To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-
Hat tip to commenter Seamus, who called my attention to an LA Times article by Bill Plaschke. Plaschke makes an intriguing argument: namely, that UCLA coach Ben Howland's ironclad commitment to man-to-man defense, and the three first-half fouls on Bruin forward Alfred Aboya, were major causes of UCLA's unravelling in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.
Here's the key quote from Plaschke's article, titled "Shaken to its core, UCLA must begin to rebuild..." Although UCLA actually played about as hard as could be expected with a foot on its chest, Villanova exposed what many consider to be the Bruins' two biggest weaknesses: lack of a consistent inside game, and Howland's stubbornness.
With only Aboya as an inside defensive threat -- and he picked up three fouls before halftime -- Wildcats guards controlled the game with constant dribble penetration.
With Howland's refusal to play zone defense, the slower Bruins were rendered helpless.
Howland vowed to find a stronger inside presence by next season. But he also vowed to never abandon his trademark man-to-man philosophy.
Asked whether this game would persuade him to teach a zone, he spoke stronger than his players played.
"No," he said.
I was intrigued by that hypothesis, and decided to take a look at the play-by-play. Aboya did in fact pick up two very quick fouls, less than three minutes into the contest. The first came just over a minute from tip-off, and the second almost as soon, the 17:17 mark.
The live blog written by CBS2 in Los Angeles notes that "UCLA center Alfred Aboya picked up his second foul at the 17:17 mark and went to the bench." Aboya did not sit down for the balance of the half, with the two fouls, though. He is recorded as collecting a rebound shortly after the second foul, committing a turnover to Corey Stokes at the 12:59 mark, and making a layup three minutes later to trim Villanova's lead to 28-13.
It was logical for Howland to leave him in the game, with the two fouls, given the fact that the Bruins didn't really have anyone to replace him underneath.
The CBS2 blog perceptively notes that:
13:20 Cunningham giving UCLA fits
Right now, the Bruins don't have an answer for Villanova's Dante Cunningham, who has gone 3-for-3 in the early going after sinking a 15-footer when UCLA backup center Drew Gordon hesitated on stepping out to guard him at the foul line. And as soon as the Bruins try to collapse on Cunningham, Corey Stokes makes a 3-pointer to give Villanova a 20-9 lead, forcing UCLA coach Ben Howland to burn his second timeout of the half.
Aboya committed his third foul at the 6:52 mark, with UCLA trailing 33-18, sending Dwayne Anderson to the line, who made one of two. (Aboya himself had just made one of two at the 7:07 mark, being sent there by Antonio Pena). Aboya vanishes from the play-by-play for the remainder of the half, so he probably spent the last 6:52 of the half there. The CBS2 live blog - having a very substantive analysis, I highly recommend it- records that:
"6:52 Aboya picks up third foul
The gamble by UCLA coach Ben Howland to reinsert Alfred Aboya backfires as the center from Cameroon picks up his third foul in frustrating fashion, after losing his balance on a ball fake."
The full box score indicates that Aboya played only 22 minutes, although he made them count, scoring nine points, grabbing eight rebounds (including three offensive ones) and recorded one steal. Aboya never eventually picked up a fourth foul, so it's possible that Howland left him on the bench because he felt that he needed a quicker lineup, or because he thought he was ineffective.
More intriguing is the idea that Howland's lack of interest in playing zone may have permitted the Wildcats to - literally - run wild in the halfcourt. It's possible. (Note - despite the statements in Plaschke's story and in other outlets about the differences between Big East and Pac-10 basketball, Howland was certainly familiar with Jay Wright and with Villanova and with Big East style of play, given that he had a very impressive run with Pittsburgh not that long ago, and coached against Wright and the Wildcats. And defense was the foundation of those Panther teams.)
Certainly, there is the possibility that Jay Wright and the coaching staff, being familiar with Howland, might have concluded that Howland would never switch to zone, and designed a game plan to exploit that very weakness in the UCLA defense. If that's the case, then the game plan apparently worked to perfection. As Plaschke noted, it was the worst NCAA tournament defeat for UCLA since Howland arrived...
Well, food for thought, anyway. Stop back for more Villanova Wildcats coverage, as we look forward to facing #2 Duke in the NCAA Sweet 16, on Thursday at 10 PM or so...
You can also take a look at the Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...
Go Wildcats!
There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)
To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-
Part 2 of the recap of the glorious victory over UCLA... Part 3 will be along later, and you can also read Part 1, the initial Villanova/UCLA recap...
Villanova dominated all aspects of play today. UCLA's final lead today was 6-5, at the 16:56 mark when Josh Shipp converted two free throws. The final tie was at 9-9, after Nicola Dragovic hit a three-pointer off an assist from Shipp, with 15:46 to play.
