Villanova Pre-game Notes

[acoustimac]

I had a little time on my hands and since we don't know much about the Wildcats (got it right this time) here are a few statistical comparisons.

Games of note:

Baylor - lost 75-70
USF - won 72-50
Creighton - lost 67-46

Why these?
We obviously are familiar with Baylor. The bears aren’t as good this year as in the past. The game was at a neutral site (tournament) as was the USF game.

USF shares some common opponents. They beat Jacksonville by 11 and beat TCU by 7.

Creighton we are familiar with. Guard oriented. Fast. Fundamentally sound. This was a home game for Villanova and they got hammered.

What can you take from it? They haven’t beaten anyone of note, but neither has Iowa State. ISU has had the tougher schedule by far.


Statistically speaking….

‘Nova averages scoring 71 and giving up 58 points per game
ISU averages 81 and gives up 61

Three pointers do go up from this team as they have gone 78 out of 227 or 34%
ISU is “hitting” 32% on 273 attempts

73% free throw shooting and they put up fewer than their opponents (163 to 189)
ISU is making 79% on 171 attempts.

Outbound their opponents by 3 per game (38-35)
ISU averages 44 and gives up 33.

Average SIXTEEN assists per game.
ISU averages a whopping 19 per game

Give up 10 turnovers per game
ISU gives up 13

Individuals

Maddy Siegrist averages 27 points per game. After that Lucy Olsen is the only player averaging double figures at 10.

Maddie Burke is their main three point threat (46% on 57 attempts) followed by Seigrist at 43% (on 49 attempts).

Siegrist (9) and Dalce (8) are their top rebounders.

 

[Cyclad]

I had a little time on my hands and since we don't know much about the Wildcats (got it right this time) here are a few statistical comparisons.

Games of note:

Baylor - lost 75-70
USF - won 72-50
Creighton - lost 67-46

Why these?
We obviously are familiar with Baylor. The bears aren’t as good this year as in the past. The game was at a neutral site (tournament) as was the USF game.

USF shares some common opponents. They beat Jacksonville by 11 and beat TCU by 7.

Creighton we are familiar with. Guard oriented. Fast. Fundamentally sound. This was a home game for Villanova and they got hammered.

What can you take from it? They haven’t beaten anyone of note, but neither has Iowa State. ISU has had the tougher schedule by far.


Statistically speaking….

‘Nova averages scoring 71 and giving up 58 points per game
ISU averages 81 and gives up 61

Three pointers do go up from this team as they have gone 78 out of 227 or 34%
ISU is “hitting” 32% on 273 attempts

73% free throw shooting and they put up fewer than their opponents (163 to 189)
ISU is making 79% on 171 attempts.

Outbound their opponents by 3 per game (38-35)
ISU averages 44 and gives up 33.

Average SIXTEEN assists per game.
ISU averages a whopping 19 per game

Give up 10 turnovers per game
ISU gives up 13

Individuals

Maddy Siegrist averages 27 points per game. After that Lucy Olsen is the only player averaging double figures at 10.

Maddie Burke is their main three point threat (46% on 57 attempts) followed by Seigrist at 43% (on 49 attempts).

Siegrist (9) and Dalce (8) are their top rebounders.

I think this is a must win, must look good tourney for the clones. We have failed our two significant tests so far. Preseason aspirations seemed deserved, but are beginning to appear unrealistic. A lot of games left to play and hopefully we hit our groove finally, but right now I struggle to see a big 12 championship caliber team.
Go clones!

 

[BoxsterCy]

I think this is a must win, must look good tourney for the clones. We have failed our two significant tests so far. Preseason aspirations seemed deserved, but are beginning to appear unrealistic. A lot of games left to play and hopefully we hit our groove finally, but right now I struggle to see a big 12 championship caliber team.
Go clones!

Who else is going to win the Big 12 though? Baylor isn't Baylor and we have the league POY electing to return for a 5th year. If we can't win the league this year we may never win it although the league will be weaker in the future once Texas and OU leave. Texas isn't even ranked and just lost a starter, Aaliyah Moore, to ACL. Sooners play zero defense. That leaves the Kansas schools which I don't see in 1st place. This isn't a year that it will take a true championship caliber team to finish 1st, sort of a perfect storm with Kim leaving and Texas sputtering. Nobody has to go 18-0 or 17-1 to win it all this season. I think 14-4 or 13-5 will take it.

 

[acoustimac]

Who else is going to win the Big 12 though? Baylor isn't Baylor and we have the league POY electing to return for a 5th year. If we can't win the league this year we may never win it although the league will be weaker in the future once Texas and OU leave. Texas isn't even ranked and just lost a starter, Aaliyah Moore, to ACL. Sooners play zero defense. That leaves the Kansas schools which I don't see in 1st place. This isn't a year that it will take a true championship caliber team to finish 1st, sort of a perfect storm with Kim leaving and Texas sputtering. Nobody has to go 18-0 or 17-1 to win it all this season. I think 14-4 or 13-5 will take it.

