#6 R.P.I. Villanova vs. #233 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball has an opt-in game vs. the mere #3 in most national men’s basketball Division-One polls.

The hoopin’ hardwood Hokies have a real live opportunity here. To prolly get worked is the R.A.T.T. only thing to say. Tho’ time is a wasting… and this is a born of temporal necessity pocket-sized preview. So, let’s Roland Vincent your Wildcatting Massimino, let’s get cracking and Edward your Pinkney, and go-go-go. As you wanna know who is gonna win this one and by how much, right? So, read on to finds… out!

Villanova Head Coach: Jerold Taylor “Jay” Wright Jr.: Age=58, 471–182 (.690) overall, and 471–182 (.721) @’Nova. Has a rep’ for mega recruiting, nearly: selecting.
A little defense/rebounding with enough O and in-game coaching the verb.
$7,750,000.oo!!!

Student-Athlete Wright is a graduate of Council Rock High School North in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. During his senior season, he impressed scouts with a 69-point performance against rival Malvern Prep. He graduated from Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1983, where he played on the basketball team and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

He is currently the men’s head coach at Villanova University, a position he has held since 2001. He previously served as head coach at Hofstra University (1994–2001), leading the program to NCAA Tournament appearances in both 2000 and 2001.

Wright has coached, as a head coach or assistant coach, basketball teams representing the United States three times in international competitions. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2005 World University Games as head coach, and was an assistant coach in the 2000 World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Tournament. Wright coached the American team in the 2007 Pan Am Games to a fifth-place finish, with a 3–2 record. Ergo, international experience is not wanting here as most do not quite fill-out a truly Global resumè such as this.

Wright has led the Villanova Wildcats to six Big East conference championships and 14 NC2A Tournament appearances in his 19 seasons as big whistle. Wright took Villanova to the Final Four in 2009. Wright then led Villanova to the 2016 NCAA Championship, beating North Carolina, and the 2018 NCAA Championship, clipping Michigan. Wright is widely regarded to be one of the best active coaches in the NCAA.

Daddy Wright is married to Patrica Wright (née Reilly).
The couple has one daughter, Reilly, and two sons, Taylor and Colin.

Dapper Wright is a two-time winner of The Runway to the Fashionable Four, an award given by Tim Capstraw to the best-dressed coach in college basketball from 1998 until 2002.

Villanova at a glance:

• 13th most 3-point Attempts!!
• 18th most FTA’s!
• 38th in assisting.
• 55th in Rebounding Margin.
• 58th in FG percentage O.
• ‘Nova is not ranked less than 155 (Turnovers Forced) in anything outta the 32 D-1 men’s metrics I Team-Track! (wow!!!)

Returning Starters=3

Villanova Strengths:

• One #24, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: a highly-skilled Wing (SF/PF) player, who brings a wide array of tools to the court. Namely, J.R-E. brings: 23 ppg, 9 rpg, on 65% shooting. He sucks. Cut him now! Beyond that? This 6′9″, 230 lb. super-Soph. is legit. Very! And he looks like he could add a pound or five or ten on tape pretty easily to boot. No.14 recruit in America per ESPN. Tabbed the 2018 Gatorade Kansas State Player of the Year …earned a gold medal representing USA Basketball at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Started all six games and averaged 10.7 ppg. and a team-leading 8.5 rpg. Daddy Earl started at L.s.u. and KU, then over in Spain as roundballs go. So, little Earl, he has the N.b.a. D.n.a.’s. 50% from 3-point land, so far; with a swat and low 70’s on FTA’s. Plus a whopping +225% increase in scoring this year from last and you have to wonder how long Mister Ro.Earl will ‘Nova last?
• Justin Moore is said to be: “A savvy two-way guard with size and a complete game.” NTTAWWT. At 6′4″, 210 lbs. as a sophomore year 2-Guard; Justin is a powerfully-built potential lead-G who is whispered to be a: “star in the making”. As Moore does mo’ off-the-bounce (5 FTA’s) and beyond the arc (45%) than most backcourters do in the era of specialization itself suggests. 6 rpg does not hurt, neither does a couple of dimes dropped just for fun. This is a likely Pro’ kid… only Q&A is… export or domestic? Although he does have a history of broken bones in his left-hand (St.Julia bless). And yet Justin seems to arrive just in time, in Tourney play where he ups his digits straight across the board. And that’s a G.M. or a really ‘clutch’ sign.
• 6′7″, 233 lb. final-year P/F Jermaine Samuels is your lowercase sized “Four” turned worker-bee and sweat-breaker down in the paint. He leads the ‘Cats with 7 rpg and chips in with 7 ppg as well. Kinda a glue guy and the only real Veteran leader that ‘Nova currently courts in their rotation. Said to be: “underrated” by Lindy’s magazine. This from a kid who was very highly thought of and likewise highly sought after as an S/F outta high school. Lindy’s Big East Most Versatile tag affixed, here.

