35-15 at half. Nova’s defense is completely suffocating TN. Zero offensive flow for TN.
I think Nova gives a snapshot of what Muss wants to see for Arkansas. Especially from a defensive standpoint. Man, they are great on defense.
Stupid announcers just talked about the SEC and mentioned the top teams as KY, TN, and Bama among others. I think they mentioned Auburn as a 4th, but not certain. No mention of Arkansas.
Are you surprised not being mentioned? I do like not having much attention with this young group to jell b4 we do start to get recognized.
On this, it’s not about the attention, we are already getting all the national attention. In every national poll out there, we are anywhere from 1st to 3rd in the SEC. This was just a color guy who had not done his homework about the SEC.
I got ya.
Villanova is an incredibly disciplined team. Tennessee is good, but Villanova overall is just in another stratosphere.
And Nova already lost an overtime game at UCLA
Villanova is a whole different animal. I’ve heard that Villanova’s coaching staff tells recruits that if you want to be one and done Villanova is not the place for you.
Jay Wright loves hard nose, young men that they can develop. I love watching them play. Lots of good players in the NBA right now from Villanova. I love watching Jalen Brunson play for the Mavs.
I see similar philosophies in offense, defense, and team age and experience make-up between Nova (Wright) and Muss. This season Nova’s starters are 3 seniors, 1 Jr and 1 soph. The Hogs’ primary starters (5 most minute guys) are 3 seniors and 2 sophs.
Nova has a primary 6th man - a junior guard. Muss has a primary 6th man, a senior guard. A big disparity in size though - 6’5" to 5’7".
Nova’s starters are 6’8", 2 6’7s, 6’4" and 6’3". The Hogs’ starters are 6’10", 2 6’6"s, 6’4 and 6’2". Almost exactly the same average team height.
The big difference - Muss has 2 unicorns, Connor and Lykes. Wright has no unicorns. Muss also gets his “experience” differently. To date, Muss’ experience is gained mainly through the transfer portal and Wright’s is through his own team development.
Defensive similarities. Both play 95% tight man to man defense, with switching on P&Rs.
Offensive similarities. Both want a high number of passes. Wright seems to be a bit more play structured than Muss at the current time. Muss would probably want more structure once the newbies get comfortable in his systems.
I think both Muss and Wright are among the top 5-7 coaches in college basketball.
Great post Harley!
Nova has Collin Gillespie, the super senior whose injury late last season derailed their hopes. As I remember he dipped his toe in the NBA draft pool then decided to come back. That’s what we don’t have, a super senior.
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