Recruiting: Lance Stephenson: Born Ready?

I guess its becoming a right of passage to have a movie made out of your story if you play at Lincoln High and you're pretty nasty. Looks like Lance "Sir Lancealot" Stephenson is going to have a documentary made of his life, its pretty similar to the Telfair gem "Through the Fire". I think this is a bit ridiculous, especially because they say Lance Stephenson wants to be like Telfair and Marberry - not exactly people I'd aspire to be. Regardless Lance Stephenson is an incredible player, I'd love to see him in a Nova uniform but it doesn't appear thats going to happen any day soon. Last I read hes looking at Duke, UNC, G-Town, Indiana, Kansas etc, someone please keep this kid out of the Big East, hes a beast. Check out the trailer its pretty cool, especially the part when he nearly gets into a fight in a park. Gotta love the NJ Nets own Ian Eagle with the voice over.

Random Basketball Notes and Thoughts

I spent the past few days with my buddy Paul watching a ton of College and NBA games ranging from the Knicks vs. Anyone (we love Knicks Color Guy Walt Clyde Frazier) to Loyola MD vs. Kansas. Here are some random thoughts we came up with:

- Nick Calathes is a fantastic point guard for Florida, he just has no one that knows where he is going to pass the ball. (I guess he got the talent in the family) Almost every single one of his turnovers came because no one rolled to the basket or the forward he was trying to get open had his back turned. He kind of looks like he was chizzeled out of stone. We also loved Thunder Dan Werner, hes like a poor man's Tyler Hansbrough in that he plays 100 mph each game. Jai Lucas was fun to watch as well, he's going to be a typical Lucas kid when he graduates though, great skills, great shooter, 10 Day contract in the NBA and cut once they realize hes too small. He'll be a stud in Europe though.


- Loyola MD vs. Kansas was an intreguing game for us to watch on ESPN Full Court. First off it was broadcast on the Kansas JayHawk network so the play by play guys were hilarious Kansas homers who would basically laugh at everything Loyola would do (Loyola was pretty awful yet somehow scored 60 points). The reason we watched this game was former Providence player Gerald Brown is on Loyola's roster. Gerald Brown is averaging close to 20 PPG this season for the GreyHounds after a huge season last year where he averaged 22. The 6-4 Brown is a physical guard who was a pretty good player at Providence a few years ago, I never quite understood why he transfered to a MAAC school. Brown looked alright against the JayHawks netting 13 points but overall this game was a bloodbath. Kansas is dangerous this season,I want nothing to do with them in the NCAA tournament.

- God the Knicks are awful. Somehow they beat Chicago last night, if anyone saw the highlights, Kirk Hinrich got abused by Jamal Crawford, it was real ugly. Really though, the only reason we watch Knicks games is to listen to Walt Clyde Frazier use huge words that no one knows the meaning of, come up with hilarious rhyming phrases and say "Da Knicks". Google Walt Clyde Frazier and you can find a ton of lists of his notorious phrases like "Spinnin and Winnin", its good stuff. Hes a real gem, makes Knicks games bearable. Also love when they get Mr. March Madness on there, Gus Johnson. When they pair Johnson and Frazier its must see TV, seriously, if you have MSG I advise watching Knicks games, you'll laugh at the basketball and the play by play, its fantastic.

- Seton Hall got robbed last night, they should've beaten Marquette if Timmy Higgins didn't get involved, but wow Seton Hall looked awful. They may be the sloppiest team I've ever seen on a basketball court. Their jerseys don't fit, no one on the roster seems to be able to hit a three pointer or a mid range jumper and that coach, don't get me started on him, he was obnoxious at Manhattan and gets worse each day. What was Eugene Harvey thinking when he decided to go there? Marquette also didn't look like the 16th best team in the nation, though I love the addition of Dominic James/Earl Boykins clone Maurice Acker, the 5'8 165lb transfer from Ball State. Speaking of transfers on Marquette there is Dan Fitzgerald, a transfer from Tulane. For anyone who hasn't seen him hes a 6'7 sharp shooting skinny white guy who wears a shooting sleeve and gels his hair in a side part. Enough said.

