The Hawk, the Quaker, and the Explorer are Dead

Villanova finished up a three-game sweep against Big 5 schools, including St. Joe’s (71-60), Penn (65-53), and La Salle (84-81). All three opponents proved to be tougher adversaries than expected, especially the scrappy Explorers, who nearly pulled off the upset at the intimate Tom Gola Arena. The only Big 5 opponent remaining on the schedule is Temple, who beat the Wildcats for the city crown last season. The Owls already knocked off Georgetown this year (68-65), prompting a dubious court rushing by their fans.

Villanova’s talented back court is renowned around the country, but the new dynamic duo in the front court has been vital to the team’s recent success. Antonio Pena and Mouphtaou Yarou are like a modern version of San Antonio’s “Twin Towers”, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Neither Wildcat is a 7-footer, but fifth-year senior Pena is a wily veteran like the Admiral, while Yarou is a young big man oozing with potential, just like a young Duncan. Pena’s been dominant over his last four games, averaging 14 points and 9 rebounds. Mouph is already averaging close to a double-double on the season at 8.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and he will only get better from here. The Spurs’ Twin Towers won two championships together, which is impossible for Nova’s duo to duplicate since Pena is a senior, but I’d settle for “just one”.

Corey Stokes, coming off a career-high 34 points against Penn, is having an Allan Ray-esque offensive season. His numbers are up across the board, averaging 16 points per game, shooting 47% from the field, lighting it up from downtown at 41.8%, and Stokes is virtually automatic from the charity stripe at 95.7%. He can guard multiple positions at 6-foot-5, and Jay Wright has praised Stokes as one of his best defenders. The Bayonne Bomber has come a long way since arriving on campus as a one-trick pony 3-point specialist.

Dominic Cheek has turned into a real spark-plug off the bench for Villanova. Ironically, his worst game, when he scored just four points, came in his lone start of the season, versus Penn. Cheek dropped 14 points against both St. Joe’s and La Salle, and he’s turning into a legitimate threat from behind the arc. He sank four 3-pointers vs. the Explorers, which is valuable because as teams play more zone defense, Nova needs more reliable shooters to pair on the perimeter with Stokes.

Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns’ 3-point accuracy should improve, but thus far they’ve been dreadful at 22% and 14.7% respectively. Both seem to be trying to shoot their way out of their slumps, as Fisher is attempting 4.6 threes per game, and Wayns, 3.8. Fisher has proven he can consistently drain the collegiate 3-pointer, shooting 39.6% last season, so I encourage him to continue taking the open shots. Wayns, on the other hand, should stick to driving to the basket because he’s shooting a much better 63% on 2-pointers.

Other notes:

- There are seven Big East teams currently ranked in the top 25, and this was supposed to be a “down year” for the Big East. I know it’s early, but there are four teams still undefeated and four more with just one loss. They’ll start beating up on each other soon enough.

- JayVaughn Pinkston was suspended for the entire season. That seems fair; he made a mistake and is serving his punishment. Now, the rest of the team can focus on this season, and not have to worry about any distractions surrounding Pinkston’s situation.

- LeBron James’ return to Cleveland garnered a lot of national attention, and he answered with an impressive 38 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kyle Lowry’s return to Memphis wasn’t as ballyhooed, but he had an equally impressive 28 points, 3 rebounds, and 12 assists. (11-15 FG, 4-5 3PT, 2-2 FT) Lowry is flourishing while Aaron Brooks is sidelined with an injury, averaging about 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists as a starter for Houston. Brooks should be returning shortly, unless there's some kind of Tonya Harding incident.

- Randy Foye has played in just seven games this season for the LA Clippers. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. Then again, if his second year with the Clips is anything like Blake Griffin’s, Foye could be in store for big year in 2012… assuming the world doesn’t end.

- Dante Cunningham doesn’t wow you with his stats (4 pts, 3 reb, 0.5 blk), but he is quietly turning into a solid professional basketball player up in Portland. He is playing about 17 minutes every night, and Coach Nate McMillan gives him that time off the bench because he plays hard all the time.

- Scottie Reynolds is averaging 18 points and 4.6 assists for the Springfield Armor in the NBA D-League. Scottie has to be an upgrade over a some of the current back-up point guards in the NBA. Come on GM’s, what are you waiting for?

