Photo credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Photo credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t want to talk about it. But I will.

I have no idea what happened to Villanova. They dropped two of their last three, against Seton Hall, Milwaukee and UCONN. What’s worse is that they barely got by Milwaukee. As I said the other day, this is the problem when you have a shooting team. Jay Wright teams have always had long droughts if shots weren’t falling. So their struggles on Saturday were nothing new. The best team he’s had, in my opinion, was in 2009. They certainly weren’t the most talented, but they were balanced and had size. More importantly, Dante Cunningham could hit mid-range jump shots, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark scored in creative ways, and Scottie Reynolds got to the basket. This prevented the long scoring droughts like we saw in the first half on Saturday night. If one thing wasn’t working, they could try the other thing. This year, the other thing was JayVaughn Pinkston, who couldn’t make a layup on a Fisher Price basket on Saturday. I’d estimate that the Wildcats gave up eight points just because they couldn’t make simple buckets. It’s like the newbie playing NBA 2k who doesn’t realize how long you have to hold square and when to release it. No matter how close you are to the basket or how open you are, the shots don’t fall because your shooter goes up… and then back down… holding the ball before he releases it. That was JVP the other night. The Wildcats’ most talented interior player forgot when to release square.

As for Jay: If there’s been one constant knock on him, it’s been his refusal to run offensive sets. Shoot ’em up, sleep in the streets is a great philosophy… until it isn’t. Players need something to fall back on to get open looks. Jacking up contested threes when the goin’ gets tough is not a sound strategy.

I’m mad. They shouldn’t have lost. Good news? Only James Bell and Tony Chennault are seniors. Villanova will return virtually its entire team next year. They should be a top 10 team to start the year.

Let’s hit it!

 

But first, a word from our sponsors:

Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_09-15-57_AM Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_09-16-09_AM

G shirts. Get one.

Lefty. Meet Steve Carlton at the Sports Vault in the Exton Square Mall on Sunday, April 6 from 2 – 3:30. Details and tickets here.

More. Already have all of our t-shirts? Then might I recommend checking out Philly Phaithful.

Twitter app. Check out Cibos App for sports score in your Twitter timeline. 4.5 stars on iTunes.

Free ride. Uber is sponsoring us this month and offering CB readers a FREE ride up to $20. All you have to do is signup and provide some basic information. Great service. Great offer. Great way to support the site.

Tickets. Great Flyers-Kings tickets at Crossing Broad Tickets right now.

 

The roundup:

The Philly Sports Media Field of 64 has gone national.

Elderly man falls asleep at urinal sans pants.

Marcus Vick vows to bash Eagles fans.

http://youtu.be/xZGwpzh3Gxc

Lost in the DeSean, NCAA distractions were the Flyers, who won their fifth straight, beating the Blues on Saturday, 4-1. They’ve now beaten the Penguins, Blackhawks, Stars and Blues all in a row. But Scott Hartnell can’t be bothered with such details. It’s the Penguins, Blues and whoever was in the middle there:

Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_08-25-28_AM

Simmonds on the respect Craig Berube commands: “He went through the wall and everyone in here is willing to go through the wall for him.”

Penis-named Jets owner Woody Johnson says his team is interested in DeSean Jackson. Never mind the fact that this is essentially tampering.

Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_08-31-09_AM Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_08-31-20_AMNFL exec calls Michael Vick “washed up.”

A scourge continues:

Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_08-39-04_AM Voila_Capture 2014-03-24_08-39-15_AM

Your phone has a better camera, folks. Your phone has a better camera. And it’s lighter.

10k people have already vowed to boycott Jets games. Wonder how Marcus feels about this?

Reuben Frank’s 10 observations from Buffalo on Villanova and St. Joe’s.

Sweet 16 schedule and announcer pairings. Looks like Villanova drew… ahh shit.

Up to four inches of snow tomorrow.

Mark Cuban says the NFL will implode from overextending itself.

NFL officials will now be able to communicate wirelessly on the field.

Apple and Comcast may partner on a streaming TV service. Philly Mag’s take.

A sampling of the new food at CBP.

Sochi Olympic buses will be used in new Russian territory, Crimea.

 

Podcasts

Two new episodes of Crossing Streams last week. Special guest Jay Wright joined me… and Kevin, Dave and I discussed the Philly Sports Media Field of 64. Listen or downloadSubscribe with iTunesListen with Stitcher. All are mobile-friendly links.

A new Cord Snipped is coming this week. Dan and I will discuss Comcast and Apple’s reported teaming up. Gross. Listen or downloadSubscribe with iTunesOr listen with Stitcher. All are mobile-friendly links.