Cremo growing more comfortable in bench role
RADNOR >> There were no “MVP” chants for guard Joe Cremo as there was for sophomore Jermaine Samuels for the second straight game.
There should have been.
It did not matter that Cremo missed all five of his field goal attempts, including four from 3-point range, and went scoreless in the second half of Villanova’s
70-58 victory over Saint Joseph’s Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion that stretched the Wildcats’ record Big
5 winning streak to 25 games.
The 6-4 graduate transfer from Albany produced enough offense in the first half and did enough of the little things on the defensive end in the second half to move the No. 21 Wildcats to within a win over Penn Tuesday night at the Palestra from wrapping up their unprecedented sixth straight outright city series title. Penn won five straight Big 5 titles from 1970-74, but the one in 1971-72 was shared with Temple. The Owls won or shared seven consecutive city series crowns from 199198, but that was during the dark days when teams only played two games and not a full round-robin slate of four games.
The Hawks took a page out of Temple’s playbook Saturday and focused much of their defensive attention on seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall and sophomore guard Collin Gillespie. Expect that to become a trend.
Booth, Paschall and Gillespie are Villanova’s three most experienced scorers, and every opposing scouting report will have them as 1-2-3 on the watch list. And that means players such as Cremo, Samuels, sophomore Dhamir CosbyRoundtree and freshmen Saddiq Bey and Cole Swider will have to fill in the gaps when part or all of this season’s big three have an off game.
That’s the way it is. The Wildcats do not have a 3-point threat at every spot in the starting lineup like last season, so they have to adjust and have.
The entire bench deserved a standing ovation after scoring 31 points to send the Wildcats (8-2, 3-0 Big 5) to their seventh straight victory over the Hawks. Cremo scored 12 points to go along with two assists. Samuels had 11 points and Swider eight.
“That’s going to be the story of our season, how we can develop our young guys, and I count Joe Cremo in that because he’s a new guy,” Wright said. “Jermaine’s a young guy who played a little last year. He had a broken hand so he’s almost like a freshman. The more experience we can get these guys the better.”
Cremo has the experience. He played three seasons, scored 1,469 points and shot nearly 42 percent from 3-point range in his time at Albany. However, he took a step up in class when he decided to join the defending national champions this season. He found that out when he suffered two broken bones in his face, including his orbital bone on the right side, during a practice in October. Cremo missed two weeks of practice and has had to play with a clear plastic mask to protect the injury.
“For me, the biggest adjustment has been just concentrating on playing hard on every possession,” Cremo said. “I thought I always tried to play hard, but now it’s a step up. You have to keep playing harder and harder on every possession for your teammates and coaches, and make sure you’re locked in on every possession.”
The offensive part came pretty easily Saturday. It always has. Cremo knocked down
4 of 6 from the field, all from 3-point range, and scored all 12 of his points in the first half to stake the Wildcats to a
38-28 lead at the break. That edge loomed large as the Hawks, without leading scorer Charlie Brown, Jr. and reserve forward Pierfrancesco Oliva, cut a 22-point deficit in the second half to six with 2:39 to play.
“We know how much attention Eric and Phil get every night,” Cremo said. “Collin is starting to get that attention, too. We’re just out there trying to make plays for those guys, make plays for our teammates and whatever comes with it. If it’s a shot, it’s a shot. If he’s getting guys shots, that’s what we have to do, and then defending and rebounding. That’s what we have to focus on. If we can do that it will give our team a good boost.”
Cremo gave the Wildcats a little boost when they needed it the most in the first half with his second straight doubledigit scoring game. He also was part of a defensive trap that led to a basket off of a turnover and also took a charge.
“He’s been in a lot of big games,” Wright said of Cremo. “What he’s struggling with is learning how we play and learning how to play with a lot of other great players. He was the best player on his team and now he’s playing with a lot of great players and in a different system. But you can see him getting more comfortable every game … he’s going to be a big part of our team this year.”