you out, find your air supply and then gradually squeeze until their opponent realizes it's too late and there's nothing they can do to stop it.
This team just exerts it's will on both sides of the ball. Especially, on D. Nova will need to shoot lights out to win."

As I post this, I'm actually wondering if the author is referring to Villanova or Kansas? Villanova, I think. The last sentence has me confused.

The success was a change in philosophy

Recruit hard tough coach able dudes. Tough guys that don't mind being called out in practice. Mix in up and coming studs ( Bridges and boy do I mean a stud) and go from there. RA and Brunson can be kicked like mules and God and I'm proud of Phil! Until you can completely out talent people , which I don't known we can ever do , this is the answer. The alumni , board members and old ladies on Metamucil panic , we lose to ncaa champs in uconn and nc st and sky's falling , it's not we are beating KU watch. Until we get the superior athlete ( Omari and Paschall) you live with the work hounds ( RA, JB , jh, Jenkins , even Phil ) walla now look at what we have

Jay Wright is an ELITE coach

The guy just gets better and better every year. He is a basketball genius. It's unbelievable. Then he goes after the players who fit his system and want to be a part of Villanova basketball and avoids all the drama and ass kissing torture that other coaches go through to get kids who don't even really want to play college ball to begin with. The guy just gets it. Not to mention he is all class and he teaches his players to be classy as well and preach "VILLANOVA basketball". We are very blessed to have him as our coach.

Amazing win by Jay, the staff and the team tonight. I know everybody played well but Arch is a warrior and Jenkins, well I've said it once and I'll say it again.........SNIPER.

VILLANOVA IS ON A MISSION.

Dealing with adversity

In a blowout 23-point win, there wasn't a TON of adversity, but every challenge we faced in the game, we passed with flying colors.

Josh Hart picks up 2 fouls in 3 minutes?
No problem! Team plays extremely well without him, then Hart comes in, doesn't miss a beat, and doesn't pick up another foul.

Miami answers your 15-point lead with back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3s?
Villanova never lets Miami take the lead. When they cut the lead to 1, boom, corner 3.

Ochefu hurts his ankle?
Makes a jumper immediately after the injury, then backs it up by getting back on defense and forcing a missed shot, all while limping around on one foot. HEART.

On top of all that, I expect Villanova to get every single loose ball on the court. And we get most of them. We beat Miami to pretty much every loose ball. Arch dives at everything. Hart dove to save a Jenkins throwaway. Hart jumped into the stands. Bridges would dive on the floor to get the ball. We're everywhere.

This is an extremely mentally tough team. Arch is tough. Jenkins is tough. Hart is tough. They set the tone. They all work their asses off when they're on the court. It wore down Iowa, which is a bit of a mentally soft team anyway.

How many times did we score as the shot clock expired? Jenkins hit a few threes as the clock went off. Arch had a layup. Ochefu had a jumper. There are probably others. But nothing is more demoralizing for a defense than that - see the Virginia game.

I don't know if we'll beat Kansas. They're a tough team, and what they've done winning 17 straight games is remarkable.

But we're just as tough as they are. And we're just as TALENTED as they are.

Bring em on.
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