Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Darryl Reynolds toughens up Villanova's frontcourt

The standard cynic's thought on Villanova's hoops season - the way to write them off before the Wildcats really get started -  is to suggest they'll inevitably lose the way they went down last season, getting manhandled inside.

Villanova forward Darryl Reynolds (45) and  Nebraska guard Andrew
White (3) scramble for the ball in the second half of an NCAA college
basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, in Villanova, Pa. Villanova
won 87-63.
Villanova forward Darryl Reynolds (45) and Nebraska guard Andrew White (3) scramble for the ball in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, in Villanova, Pa. Villanova won 87-63.Read more(AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

The standard cynic's thought on Villanova's hoops season - the way to write them off before the Wildcats really get started -  is to suggest they'll inevitably lose the way they went down last season, getting manhandled inside.

Maybe, but don't put it in stone.

Acknowledge that Villanova's perimeter guys will be a handful for any opponent. Maryland might be ranked third nationally right now, but the grapevine - indirectly from the Maryland staff - says the Terps had a terrible time dealing with Nova's guards in a closed scrimmage, that Villanova very much got the best of the matchup.

An early scrimmage is far different from an NCAA game. But take a close look at Villanova early this season, even Friday against East Tennessee State. You'll notice subtle differences, especially in the players Jay Wright is using off his bench.

Watch Darryl Reynolds come in for basically anybody on the floor and unless he's spelling center Daniel Ochefu, Reynolds' presence means Villanova is adding inside muscle. Not suggesting Reynolds will have a starring role. But watch the rebounds per minute - through two games, he's got 11 in 35 minutes - and see the screens being set. The 6-foot-8 junior will get important rotation minutes, which means Villanova often gets bigger instead of smaller.

The other way 'Nova's lineup may get bigger is when 6-7 redshirt freshman Mikal Bridges appears. Call Bridges the eighth man after Reynolds and Phil Booth, who is kind of the sixth starter this year, similar to what Josh Hart was last year.

Especially watch Bridges when Villanova presses this season. If he's in, Bridges is probably up at the top of the press. He personally caused a couple of Nebraska turnovers, including when he tipped a pass and then sprawled to the floor at midcourt, causing a tie-up and a change of possession.

When did Wright know he was going to use Bridges in that role?

"The day he committed to us," Wright said. "When we recruited him, we saw those arms. . . . Darrun Hilliard was great because of that, same thing. Dante Cunningham, we used to put there. Shane Clark, we used to put there sometimes. . . . Mikal is just a natural, he's really good at it."

Asked if Reynolds had gotten stronger, Wright said, "He was actually pretty strong when he came here. He got stronger. But he didn't play that way. It was an evolution over a couple of years of just playing with confidence, and then his strength showed."

Wright added that going against Ochefu has been a factor.

"Those two kill each other in practice," Wright said. "He makes Daniel a lot better and now he's starting to play that way in games, which is big for us."

Ochefu said of those practice battles, "Oh, man. I don't even know how to explain it. It's every day. When we wake up, it's going to be me and him. There are no fouls in practice. Not as many fouls. So we're just killing each other."

Reynolds talks about how a little more is expected of him, that a goal is to be counted on. Not focusing on stats, he said. Getting out on guards on switches without fouling them. Setting screens is as important as anything that shows up in the stat sheet.

"Especially for me," Reynolds said.

Sure, Villanova guards are the centerpiece. Reynolds knows that.

"My attitude towards that, this program has been like this since way before me and Daniel got here," said Reynolds, who has an engaging way about him, even in a five-minute postgame conversation. "This program will be like this long after me and Daniel are gone."

Reynolds said the guards playing bigger always are a key to the whole thing. But keep an eye on the guys who are working under the radar to keep the inside play from being an Achilles' heel.

"We don't take any offense to it," Reynolds said of the guard emphasis.

And those wars with Ochefu? A battle that helped them both.

"Oh, my God," Reynolds said. "Over the years, it's just turned into something beautiful."

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus