VILLANOVA LEARNED FROM ROUT BY HIELD AND CO. IN DECEMBER
“I really do think it helps us to have played them. I don’t think it helps to have lost by 20-plus, but in a way it helps the guys be on edge.” Villanova assistant coach Baker Dunleavy
To these Villanova basketball players, Buddy Hield is no mythological figure.
He’s not the Stephen Curry of college basketball or a magician with a basketball. He’s a guy they’ve faced before — albeit an exceptionally good guy they’ve faced before.
The Wildcats lost by 23 points to Oklahoma in December, which was disappointing at the time but now somewhat helpful as the two teams head into their Final Four matchup, which will take place Saturday.
“If you’ve just watched just the NCAA tournament — a lot of times when you get to this point you’ve only really followed the teams closely during the NCAA tournament,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “If you ( just now) only followed Buddy Hield or Oklahoma, you’d just think this guy is Superman.
“The other thing you would think is that the other guys aren’t as good.”
On both counts, Wright and his staff think their Wildcats are ready. They saw the Sooners — not just Hield, who scored 18 points (seven below his season average) — crush them. Isaiah Cousins had a big game. Five players scored in double-figures. Villanova realizes it lost to a great team.
“There can be a temptation as a staff to focus a lot on Buddy, and rightfully so; he’s great,” Villanova assistant coach Baker Dunleavy said. “Sometimes when you do that and you haven’t played a team, you struggle to convince guys how good the other guys are. Our guys have a full understanding of how good they are, too.
“I really do think it helps us to have played them before. I don’t think it necessarily helps to have lost by 20-plus, but in a way it helps the guys be on edge.”
Villanova sophomore guard Phil Booth said having played against Hield only helped so much.
“He’s gotten a lot better since then,” Booth said. “But it helps playing him. We got a feel for how his game is, how hard he plays, how much he’s moving on the court. He’s non-stop, even when he doesn’t have the ball.
“He’s a threat anywhere on the court.”
Because of that — and the fact that Hield launches NBA-distance threes effortlessly — it’s been challenging for the Villanova scout team and the group’s oncourt preparation.
“It’s hard to simulate in practice,” Dunleavy said. “You’ve got to have some of your guys take bad shots that we wouldn’t take — bad shots for us that are good shots for him.”
The Wildcats have seen that over and over this year. While Hield was in the process of scoring 46 points in a triple-overtime loss to Kansas, texts were flying around between Villanova players and staffers. The gist of the messages? “Wow.”
“Putting the ball on the floor and finishing at the rim to extend his range have been two areas where the best player in college basketball has actually gotten better, which is incredible,” Wright said. “It’s hard when you’re that good to get better. That range distorts everything. It not only extends your defense where it actually gives him a chance to get by you and still get a three.
“If you’re playing around the line, you get up on a guy, you press him, he goes by you, at least you’re forcing him into two. He’s taking the ball so deep, he’s making some of them. If you get up on him, he can go by you and still pull up for a three. I don’t know if that’s part of his plan, but it’s genius if it is.
“That three also creates longer rebounds than a normal three. You just don’t play against it. You don’t practice against it. It distorts everything.”
But at least these Villanova players know this and have experienced it. He might distort their defense, but they’ll try to stop him from playing like Superman.