LaSalle Game Notes

Villanova 71 - LaSalle 58

Player Notes:

• Antonio Pena has some great moves in the post. He posted modest numbers but you needed to be at the game to understand his impact and why he impressed me. He went 2-6 from the field but should've been 5-6. Jay was calling plays for him to get him the ball down low and he did a great job getting to the rim with a variety of fakes and drop step hook shot moves. His first basket was off a great post up where he took his man in with a few dribbles and up faked and snuck in for the lay up. Pena is beginning to remind me of Sumpter's post game a bit, but he is far stronger, has more creative spin moves and takes a lot of baby hooks. There were 2 plays in particular where he absolutely leveled his defender with his strength. His missed shots all just rolled out except for one that was just short. I maintain my opinion that he will be a great forward Villanova during his career, the skills are there and hes putting it together on defense. Pena, Cunningham and Drummond at the 4 and the 5 is as strong a front court as we've had in a while.



• Dante Cunningham is a monster on the boards and is actually finishing his lay ups as of late. He has had double figure rebounding in 4 of the past 5 and his post game is improving, he showed some nice moves tonight for easy lay ins. He has really improved his ability to seal his man and pays close attention to his footwork. Dante also had one absolutely nasty block that can be found in the espn.com highlights.
  


• Dwayne Anderson dunks the ball with authority. Both of his made fieldgoals tonight were nasty dunks where he slashed down the left side of the lane to receive passes from Corey Fisher and slammed it home. He played 18 minutes and was incredibly active. He had a great play where he basically ripped the ball out of the hands of a LaSalle player under the rim and bounced it to Dante for the flush. He also had a great block where he got way up to reject it at the front of the rim. It'll be interesting to see if he can get some minutes in BE play, I really like the way Jay is using him as an undersized front court player. He brings great energy and is constantly diving on the floor for loose balls.
  


• During the game i had no idea Scottie Reynolds had 19 points. He was shut down early but got it going toward the end of the first and continued to be solid in the 2nd. He took a few too many deep threes and I don't know why he never passes the ball on the break. He finishes them or gets fouled most of the time, regardless I'd like to see him pass the ball in that situation once in a while.


• Shane Clark didnt get many touches but finished a great no look feed by Malcolm Grant, I'm really not sure why he wasnt as involved tonight, but he had another good game rebounding the ball. He uses his length so well to get his hands on rebounds that he has no business getting.
  
• Stokes and Grant didnt get many minutes and looked pretty shaky in the minutes they played. Grant had a nice no look feed to Clark and drained a three ball on the wing. Stokes needs to get his mind together and hit some jumpers or he will see his minutes begin to decline as Big East play begins.

• Overall a good win to continue Villanova's domination of the Big5. Drummond needs to get back ASAP though, the team needs his presence on the boards to be successful in the Big East. Look for Anderson and Pena to see increased minutes until Drummond is healthy.