- Jason Kidd goes for another triple double last night against Charlotte but his team gets killed. How a6-4 guy who cant jump and is that old can average 8.8 rebounds a game is beyond me. Kudos to J-Kidd, now please trade him to the Lakers or the Mavericks so he can win a championship before he retires. I'm heading to the Nets v. Sonics game tonight and to Nets v. Celtics on Friday, I'll keep you posted if J-Kidd gets another 10-10-10 game.

- Hasheem Thabeet is scary, he finally realized that he can dunk everything when he is even close to the rim and hes doing it. Way to go Hasheem! Jeff Adrian cracks me up, he tries to do everything with so much power that its beginning to hurt him. He shoots a 15 footer like hes shooting a half court shot and he lays the ball in so hard that it pops out because hes so focused on slapping the backboard. Hell of a player though for his size, I'd take him at VU anyday.

- The Suns shot something like 60% from three the other night, even GRANT HILL is hitting threes on this team (hes shooting 35% despite being a career 20ish% three point shooter). Send Andre Miller there (career 15% three point shooter) and see what happens. What gets into these guys when they get to Phoenix?

- Kyle Lowry's minutes are being eaten up by Greg Oden's boy Mike Conley over in Memphis. I'm really disappointed in that development, Lowry was having a stellar season getting 10-4-4 in 25 minutes a game now he is collecting splinters on the bench. I hope he gets out of Memphis ASAP, Bill Simmons of ESPN suggested he should end up on a team like the Spurs. I sure hope that happens.

- It has become a right of passage in the NBA to block Yao Ming. Last night he was blocked and astonishing 4 times against Washington and it seems every time Sports Center comes on Yao is getting stuffed. I love how he called his team out for being soft, please.

- Has anyone seen Frank Caliendo do his impressions of Bill Walton or Charles Barkley? If you havent go on youtube and enter Frank Caliendo Charles Barkley/Bill Walton Impression, you wont regret it.

Thats all for now, time for my lunch break.

Pitt Game EFF Ratings and Player Notes

Villanova 64 - Pitt 63

Box Score

Malcolm Grant led the Wildcats with a Career High 22 points

Pittsburgh Game EFF and EFF/M Ratings

EFF

Malcolm Grant - 16.000

Antonio Pena - 14.000

Dante Cunningham - 11.000

Shane Clark - 5.000

Dwayne Anderson - 4.000

Reggie Redding - 2.000

Scottie Reynolds - 2.000

Corey Fisher - 1.000

EFF/M

Antonio Pena - .6667

Malcolm Grant - .5926

Dante Cunningham - .3438

Dwayne Anderson - .2667

Shane Clark - .2632

Reggie Redding - .0667

Scottie Reynolds - .0645

Corey Fisher - .0500

Notable Player Evaluations:

Malcolm Grant: This game cemented Malcolm as one of the most important players on the team this season. Jay Wright has been quoted in various interviews saying Grant is the heart and soul of this team and no game proved this better than Sunday's battle against Pitt. Grant came in when it looked like Villanova was down and out and energized the entire team by hitting threes, trash talking opposing players on defense and bringing the team's confidence back. It looks like we're going to be seeing a lot more of Malcolm Grant in the future, we're a better team when he is on the floor. Note: The injury at the end of the game was just leg cramps resulting from illness earlier in the week. Grant will be back at full strength for Cincinatti

Antonio Pena: Another impressive performance from Antonio Pena. 12 points including a ferocious dunk off a no look Malcolm Grant feed to go along with 4 rebounds and solid defense. Pena is really coming along nicely this season, his EFF numbers have been steadily increasing and it looks like he is ready for Big East play. I love his body control in the post and the little flashes of his array of hook shots and spin moves that come out each game. He is doing a great job filling in for Drummond while hes out and I expect his minutes to increase with each game. When Drummond gets back our front court is going to be about as strong as its been in years, I love having this much depth.

