Is Villanova really 1 seed good? | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Is Villanova really 1 seed good?

Villanova is going to be a hard team to beat. I have clients in the Philly area and have been to three games other than Syracuse. They have a consistent trend that they start slow, feel the opponent out and then win by 20 in the 2nd half. They are a team of 4 fast guard/forwards and a big guy in the middle and play very well against the traditional lineup with a big center a power forwards with big guards. They have a more difficult time with fast small teams like Gonzaga that's the kind of team that can beat them. If they played Duke 10 times Villanova would win 7 they would sweep N. Carolina. I would love them to be a 2 seed in the east and play Duke in the elite eight.
 
If I bother filling out a bracket this year, for me they would be a strong candidate to lose to the 8/9 seed depending on who that is.
 
I have no idea how deep Villanova will advance in the tourney given the "crapshoot" nature of the event, but I love watching them play offense.

They execute their 4-out 1-in motion with precision. Those who only watch them when SU plays them don't get to see this because we play 40 minutes of zone, forcing them to use their zone offense. However, most teams they play don't employ that strategy.

Their motion offense really spreads the floor. Just like any offense, the players are what make it work, though. They cut hard, taking the lanes the defense permits. They set solid screens, and they share the ball well. They may settle for too many three-pointers at times, but when they are making them, look out.

What I love is how well they use ball screens as part of their motion. Unlike Syracuse's ball screens, which often feel improvised and, therefore, poorly spaced, Nova's high ball screens are naturally built into their offense. They run these ball screens two ways. Option 1: the post in the slot sets the ball screen for the other slot player. Option 2: the low post player comes out to set the screen (this is often used when they go with smaller lineups to keep the big man in the low post). In either case, the floor is naturally spread wide based on where the wing/corner players set up.

Option 1 has great "pick, pop, replace" action where, as the screener rolls to the hoop, the opposite post pops to replace him on the perimeter. This offers a high-low opportunity if the ball screen doesn't develop a scoring chance, and it keeps the players in their spots.

Option 2 creates an open post (almost looks like a 5-out set), which creates lots of space for the pick-and-roll action. Because of this, teams have to help off of shooters, which creates drive-and-kick chances.

As I have watched them the last two days, what strikes me is how fundamentally sound the players are offensively. I would love to see Syracuse execute as crisply as they do more consistently. In short, the Orange should be so fortunate as to have their "garbage" offense.
 
there are 5 worthy teams for a 1 seed to me : Kentucky,duke,Virginia,nova and Wisconsin 1 will be a 2 in geographically safe zone away from Kentucky for that reason I see either nova and Virginia being 1-2 in carrier dome with wisconsin out west ,duke in the south and Kentucky in midwest
 
Coach Orange said:
I have no idea how deep Villanova will advance in the tourney given the "crapshoot" nature of the event, but I love watching them play offense.

They execute their 4-out 1-in motion with precision. Those who only watch them when SU plays them don't get to see this because we play 40 minutes of zone, forcing them to use their zone offense. However, most teams they play don't employ that strategy.

Their motion offense really spreads the floor. Just like any offense, the players are what make it work, though. They cut hard, taking the lanes the defense permits. They set solid screens, and they share the ball well. They may settle for too many three-pointers at times, but when they are making them, look out.

What I love is how well they use ball screens as part of their motion. Unlike Syracuse's ball screens, which often feel improvised and, therefore, poorly spaced, Nova's high ball screens are naturally built into their offense. They run these ball screens two ways. Option 1: the post in the slot sets the ball screen for the other slot player. Option 2: the low post player comes out to set the screen (this is often used when they go with smaller lineups to keep the big man in the low post). In either case, the floor is naturally spread wide based on where the wing/corner players set up.

Option 1 has great "pick, pop, replace" action where, as the screener rolls to the hoop, the opposite post pops to replace him on the perimeter. This offers a high-low opportunity if the ball screen doesn't develop a scoring chance, and it keeps the players in their spots.

Option 2 creates an open post (almost looks like a 5-out set), which creates lots of space for the pick-an and-roll action. Because of this, teams have to help off of shooters, which creates drive-and-kick chances.

As I have watched them the last two days, what strikes me is how fundamentally sound the players are offensively. I would love to see Syracuse execute as crisply as they do more consistently. In short, the Orange should be so fortunate as to have their "garbage" offense.
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Their offense is awesome and is why I love Jay Wright. He actually has a system and recruits shooters and bigs that fit it. We recruit for defense and have a crap ISO offense. I wish we had an offense that looked like Nova's. Their defensive philosophy is to trap after made baskets to force teams to burn shot clock and then they have a m2m defense that hacks hacks and basically relies on the fact refs won't call every foul and they get away with hacking.
 
