Congratulations To The Nova Blog, Formerly Known As I Bleed Blue and White

To the Wildcat faithful-

I would like to take this opportunity, to offer belated congratulations, to the bloggers who have now taken the fine blog, I Bleed Blue and White, to a new level.  Now known as The Nova Blog, they have now joined SB Nation, a network of extraordinarily high-quality blogs.  As many of you know, I've exchanged preview information with SB Nation bloggers for Georgetown, West Virginia, and Syracuse this season - and the content from all of them is top-notch.

Accordingly, I've now changed the right sidebar, having removed I Bleed Blue and White, and changed the URL to the new SB Nation one, The Nova Blog.  I particularly like the Wildcat logo in the top left corner.

Best of all, they have decided to join SB Nation in March, just in time for the tournament.

So, I'd really like to encourage all of you to go take a look at their new cyber-digs at SB Nation.  There are a lot of bells and whistles on a SB Nation blog; you'll want to explore it for a while.

I'll be adding content, regularly throughout the week, as I prepare for Robert Morris on Thursday, so please keep checking back for updates...

So go take a look at The Nova Blog - you'll find it well worth your while.

Go Wildcats!

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint-at-yahoo-dot-com

Providence Preview - I Bleed Blue and White and Friar Blog

To the Wildcat faithful-

In addition to my Providence preview below, I'd like to highly recommend the Villanova/Providence preview/question exchange from two fine blogs - Chris at the Villanova blog  I Bleed Blue and White, and Dave Pean of the Providence Friar Blog....  these links are for two different posts, with each posting questions and answers.  Both are great previews of what we can expect to see today as the #4 Wildcats take on Providence, at the Wachovia Center...

I'll have a full recap coming, after the game...

Go Wildcats!

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

Highly Recommended - Dialogue Between Seton Hall Blog, Gonzo Ball, and IBBW

To the Wildcat faithful-

For tonight's battle with the Seton Hall Pirates, I'd like to highly recommend the detailed and very substantive question exchange, between Chris at the fine Villanova blog, I Bleed Blue and White, and the equally fine Seton Hall site, Gonzo Ball.  

Some key quotes from Gonzo Ball's GonzoSHU:

Seton Hall fans are all too familiar with Scottie as he came into South Orange last year and put forth one of the most impressive performances of his collegiate career finishing with: 40PTS (15-of-16 FT, 5-3PT) 4REB/3AST/2STL en route to a Wildcat victory. Paging Keon Lawrence.  I don't care about Keon's offensive struggles thus far this season, if he can limit Reynolds to under 15 points, it will be considered a worthy performance whether or not he has a quiet offensive night himself...

The two teams play a very similar fast-paced offensive game, however, Villanova unquestionably has the superior talent. That doesn't mean Seton Hall won't be able to hang.  What it does mean is Seton Hall will need a top notch defensive effort like we saw against Pittsburgh if the Pirates intend to keep this one close.  I spoke more on this in my answers from today's Q&A with I Bleed Blue and White:

Will Gonzo drastically alter his game plan in an attempt to slow down Tuesday’s game? I don’t believe so. I think Seton Hall will be able to keep up with the Wildcats for much of the first half, but there will come a point where Hazell starts missing his shots, the Pirates will go through a scoring drought and the flood gates will open for Villanova. It’s important for Seton Hall to raise their defensive intensity from what was on display at South Florida in an attempt to slow Villanova during these stretches. If their defense doesn’t respond, the boys from Jersey are in for a long night at the Pavilion.

The Pirates will need to jump all over the Wildcats defensively in an attempt to create turnovers, 'Nova does give up the ball as they sport a nearly even assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.1AST/1TO.  It's imperative that the Pirates lock down defensively in their half court set as Villanova will have little trouble breaking Gonzo's full court press.  Of course, the Pirates must also take advantage on the glass as Herb Pope will battle with Brooklyn native, Antonio Pena (10.9PTS/7.6REB) for the majority of the night.  

Should the Pirates finish on top in the rebounding and turnover aspects of the game, I believe the game's winner will rest on Scottie's shoulders.  If the senior scores 20+ the Wildcats win, otherwise, the Pirates could save their season with a stunning road victory.  We've learned (at least) one thing from watching the Pirates this season, if they bring their A game, they will compete with anybody, the talent is there.  The problem at hand remains, we've only seen brief glimpses of said A game and they're running out of opportunities to make the honor roll. 

Full links - they're all worth reading in their entirety - check them out!

Keep your enemies closer.... (IBBW) 

It's Time for I Bleed Blue and White to Walk the Plank Part 1 (Gonzo Ball)

It's Time for I Bleed Blue and White to Walk the Plank Part 2  (Gonzo Ball)

Around the Hall: Looking Forward to Villanova... (Gonzo Ball)

Finally, don't forget to check out the Viewpoint comprehensive preview on Seton Hall,  as well as Villanova moving up to the #2 spot nationally.

Go Wildcats!

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

Recommended: I Bleed Blue and White / The Owls' Nest Preview for #3 Wildcats @ Temple on Sunday

To the Wildcat faithful-

I'd like to highly recommend the joint Villanova / Temple preview produced by I Bleed Blue and White and The Owls' Nest for Sunday's game.  The Wildcats will be looking to complete yet another sweep of its City Series rivals, at the Liacouras Center...

Some highlights from The Owls' Nest interview:

TON: Temple's defense has arguably been the main reason for the Owls' success this year. How do you expect the Wildcats, with all of those offensive talents, to counter the defensive force on North Broad?