Dante Cunningham: Clutch Clutch Clutch. That is beginning to be Dante's mantra for the season. This is now three instances this season where Dante has hit the final shot(s) for us in big game situations. (I'm counting the NC State tip in play) I loved his rebounding tenacity against Pitt and his fire to keep competing after being knocked to the ground hard a number of times. Dante's warrior like mentality is key to this team and I am beginning to think that he is the most important player on the roster. Great game for Dante against a mamouth in Djuan Blair despite poor shooting from the field. Keep it up big fella, we're going to need you.

Scottie Reynolds: Another off game for Scottie Reynolds, but he played with poise in the closing minutes and contributed to the game winning play with a great dump down pass to Cunningham. Jay has cited various things in interviews ranging from a sore knee, a sore hand/wrist and getting to the game late because of Church for reasons why Scottie was so off. Overall I was happy with his passing as he seemed to know his shot was off and his defense was pretty solid. Hopefully the week off helps Scottie get rid of the bumps and bruises and he comes out strong against Cincinatti, he needs it to get himself out of this slump.

Corey Fisher: Not a good game overall for Corey after leading the team in scoring against DePaul. He played lose with the ball in the first half and missed a stupid lay up on a breakaway. His second half play was much better especially the and-one lay in that he converted at a big point in the game. Nothing to worry about here, this was a good wake up call for Corey, now he knows he needs to bring it every single game from here on out. I love the way he supports Malcolm though, its good for those two to develop a strong relationship as they are the future of of Guard U.

Dwayne Anderson: I loved Anderson's contributions to this game. Especially loved the way he crashed the offensive boards and tipped balls all around allowing our guys to secure the rebound. He was clutch from the foul line and converted a very athletic lay up, thats all I can ask for from Dwayne. I still don't like seeing him take three point shots, that shouldn't be his game at all. Overall I like what we're getting from him in 15 minutes a game, he brings energy, hustle and athletic ability on the glass. Nice stuff from the Junior Captain.

This is the biggest win of the season for the Wildcats against an incredibly physical Pitt team. This win is something the team can build on now that they understand how to win ugly in the brutal BigEast. Lets hope the week of rest helps the bumps and bruises and gives Dante's body a chance to recover so the Cats can win in convincing fashion against Cincinatti on Saturday.

Villanova comes up short against Depaul

Depaul 84 - Villanova 76

Box Score

The DePaul Blue Demons took the lead with their first posession of the ball game and never looked back last night in Chicago. Depaul (5-7, 1-0 BE) got contributions across the board with notable performances from Draelon Burns, Karron Clarke and oft injured 5th Year Senior Wesley Green. The Blue Demons constantly took advantage of Villanova's sub par perimeter defense and overall out played the Wildcats.

Villanova creeped back in the second half, making Wildcat fans and even the ESPN announcers think this was the second coming of the LSU game. Once Malcolm Grant hit the floor with 8 minutes remaining I was convinced we had LSU Part2 on our hands. Unfortunately that was not the case as Villanova made costly mistakes in the final minutes and handed DePaul it's first win over a top 25 team this season.

Notable Player Evaluations:

Corey Fisher: Corey was the only player who could find his shot last night going for a career high 23 points on 4 of 10 from deep. Fisher looked determined on the floor and was trying as hard as he could to get the win for us, unfortunately we came up short. He had some great cross over moves, a fantastic 3 point bank shot off an in bounds play and some nice floaters in the lane. Corey posted an EFF rating of 18.000 and an EFF/M of .6000, way above his season average. Great game for Corey.

