This is going to be a pretty long post, but I'll try and break it up as best I can. I haven't posted since the NC ST. debacle, and that's what it was...a debacle. I'm not going to say anything that hasn't been said already, but my 4 main conclusions are the following:
NC ST Game
1) UGGGGH - ok, now that THAT is out of the way
2) We need quicker guards. Maybe we should grab a 5 ft 11 fast guy or something because we couldn't stay in front of them the Wolfpack.
3) We need more big depth. I realize JVP's offensive limitations, but NC St was not only taller than us, but heavier and stronger and they out muscled us for rebounds. They played like we did all season, but in the front court, were 2-3 inches taller/longer than JVP OR stronger than Ochefu, both physically and mentally. They out JVP'd JVP, which isn't easy to do. There were more of them AND they were all massive humans, so even though Ochefu had 2-3 inches, they just pushed him out of the way like he was a rag doll. (They did the same thing to Jahill Okafor and other taller "skinnier" type bigs as well)
4) We cannot be a one dimensional team. We need to be able to drive AND shoot. The last two years, the ball movement was great, but no one got to the rim with regularity. We need a combo of ball movement and take 'em, which we haven't had the last two years. I have no doubt if we had Jalen Brunson or Eric Paschall, we win that game because of their ability to get around their man by himself or get to the hoop via the screen and roll / HBS.
Last season
Besides that game above, a helluva year. Still, I value what we do in the NCAA tournament and I give the overall year a B. I still have a bad taste in my mouth...like when you eat garlic and 3 days later, even though you've brushed your teeth 7 times a day, you can still taste it. That's right now.
That being said, we beat big teams, small teams, athletic teams, not so athletic teams. I think this scheduling stuff is blown WAAAY out of proportion and I agree with everything ADP98 has said regarding it. Love playing Oklahoma and UVA, but both are an injury away from being Michigan and Syracuse last year...which is what happened. (Or in Syracuse's case, losing Tyler Ennis early)
In terms of what we are losing...I've been thinking about that a little bit as my wife doesn't get home until late each night and to kill some time, I read a lot about hoops. I re-watched a few games, including the NC ST game (in the words of ltvu, I re-watched that game because I'm an idiot) and here are my thoughts on the 3 starters that we lose:
Hillard - First team all BE...definitely a big loss. That being said, his loss changes our team the most. He was a bucket getter, but he got them primarily through the shot and not the drive. Yeah, he shot his fair share of floaters and layups and such, but when he got going, it was usually the 3 pointer as he took 53% of his shots from 3 last year. I like the 3 ball as much as anyone, but he still settled way too much. I mean, I'd rather him take a contested 3 rather than a contested long 2, but I also would have rather he got to the rim more.
JvP - I think his loss also hurts, but mostly from a leadership standpoint. Yes, he made a lot of great plays, but also disappeared in a lot of games. I realized what he did and commend him for it. He's also learned from a past mistake, graduated and is a great Villanova basketball player. That being said, I think his contributions, on the court, can be replaced. It will take a team effort as I don't think anyone will just average 10 and 6, but I think that having his inconsistency graduate could slightly benefit this team.
Ennis - Just like the two guys above another loss that hurts. Ennis could handle the ball and generally made good decisions. He actually led the team in assists during conference play with only 1 more turnover than Archi. That being said, it was probably more of a outcome of the team and ball movement and not letting Archi shoot as he was white hot in conference play. His advanced numbers also when he was on the court during conference play, he graded out as our worst regular offensive player and 4th out of 8 as a defender. The guys behind him in defense, however, played THAT MUCH BETTER offensively.
Don't get me wrong, again, these guys are all big losses, but each of them had good things we're losing, but also did some bad things that are good to lose. No basketball player is perfect.