Villanova took the lead for good when Dante Cunningham broke the 9-9 deadlock with a jump shot, 17 seconds later, putting the Wildcats up 11-9. It was the beginning of a 11-0 run that established Villanova in complete control, in the midst of the first half. The 11-0 run culminated in a triple by Corey Stokes, assisted by Corey Fisher, giving the Wildcats a 20-9 lead.
With 12:16 to play, UCLA's James Keefe rebounded a missed layup from Jrue Holiday, and slammed it to break the run and make it 20-11. But the Wildcats responded with another 8-0 run, which had a fitting end - Antonio Pena missed a shot, Dwayne Anderson rebounded it and then dunked it with authority. It was now 28-11 with 10:13 to play.
While I had no sense of certainty of victory at the time, obviously, those twin bursts look different in retrospect. When combined to make it a 19-2 Villanova run over a 5:16 span, the Wildcats never looked back. Their lead was 17 points; the Bruins would never get closer than a dozen points for the rest of the game.
Think about this for a moment. The sixth-seeded Bruins were the Pac-10 runner-up, and were brimming with postseason experience. They had been to three straight Final Fours - while many of the players from those teams were gone, their replacements had still experienced them, as had the coaching staff. Their newcomers were also lauded with many accolades as blue-chip prospects.
In spite of all of these factors, the Wildcats simply steamrolled UCLA today. They seized control with a 17-point lead midway through the first half, and never permitted the Bruins to pull closer than 12 points, at any point for the remainder of the game.
It was a level of performance that I would have thought unthinkable, after the debacle of the first half against #14 American on Thursday evening. On Thursday, the Wildcats had trailed American by 10 points at halftime, 14 points early in the second half, and by eight with just 11:21 to play, before rallying to win by a deceptively wide 13-point margin...
After the Wildcats took the 28-11 lead at the midpoint of the first half, they actually doubled up UCLA at one point. Shane Clark slammed home a dunk, assisted by Corey Fisher, to balloon the lead to 38-19 with 5:17 to play. At this point, the Bruins developed their only momentum of the contest.
Shipp and Darren Collison combined to score seven consecutive points, pulling UCLA to within 38-26 at the 2:53 mark. The Wildcats quickly quelled the challenge, though, trotting into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 44-31 advantage.
Nor did UCLA truly stay within striking distance, after play resumed. The Wildcats outscored the Bruins 13-4 at the beginning of the second half, with the end of the run coming when Fisher was fouled by Dragovic while laying the ball into the net. Fisher converted the traditional three-point play to increase the Wildcats' lead to 22 points, 57-35, with 16:30 to play.
For the remainder of the contest (i.e., virtually the entire second half), the Wildcats' lead never dipped below 16 points. It fluctuated between 16 and 25 points, with the zenith coming when Scottie Reynolds hit one of two free throws, with 3:40 to play, making the score 86-61. UCLA outscored Villanova 8-3 the rest of the way, to leave the final margin at 89-69, 20 points. Unlike Thursday's game, however, Villanova's margin of victory was a precisely accurate barometer of the Wildcats' level of play in the game. It was a thorough thrashing of UCLA, a very talented and accomplished opponent, which has been an elite program for decades.
I will have Part 3 of the UCLA recap up later, and eventually, there will be material on Villanova's upcoming Sweet 16 battle with #2 Duke in Boston on Thursday... so keep checking back...
You can also take a look at the Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...
Go Wildcats!
There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)
To the Villanova Wildcats faithful!!!-
The third-seeded Wildcats walloped the sixth-seeded UCLA Bruins, 89-69, on Saturday afternoon, March 21, at the Wachovia Center. Six Wildcats reached double figures, as Villanova will make its second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 (and fourth in five years...)This is, of course, just the immediate recap... the full recap will be along as soon as possible...
It was the first time that the Villanova Wildcats and UCLA Bruins had battled in the NCAA tournament in 38 years. The only other occasion was the 1971 national championship game, in which John Wooden's seven-year dynasty withstood a tough challenge from Jack Kraft's Wildcats, losing 68-62 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
This was only the second round, but Villanova was able to return the favor, nearly four decades later. These UCLA Bruins were trying to return to the Final Four for the fourth consecutive season. And Villanova - most decidedly - ensured that it wouldn't happen. It also prevented the Bruins from tying Kentucky, at the century mark in NCAA tournament wins - the win over Virginia Commonwealth was the program's 99th in its uniquely storied history.
With Coach Kraft and many of the 1971 Wildcats in attendance, the 2009 Wildcats absolutely dismantled the Pac-10 runner-up UCLA Bruins, with shocking ease. It was difficult to believe that this was the same team that trailed #14 American University by 14 points at one point in the second half, and which was still playing from behind deep into that second half.
The Wildcats have now advanced to the Sweet 16, where they will face either #2 Duke or #7 Texas (the latter of whom they played earlier this season), in Boston.
