I heard this through the worst grapevine ever, but the word on Ithan is that we enjoyed him while we could, but Hart departing for the NBA after this season.

Don't shoot the messenger as this is completely unsubstantiated and hopefully not true. Just passing along what the students are saying.

Thoughts?

Last night was Great win and Thrilled for Jalen.....just a question and not a complaint.
In the first half,we played really tough in your face D on their 3 point shooters and held them to 23 points and 1-10 3 pt shooting.
In the 2nd half,Dunphy (whom I like a lot)..obviously made some adjustments and they almost doubled their O output,including lots of wide open 3s....what did they do to get those shots and what could Jay have countered with to cover their shooters better?
My question is a sincere on and not any Jay or team indictment.

This is the area of the team that is carrying it. Which really surprises me. I thought losing Ennis and Hilliard would really hurt us on defense. But a very good case can be made that this team is playing better D than last year's team. But why????

1. I think DO is more of a force in the middle this year and his mobility has improved. Getting more rebounds outside of his immediate area.
2. I think KJ is a step up at the 4 vs. JVP last year. Most teams are now playing with a stretch 4. KJ can guard the stretch 4 better than JVP could. KJ can also still hold his own down on the post vs. most 4s we see.
3. Hart is the swiss army knife on D. The guy can guard anyone from the 1 thru 4, similar to Foye but bigger than Foye. He really gives us a lot of flexibility on D. Making better use of that skill this year.
4. Bridges - At times this year, Jay has made his the stopper on the other team's best guard and he has done a great job of it. He has checked guys like Kris Dunn and held his own. It will be interesting to see if Jay puts him on Miles Davis next week, that guy is playing great right now. Triple double last night. Bridges' length is a major defensive asset.
5. Jay has slowed the pace down. We are not looking to run as much off of opposition misses. All 5 guys are hitting the glass, none are cheating and trying to leak out for a bucket.
6. Shorter shot clock has also helped out. Easier to play 30 sec. of D w/ no breakdowns than it is 35. True of all teams, but we seemed to really benefit from this, especially when we use 3/4 court press and teams take 8-10 sec. to get into their offense. By that point, they only have 20 sec to get a good shot.
7. Arch has stepped up his defense.
8. At times, and it shocks me to write this, the 2-3 zone which is now more of a matchup 2-3 a la Rollie has been effective in throwing a little curveball to the other team. Do not want to see it in long stretches, but it is a nice change of pace.

Guess the only two major conference teams without an in-conference win

Comcast giving Nova a lot of love right now and so they should.
I still like hearing it, never gets tired.
I think people are changing their prospective of this team.

Did anyone catch this doc on Showtime the other night?

Like Making A Murderer, this obviously comes in with an agenda, but unlike Making A Murderer, the protagonist was actually railroaded when you peel away at it, and the injustice that occurred had nothing to do with official corruption.

Despite the mediocre performance, will remain at top spot as 2, 3, and 4 all lose.

Been thinking about this based on ball's post on the other board. Why do some sports succeed (like the NFL) while others languish in obscurity (Kronum)? It has to be more than just game play. Basketball, Hockey, and Lacrosse have the same basic setup and game movement, yet serve 3 wildly different markets.

For me, if I didn't go to Villanova I probably wouldn't give a damn about college basketball. My sport has always been baseball. I love it for the complexity, the history, and its year-round nature. If you are a solid baseball fan there is always something to talk about, and baseball seems to envelop cities when a team is doing well like no other sport.

Football is the most popular sport in America, seemingly for social reasons (few games, only 1 day a week, easy to learn rules and follow). As far as gameplay goes, I think it's only so-so. There doesn't seem to be a lot of strategic creativity like you get in college football and, over the last 5 or so years, baseball.

I enjoy basketball because I like watching Villanova, but sometimes the gameplay can be downright brutal. Turnover, whistle, turnover. Not necessarily us, but just turning on some random game on a Tuesday night isn't something that interests me. I thought the NBA would be better to watch since there is more scoring, but I was wrong.