The Recap About Nothing

Last Sunday was the season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm, with the highly anticipated Seinfeld reunion. Very funny stuff. I love Larry David, but it was great to see Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer back together in Jerry's apartment and the coffee shop. "Having said that", I decided to pay tribute to "the show about nothing" by including some memorable Seinfeld quotes in the recap for the LaSalle game.

"See, the thing of it is, there's a lot of ugly people out there walking around but they don't know they're ugly because nobody actually tells them."
You might look at the final score, see Villanova won by 18, and think it was an easy win. However, it was an ugly game full of turnovers and poor shooting. Jay Wright even admitted after the game, "There's a good chance we won't be sending that one to Springfield."

"Yeah, well, Joe Pepitone or not, I own the inside of that plate! So I throw one inside, a little chin music... put him right on his pants, because I got to intimidate when I'm on the mound. Well, the next pitch, he's right back in the same place! So.... I had to plunk him."
LaSalle owned the inside of this game. They out-rebounded the Cats 46-27, including 26 offensive rebounds. Two Explorers had double-doubles: Aaric Murray (15 points and 14 rebounds, 9 offensive) and Jerrell Williams (15 points and 16 rebounds, 12 offensive). Villanova has a small team already, but with Yarou still out and King on the bench most of the game due to foul trouble, they had extra difficulty dealing with LaSalle's size inside.

"Did he just steal the raisins?"
One of the brightest spots of Nova's game were their 18 steals. The pressure defense forced 27 LaSalle tunovers. Corey Fisher led the way with 6 steals, and Taylor King had 4 steals in only 10 minutes of play (fouled out).

"I have to dribble. If I give it to you, you just shoot. You're a chucker."
"Oh, I'm a chucker?"
"That's right, everytime you get the ball you shoot."
"I can't believe you called me a chucker. No way I'm a chucker. I do not chuck, never chucked, never have chucked, never will chuck, no chuck!"
Just about everybody could have been accused of being a chucker in this game. The team made only 6 of 24 shots from 3-point range. The biggest chucker was Scottie Reynolds, who went 5-13 from the field and 2-8 from three for 14 points. Honorable mention: Corey Stokes was just 2-8 from the field and 1-6 from downtown.

"Nobody drives like me. Nobody. I'm doing things in this car, you have no idea they're going on."
Nobody drives to the basket like Fisher Price, who got the line 9 more times in this game to score 13 points, but Dominic Cheek had some pretty drives to the hoop too. He seemed to settle for too many outside jumpers earlier in the season, but he took the ball inside against LaSalle, attempting more 2-pointers than 3-pointers for the first time this season, and it paid off for a career-high 10 points.

"Do you know what happens to a butter-based frosting after six decades in a poorly-ventilated English basement?"
"Uhh, I guess I hadn't..."
"Well, I have a feeling what you are about to go through is punishment enough."
Antonio Pena must have been in Jay Wright's doghouse for some reason because he was held out of the starting lineup for the first time this season. That seemed to be punishment enough, as Pena came in quickly and continued to dominate with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block.

"She had man hands!"
Maurice Sutton has man hands... and arms... and legs. The near 7-footer had 5 blocks, and affected even more shots. It's nice to have a true shot-blocker down low, something Nova has been lacking for the past few years. I have to hand it to Mo; he has stepped up with Yarou out and has given Villanova a lot more than I ever expected.

It was an ugly win, but having said that, Nova looks pretty, pretty, pretty... pretty good.

Happy Festivus!

Explorers Get Lost vs. Nova

Final Score: #12 Villanova 70, La Salle 59

Player of the Game: Corey Stokes: 18 points (4-7 3pt)

Recap: Corey Stokes helped take control of this one early with 14 points off of 4 threes in the first half. Nova led throughout and were never really threatened by La Salle. Stokes finished with a game-high 18 points. Corey S. makes it look so easy; he can be a real game changer with his 3-point shooting.

Fisher the Disher
Corey Fisher broke out of his funk with a good all-around effort. He looked confident right out of the gate by hitting a couple of jump shots to score 8 points total for the game. He had more points in his first minute off the bench than he had in his previous two games combined. More impressively, he had 6 assists to 1 turnover. I really like Fisher running the point with Scottie playing off the ball.


Captain Scoot
Scottie Reynolds was second in scoring with 13 points. He hit three 3-pointers of his own to help the team shoot 50% (8-16) from behind the arc. He missed two free throws, but that's OK... we know he makes 'em when they count.