Which doesn’t bode well for the dance

 

[BoxsterCy]

Who else is going to win the Big 12 though? Baylor isn't Baylor and we have the league POY electing to return for a 5th year. If we can't win the league this year we may never win it although the league will be weaker in the future once Texas and OU leave. Texas isn't even ranked and just lost a starter, Aaliyah Moore, to ACL. Sooners play zero defense. That leaves the Kansas schools which I don't see in 1st place. This isn't a year that it will take a true championship caliber team to finish 1st, sort of a perfect storm with Kim leaving and Texas sputtering. Nobody has to go 18-0 or 17-1 to win it all this season. I think 14-4 or 13-5 will take it.

Just to clarify, I am not necessary saying we WILL win the Big 12 but we should still be considered the favorites in lieu of the current status of the other teams.

 

[Cyclad]

Who else is going to win the Big 12 though? Baylor isn't Baylor and we have the league POY electing to return for a 5th year. If we can't win the league this year we may never win it although the league will be weaker in the future once Texas and OU leave. Texas isn't even ranked and just lost a starter, Aaliyah Moore, to ACL. Sooners play zero defense. That leaves the Kansas schools which I don't see in 1st place. This isn't a year that it will take a true championship caliber team to finish 1st, sort of a perfect storm with Kim leaving and Texas sputtering. Nobody has to go 18-0 or 17-1 to win it all this season. I think 14-4 or 13-5 will take it.

Agree-Solid points.
We might be playing good enough to win a depleted league.
I, like many, was hoping for Top 5 in the country, Top 10 for certain. I guess my aspiration was to be an elite team. Define that how you want, but we are not playing to that level.
I still believe this is an important tourney to demonstrate who we can be vs who we currently are. I just feel we are not playing to our potential. We can right the ship, but it’s time to do so - imho.

Addition - when I say elite, I do not mean South Carolina or Stanford good. They look in another level to me.

 

[mred]

We have a history of getting stronger as the season goes on (more so than most teams, imho). We have the talent, we just need to bring it all together.

 

[BoxsterCy]

We have a history of getting stronger as the season goes on (more so than most teams, imho). We have the talent, we just need to bring it all together.

Truth. Plus we, in spite of returning three top Big 12 starters, are integrating two new players into the mix. Fritz barely played last year and Soares is not only new to the team but new to Div 1. League play is going to be a change with all of the road games but I think we will get even better, maybe show we are a Top 10 team. I think your scenario that we do seem to play better as league play progresses again could be the case this year.

 

[mwwbbfan]

Truth. Plus we, in spite of returning three top Big 12 starters, are integrating two new players into the mix. Fritz barely played last year and Soares is not only new to the team but new to Div 1. League play is going to be a change with all of the road games but I think we will get even better, maybe show we are a Top 10 team. I think your scenario that we do seem to play better as league play progresses again could be the case this year.

If you just look at the game flows we have really only played about 10 bad minutes against two teams that have been to 10 teams this year. Yes the scoring draughts are a little concerning, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to being in a bit of a shooting slump that hopefully will resolve itself and the shooters will get back to their norms. I also think that they will get more comfortable playing with Soares and that will help the efficiency.

 

[Cyclad]

If you just look at the game flows we have really only played about 10 bad minutes against two teams that have been to 10 teams this year. Yes the scoring draughts are a little concerning, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to being in a bit of a shooting slump that hopefully will resolve itself and the shooters will get back to their norms. I also think that they will get more comfortable playing with Soares and that will help the efficiency.

UNI has not proven to be great, and we could not guard them on the perimeter or inside.
I know / in state are tough.

 

[mwwbbfan]

UNI has not proven to be great, and we could not guard them on the perimeter or inside.
I know / in state are tough.

Agree - but that was mostly Soares trying to guard a 6'ish player. Iowa had a similar experience against Drake.

 

[Cynonymous]

If you just look at the game flows we have really only played about 10 bad minutes against two teams that have been to 10 teams this year. Yes the scoring draughts are a little concerning, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to being in a bit of a shooting slump that hopefully will resolve itself and the shooters will get back to their norms. I also think that they will get more comfortable playing with Soares and that will help the efficiency.

We played a lot longer than that bad basketball on both sides, it's just our competition was so bad it didn't matter. Our defense is nowhere it needs to be, but that is the one thing I think will drastically improve through conference play. I don't think our offense will get much better, but getting more comfortable with Soares will help some. I think an uptick in defense will make our offense look better just due to having more chances to score. That alone might be enough to challenge for the Big 12 title, but I wouldn't expect us to have top 10 level team this year. There would have to be drastic changes on offense for that to happen. It's not all doom and gloom as there were some subtle signs of new things vs Jacksonville.