I enjoyed watching hockey as a kid, but now I don't. I stopped watching when that strike happened and just never gave a shit afterwards. I still think the gameplay is interesting and I love the concept of power plays. Just not worth my time to figure everything out again.

Soccer seems to be picking up steam after about 20 years of people saying it was the next big sport in America. I don't like it, so I don't watch it, but there is something palatable about soccer that is finally getting Americans interested.

"What do you guys think?"

to see Georgetown 14-13 overall and 7-7 in the BE with a tough schedule remaining:
Xavier
Butler
@Marquette
@Villanova

it'd be nice to see them get swept down the stretch.

Sorry to post here as well. But my old source couldn't come thru.
email me at vnovacats@gmail.com

Thanks

Zags reported that Kyle Neptune was at practice yesterday at Archbishop Stepinac.
Beef is right our coaches are everywhere.
Would we take a commitment from him or is it a wait and see type thing?

It would be much appreciated. mavalenti@verizon.net

http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/news&id=368868691

4 freshmen hospitalized, two arrested Friday night. I don't think Yim and Jin will be returning to campus when they get released from jail.

Who?

Please email me at nova91@gmail.com if you have 2 for sale for Saturday's game.

Thanks!

i am looking to purchase 2 tickets for the Butler game. If anyone could help me out please respond here or email me at rnaugle6@comcast.net

Thanks RobN

…deserves a shout out with 12 points and five rebounds. Looking forward to his contributions as we move to March.

• "Coach Smith taught me -- and I believe this, I'm not blaming it on Coach Smith, it's my call,I think you should always attack before the defense gets set. I've always believed that, always taught that, the way I've always played. I told the kids I should've called the timeout."

and then

• "I say it's my fault. If we had to do it all over again tomorrow night I'll probably do the same thing cause I think that's the best way to play."

---------------------

So, if he believes not calling a timeout is the right way to handle that situation...and if he'd "do the same thing" tomorrow night, then why the hell did he tell his players that he should've called a timeout???

He's such a fraud.

Last night the Temple students.had a rollout saying "Allan Houston can't be within 200 feet of this sign". Does anyone know why Allan Houston would have anything to do with this game or the meaning of it. By the way, the rollouts last night were the weakest I've seen in 30+ years of big five basketball games I've watched.

And being at Temple is dissapointing. I expected an energized and creative crowd going after Nova and Brunson. They have to be most unoriginal student section and weakest fan base I've ever seen live. I expected Oakland Zoo and got Little Sisters of the Poor.

Did you guys hear the line hanging around nova's campus makes you soft

A great program and team win last night, so fun to watch the team go into a hostile environment and hand it to Temple!!

Jay and staff came in with a great game plan. I really like Jay's game plan on Decosey in letting others beat them and not him. Really great move to switch up the looks on Deacosy, giving him five different defenders in the first half and not letting him get comfortable against one defneder.

1) Brunson was just awesome! I loved the look in his eyes, he enjoyed last night. A very good and efficient game last night. Made all around great decisions with the ball and looked like he came into his own last night. He is going to be a killer that is just getting started. Thought he played well on both ends.
2) Give credit to Phil Booth, he brought energy to the game in the first half. He gave us a push around the 12min mark with the 6-0 run. He gives us a solid presense off the bench, that I love.
3) the Juniors brought a bunch of things last night on both ends. They are just solid each game. I have to give a lot of credit to Kris Jenkins he continues to improve and bring a consistent game to the floor. Hart did a lot of little things last night, especially on Deacosy.
4) Thought Arch played a very good and balanced floor game, he is just consistent, which is what we came to expect.
5) A big development that I have noticed over the last few weeks are our bigs. Ochefu played well last night, very well. But Reynolds is a huge development for our stretch run. No longer are we in huge trouble if Ochefu has foul trouble with size, we can now bring I'm Reynolds and he can hold his own. A big develot for March against bigger teams and even next year. I want to give a ton of credit to Reynolds and staff, he has been consistent the last month. Credit to Reynolds.

It was a total team win, once again we are playing well when it is most needed. Our ball movement is flawless and our defesne is stellar as usual. A just well balanced team playing well when you need to play well.

I am not really scared of any team come March.

Go Cats.