UCLA looked dreadful, as the Bruins ended their season well short of a fourth Final Four, as the game was never even remotely competitive. The team that came in did not look like the Pac-10 runner-up, but the team that fell at home to Washington State in late February.
Looking at the Box Score
Six Wildcats reached double figures:
- Dante Cunningham, following up his huge performance against American on Thursday, turned in another double-double today: 18 points on 7-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. That would be a great day even with normal playing time. But Cunningham picked up two quick fouls early in the first half, and played just 24 minutes.
- Dwayne Anderson, his fellow senior standout, also played superbly. Although nobody expected him to match his career-high of 25 points on Thursday, Anderson also had a double-double: 10 points (although on 4-14 shooting), 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
- Reggie Redding continued his renaissance. The junior guard and "glue guy", the term by which Jay Bilas quoted Jay Wright as referring to Redding as someone who helps the team win, simply did it all (to borrow the Dick Vitale-an phrase) today: 13 points (on 4-8 shooting), six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals (the only downside being four turnovers).
- Scottie Reynolds returned to reasonable form today, after really struggling recently. Reynolds finished with 11 points (on 4-9 shooting, 2-6 from three-point range), one assist and no turnovers.
- Off the bench, both Coreys made significant impacts on the contest. Fisher, despite playing in foul trouble (he finished with four), packed an enormous offensive punch for the Wildcats today. He added 13 points on 4-7 shooting (including 4-4 from the line), three rebounds, five assists against no turnovers, and a steal in 25 minutes of action.
- Stokes saw 23 minutes, and he made the most of them. Nine of his ten field goal attempts were triples, and he knocked down four of them, ending up with a dozen points. He added three rebounds, an assist, and a turnover.
The only Wildcats who didn't reach double figures were Shane Clark and Antonio Pena (plus Colenda, Russell Wooten, and Tchuisi, of course). But Clark played very well. Playing just 16 minutes, Clark had eight points on 4-7 shooting, plus four rebounds, an assist, a steal, and no turnovers. (Had he seen a few more minutes, Clark could possibly have been the seventh Wildcat in double figures.)
Pena saw some time due to Cunningham's foul trouble, and also replaced Cunningham at garbage time, in order to give Cunningham a tribute from the Philadelphia crowd, seeing him live for the last time (except for those lucky few able to get tickets in Boston for the Sweet 16). Pena logged 10 minutes, scored two points on 2-4 FTs, missed one shot, had an offensive rebound and committed a turnover.
Colenda had the only box score number of the trio of practice players, as he made two free throws and bagged a rebound. All three played one minute.
Looking at the UCLA side of the box score...
Three Bruins, Josh Shipp, Darren Collison, and Nikola Dragovic- reached double figures. Shipp had 18 points on 5-9 shooting, including 7-7 from the line, and Collison had 15 points on 4-10 shooting. But Collison did not manage the ball well, committing five turnovers against one assist.
Dragovic had 11 points, and played through foul trouble, finishing with four fouls and 27 minutes of action. He played very well, going 4-7 from the floor and hitting three of his six three-point attempts. He also added five rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot, as well as two turnovers.
Alfred Aboya got into foul trouble early and played just 22 minutes, but he still almost had a double-double, with nine points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Jrue Holiday was held to just four points on 1-6 shooting, although he dealt seven assists against four turnovers.
The most significant numbers, looking at the teams as a whole, were rebounds and turnovers. Villanova annihilated UCLA on the glass, outrebounding the Bruins 39-26 (and on the offensive end, 15 to 7, with Cunningham pulling down five offensive boards alone). Villanova also forced 18 turnovers while committing 11.
In what was really the only negative aspect of today for a Wildcats fan-
CBS - undoubtedly kicking itself for scheduling a single game in the early afternoon, which turned out to be lopsided - deprived the Philadelphia market of the final 1:18 of the game, in which Frank Tchuisi and walk-ons Russell Wooten and Jason Colenda entered the game to a huge ovation. And Colenda even connected on a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Right when Greg Gumbel interrupted the broadcast, Frank Tchuisi was approaching the scorer's table, at 3:18 EDT, CBS cut away to show the opening moments of #2 Memphis/#10 Maryland. CBS does a fantastic job in its coverage of the tournament, but it really dropped the ball here. The Philadelphia market should - absolutely and without question - have seen the conclusion of the game in its entirety.
This is just my initial recap - a more complete recap will come later, so keep checking back. You can also take a look at the Various Viewpoints on the right sidebar, for their takes...
Go Wildcats!
There are two ways you can contact Villanova Viewpoint. One is by commenting on this blog. Comments are encouraged. Also, you can e-mail villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com (Important note: This is a different e-mail address than before. Please use this new one.)
