Villanova- Game 2

This could be a great win but it is obviously by no means a "must win" like last night. i think we need to play balamou, alibegovic, and stewart more as we are playing with house money and dont want anyone hurt going into the post season. by no means should we bench our best players though.

Im driving down to the game and meeting Redmen07 and a few SJu fans down there to see an upset!

Cant wait for Pats and Genos before the game!
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you pre game them ? oh man my stomach would go crazy if we were in a close game after that. strictly post game meals for my stomach
 
Here's really the deal.

Last time Nova's game plan, reinforced by a screaming Jay Wright early in the second half, was to take the ball hard right at Obekpa and Pointer. Not genius, but was the correct strategy. St. John's has to have a plan to counter this that doesn't involve Pointer and Obekpa leaving their feet to challenge everything. Again our guards must swarm like bees to double down in the paint, and make Nova pay for ramming the ball inside ill-advised. At the same time they must cover the 3 on kickouts. Not an easy task, but doable.

On offense, we must continue to move the ball with precision and purpose, knowing that the ball moves much faster than defenders. Suddenly we have THREE 3 point weapons, and each has been deadly in big moments lately. The transition game must be in full gear, and our guys have been running teams ragged trying to cover, and getting many high percentage looks as a result. We jsut need to be a little more careful in not trying to do too much and throw home-run passes that cause turnovers.

That being said, I like our chances if we can play to our advantages, and negate theirs. Nova will and should be favored, but I know Wright will have his team ready and not taking us for granted in the least.
 
Key for me is that Dom Pointer is not the same player he was when we lost to Nova on January. I think if he plays the way he's been playing and if we can get Branch back we have a shot.
 
Nova, particularly Arcidiannoying, is very adept at drawing fouls. That's a real problem for a team with a short rotation. Recently we have been very good in that regard, actually beating opposition to FT bonus level. Hopefully we maintain our discipline & continue that. We have also been limiting our turnovers, especially in first half, which really helps, stating the obvious.
 
Key for me is that Dom Pointer is not the same player he was when we lost to Nova on January. I think if he plays the way he's been playing and if we can get Branch back we have a shot.
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Don't forget Sheed was awful that game.
 
We more often than not play the role of counter-puncher. The only way we can beat Nova is to take it to them and make them adjust to us. Drive inside and watch their defense collapse. Drive down and draw fouls and kick it out. Do that relentlessly and a few times per possession and a few passes over the defense to make their defense work inside/out and side to side. Get some guys in trouble and get them out of their comfort zone. That is how we press our advantage. Waiting for blocks and transition baskets won't be enough.
 
Winning at Nova on Senior day is a tall task. I get the argument to rest our guys but i say play our starters, play our game and see where we stand. BET will be demanding if we make a deep run. 3 games in 3 days after a long season is tough. I'd love to win it all, then get a Friday night matchup in the NCAAs though...
 
This could be a great win but it is obviously by no means a "must win" like last night. i think we need to play balamou, alibegovic, and stewart more as we are playing with house money and dont want anyone hurt going into the post season. by no means should we bench our best players though.

Im driving down to the game and meeting Redmen07 and a few SJu fans down there to see an upset!

Cant wait for Pats and Genos before the game!
Click to expand...

Add a touch of JDR just to lean on people.
 
Bench will need minutes. Concerned about everyone playing 40 minutes last night, and Nova having an extra day rest.
 
Bench will need minutes. Concerned about everyone playing 40 minutes last night, and Nova having an extra day rest.
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I am sure even if we needed him to Branch will not be ready yet anyway and there is absolutely no need to play him. I am sure veeryone else, unless Obekpa is really banged up will play. They shouldn't have to play 40 though. They should play some of the bench guys that have played at various points some minutes. Of course some will complain when those guys do play.
 
Bench will need minutes. Concerned about everyone playing 40 minutes last night, and Nova having an extra day rest.
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I am sure even if we needed him to Branch will not be ready yet anyway and there is absolutely no need to play him. I am sure veeryone else, unless Obekpa is really banged up will play. They shouldn't have to play 40 though. They should play some of the bench guys that have played at various points some minutes. Of course some will complain when those guys do play.
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I agree w you. Keep playing DLO 40 min a game and he will lapse before the NCAAs. Branchs injury hurts.
 
Winning at Nova on Senior day is a tall task. I get the argument to rest our guys but i say play our starters, play our game and see where we stand. BET will be demanding if we make a deep run. 3 games in 3 days after a long season is tough. I'd love to win it all, then get a Friday night matchup in the NCAAs though...
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I agree that we should play our game but I think the team plays better when Amar and Felix get 1st half PT. Depending upon the team a few minutes from JDR can be helpful too. You can argue that Felix is a liability on offense but I think we can close out games better if our starters don't have to kill it for 40 minutes and for the BET that is even more important.
 
Like it or not we need minutes from Stewart, Balamou, Alibegovic and maybe either Jones/De La Rosa.
 
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