Nov. 14, 2008

The Nova Notebook takes on a slightly different format in this installment. For the first time we bring you the Postgame Edition of the Notebook, fresh from Villanova's 78-60 victory over Albany on Nov. 14 at the Pavilion.

In the run of success that has produced 96 victories, four NCAA Tournament appearances and three visits to the Sweet 16, most of the public focus has centered upon the Wildcats guards. In part that is due to the utterly unique four guard offense that boosted the `Cats to the Elite Eight in 2005-06. It was populated by All-Americans Randy Foye and Allan Ray along with an accomplished leader in Mike Nardi and a first round National Basketball Association draft choice in Kyle Lowry.

Then, came Scottie Reynolds in 2006 and a memorable stretch run through the BIG EAST Conference.

Given that, the buzz about the backcourt is certainly understandable. But those in the program have never forgotten that this is a team game and that the work of the frontline has been significant too. Even if it doesn't always look that way on the stat sheet.

So it was certainly worth noting on Friday night at the Pavilion when Villanova began its season with 18 points scored by a pair of forwards, senior Dante Cunningham and redshirt sophomore Antonio Pena.

"Our bigs have probably improved more than anyone on the team," stated Reynolds. "Tonight we got stops defensively and they made it easy for us by running the floor. I didn't score in the first half and those guys picked me up."

Cunningham (13 points, six rebounds) and Pena (12 points, five rebounds) combined to convert 11 of their 18 field goal attempts on the evening.

"Their size and length bothered us," stated Albany coach Will Brown. "There were times I looked out there and they had four guys taller than me on the court."

Much like the four guard offense, though, the bigger look was born of necessity. (Curtis Sumpter's knee injury precipitated that lineup tweak.) On Nov. 7, senior forward Shane Clark underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee which was projected to sideline him for 3-6 weeks. Then, on Thursday, an MRI revealed a stress fracture in the left foot of classmate Dwayne Anderson. He is out indefinitely.

"It helps that we've been through this," stated Cunningham. "We play against these guys in practice every day and know what they can do. Every time someone goes down we know the next guy is capable of coming in and doing the job."

Two frontcourt reserves who made meaningful contributions against Albany were senior Frank Tchuisi (11 minutes, two points, three rebounds) and junior Casiem Drummond (four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes).

"We got some good minutes out of Frank and Cas'," noted Wright, "and we're going to continue to need them to help us."

Wright acknowledged the reality of the situation. Of the 14-man Wildcat roster, Anderson and Clark are sidelined for the foreseeable future. Taylor King must sit out the season after transferring from Duke. Jason Colenda and Russell Wooten are walk ons. And Wright suggested in his postgame remarks that it would be his preference to have freshman center Maurice Sutton use a redshirt season in 2008-09.

"We are going to try to do that," he said.

Which leaves VU with eight healthy bodies at this point.

"I prefer to look at this optimistically," he says. "It gives our other guys a chance to really play and develop. We got Corey Fisher 30 minutes tonight and Antonio Pena now is in a position where he knows we are really counting on him. The same is true of Corey Stokes. That could be good for those guys in the long run."

Of course, foul trouble could be problematic for the Wildcats until more healthy bodies are available.

"We like to play aggressive defensively so that is a concern," he says. "We've got to be smarter about how we play. We played Scottie in the first half after he got two fouls and I told him he had to be smart about it. He did a good job of that. That's something we can learn from tonight."

In the end, six `Cats reached double figures. Cunningham and Pena helped get Villanova into an early advantage it never relinquished.

"I was very impressed with Jay's team," stated Brown. "This is a team I think that can compete for a Big East championship.

"One of the things they do really well is spread the floor. Reynolds and Fisher are so good at breaking people down off the dribble that they force your big guys to help. If they don't, those two will score at the rim.

"We did some good things tonight. We just got beat by a very good team."

One that displayed great balance en route to its first win of 2008-09.

- MIKE SHERIDAN