December 4, 2039
@#1 Villanova 78, LaSalle 46
When you aren't shooting well, you can still win basketball games if you keep your opponent from shooting well, too. That's the formula we employ against the Explorers, and it works a treat.
Zayden Calhoun (20p/8r, 4-5 from three) does manage to shoot well.
Chris Wilson (20p/9r/2b) scores a lot of points, but he takes a lot of shots, too (20 FGA).
John Cannon (13p/4r) continues to be a source of instant offense. Zak Marshall (7r/4b) does big man things; Nick Spencer (7p/6a) does guard things.
Record: 7-1.
December 8, 2039
Code:
#3 Villanova 94, Amherst 48
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Amherst (2-3, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Darin Oliver C 24 1-2 1-2 1 2 0 2 3
Bill Bennett PF 32 2-6 0-0 2 7 2 0 4
Emmett Sturgill SF 26 4-8 6-8 1 2 0 2 15
W. Burmeister SG 25 2-8 1-1 0 1 1 3 6
Franklin Garcia PG 24 3-5 0-0 0 1 0 1 8
Henry Burden SF 20 2-4 4-5 0 1 2 4 8
Jeramy Morey PG 20 0-5 0-0 1 2 1 3 0
Joseph Smith SG 10 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Tim Wagner C 8 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 1 2
Kevin Mink PF 10 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 19 (D.Oliver 1, B.Bennett 2, E.Sturgill 5,
W.Burmeister 2, F.Garcia 3, H.Burden 2, J.Morey 1,
J.Smith 2, T.Wagner 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 4 (B.Bennett 1, W.Burmeister 1, F.Garcia 1,
H.Burden 1)
3P FGs: 4-12 (E.Sturgill 1-2, W.Burmeister 1-3,
F.Garcia 2-3, H.Burden 0-1, J.Morey 0-2, J.Smith 0-1)
Villanova (8-1, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Forrest Curl C 30 5-11 2-6 1 6 3 2 12
Jordi Ballester PF 30 4-7 0-0 2 11 2 3 8
David Lovett SF 25 11-16 4-6 7 7 1 4 29
Nick O'Brien SG 33 3-10 4-4 0 1 4 3 11
Kai Smith PG 30 5-7 0-0 3 5 7 1 12
John Locklear C 14 2-2 0-0 3 6 0 2 4
Derek Lamb SF 16 0-1 0-0 1 2 4 2 0
DeAndre Brown SG 10 3-4 2-3 0 1 1 0 9
John Cannon SF 6 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 1 3
Nick Spencer PG 5 2-2 1-1 0 0 0 0 6
Turnovers: 10 (F.Curl 2, J.Ballester 1, D.Lovett 1,
N.O'Brien 5, K.Smith 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (J.Ballester 1)
Steals: 9 (F.Curl 1, D.Lovett 2, N.O'Brien 1, K.Smith
2, J.Locklear 1, D.Brown 2)
3P FGs: 9-20 (D.Lovett 3-4, N.O'Brien 1-8, K.Smith 2-3,
D.Brown 1-2, J.Cannon 1-2, N.Spencer 1-1)
Player of Game: SG David Lovett (VLNV)
See what I did there?
I should have thought about how the new teams in my world would stock their rosters for their first year: with a motley crew of freshman walk-ons. If I had, I would have never invited them to play Villanova.
Since I can't swap poor Amherst for another opponent, I decide to trust this game to the Villanova reserves and walk-ons.
It goes very well.
Jordi Ballester and
Forrest Curl operate well inside; Jordi gives off some strong Blue Collar Man vibes, and Forrest creates some offense. Promising first year
Kai Smith runs the point with flair and composure.
Nick O'Brien struggles a bit, but still finishes with 11 points and 4 assists. And
David Lovett absolutely balls out.
We have one more game against newcomers on our schedule, and I'll coach it the same way.
Record: 8-1.
December 12, 2039
@#3 Villanova 84, Northwestern 34
The first string returns to action tonight and spank the visitors from Chicagoland hard.
DeAndre Brown excels with 20 points and 5 steals.
Zak Marshall controls the paint, grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking a half dozen shots.
John Cannon knocks down 4 of 7 three-pointers and finishes with 18 points.
Zayden Calhoun, still enduring a shooting slump, scores 12 and rebounds 5.
We're still not making our threes (11-for-33, which is almost exactly our success rate for the season), and we took a lot of them despite my adjusting down our tendency to shoot them.
Record: 9-1.