Villanova is essentially a high class gonzaga now. I think both are very good, but they play in weak conferences and take on very few losses.

I understand that the BE has a great RPI, and that a lot of their teams have nice RPI s, but I just don't believe it. The mountain west had a great rpi that one year every team in it gamed the system by playing 2 div 2 schools in place of weak div 1 schools. Then they all flamed out in the tourney.

I'm not sure how the BE is gaming it, but I think they are. Virtually all of their marquee win are against each other.

Nova is gonna own that conference for years.
 
Coach Orange said:
I have no idea how deep Villanova will advance in the tourney given the "crapshoot" nature of the event, but I love watching them play offense.

They execute their 4-out 1-in motion with precision. Those who only watch them when SU plays them don't get to see this because we play 40 minutes of zone, forcing them to use their zone offense. However, most teams they play don't employ that strategy.

Their motion offense really spreads the floor. Just like any offense, the players are what make it work, though. They cut hard, taking the lanes the defense permits. They set solid screens, and they share the ball well. They may settle for too many three-pointers at times, but when they are making them, look out.

What I love is how well they use ball screens as part of their motion. Unlike Syracuse's ball screens, which often feel improvised and, therefore, poorly spaced, Nova's high ball screens are naturally built into their offense. They run these ball screens two ways. Option 1: the post in the slot sets the ball screen for the other slot player. Option 2: the low post player comes out to set the screen (this is often used when they go with smaller lineups to keep the big man in the low post). In either case, the floor is naturally spread wide based on where the wing/corner players set up.

Option 1 has great "pick, pop, replace" action where, as the screener rolls to the hoop, the opposite post pops to replace him on the perimeter. This offers a high-low opportunity if the ball screen doesn't develop a scoring chance, and it keeps the players in their spots.

Option 2 creates an open post (almost looks like a 5-out set), which creates lots of space for the pick-and-roll action. Because of this, teams have to help off of shooters, which creates drive-and-kick chances.

As I have watched them the last two days, what strikes me is how fundamentally sound the players are offensively. I would love to see Syracuse execute as crisply as they do more consistently. In short, the Orange should be so fortunate as to have their "garbage" offense.
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Good post, Coach.

The bad news for Nova's chances is that they get killed on the boards. Currently ranked 171st in the country.
 
In the past absolutely not. This year? Probably. Plenty of flawed teams out there.
 
Orangemen said:
Villanova is essentially a high class gonzaga now. I think both are very good, but they play in weak conferences and take on very few losses.

I understand that the BE has a great RPI, and that a lot of their teams have nice RPI s, but I just don't believe it. The mountain west had a great rpi that one year every team in it gamed the system by playing 2 div 2 schools in place of weak div 1 schools. Then they all flamed out in the tourney.

I'm not sure how the BE is gaming it, but I think they are. Virtually all of their marquee win are against each other.

Nova is gonna own that conference for years.
Expand...
The difference is though the Big East is full of top 50 teams and I think can have two top 16 teams in some years. This year they have one top 10 tea and 3 top 25 teams PC, Georgetown, Butler but they aren't top 16 teams so Nova is just better. Nova is more worhty of a 1 seed than Wichita St. or Gonzaga because the Big East is a legit multi bid league.
 
Alsacs said:
The difference is though the Big East is full of top 50 teams and I think can have two top 16 teams in some years. This year they have one top 10 tea and 3 top 25 teams PC, Georgetown, Butler but they aren't top 16 teams so Nova is just better. Nova is more worhty of a 1 seed than Wichita St. or Gonzaga because the Big East is a legit multi bid league.
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agreed
 
bpo57 said:
In the past absolutely not. This year? Probably. Plenty of flawed teams out there.
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The 2 line is way better this year than last year. So its incorrect to state that Villanova would only be getting a #1 seed because of a weak or flawed second line. Wisconisn and Arizona may have 3 losses each -- surefire top line resumes the past 3 years at least, and they are doubtful to get a #1.
 
Orangemen said:
Villanova is essentially a high class gonzaga now. I think both are very good, but they play in weak conferences and take on very few losses.

I understand that the BE has a great RPI, and that a lot of their teams have nice RPI s, but I just don't believe it. The mountain west had a great rpi that one year every team in it gamed the system by playing 2 div 2 schools in place of weak div 1 schools. Then they all flamed out in the tourney.

I'm not sure how the BE is gaming it, but I think they are. Virtually all of their marquee win are against each other.

Nova is gonna own that conference for years.
Expand...

The BE is not really gaming anything. They went out and earned their conference ranking by winning preseason games against top 100 teams, many of them on neutral or away courts. Every member team had at least 1 top 100 OOC wins. I doubt you find that in any conference. It's overall record vs top 100 schools OOC was 27-18 which is pretty impressive I think -- I would like to see where other conferences stand but no time.

