Sports and Rants with Brett and Pants : Mauled by a Wildcat

Bad basketball… That is all I have to say. This is no longer a rivalry; this is just pure domination on the part of Villanova. It’s time to be honest, Big Five basketball rivalries no longer exist, sure LaSalle and Temple still go at it pretty strong as well as Temple and SJU but Villanova is far beyond any team in the “Big Five.” I think it is official time to say this rivalry is not alive. Villanova students view the Saint Joseph’s Basketball team like they are a joke. They see us as just an opportunity to beat up on the school down Lancaster Avenue. Nova just purely dominated SJU and this was not the first time. The past two meeting Villanova has defeated the Hawks by a combined 58pts. They have won twice in the past ten years. Overall, the Holy War has brought bad basketball. Before the game, there was not a person expecting the Hawks to compete with Villanova. Villanova is 8-0 and ranked 10^th in the country. Nova has a tremendous chance to be in the top 5 by the end of the season. Villanova has made it known recently that they are one the best teams in the country, none the less Philadelphia. But, this game was just terrible basketball and sad to watch for any St. Joe’s fan.

This game did not have many positives to take from it, as Coach Geoff Arnold said this was going to be a learning experience for these young guys. Though a learning experience this game was just tough to watch all around. The team looked as if they were not ready for the big stage against Villanova. Youth got the best of the Hawks today. It’s tough to win games when your best player is going 5-15 from the field with 13pts, and your “ESPN Top Performer” is a walk on player named Brendan Casper. In all honesty, Casper was the best Hawk out on the court today.

Casper played 20 strong minutes with 9 points and 9 rebounds. The kid made the most of an opportunity and proved himself worthy of some minutes in the near future. Hawks fans were reminded of the play style of Halil. Though Casper played well, the rest of the team did not.

Miles, who was the team’s leading scorer last game and has been playing extremely well struggled, as he was on the court for only 9 minutes and fouled out. That is just unacceptable and he would be the first person to tell you that. There needs to be work done to keep him in the game. Adding to that Javon also only played 9 minutes, the two big men for SJU combined for 18 minutes together.

Freshman Guard Shavar Newkirk has not played well in his first eight games of the season, shooting .233 from the field and today going 0-8. Coach Martelli may need to make some changes in the guard role if he wants the team to become more productive.

As I said before do not be surprised if Maschmeyer receives more minutes by the end of this season. It has been great to see how well the Senior Guard has played on defense.

Aaron Brown once again showed his value scoring 7 points in 24 minutes. This brings up the question if there is going to be changes made in the starting lineup soon.

The team has shown flashes of skill and brilliance throughout the season, however today they just lacked everything. Villanova did not have to worry about today’s game, Coach Wright was already thinking about Illinois. Nova is a great team there is no doubt about it and may be in the championship this season, but SJU embarrassed themselves today. There is a lot to take from this game, and for guys like Miles, Demery, and Newkirk this is a learning experience. It looks as though changes in the lineup will have to be made if Coach Martelli wants to compete this season. #THWND

-Brett