  

• Collin Gillespie is a: 6′3″, 19o lb. Sr. season Pt.G who nets you a third-best 13 ppg on a first-best near 6 apg. The 89% FT shooting leads the way although Collin is not a pure-shooter (40% FGA’s, 31% on 3’s) per se from the floor. More of a hard-nosed hardboiled type of “One” with some street in him and some very odd-ball (palming violation) looking handles underneath that. Still yet, he does have a Philly H.S. based Pa. or Keystone State Championship bling where he was more of a scholastic outburst type of knifey scorer. Kinda an auxiliary Coach-on-the-Floor or a mini-me Bill Russel per the same. Very coachable, one preview even called him: “a coach’s dream”. And you just do not see yesteryear praise like that falsely bestowed today. Ditto the nearly surprising call from Lindy’s preview mag’ of: “Big East Player of the Year” here. wow. Impressive… and Eye musta missed sompthin’, right?

Villanova Weaknesses:

• Not much as a #3, right?
• Backcourt did not grade as high as frontcourt did is the only picadillo Eye see.
• Critics say that Jay does anything other than jaywalking his scheduling. As Coach Wright would prolly scrimmage N.B.A. to lift his R.P.I. for the N.C.A.A.’s if he only could. i.e. ‘Nova gets done O.O.C. most years where as others go scheduling diabetes with cupcakes galore.

Wildcat Bench: (depth=3 maybe 4 best I can quick-look glean):

Cole Swider is a 6′9″, 230 lb. Jr. year back-up frontcourter on a ‘Nova pine-squad that is pretty frontcourt heavy. (not as much perimeter support to be found here).  Cole is said to be a 5 ppg, and 4 rpg relief pitcher who pitches his body in and throws around the same. This is not a contact shy finesse baller; not at all. The book says that Cole is a: “pick-n-roll specialist” who knows his free others-up role.

There are three other guys getting spot-minutes here (7 mpg or less).

Centerville, Va. escapee Brandon Slater (6′6″, 211 lb. Jr. Wing) is prolly the alpha sub’.
Tho’ he’s been off to start this year. As another hand-break (St.Julia bless again) kid.
As this kid was ESPN’s no.51st baller just a couple of years back.

And more was expected, here.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Wildcats who could claw @Tech=6 or 7.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… I’ma typing just as fast as I can Mrs. Disibbio!

(local first-school keyboarding class instructor props insert (_____) here).

---

Nevertheless, it is most impressive the Tourney-heads got their back-up list together this quickly.

Very much like boxing with “dark matches” and “standbys” and “fill-ins” on temporary contractual P.P.V. retainer.

Frankly, I’ma kinda taken aback that Villanova took this nearly instantaneous short-work?

Or, is it rather that… these Wildcats have absolutely no
Hokiebird leftovers
phobia at all❓

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for… a December raincheck once it starts to snow.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is actually up +5% in shooting percentage margin (nearly all on noticeably statistically superior D); VeeTee is again up a shocking +8% in 3-point percentage margin (mostly on sharpshooting O); and yet ‘Nova us up a very useful looking +11 boards in rebounding margin, already!

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… in shooting percentage margin, in 3-point percentage margin and in rebounding margin… or it says we should give this another game, or; three!

VeeTee is up 3% at the charity stripe for the year.
‘Nova is +2 in R&R (in theory); tho’ the short/fast travel docket does what to them?

VeeTee is .ooo as a neutral; whereas ‘Nova is .ooo when Swiss.

The Call...

No.10 Net Ranking Villanova vs. no.148 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

I am sorry for the brevity… tho’ I only have 16-fights, 1 state semi-final playoff contest, and 2-hoops games to cover in a 29-hour window sans any/all cellophane give/take.

A.K.A. … WAR java beans in my bloodstreams!!!

–oOo–

After that?

Short notice or not… the odds are R.A.T.T. long here men.

To type anything else is to be nearly everyone else.
And with St.Andrew’s Day looming?

Eye ain’t here to blow smoke up yah kilt(s).

⇐⇔⇒

That rightfully all said and rightfully firmly in place… catching a superior hardwood club on short-notice is prolly the best way to catch them during halting Holiday travel connecting and delaying this/that. In particular, in 20-20 hindsight Eye reckons.

And… VeeTee graded out pretty dang well statistically vis-a-vis when I and Coach Spock ran the always science-fact numbers.

Objectively, vs. #3 (with 19 1st-place votes)?
We should get waxed. Granted.
Truthing 1o1…

Subjectively, taking a no.3 on short-notice?
We (appear) to be closer than I had (initially) thought.
Go fig’, as the data-mining really took me aback. Mo’ than a little…

And as this year just don’t make no damn sense anywho…
paging: “Les Henson” …right?

🙏🏀🙏

(84% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=79, Villanova=77

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**