Triple Threat
Antonio Pena contributed in three main areas: scoring (5 points), rebounding (6), and passing (6 assists). I've always liked his passing skills for a big man. He also had a blocked shot. Kudos to 'Tone for staying out of foul trouble for 4 straight games.


5x5
Dante Cunningham came close to a five-by-five with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 steals, and 2 assists. He filled the stat sheet, but his points and rebounds were down because he picked up 2 quick fouls, limiting him to 7 minutes in the first half.

Other Notes
Shane Clark had a season-high 7 rebounds to go along with 6 points, a block, and a steal. He looked good, and we really need him at full strength this year with such a thin front court.

Reggie Redding (7 pts), Dwayne Anderson (2 pts), and Frank Tchuisi (2 pts) rounded out the scoring for the game.

Yes, La Salle isn't exactly a Mike D'Antoni caliber offense, but still it was another stellar defensive performance by the Wildcats, who haven't given up more than 68 points in a single game all season.

Nova had 20 assists on 27 made field goals and only 8 turnovers. Sharing is caring!

The game was a sellout, but that was a pretty poor turnout by the "Explorer Entourage". They're on semester break, but c'mon...

Finally,
We get it. You have a doctorate in sports psychology, but do you really need to remind us all the time by going by Doctor John Giannini. It's just rubbing it in at this point.


**** Video Highlights **** Box Score ****

Exploring La Salle

Foe: La Salle (4-3)

Recent History: Villanova is 31-26 all-time versus Big 5 opponent La Salle. Nova has won the past six games between the teams. Last year Nova was led by great guard play from Reynolds (19 pts) and Fisher (18 pts), as well as a double-double (12-12) from Dante Cunningham to defeat La Salle 71-58 in the Pavilion. The Explorers are led this year by a trio of juniors: Rodney Green (13.9 ppg), Kimmani Barrett (12.6 ppg), and Yves Mekongo Mbala (11.3 ppg).

Notable Win: 75-70 vs. Valparaiso

Notable Loss: 89-81 vs. #2 UConn

Famous Alumni: Rasual Butler, Joe "Kobe's dad" Bryant, Tom Gola, Tim Legler, Bill Raftery, A.J. Dualerio

Fun Facts:

• Their nickname derives from a sportswriter mistakenly thinking the school was named after the French explorer Sieur de La Salle, while it is actually named after St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle.

• Won NCAA Championship in 1954.

• La Salle has had 3 National Players of the Year, second only to Duke's 7.

Complimentary Youtube Video:


I love La Salle because of the academy award-worthy acting in their commercials.

... and I love La Salle because they are an automatic win every year.

Final Verdict: This is only Villanova's second road game of the season, with both being played in Philadelphia. La Salle is improving, but they should be no match for Nova as the Wildcats move to 3-0 in the Big 5 and 10-1 overall.

TV: ESPNU, 7:00 PM

Links: Official, La Salle, AP, VBTN,

#16 Villanova vs. LaSalle

Score: Villanova 71, La Salle 58
Players of the Game: Corey Fisher 18 points, 5 assists; Scottie Reynolds 19 pts



Recap: On December 29 Villanova cruised past La Salle at the Pavilion by a score of 71-58, to extend their Big 5 win streak to 14 games. La Salle stayed competitive, keeping the deficit around ten points throughout the game. The dynamic duo of Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher led the Wildcats with 19 and 18 points respectively. Both shot the ball well and went perfect from the free throw line. Reynolds added 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Fisher had 5 assists. Once again Fisher Price wowed the crowd with his fancy ballhandling and acrobatic drives to the basket. When Reynolds and Fisher are at the top of their games, Nova is very difficult to beat. Dante Cunningham recorded another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, although he did foul out late in the second half. Reggie Redding had a quiet night, only attempting one field goal and making it to finish with 3 points. Shane Clark was also quiet on the offensive end scoring 6 points on 3-4 shooting , but he had a good defensive effort with 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and a blocked shot. With Casiem Drummond still injured Antonio Pena saw extra minutes off the bench and had 6 points and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes. Dwayne Anderson picked earned some more playing time as well and showed great hustle. He finished with 4 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, ans a block in 18 minutes of action. Freshmen Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes played just 10 minutes each. Grant had 3 points, while Stokes was scoreless.

Next Game: Thurs. January 3, 9:00 PM at DePaul