What: Quarterfinals Round of Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament–Villanova (4-0) vs. USC (4-1)
When: 1 p.m. Thursday
Where: Imperial Arena, Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas
TV/Radio: Axs.TV/ CBS Sports Radio 610-AM
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By MIKE ANGELINA
Philahoops Staff
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Villanova may be off to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament with a perfect record, but things are not quite as golden as they may seem. Hidden behind the Wildcats’ 4-0 record have been some struggles. There have been a few games thus far in this early season in which their poor shooting has allowed much weaker teams hang in, or hold temporary leads over them.
Entering Thursday’s tournament, Villanova is shooting just .466, which is 122nd in the nation. That figure actually looks better than they have actually played, because Villanova has been able to take advantage of small, less competitive teams not having major forces inside—but that will change as the season grows on.
A more alarming indication—and perhaps a better reflection—of how poorly they shot is their rate from beyond the arc. Villanova is no higher than 334th in the nation in shooting three’s, doing so at only a 25.5% success rate.
Their four opponents have been teams which, frankly, Villanova should be blowing away: Lafayette, Mount Saint Mary’s, Towson and a Delaware team whose leading scorer w suspended. Instead, in games such as the two against Lafayette and Delaware, the Wildcats’ shooting prevented them from taking control and running away from their much inferior opponents.
If Villanova has any hope of beating teams in the tournament, they should not be tied with Delaware, who was missing Devon Sadler in the game’s final minutes, nor should they allow Lafayette to be within two possessions with less than five minutes to go.
They shot 38.9% and 43.9% against Lafayette and Delaware, respectively, but those numbers again are a bit bloated by Villanova’s ability to get easy inside buckets against the smaller, weaker teams. The bigger indication of their shooting ability was reflected in the three-point shooting category of each box score.
Pinkston, despite leading the team in scoring, is struggling with his outside shot.
Against Lafayette, the ‘Cats were a poor five for 25. Against the Blue Hens, they were an even more pathetic five for 30. That may cut it against weak, teams, especially when they are as limited as Delaware, but it is not going to cut it against the Big East, and certainly not in the post season.
Head Coach Jay Wright knows it needs to be much better. But he also is not too concerned about it.
As Wright sees it, these are players who are better shooters than the stats are reflecting. He more or less has the same roster as last year, at least at its core, and in 2012-13 they shot 33.1% from three.
Wright also pointed out some Wildcats have experienced fluke-like circumstances when shooting. Point guard Ryan Arcidiacono, for example, had three shots by Wright’s count which went in the rim, spun around then spit out. He’s counting on those shots to eventually fall.
“I think sometimes, it’s just part of the game,” he told Phiahoops.
But luck aside, the 13-year head coach has a few theories for the struggles. In fact, he has already made adjustments to combat the reasons he thought were responsible for their struggles.
For one, he thinks his team may simply be a little tired. He has worked them for pretty lengthy periods of time for many weeks at this point since training camp was underway.
“I don’t know, we’ve been practicing hard, we had a lot of guys out, and we’ve shortened up this week because of that,” Wright said.
As a result, Wright cut back practice this week. He said they were “much shorter” than they typically hold practice sessions.
Wright and the Wildcats could receive a boost to aid their tired legs this week. There is a possibility that guard Dylan Ennis can make his return to the lineup. The sophomore returned to practice this week after he had a cast removed from a broken bone in his right hand. He will be evaluated in Wednesday’s practice, before a decision is made that evening regarding his status.
Ennis would be able to not only just chip away at some minutes from guards to keep them more fresh, but he also would help by being an above-average shooter. Two years ago at Rice, his only collegiate experience thus far, he shot 44% from the field, and 35% from three.
Another one of Wright’s theories is that he has been spending so much time with his team working on their defense. He has been particularly concerned with the way his team looked defensively in camp, and emphasized working on it up until the start of the season.
“I think another thing is we’ve been working so much on our defense and we haven’t been shooting a lot in practice,” he explained.
Even the slightest improvements could pay huge dividends. If they shot just what they did last year, they would go from draining five three’s in a given game to now ten. That is enough to turn a four-point nail biter against the Blue Hens into a borderline route. In a game against a more competitive opponent such as Syracuse, that is enough to turn a ten-point deficit into a five-point lead.
They will have their hands full this weekend with the likes of USC, and maybe Kansas, Iowa, Xavier and Tennessee. If they can sink a few more threes per game, it could be the difference between a tournament victory and going home without a victory.
Scouting Villanova: The Wildcats are surprisingly thriving at rebounding the ball thus far. Their 42.5 rpg are 33rd in the entire nation…Despite shooting an abysmal 9.1% from three, forward JayVaughn Pinkston is leading the team in scoring with 20.3 ppg…Villanova last played in an in-season tournament in 2011-12, also on Thanksgiving when they participated in the Anaheim Classic. In that tournament, the Wildcats defeated University of California, Riverside before falling to both Saint Louis and Santa Barbra.
Scouting USC: The Trojans are also on a four-game losing steak, having most recently defeated West Alabama, 73-57…Guard Byron Wesley has been a sneaky monster on the boards. The junior is averaging 8.8 rpg, and has grabbed at least eight boards in each game this season…One matchup that has Jay Wright particularly concerned is USC’s center Omar Oraby. The native from Egypt stands at 7’2’’ and has thrived scoring this year, picking up 13.6 ppg in his senior season. Villanova’s Daniel Ochefu, who stands 6’11’’, will certainly have his hands full, but Wright said they are going to try a few things to defend Oraby. “We’re going to have to take a couple different approaches—you can’t just do one thing because he’s too big,” Wright explained. “If you play behind him, he can pass, and they’re good at getting ball reversals, getting high-lows, so we’re going to have to mix it up.”
Prediction: Villanova squeaks by before running into some trouble later in the tournament.
Soundoff: How far in the Battle 4 Atlantis do the Wildcats go?
Villanova and USC get the action underway with their 1 p.m. Thursday tip-off.
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