Villanova went 6-0 vs top 100 OOC, 2 top 50 wins (4 neutral or away)
Providence went 5-1 vs top 100 OOC, including a neutral court win vs Notre Dame (only loss to Kentucky)
Georgetwon 2-2 vs top 100 (lost to Wisconsin and Kansas)
Xavier 4-1 vs top 100
Butler 1-3 vs top 100 (but win was a neutral court win over UNC)
St. John's 3-2 vs top 100 (losses to Gonzaga and Duke)
Seton Hall 3-1 vs top 100
Marquette 1-3
Creighton 1-3 (but win over Oklahoma)
Depaul 1-2

While it's not gaming anything, the fact that the Big East has alot of middling tourney legit teams is skewing Villanova's resume.

At the end of the day, based on how #1's have been awarded Villanova has earned it. As per the title of the thread however, it may not be #1 seed good. But the committee has decided to be fair that it evaluates resumes for seeding.
 
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jncuse said:
The 2 line is way better this year than last year. So its incorrect to state that Villanova would only be getting a #1 seed because of a weak or flawed second line. Wisconisn and Arizona may have 3 losses each -- surefire top line resumes the past 3 years at least, and they are doubtful to get a #1.
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Nova has a nice squad. I just don't think they're as good as your typical #1 seed from years in the past. And that goes for all of the rest of em, too except UK. It's a relative statement.
 
jncuse said:
The BE is not really gaming anything. They went out and earned their conference ranking by winning preseason games against top 100 teams, many of them on neutral or away courts. Every member team had at least 1 top 100 OOC wins. I doubt you find that in any conference. It's overall record vs top 100 schools OOC was 27-18 which is pretty impressive I think -- I would like to see where other conferences stand but no time.

Villanova went 6-0 vs top 100 OOC, 2 top 50 wins (4 neutral or away)
Providence went 5-1 vs top 100 OOC, including a neutral court win vs Notre Dame (only loss to Kentucky)
Georgetwon 2-2 vs top 100 (lost to Wisconsin and Kansas)
Xavier 4-1 vs top 100
Butler 1-3 vs top 100 (but win was a neutral court win over UNC)
St. John's 3-2 vs top 100 (losses to Gonzaga and Duke)
Seton Hall 3-1 vs top 100
Marquette 1-3
Creighton 1-3 (but win over Oklahoma)
Depaul 1-2

While it's not gaming anything, the fact that the Big East has alot of middling tourney legit teams is skewing Villanova's resume.

At the end of the day, based on how #1's have been awarded Villanova has earned it. As per the title of the thread however, it may not be #1 seed good. But the committee has decided to be fair that it evaluates resumes for seeding.
Expand...

I dunno. The BE has had impressive OOC results and high RPIs in the past and then completely laid an egg in the tourney. That has happened several times in the last two decades.
 
bpo57 said:
Nova has a nice squad. I just don't think they're as good as your typical #1 seed from years in the past. And that goes for all of the rest of em, too except UK. It's a relative statement.
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I am merely talking resumes. Top seed Resumes are extremely good this year relative to prior years - they suggest going chalk on the 1 and 2 lines.

But as I started in another thread "Chalk or Not" I am not getting the sense that these teams are the dominant teams as resumes suggest. So I guess we are in some sort of agreement.
 
No. They were lucky to beat us which this year, is pretty bad.

I doubt they get past the Sweet 16
 
CorduroyG said:
that was a tremendous game played at a very high level. wichita st were for real last year, they just got a terrible matchup against a #8 seed that was loaded and just underachieved in the regular season.
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which is exactly what the committee wanted. they resented the fact that WSU played nobody OOC and loaded up their bracket to punish them.
 
I can't believe nobody has asked the seemingly important question to this board: Is 'Nova more elite than us as of now? ;) Can their tournament results change that?
 
CaptainJ said:
I can't believe nobody has asked the seemingly important question to this board: Is 'Nova more elite than us as of now? ;) Can their tournament results change that?
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Well, how many "elite" teams are there this year? Nova is a good team, hard nosed and never quit attitude. That will win them a couple games in the NCAA. Besides that, they have a great coach to get them there.
 
realorange said:
Well, how many "elite" teams are there this year? Nova is a good team, hard nosed and never quit attitude. That will win them a couple games in the NCAA. Besides that, they have a great coach to get them there.
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You just helped back my point in the "SU elite" thread about the criteria of determination of such.

(the rest of this is more toward everyone) On a different note, I have no urge to root against them. They weren't the ones fleeing the Big East for the dollar.

As for close games, I seem to remember UK having a number of them, so I'm not sure Nova can be written off using that logic.
 
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