Stony Brook at Villanova

With the start of the new 2007-2008 season we are introducing a new blog feature, the Game Critic, where we will be analyzing college basketball games. Or at least attempting to do so :)

The first game under the microscope is Stony Brook visiting Villanova. Our private jet was in the shop for an oil change, so we had to watch the game on TV. The TV broadcast had some technical issues, and for a while it was shown anamorphically squished which made the players look like seven footers with the physique of Ally McBeal.



After the video and audio problems were sorted out, we sadly discovered that Corey Fisher was not going to play because of an injury. This was the main reason we booked this game! But that was good news for Scottie Reynolds as he had the ball to himself. I imagine when Corey Fisher returns, Jay Wright is going to petition the NCAA to allow two balls to be in play.

Speaking of the NCAA, the zebras were enforcing the new "stay in your box Coach" rule. Jay Wright got his with a T (technical) after he was warned to stay in his box.

Villanova looked good in the second half, and this is going to be a fun team to watch if they are allowed to play run and gun. And this was without Corey Fisher! One potential problem I see for Villanova, especially in the big Big East is that their best forwards are all tweeners. This does not necessarily condemn them to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney, but it will be interesting to see how they can handle big big men offensive and defensively. Casiem Drummond is their only big big man and he is raw (to put it nicely). Antonio Pena is probably their next in line in terms of power-size. If the name sounds familiar, yes, he was Sebastian Telfair's teammate in high school at Lincoln. While Telfair had a whole career it seems in the NBA, Pena is just having his first full college season (after prep school and redshirt).

The game itself was over when Dwayne Anderson had an impressive dunk after a hockey assist from Scottie Reynolds.

Villanova's flexibility is something else to watch. Jay Wright could go to a four-guard line-up or he could go to one point guard (Reynolds or Fisher) and two tall wings, or any other possible combination.

Shane Clark had a career high by the way, scoring inside and out, making Gary Williams sweat even more ;-) As you may recall, Shane Clark got started in the middle of the season, so his progression has been a bit out of phase. But he has a chance for a major breakout if he continues to play like he did tonight.

Hey, how about the little guy? How about Stony Brook? Their star was former Karl Hobbs wing Ricky Lucas who transferred out for some more PT. Stony Brook also showcased a three point shooter, jersey #5, Michael Tyree. For those not familiar with this Long Island school, they are members of the America East conference, a low major conference according to Street and Smith. But they are planning to play football in the Big South? It may sound like I'm making it up, but I'm not!