That was a really good game on the Main Line tonight that Villanova won, 70-64. Both teams played hard, worked for every possession and pushed each other for all 40 minutes. It certainly made up for what I sat through yesterday.
Here's audio of the postagme press conferences from Bucknell and Villanova.
Let's dig into the numbers a bit, because there were a lot of good ones.
The big stat was rebounds, because just saying that Villanova had a 43-26 advantage isn't enough. Within that, the Wildcats pulled down 20 offensive rebounds to only 17 Bucknell defensive rebounds.
Most of that advantage was built in the second half. Villanova recorded 12 offensive rebounds to seven Bucknell defensive rebounds in the frame, while grabbing 12 defensive rebounds to only two offensive boards for the Bison.
The results were even more evident: Villanova had a 28-10 edge in points in the paint and a 25-8 advantage in second-half points, including a 19-3 margin in the second half.
Having said that, the Wildcats pretty much had to win the game in the paint, because they struggled from the arc while Bucknell absolutely shot the lights out in the first half from beyond the arc. The Bison were 9-for-17 from three-point range, but only made three of 12 two-point attempts.
Bison guard John Griffin, a Philadelphia native who played with Reggie Redding at the Prep, was the main reason for that. Griffin hit six of his 10 three-point attempts in the game, including 5-of-7 in the first half. He only took one two-point shot, and missed it.
Bucknell coach Pat Flannery (also a Philly guy) (thanks Homer) knew full well coming in that perimeter shooting had to be the gameplan, as you'll hear him say in his postgame remarks.
Anyone who's seen his team over the last few years knows that Flannery is an outstanding coach. Today proved it again, as the Bison stuck to that gameplan and executed incredibly well -- not just with the shooting, but in other facets of the offense as well.
Bucknell attempted only nine free throws in the game, and three of them when Griffin was fouled shooting from beyond the arc with nine seconds to play.
Furthermore, the Bison recorded 17 assists to 18 turnovers (10-to-10 in the first half), easily beating Villanova's 10-to-15 ratio (an even worse 3-to-10 at halftime).
But in the second half, the Wildcats were able to play to their strength. By pounding the ball inside and dominating the glass, Villanova was able to wear Bucknell out and wrap up a win that will look quite good come March.
Now, for a change of subject. After the jump, my thoughts on the debate in the comments about what a mid-major is.
Andy Rubin asks:
Are we (Penn) really considered a "mid-major"?
I guess I never really thought that highly of the league in national circles.
Plus, our recent seedings in NCAA play doesnt get us much respect...
I think so, and just about everyone I know would classify Penn as squarely in the middle of mid-major-dom.
Of course, one of those guys is Kyle Whelliston, and given his stature and knowledge of mid-major basketball I will defer to this post on his blog, in which he attempts to set some definitions on what mid-majors are and does a pretty good job of dividing up the conferences in Division I.
You'll note that he classifies the Atlantic 10 as something totally different from everyone else. It's fair to say that my bumping the conference up the way I did in the previous post has to do with the fact that St. Joe's and Temple are local to us, as well as the fact that the conference is based here in Philadelphia.
I don't think the conference sees itself as mid-major, and the way it has run conference events certainly does not make it seem that way. And honestly, the A-10 should consider itself to be at a higher level than mid-majors.
It has far more history and prestige than conferences such as the Missouri Valley, West Coast Conference and CAA, which right now seem to me to be the three pre-eminent mid-major conferences in the country.
Just as importantly, it has and has historically had very good TV deals. Yes, the current CSTV deal stinks if you don't have that channel. But the A-10 used to get on ESPN and even ABC pretty often -- thanks in no small part to Temple's hefty non-conference schedule -- and the only reason why the WCC has a better deal right now is that it can play games every week at midnight Eastern time.
I would also refer you to this post and this post, both of which are essays about the state of mid-major basketball and how schools and conferences in that category struggle for recognition.
And I'd note that way back when, Whelliston's inspiration for starting midmajority.com came when he was a student at Drexel. The original 100 games project began with visits to Drexel and Penn. It is well known that Whelliston loves the Palestra dearly, and it is rumored that he will be paying a visit this coming week for the Philly Classic.
So if this blog should suddenly cease operation at some point in the near future, feel free to believe that it is because Kyle sent some henchmen to knock me off.
