Know thy Enemy: Villanova Edition

Time to find out some detailed information about our next Big East opponent, Villanova.

As the Bulls prepare to take on Villanova tomorrow night, I decided it was time to get a better insight on the Wildcats by asking fellow Volvo Big East Fan Miggy Gutierrez about his team. Let's get his take on some of our questions as the Bulls try to improve to 9-7 on the season (make sure to check out Miggy's Blog as well!)

1. With Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes gone from last year's team, where is Villanova finding it's offense with season when it's just shooting just 30% from 3-point range?

Of course losing both Corey's were a huge detriment to the offensive supply of Villanova; however, players do graduate/pursue other plans, and the staff has to deal with who's there each year. Maalik Wayns is providing the bulk of the majority of the scoring, with 17.2 ppg adding to almost 24% of all Wildcat points. This isn't really surprising, considering Wayns is a Bob Cousy Award nominee this year, a preseason All Big East second team member, and put up a respectable 13.8 ppg last year. The problem is where the rest of the scoring contributions come from. The other veterans of this young Villanova team, Mouphtaou Yarou and Dominic Cheek, averages 13.0 and 11.7 ppg respectively. Yet there are some underlying numbers to point out. Cheek for example can follow his 20 pt performance versus West Virginia with a foul-plauged, 6 pt dud versus Marquette, as he has yet to post two-straight lines of above 10 points/game since mid-November. Yarou has been the more consistent of the two, yet many note his rebounding and defensive presence are not up to expectations for the Junior. James Bell is right now the best 3pt shooter (35%) in a team not making its treys, but still has not even attempted one in Big East play this year (granted, only played 3 minutes versus Marquette). The freshman are contributing as well, namely Darrun Hilliard (6.9 ppg) and JayVaughn Pinkston (6.4 ppg) while Marcus Kennedy (3.8 ppg) had his best game so far vs Marquette (8 pts, 12 reb). As a team are still averaging about 73 pts, which barely cracks the top-100 nationally, but only have a 42.5% fg%, which ranks 216th in the nation and dead last in the Big East. When throwing in the 30.3% team 3pt%, at least four percentage points below the team historical average from the past five years, if it were not for the 40.1 rebounds per game (top-30 in nation), these Cats would be struggling more than as seen so far.

2. Nova is 7-7 on the year, not the start you would want to see from the team. At 0-2 in the Big East, what is the mood with Villanova fans right now, anger, frustration, or understanding?

Villanova fans characteristically always expect a dominant performance from their basketball team. They have been blessed to witness six-straight NCAA appearances, and never really consider the team to need a "re-building" year. Being at 7-7, including losses to Temple and St Joe's, and even a befuddling loss to Santa Clara, could only upset such a demanding fan base. Some people still consider Nova to be in the mix for a seventh-straight NCAA bid, but more are displeased enough to consider strong statements as "Fire Jay Wright". More people are starting to come to terms of the limitations of this team, and may be the majority of fans by now, but the outspoken are those who are angry and/or frustrated by this year's performances.

3. Maalik Wayns has emerged as the go-to player for Nova, just how good is he?

Maalik Wayns was the fifth-best ranked recruit in his position when he decided to commit to Villanova. The expectations have always been there for him to perform, and he has lived up to the billing. In fact, there was some speculation for him to leave for the NBA draft this past year, and it would not be surprising if these rumors carry over after this season is over. He has been as high as a non-lottery first-round pick in some mock drafts, but Villanova fans should be paying more attention to him performing for this year's team. He still needs to improve in not committing turnovers and shot selection (including improving his 3-point shot), but the rest of the Wildcats have rallied around him with good reason as one of their leaders. He is proving each day that he is not only the best player Villanova has now, but should be mentioned as one of the top players in the Big East until he leaves.

4. USF appears to have the size advantage in the paint against Nova. Mouphta Yarou is the big time rebounder for the Wildcats, how will he fare against the size of the Bulls front line?

As mentioned before, Mouphtaou Yarou has been one of the more consistent scorers for these young Wildcats, yet is constantly being out-matched when playing defense. It should be fair to admit that part of Nova's ugly statistic of 68.3 points allowed per game is Yarou's struggles to defend. Sitting next to NBA scouts during the Missouri game, they noted his ball-handing and rebounding skills were not as anticipated after improving considerably in those areas last year. He struggled last year versus USF with a 18 minute, 0 point, 1 rebound flop in the regular season, and a 3 point (albeit in limited time when sent to locker room) performance in the Big East Tournament with the Bulls' Gilchrist getting 16 pts each time. Mouph should finally contribute offensively, but he biggest concern is if he can keep Gilchrist in check on Thursday.

5. I have to ask, don't hate me for it. The Bulls shocked the world last year with that win in the Big East tournament with Anthony Crater getting the steal and game winning basket. What was the reaction from the Nova nation after that game?

I have been good about erasing most of the painful memories of that game...only to be filled again by losing to George Mason in the NCAA First Round ten days later...Nova Nation was absolutely scared that the team, losing four-straight before that (granted to all ranked teams [although only one of those losses was by single-digits]), would miss the NCAA tournament altogether after that collapse that game. A sixteen-point lead evaporating faster than the smiles on Wildcat fans...not to mention hearing it from St John's and other Big East fans here in the city after the game...to think the brightest spot I can remember between those two tournament losses was the Villanova Curling team winning Gold and Bronze medals in College Curling Nationals (relieved when I saw what was thought to be a winnable game versus George Mason, as watching from a bar in O'Hare Airport from nat'ls)...but the reaction was just brutal from all of the Nova supporters, from the Augustinian Army down to the causal spectator, crushed by Crater's shot...

But alas Thursday is another game...and through victory and through defeat, the season, and life, must go on...so let's hope for an enjoyable game no matter the outcome.

Once again, thanks to Miggy for taking the time to answer my questions about the Wildcats. Best of luck to his team, although I pray that USF comes away with the win!