Welcome rest for No. 1: Villanova face Providence after 4-day break
When you utilize a seven-man rotation like Villanova coach Jay Wright does, a four-day break is always welcome. Since his team marked its return to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll with a 30-point win over Seton Hall, Wright has kept it light - practice for some players on Tuesday, off Wednesday and one-hour practices both Thursday and Friday - going into Saturday's game against Providence at the Wells Fargo Center.
When you utilize a seven-man rotation like Villanova coach Jay Wright does, a four-day break is always welcome.
Since his team marked its return to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll with a 30-point win over Seton Hall, Wright has kept it light - practice for some players on Tuesday, off Wednesday and one-hour practices both Thursday and Friday - going into Saturday's game against Providence at the Wells Fargo Center.
"I think it was good for us to get rested and try to stay fresh going into this game with two short practices," Wright said after Friday's early-morning practice at the Center.
"We do everything to keep their legs fresh, their minds fresh. We actually gave Josh (Hart), Jalen (Brunson) and Kris (Jenkins) off on Tuesday and everybody else practiced. We're just trying to do everything to keep them fresh - hydration, cold tubs. It's as much a part of our day as running our offense."
The Wildcats (18-1, 6-1 Big East) play with a short bench because Phil Booth continues to experience pain in his surgically repaired left knee and freshman Omari Spellman is sitting out as an academic redshirt.
As he juggles players and roles, Wright credits the two nonstarters in his rotation - redshirt freshman Donte DiVincenzo and redshirt sophomore Eric Paschall - for helping to make it possible.
"I'd still rather have Phil and Omari," he said. "The key to us being able to pull this off is, Donte and Eric are getting better so that we can play them a lot more minutes. Because they're so versatile, you can play them at different spots. I think their emergence, their improvement, has really been the key."
Hart, who is fourth among Big East players in average minutes (33.4), said he'd prefer not to have such a long layoff but he feels the rest is beneficial.
"It's good being able to just rest your body for a couple of days, go back to work, and work on those habits that make you successful at the end of the year," he said. "So it's been good from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint, being able to take a step away and kind of not think 24/7 about basketball.
"But as competitors, we're all ready to get back to playing games."
Jenkins said the extra minutes don't bother him because the team prepared in the offseason and in the preseason to handle the task. Asked if he had been resting this week, he replied, "We all go to bed at night, that's when we rest."
There will be no rest against Providence, which handed Villanova its last loss in South Philadelphia, 82-79, last season. The Friars' two stars that day, Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn, left after the season to turn pro, and Rodney Bullock and Kyron Cartwright have taken over their roles.
Bullock leads the Friars with a 17.7-point average, fourth in the Big East. Cartwright is second in the league in assists (7.1 per game) and assist-turnover ratio (2.6).
"They've got great overall team length," Wright said. "They've got four guys 6-7, 6-8, in the starting lineup, and then Cartwright, who's playing as well as any guard in the country right now. That's why they give us problems."
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