Comments (9)
Not to nit pick, but Flannery is not a Philly guy, he is a coal region guy -- Pottsville to be precise.
Posted by Homer | November 18, 2007 11:32 PM
Posted on November 18, 2007 23:32
Is Skip Prosser's kid still on
the staff at Bucknell?
Posted by Jacob | November 19, 2007 8:17 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 08:17
It has far more history and prestige than conferences such as the Missouri Valley, West Coast Conference and CAA, which right now seem to me to be the two pre-eminent mid-major conferences in the country
You mean THREE mid major?
Posted by Brad | November 19, 2007 8:24 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 08:24
oops. fixed.
and yes, mark prosser still is on the staff. this is his fifth year at bucknell.
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/pretzel/nav-commenters.gif)
|
November 19, 2007 9:10 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 09:10
More on the mid majors...
It's fair to say that my bumping the conference up the way I did in the previous post has to do with the fact that St. Joe's and Temple are local to us, as well as the fact that the conference is based here in Philadelphia.
Does the "conference base location" really matter? What is the real impact?
In this day of email, IM, etc, the geography is somewhat transparent.
ACC is based in Greensboro, which isnt exactly Madison Avenue
Big Ten is in Park Ridge IL.
So what that the A-10 has some phones
and an office in Philadelphia.
Its not like there is a Big A-10 logo on top of a building in center city?
Posted by Scott Sherman | November 19, 2007 11:07 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 11:07
Going back to the original question, I don't consider Penn, and definitely not the Ivy League as "mid-major." I know Whelliston is the self proclaimed expert on mid majors, but I don't like the fact that he considers everyone either a power coference or a mid major (with the exception of the "greedy" conferences).
I think to be a mid major you need a realistic shot at winning tournament games, and when it comes down to it, Penn hasn't won a tournament game in over 10 years.
Furthermore, I think to be a mid-major conference you can't have just two teams who win the league (this year potentially to the side). All the standard mid major programs have had multiple teams win tournament games recently.
Posted by klitzman | November 19, 2007 12:37 PM
Posted on November 19, 2007 12:37
Do the teams who arent considered "mid-majors" consider themselves "mid-minors"?
I think they are getting a bit
carried away here.
I agree with Kitzman. No way Penn
is a mid-major. They are a blip
on the radar these days, with
no chance of winning a NCAA game.
Loosing at home to Howard (another
mid-minor, or minor-minor) doesnt
help the cause.
alex
Posted by alex | November 19, 2007 3:46 PM
Posted on November 19, 2007 15:46
Sherman,
I think conference location does matter to some degree. A lot of reporters and editors out there are unfortunately not so connected technologically for geography to not matter.
In other words, it matters that Greensboro is within a short driving distance of Duke, UNC, N.C. State and Wake Forest.
But the more salient point in this case is that the A-10 matters a lot here because a lot of A-10 games are played there with three local teams in the conference.
Similarly, in the Washington area, the ACC is more relevant than the Big East because the Washington media market includes three ACC teams -- Maryland, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
New York has three Big East teams in its immediate area: St. John's, Seton Hall and Rutgers, and you can add Syracuse and Connecticut to the "local" group of teams because of the alumni bases.
(And if you're wondering: Yes, Blacksburg is almost double the distance from Washington that Philadelphia is. But for whatever reason, the Washington media think Virginia Tech is a local team. I know the Hokies fans don't like it when they get tweaked about that...)
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/pretzel/nav-commenters.gif)
|
November 19, 2007 10:25 PM
Posted on November 19, 2007 22:25
Thanks for the Bucknell props. I've attended many Bucknell games over the last four years (okay, I'm something of a bandwagon jumper) and continue to be impressed by the program Pat Flannery has built. Outside of the Patriot League, the Bison are typically at an athletic disadvantage, yet they always work hard, play as a team, and are extremely competitive. While league games at Sojka Pavilion are a great college basketball environment, it's fun to watch this Bucknell team take on the big boys...and do well. After losing every major player except John Griffin from their NCAA tourney teams of 2005/2006, I wasn't expecting quite that level of play from this extremely young squad. However, they are certainly proving me wrong and I look forward to a great season and hopefully another invite to the Big Dance. We'll see how they fare against other Philly schools LaSalle and Drexel later this year. It should be fun.
Posted by Eric | November 20, 2007 8:26 AM
Posted on November 20, 2007 08:26