OU Villanova

[Bball Girl]

OU is one of the best passing teams I've seen...Rizzotti (http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/colleges/basketball/ncaawomen/stories/031802dnsponcaaou.c7667.html)

Two different styles at play tonight..one very deliberate and one very uptempo.

So OU fans...what do you think are keys to this game?

[swok34]

run, run, run like the wind........Villanova plays a very deliberate offense to slow the tempo of the game. OU will have to play their own game of run and gun, if they do, Villanova won't be able to stay on the court. If Villanova manages to hynotize them or put them to sleep........and Villanova is hitting perimeter shots, it could be a game.

Here are a couple of interesting quotes from today's paper:

Villanova coach Harry Perretta talking about yesterday's practice..."We practiced the same way we would against Connecticut. Our scout team didn't have to dribble the ball. They just got it and ran up the floor. That was the only way we can simulate OU's speed."

Villanova guard, Mimi Riley, "We stayed and watched the OU/Hartford game and it's like watching Connecticut in another state."

Go http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/ou.gif Respect ALL opponents, fear none......and please make it uptempo, we fans liked to have fallen asleep watching Villanova the last time.



[This message has been edited by swok34 (edited 03-18-2002).]

[Jennifer]

Preparing for OU

Villanova coach Harry Perretta has no problem admitting top-seeded Oklahoma has more talent
than his ninth-seeded Wildcats.

That makes preparation difficult. To simulate the Sooners' quickness and athletic ability,
Villanova's starters practiced Sunday against six reserves.

"We practiced the same way we would against Connecticut," said Perretta, whose club lost twice
this year to the top-ranked Huskies. "Our scout team didn't have to dribble the ball. They just got
it and ran up the floor. That was the only way we can simulate (OU's) speed."
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=836486&pic=none&TP=getmarchmadness

and from the AP article

"Every game we've played this year, I felt like if we played as hard as we could,
we could win," Rizzotti said. "Tonight, I felt we could play has hard as we could
and still be down 20 at halftime."

The Hawks committed 15 of their 22 turnovers in the first half, victims of
tournament jitters and Oklahoma's superior talent. Rizzotti, who grew
accustomed to being on the other side of blowouts during her All-America
career at Connecticut, could only watch as her team unraveled.

"They're one of the best passing teams I've ever seen," she said. "Oklahoma
knows how to share the ball, they know how to get it to the right people. They're
just as good on the defensive end as they are on the offensive end."

As for the game, they can't let Villanova control the tempo. Let their defense take control early--cause some TO's and run and score.
If they are playing defense for 25 seconds, and then run down and run their offense for 10, then play defense for another 25 sec. and Villanova is hitting...that can get frustrating.
I don't think OU's defense will let them be very slow on offense.

[schooner2]

Will be interesting to see if they start trying to score before getting to the 7 or 8 second mark on the shot clock. If they wait that long, they will get many shot clock violations against OU.

Amusing how Villanova simulated OU's speed in practice. Never heard of that, and yet, that probably simulates it fairly well.