Dante Cunningham: Dante has a new aura of intensity and determination that he hasnt had in the past 2 seasons when it comes to finishing around the hole, blocking shots and rebounding. I love what he is doing this season. He was an absolute beast for Villanova last night and played with a fire that no one else aside from Fisher played with. Dante had two of the nastiest blocks that I have ever seen from him, if you click the ESPN box score you'll see one of them, I think it got replayed on ESPN about 5 times during the game. There was one instance where he got the rebound and went up strong for the lay in and got fouled, you could hear him screaming "LETS GO!" at his team mates. Loved that. 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 incredible blocks with an EFF of 16.000 and .5333 EFF/M. Keep up the good work Dante!

Antonio Pena: Pena had a nice game in the minutes he played, but he was plagued by foul trouble guarding the much bigger Wesley Green. We needed him out there more, he was our next best option to defend Green inside and he was putting together a nice game before his 4th foul. Overall we saw some nice post moves from Antonio, solid rebounding and he hit all of his foul shots. 8 points, 4 rebounds in 16 minutes (just as my previous article suggested) to go along with a nice block that caused a shot clock violation. 10.000EFF and .6250 EFF/M.

Scottie Reynolds: Scottie was bothered all night by DePaul's physical defense and length. He just couldn't seem to get enough space for his jumper and missed some lay ins that he usually makes. Overall a poor game from Scottie with 4 turnovers and 4 of 12 shooting. He will bounce back, I have no worries about him. 4.000 EFF and .1250 EFF/M. Lets hope he bounces back against Pitt, we're going to need him!

Reggie Redding: Reggie had a very nice game in his Will Sheridan esque "glue guy" role. He led the team in rebounding and steals and made all of his foul shots. I liked the way Reggie drove the ball and attacked DePaul's big men so that he could get to the line. He made one really silly turnover in front of the bench, not sure what happened there. I think we are seeing why he gets so many minutes, he does the little things and seems to have a high basketball IQ. 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist,2 steals and 5-5 from the line to post a 15.000EFF and .5769 EFF/M for the evening well above his season average. Nice game for Redding.

Team Evaluation: Overall we just could not hit a shot and played sloppy with the ball. We got outrebounded, out hustled and outplayed by an always physical DePaul team. This was the first test for a team that has not experienced the Big East yet so I wouldn't be too worried, DePaul looks like they will be able to battle in the Big East. Hopefully Jay can motivate the troops and we can give them a payback game on Jan. 16th at the Pavillion. We posted a team EFF of 75.000 way below our season average while DePaul posted an EFF of 95.000, well above even our season average. Lets hope the young guys learn from this and bring it against Pitt this weekend.

Player Efficiency:
1.) Corey Fisher - 18.000 EFF - .6000 EFF/M
2.) Dante Cunningham - 16.000 EFF - .5333 EFF/M
3.) Reggie Redding - 15.000 EFF - .5769 EFF/M
4.) Antonio Pena - 10.000 EFF - .6250 EFF/M
5.) Dwayne Anderson - 7.000 EFF - .4667 EFF/M
6.) Shane Clark - 5.000 EFF - .1923 EFF/M
7.) Scottie Reynolds - 4.000 EFF - .1250 EFF/M
8.) Malcolm Grant - 2.000 EFF - .1250 EFF/M
9.) Corey Stokes - 0.000 EFF - 0.000 EFF/M

Other Notes: ESPN's broadcasting team was horrendous. They called Jay Wright "Jamie Wright", somehow thought Villanova was good at inbounds plays (if you're a Nova fan you know this is a big problem for us) and used the same phrases and anecdotes over and over again. The broadcast was not an enjoyable one for more reasons than Nova losing, if I ever hear Doris Burke say, "hes a live body", again I'm going to go crazy, she must've said it about 15 times during the game about the same 2 players.

Lets "Wright the ship" and show Pitt what we're really made of.

Player Feature: Antonio Pena: The Next Curtis Sumpter?

