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Villanova

He had a look on his face like he knows he's in over his head.


Kind of like this … ?
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Good hope they keep losing. And also leaving fordham after one year.
 
I posted on another thread I'm amazed that people thought Duke and 'Nova would not skip a beat with their HoF coaches retiring. There is nothing special about either school that made them great at basketball, it was the coaches. Huge blow to the Big East especially.
 
Also wonder if Jay saw the writing on the wall? Knew Xavier and UConn loaded?
 
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I posted on another thread I'm amazed that people thought Duke and 'Nova would not skip a beat with their HoF coaches retiring. There is nothing special about either school that made them great at basketball, it was the coaches. Huge blow to the Big East especially.
I predicted long ago that the big east would very slowly fade from relevance because they were a basketball only league, and that becomes a long term disadvantage

Nova kept the league propped up, longer than I thought. Now they have UConn assuming the lead role, which I did not anticipate joining the big east ..... without UConn the league would look even more a mess
 
I am not writing off Neptune, he did great at Fordham in Year 1 and Cam Whitmore, their 5* frosh, just got back from a broken wrist.

Their best player, Justin Moore, blew out his Achilles last spring and he's practicing now, but there's a fear that if he plays now and doesn't perform, his 2nd round NBA draft grade will fall apart. He is probably going to shut it down and sit out at this rate.

The biggest mystery in terms of Kyle Neptune, is playing Archidiacono over 2022 guard, Mark Armstrong. Arch gives them absolutely nothing on offense and forces everything on the perimeter, into Caleb Daniels, who hasn't turned down a shot attempt in two years.

I won't mention how poorly used, former Rutgers Prep 4* Trey Patterson is being wasted away down there. He appears to be a little overrated, but for a team willing to ride an undersized Center Eric Dixon, good luck with that. He is a Rashod Kent type of big, that bullies his way into points, but any opponent with size in the Big East, shuts that type of player down inside......which then forces him out on the perimeter, asking him to take 15 foot jumpers, to try and give their guards and Whitmore room to drive.

Jay Wright knew the ride was close to ending, once Moore went down and Colin Gillespie left after playing a 5th season.

I saw Armstrong and Simpson play in an all star game in Connecticut this spring, that could have been a dynamic tandem. I am eager to see how long Armstrong is willing to sit behind an inferior player or decides to transfer out. One backup guard, Brizzi already transferred during the holiday break. I can't imagine Patterson staying another season there either.
 
Jay Wright is not the choir boy people think he is and Villanova likewise. A key administrative person at RU once pointed out that no basketball player ever flunks out of VU and it's not because of the right kind of academic support. If you are able to go back to Wrights days as an assistant at Las Vegas you'll find a history of a certain close relative accused of writing papers for players.
 
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I am not writing off Neptune, he did great at Fordham in Year 1 and Cam Whitmore, their 5* frosh, just got back from a broken wrist.

Their best player, Justin Moore, blew out his Achilles last spring and he's practicing now, but there's a fear that if he plays now and doesn't perform, his 2nd round NBA draft grade will fall apart. He is probably going to shut it down and sit out at this rate.

The biggest mystery in terms of Kyle Neptune, is playing Archidiacono over 2022 guard, Mark Armstrong. Arch gives them absolutely nothing on offense and forces everything on the perimeter, into Caleb Daniels, who hasn't turned down a shot attempt in two years.

I won't mention how poorly used, former Rutgers Prep 4* Trey Patterson is being wasted away down there. He appears to be a little overrated, but for a team willing to ride an undersized Center Eric Dixon, good luck with that. He is a Rashod Kent type of big, that bullies his way into points, but any opponent with size in the Big East, shuts that type of player down inside......which then forces him out on the perimeter, asking him to take 15 foot jumpers, to try and give their guards and Whitmore room to drive.

Jay Wright knew the ride was close to ending, once Moore went down and Colin Gillespie left after playing a 5th season.