 

[Clonefan32]

Great writeup, and significantly more in depth than my writeup which is simply "Make more shots"

 

[peatyscotch]

I remain optimistic for this season. Not sure we will be top 10, but won't be surprised if we are. Why? Because Ryan is perhaps that only player who has played to expectation so far. Joens is doing well but can be expected to get better as she has not yet hit her stride. Donarski has had a slow start on offence - but not on defense - and that can't last forever; she's too good. Soares is a smart player and getting better; her adjustment to D1 has impressed me and I have a feeling she will respond well to the physicality of the B12. She takes pressure off of Joens to "do it all" for this team. Fritz has her moments and can also be expected to get better as the team progresses. We can and should expect more of our bench; the bench might be my biggest concern right now. So, the ladies have not hit their groove yet, but I just don't see them underperforming all season. This is largely a veteran team that know what needs to be done to win.

 

[Cynonymous]

I remain optimistic for this season. Not sure we will be top 10, but won't be surprised if we are. Why? Because Ryan is perhaps that only player who has played to expectation so far. Joens is doing well but can be expected to get better as she has not yet hit her stride. Donarski has had a slow start on offence - but not on defense - and that can't last forever; she's too good. Soares is a smart player and getting better; her adjustment to D1 has impressed me and I have a feeling she will respond well to the physicality of the B12. She takes pressure off of Joens to "do it all" for this team. Fritz has her moments and can also be expected to get better as the team progresses. We can and should expect more of our bench; the bench might be my biggest concern right now. So, the ladies have not hit their groove yet, but I just don't see them underperforming all season. This is largely a veteran team that know what needs to be done to win.

It really doesn't matter how good they are. Donarski through the bench are limited by the offense. They are not allowed to utilize their high level skills or play connectors from the bench. The offense is simply Emily, Soares, and some screens for looks from Joens and that's it. The only time anyone else sees the ball is if the ball comes back out quickly and swung over late in shot clock. ISO ball greatly suffocates guard play on offense. We'll still win a fair share, but it's not a matter of effort, development, or skill. It is by design everyone else is low usage. Until that changes don't expect much contribution from the rest. It's not their fault at least on offense. Best we can hope for is they hit their shots when they actually get the ball.

 

[ICCYFAN]

Who else is going to win the Big 12 though?
That leaves the Kansas schools which I don't see in 1st place.

I could see KU winning the Big XII - they gave us everything we could handle last season and return the majority of their team. They got the 6'6 post presence we needed, Taiyanna Jackson, who's now comfortable after playing a year of B12 hoops - she plays inside and doesn't steal three's from their guards. Their Greek power forward, Chatzileonti, should be better in her sophomore season. Their three-headed monster at guard includes a slippery point and a pair of ruthless gunners (Kersgieter & Chandler Prater). I like the KU team, meaning we'd better get our act together or they could run away and hide from us in conference play.

 

[acoustimac]

I could see KU winning the Big XII - they gave us everything we could handle last season and return the majority of their team. They got the 6'6 post presence we needed, Taiyanna Jackson, who's now comfortable after playing a year of B12 hoops - she plays inside and doesn't steal three's from their guards. Their Greek power forward, Chatzileonti, should be better in her sophomore season. Their three-headed monster at guard includes a slippery point and a pair of ruthless gunners (Kersgieter & Chandler Prater). I like the KU team, meaning we'd better get our act together or they could run away and hide from us in conference play.

We absolutely dominated KU last year. Neither game was even close.

 

[ICCYFAN]

We absolutely dominated KU last year. Neither game was even close.

Wrong Mac - Come from behind 84-82 victory on 2/17/22 in Allen Fieldhouse. It was a great game!

 

[WartburgClone]

Wrong Mac - Come from behind 84-82 victory on 2/17/22 in Allen Fieldhouse. It was a great game!

. . . we won 85-59 in Lawrence last year and we played them on 2/23/2022. It looks like the game you're talking about was in 2021.

Iowa State Runs Past Kansas In Lawrence, 85-59 - Iowa State University Athletics

LAWRENCE, Kansas – No. 9 Iowa State (23-4, 12-3 Big 12) picked up its 23rd win of the season, matching its regular season record with an 85-59 win at Kansas (19-6,

cyclones.com

 

[ICCYFAN]

. . . we won 85-59 in Lawrence last year and we played them on 2/23/2022. It looks like the game you're talking about was in 2021.

Iowa State Runs Past Kansas In Lawrence, 85-59 - Iowa State University Athletics

LAWRENCE, Kansas – No. 9 Iowa State (23-4, 12-3 Big 12) picked up its 23rd win of the season, matching its regular season record with an 85-59 win at Kansas (19-6,

cyclones.com

Thanks for the correction - I’m slipping as I age - sorry Mac - the seasons all run together! Now that I’ve capitulated, I still like the KU women’s team!