Antonio Pena - Forward - #0 - RS Freshman

Ht: 6'8
Wt: 235lbs
From: Brooklyn, NY
School: St. Thomas More (CT)
Key Stats: 5.3ppg - 2.8rpg in 11mpg - .4923EFF/M (4th on Team)

Background: Antonio Pena comes to Villanova from St. Thomas More in Connecticut where he prepped after a ballyhooded career at Lincoln Highschool in Brookyln, NY. While at Lincoln High, Pena was a key player on the famed Sebastian Telfair teams. He has a several cameos in the movie "Through the Fire" in various game highlights where he can be seen dunking the ball on the fast break wearing #41. He was listed as the #75 overall prospect in the 2006 graduating class and given a 4 star recruit ranking by Rivals.com

Villanova: Pena came into Villanova in August of 2006 and it was decided that he would be redshirted after he experienced a nagging minor knee injury that required surgery. He took the redshirt year to expand his game and get even stronger than he already was. The redshirt year paid off.

Pena began the 2007-2008 season a bit shaky but in the month of December he posted averages of 8.7 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 15mpg shooting 61% from the field. These numbers have translated into great efficiency ratings for the month of December: 10.000 EFF and .6742 EFF/M (just behind team EFF/M leader Casiem Drummond) . His minutes should increase significantly with the extended loss of Villanova's starting Center Casiem Drummond. So far this season Pena has shown great finishing ability, constantly dunking the ball whenever he is even close to the rim, something that Villanova has not had in recent seasons. I absolutely love Pena's post game and Coach Wright is beginning to showcase his skills more as evidenced by the various post up plays called for Pena in the LaSalle game. Pena is a do it all type combo forward in the Curtis Sumpter or Ryan Gomes mold and his contributions will be key to the success of this season's team.

Comparisons: I have been looking at Pena's stats closely this season and decided to compare them to Curtis Sumpter's freshman year to get a feel for how well he is progressing. I plan to keep this comparison going throughout Big East play (I will update this article periodically). So far the comparison is quite telling:

Sumpter's Freshman Year:
31 Games: 6.2PPG, 4.12 RPG on 43% from the field 6.806 EFF .3588 EFF/M

Pena's Freshman Year:
11 Games Overall: 5.3 PPG 2.8RPG 5.818EFF .4923 EFF/M
For 6 Games in December: 8.7PPG, 3.7RPG 61% and 10.000EFF .6742 EFF/M

Pena is actually more efficient thus far than Curtis Sumpter was as a freshman, if he keeps his play up he has a chance to be a great forward during his career here.

Season Stat Projections: Pena has been very good in limited minutes thus far and he figures to pick up many of the front court minutes that were left behind by Casiem Drummond 's injury in addition to his usual role of backing up Dante Cunningham. Based on this I expect Pena to get about 17-20 minutes per game and continue his highly efficient play. He is currently scoring .4818 points per minute and grabbing .2545 rebounds per minute based on his season stats. Using this we can project his contributions to be near 8.1ppg and 4.3 rpg in 17+ minutes per game for the rest of the season while keeping his efficiency toward the top of the team rankings.

Comparing our Players with the Nation's Best

I've decided to take my NBA EFF results from yesterday's blog to see how the Villanova Starters stack up with a selected group of exceptional players throughout the Big East and the NCAA to give us an idea of what the EFF quotient means in comparing players.

