Guest Preview: Villanova Wildcats Take Two

We asked Villanova by the Numbers for a look at the Wildcats before their second game against Syracuse this year.

Here's what Villanova by the Numbers had to say:

Meet the Wildcats:
Coach Wright has been tinkering with the starting lineup for over a month now. Of the five Wildcats who started the season opener (Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham and Casiem Drummond), only three (Reynolds, Redding and Cunningham) started in Villanova's last outing (a road loss at Pitt) Wednesday evening. Like Syracuse, the Villanova squad has had it's share of injuries and turnover. Among the starters Casiem Drummond has been sidelined since late December with a stress fracture in his foot and tests are being performed to determine if the source of Shane Clark's persistent fatigue is physical. Andrew Ott, a 6-10 redshirt freshman frontcourt player announced his departure from the team last Saturday. He enrolled at Penn State on Wednesday. Who will start on Saturday is, then, the source of some speculation.

The Backcourt:
Villanova has three talented guards in Scottie Reynolds (sophomore), Corey Fisher (freshman) and Malcolm Grant (freshman). Expect to see two of those three on the court throughout the game, whether they start or not, Having two point guards on the floor simultaneously, has given the Wildcats multiple options on offense.

Scottie Reynolds will start. Scottie, a sophomore, has started all 19 of Villanova's games this season and is averaging 34.3 minutes per game, so expect to see a lot of him. During the out of conference portion of the season Scottie averaged 16.9 points and 4.4 assists. In Big East play Scottie's scoring has risen to 18.5 points per game while his assists have dropped to 3.3, suggesting he is taking more of an off guard role lately. Scottie is capable of great scoring efforts like his 32 point outburst (11-22, 5-11 3 pointers) against Cincinnati. He can also be ice cold, as he was in Villanova's first game with Pittsburgh (4 points on 1-6 shooting). The 'Cats will need 17 or more points from Reynolds if they are going to win.

As for the other backcourt position, Coach Wright will most likely choose one or two from Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Reggie Redding.

Corey Fisher, a starter in the last two games, will, despite a disappointing outing against Pittsburgh (4 points on 2-10 shooting), may well start against Syracuse too. Fisher, a true freshman who was named New Jersey HS Player of the Year at St. Patrick's his senior season, has struggled to develop consistency this year. He has had great shooting and scoring nights, like the Wildcat's Big East road opener against DePaul (23 points on 8-15 shooting), and nights lide Wednesday against Pitt. Corey's assist-to-turnover ratio in Big East play is 0.95:1, more evidence that he is struggling in conference play.

Reggie Redding is a 6-5 sophomore off guard who worked his way into the rotation late his freshman year and subsequently started the first fourteen games before going to the bench. He returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday (in place of ailing Shane Clark?) and will most likely start against the Orange. Redding's main contributions are solid defense with an occasional well-timed crucial play.

The Frontcourt:
Dante Cunningham is a junior who has been a constant fixture in Villanova's starting lineup over the past three seasons. For the past two seasons Dante and (now graduated) Will Sheridan covered the #4/#5 spots in tandem, with Dante playing the #4 on defense and the #5 on offense. With Cas Drummond on the court Dante will play the #4, but with Drummond's injury last month, Cunningham has returned to a "rotating" role, depending on who the staff plays beside him. Cunningham's role in the offense has increased this season, though he had more success when Drummond played the #5 and drew a good deal of defensive attention. Cunninham has averaged 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in Big East play to date.

Antonio Pena is a redshirt freshman (6-8, 235lbs) who has started the last five games beside Cunningham. Pena and Cunningham now continue the #4-#5 tandem as did Sheridan and Cunningham for the past two seasons. Pena averages 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds in Big East play.

The Bench:
For the backcourt, expect to see Malcolm Grant at some point in the game. Malcolm has averaged 14.4 minutes per game in Big East play, but his run has ranged from 27 minutes in Villanova's first game with Pittsburgh (22 points) down to 8 minutes in two separate games (versus Cincinnati -- 0 points scored -- and the second Pittsburgh game in which he scored 3 points). Dwayne Anderson has seen his playing time nearly double in Big East play. If the trend holds, he will see about 16 minutes of playing time. Corey Stokes, the second MDAA on Villanova's roster, has seen about 16 minutes of play in the Big East and contributed 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in Big East play. Casiem Drummond saw 7 minutes againt Pittsburgh on Wednesday and will no doubt, depending on his progress, see some time against Syracuse as well. Shane Clark is due for some (medical) diagnostic testing this week and may or may not be available for Saturday's game. At the top of his game Shane is very effective as the third or fourth scoring option and is a strong offensive rebounder (ranked #357 in D1 by Ken Pomeroy).

What Villanova Does Best:
Offense flows from defense according to Villanova's staff. Villanova is good at forcing turnovers. When the Wildcats are playing "their game" those turnovers will translate into points. The Wildcats are agressive at both ends of the floor. If they are living at the free throw line the opponent is losing players. Villanova runs a variation of the 4 out 1 in motion offense in the half court. They look for opportunities for their guards, either Reynolds or Fisher, to get into the lane. Something good offensively most often happens then...either the guard will shoot (or draw contact), dish down low to Cunningham (or lately Pena), positioned along the baseline, or kick it out to someone on the wing for a possible 3 point shot. Villanova may be one of the quicker teams in the conference, but they do not play a fast paced game. Comeback wins were a common phenomena earlier in the season.

How to Beat Villanova:
Get up early, as Villanova tends to "start slowly" on defense. The recent spate of half-time deficits are most often the product of blown assignments on switches and playing too passively while on defense. When the 'Cats are down, the freshmen guards tend to push too hard to try and make up the scoring deficit. If Villanova presses or traps, break it quickly (usually with passes to bigs positioned in the middle of the court) and take it to the basket when you are over the half-court line. Scoring off of broken presses neutralizes one of Villanova's most effective defensive weapons
(the turnover). If you are operating your offense from half court sets, run screens and picks, as Villanova has struggled all year with switches coming off of screens. Run them enough and you should get a favorable matchup (usually a guard on one of your bigs) which maximizes your chances to score. If you have a stable of outside shooters, run plays to isolate your guard who should then hit the lane. Another defender will move over to help on the penetration, leaving his own man free on the outside to take a pass and shoot. Villanova is currently ranked #319 (out of 341) in 3 point defense.

Get Dante Cunningham into foul trouble early. The rest of the frontcourt are freshmen and not especially agressive when Cunningham is not there to set the tone.

Check back with Villanova by the Numbers tomorrow for our preview of Syracuse.