Jeremiah Robinson-Earl leads Villanova Basketball to victory over Winthrop

Work for what they want

To state the Wildcats offense will be important as they prepare to face North Texas, is doing an injustice to anybody who does an analysis of basketball games. There are several aspects of the offense that the Wildcats have demonstrated that will be important going forward.

With the absence of their star point guard, the Wildcats are still in a position to run their offense, the one difference, is it will be much slower. The Wildcats need to limit possessions and the best way for a Jay Wright offense to limit possessions is to pass the ball, and the best way for a Jay Wright to run their offense is to, yes, pass the ball. Convenient.

All this equates to the Wildcats continuing to alternate having Robinson-Earl set off the ball screens to slide weak side post as the guard penetrates for a lay-up or to the dish just outside the net for a Rodinson-Earl jumper and their five-out offense which is dependant upon ball screens to kick out to a shooter. The only difference, do not expect a shot with more than 10 seconds on the shot clock.

In addition, a huge part of the Wildcats’ offense is the three-point shot. The absence of Gillepsie will not null and void this aspect of their offense, the shots will just be distributed among the remaining players. At 26.2, the Wildcats attempted are in the top thirty attempted fin the nation. Without Gllipsie on Friday night the Wildcats attempted 26 and made eight of them, one less than their season average.