I saw Armstrong and Simpson play in an all star game in Connecticut this spring, that could have been a dynamic tandem. I am eager to see how long Armstrong is willing to sit behind an inferior player or decides to transfer out. One backup guard, Brizzi already transferred during the holiday break. I can't imagine Patterson staying another season there either.
Armstrong hasn't been good. 22.5% on threes. 6 assists to 9 turnovers in the past five games. Take out the Georgetown game (4-6 on twos, 6-6 at the line) and he's been even worse. I do agree at this point in the season it's worth playing him over Arch to get him experience going into next year but playing him more early in the season wouldn't have changed anything about their record now.
 
I wouldn't be too quick to bury Villanova's ability to continue to compete in the Big East. It's not like they had no basketball history before Jay got there. No one should be surprised that UConn has leveraged its BE membership effectively. The AAC was clearly not a good fit for them. With Hurley they will be in the mix every year and may now be the premiere program in the conference. Not sure there is any other programI would put above Villanova over the long term going forward.

Whether Neptune is the right guy remains to be seen. He sat next to Jay for about 7 years and did do a nice job at Fordham last year. The initial results suggest a short honeymoon period. There is talent on that roster but right now they seem to be underperforming. Hawk laid out some of the issues well. Moore is a big loss. They are never a particularly big team but always had good size on the wings and ran a nice offense featuring numerous guys who can hit 3 point shots. Under Jay, the sum always seemed greater than the parts despite many being high level recruits.

I think Jay was not only burnt out but also perhaps a little disenchanted with the NIL and Transfer trends. They could have easily pushed a guy who really didn't have anything more to prove, to take at least a break for a season. If he wants to coach again, he can pretty much have any open job he wants either in college or the NBA.
 
Also wonder if Jay saw the writing on the wall? Knew Xavier and UConn loaded?
No way.

Jay Wright has two national championship rings and you could practically write nova in as the BE champ every year recently. There’s no way he was concerned about being leapfrogged by any BE team.
 
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I only watched the last five minutes or so of that game but Nova looked horrible.

Turns out we didn’t miss out on much with Trey Patterson too.
 
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Only saw the end of the game but that is a bad loss. Hinkle has not been kind to them over the years but they really needed this one to get things turned around.
 
They are bad. Given Jay’s sudden departure you really do wonder… If he thought he could win another championship he’s not walking away.
 
Wasnt there something about Jay being disillusioned by the portal and the NIL and just didnt feel like dealing with it? He's accomplished all there is to accomplish. Why go through those headaches?
 
Wasnt there something about Jay being disillusioned by the portal and the NIL and just didnt feel like dealing with it? He's accomplished all there is to accomplish. Why go through those headaches?
I’d step away too if I was in his shoes. Protect your legacy and maybe take a shot at the NBA if you want back in
 
My thought was coach left bc he either didn't want to compete in the NIL era or didn't think Nova had what it took to compete in NIL
 
This is an opportunity for Rutgers to establish itself has the team to go to in our area. UCONN will be tough but they seem to recruit more nationally and with Syracuse also on the decline this could be a chance to start gaining some serious recruiting momentum in the area. The longer Syracuse and Nova are down the easier it is for Pike and Co to recruit players that think of us as at the very least one of the more successful teams in the area. Maybe I’m being too hopeful and we’ll see if this streak lasts but I see it as an opportunity.
 
My thought was coach left bc he either didn't want to compete in the NIL era or didn't think Nova had what it took to compete in NIL
He openly said as much.

Funniest part being that Nova under Wright was a known cheater paying players to attend Nova.

Basically he bitched out because it all became legal.

The college landscape is changing (obviously), but the Big East is going to have to scratch and claw for its place in the national spotlight.

Everything is shifting towards the big boys being front and center and everyone else taking a back seat.
 
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Wonder if the Kentucky job would temp Jay. Their fans are calling Cal’s ouster.
 
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