IBBW: More than likely we are going to try and push the tempo. With Mouphtaou Yarou out indefinitely, we don't have a single guy who would classify as slow. Our only true bigs, Antonio Pena and Maurice Sutton, are both phenomenal at staying with the guards on the break and getting back on defense. I'd also expect a heavy dose of our 4-out-1-in offense, in which we try to exploit mismatches by getting our guards matched up against your bigs. A big key will be hitting our shots though. We've been scoring a ton, but we haven't been that efficient. We probably won't have as many opportunities against Temple, so we need to execute.

More to come... 

Go Wildcats!

I Bleed Blue and White and The Villanovan Sports Blog Reporting Mouph May Be Done For Season

To the Villanova Wildcat faithful-

The outstanding Villanova blog I Bleed Blue and White is reporting that freshman center Mouphtou Yarou may be done for the season...  Yesterday, this is what Chris had to say in "Mouph gone for the year":

It appears that all the smoke surrounding Mouphtaou Yarou has quickly turned into fire. Rumors were abound this morning on campus that the big freshman was out for the year, but many held out hope that it wasn’t true. While we still are waiting an official response from the school, Jeff Goodman of FoxSports has gone on record as saying a source has told him that Yarou is gone for the entire 2009-2010 season due to the viral infection that was first discovered in Puerto Rico...

David Cassilo at The Villanovan Sports Blog, adds in "Mouph out for the season?":

As you know by now rumors are circulating that Mouphtaou Yarou is possibly out for the season.  As of this afternoon, the athletics department had no new information about Yarou.  After Saturday’s game against La Salle, Jay Wright said the team was probably receiving Yarou’s test results on Monday (today).

My two cents:

Assuming that Yarou is in fact out for the season, it isn't clear as to whether he would be permitted to take 2009-10 as a medical redshirt season, thus permitting him four full seasons of eligibility.  My understanding - at least the way it used to be - was that if the injury occurred early in the season, and the player had participated in only a small number of games (I'm not sure of the number), that the NCAA at least considers granting the redshirt year.

In this situation, although Villanova has played six games, Yarou only participated in the two victories over Fairleigh Dickinson and Penn.  He didn't play at all, in the three games of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, or against La Salle on Saturday, so he would seem to fall clearly into this category...

A preview of the game against the Drexel Dragons, tomorrow night at the Pavilion, will be up later...

Go Wildcats!

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

VUHoops, I Bleed Blue and White, 'Nova News, Villanovan Sports Blog - Penn Recaps, in Today's Various Viewpoints

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

Here's a rundown of what the other fine Villanova blogs had to say, about last evening's glorious victory over Penn, at the Pavilion, 103-65:

Mike at vuhoops.com -

The Wildcats shot 58.7% from the field including 11-21 from behind the arc to extend their Pavilion winning streak to 30 games.

The new-look I Bleed Blue and White was particularly prolific on the victory over Penn: 

As Chris writes, in the main recap, "When Everything Is Working" :

...Any lineup that Wright put on the floor last night was gold. Hell, even Maurice Sutton and Isaiah Armwood, 2 guys who didn’t get much burn in the opener, were in the game while it was still, well, a game. That’s how much confidence Jay Wright appears to have in his 10 man rotation. Only Armwood (who went scoreless) did not score in the 1st half. Even Russell Wooten notched his 1st career points in garbage time as his lay-up put the Cats over the century mark....

Other pieces include Highlights: Penn gets Duked - which contains a YouTube set of highlights, and Two quotes that sum up the night ...

For his part, Brian compiled these post-Penn notes - Villanova-Penn Brief Postgame Notes... 

Nova News had "Nova Soaks Penn 103-65" - here's a quote:

Taylor King - Plays like a madman... I love it. He grabbed three rebounds in less than a minute after entering the game, then drained a three. He also made the Dwayne Anderson signature dive from behind steal. 14 points and 7 rebounds in the game... you can can see he's already turning into a crowd favorite.

Corey Stokes - "Only" made two 3-pointers for 14 points.

Antonio Pena - Got a legit double-double this time (12 points, 10 rebounds). He also had 2 blocks and and just 2 personal fouls. He's looked great, but the competition has been lacking. The true test will come in Puerto Rico.

Finally, Quick Recap: Villanova 103 Penn 65 appeared on The Villanovan Sports Blog - here's a quote:

Unlike the game against FDU this past Friday, Villanova took care of business early and blew away the Penn Quakers 103-65.  Up by 30 points at the half, Villanova once again let its depth shine as the team’s bench scored 46 points, led by the team’s leading scorer Maalik Wayns, who finished with 16.

Keep checking for new content...

Go Wildcats!  

E-mail: villanova.viewpoint@yahoo.com

John F. Kennedy - "Ich bin ein Berliner"; Markus Kennedy - I Am a Villanovan....

To the Villanova Wildcats faithful-

VUHoops and I Bleed Blue and White report that Markus Kennedy, a 6-9 power forward, will be joining the Villanova Wildcats program, in the fall of 2010, assuming that all goes according to plan... Kennedy made it official this afternoon at a news conference... Kennedy's final two choices were Villanova and West Virginia...

VUHoops also linked helpfully to a Philadelphia Daily News story on Markus Kennedy... as did I Bleed Blue and White, in this case to the early leaking of the news on Philly.com...

VUHoops also noted that-

Kennedy joins Florida’s James Bell in Villanova’s Class of 2010 Recruiting Class.

(The headline to my post - President John F. Kennedy, speaking in Berlin at the height of the Cold War on June 26,1963, famously told the residents, "Ich bin ein Berliner"... )

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