EFF Leaders

• Tyler Hansbrough - 25.714


• L. Harangody - 21.083


• Earl Clark - 17.846


• OJ. Mayo - 16.917


• Roy Hibbert - 16.273


• Jonny Flynn - 16.273


• Shane Clark VU - 15.700
  
• Wayne Ellington - 15.500


• Scottie Reynolds VU - 15.455


• Derrick Rose - 15.182


• Levance Fields - 14.583


• Dante Cunningham - 14.364


• Casiem Drummond VU - 12.622


• Gerald Henderson - 12.364


• Corey Fisher VU - 11.222


• Chris Lofton - 10.692


• Reggie Redding VU - 9.091
  

EFF/M Leaders

1. Tyler Hansbrough - .8676
   
2. L. Harangody - .8161


3. R. Hibbert - .7047


4. Casiem Drummond VU - .6799


5. Shane Clark VU - .5509


6. Wayne Ellington - .5332


7. Gerald Henderson - .5231


8. Derrick Rose - .5138


9. Levance Fields - .5058


10. Earl Clark - .5058
    
11. Jonny Flynn - .5044


12. Dante Cunningham VU - .4802


13. OJ. Mayo - .4721
    
14. Dom. James - .4596


15. Scottie Reynolds VU - .4545


16. Corey Fisher VU - .4191


17. Chris Lofton - .3819


18. Reggie Redding VU - .3597

This gives a good bearing of where our guys fit in with big name players throughout the NCAA in terms of how efficient they are on the court. Tyler Hansbrough's out of this world 25+ EFF rating is something that few NBA players even have. Based off of this comparison I would say our star players stack up quite well against some of the best talent in college basketball today. Anyone curious as to what Tyreke Evans EFF stats will be next year? We can only hope.

Villanova vs. DePaul Game Preview

Villanova Wildcats vs. DePaul Blue Demons


Thursday January 3rd 9PM ESPN2

Per Game Statistics
(Villanova Advantage in Green)

Points	80.5	75
Rebounds	37.9	36.8
Assists	16.2	15.3
Steals	8.4	7.9
Blocks	3.1	3.5
FGA	60.2	61.4
FGM	27.9	27.09
FG%	46%	44%
FTA	24.27	20.9
FTM	16.63	13.1
Turn Overs	13.1	13.18
Record	10-1	4-7
EFF	93.060	83.210

The Villanova Wildcats will travel to DePaul University to open BigEast play tomorrow evening at 9PM on ESPN2. DePaul came to the Pavillion early last season and handed the Wildcats a crushing defeat, but with that defeat came the break out game from then Freshman Guard Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds hit shots from all over the floor in that contest and gave Wildcat fans a taste of what was to come. Hopefully DePaul's zone defense will allow Villanova to get another break out type game for a Freshman in Corey Stokes.

This year the two teams look vastly different but Wildcat fans should remember the Blue Demon's leading scorer 6-4 Guard Draelon Burns. Burns is averaging 19 points and 3.7 rebounds in his senior season while shooting 36.6% from deep. Expect Reggie Redding and Shane Clark to take turns defending burns with Corey Stokes serving as their backup. 6-10 Freshman Center Mac Koshwal ancors the middle for the Blue Demons averaging 11 points and 8 rebounds in 31mpg He should be a tough defensive assignment for Dante Cunningham and Antonio Pena, both players must stay out of foul trouble and attack the rim early and often to get the big guy out of the game. As for other players of note the Blue Demons have 6-6 Senior Forward Karron Clarke shooting 43% from three point range. This should be the number one thing on Villanova's scouting report, hopefully the Cats can bother Clarke by throwing Redding, Clark and Cunningham at him on the perimeter at any given time, shutting down the three will be very important for the Cats, the Blue Demons shoot 35% from that distance as a team.

Depaul holds their opponents to 78.5 points per game while only scoring 75 themselves while the Wildcats have been scoring 80.5 per game and giving up just over 68.3 points. Villanova also boasts a team EFF of 93.060, 10 points greater than DePauls 82.210, clearly meaning Villanova is the statistically superior team. DePaul's team is very young and should struggle against the pressing and trapping defense employed by Villanova which will lead to turnovers and easy buckets for the 'Cats. Defending the three and keeping our front court players out of foul trouble will be key to starting the Big East season 1-0. Given that DePaul has struggled all season I would expect Villanova to come out victorious if they can play solid defense. Expect Scottie Reynolds to remember what he did against DePaul last season and light the Blue Demons up on their home floor.

Predicted outcome:
Villanova 85 - Depaul 74
Leading Scorer: Reynolds - 25
Leading Rebounder: Cunningham - 10
Leading Assist man: Fisher - 5
Breakout Game: Stokes - 12 points (4-7 3pt)