Dec. 4, 2008
Following Villanova's 69-47 win over Philadelphia Big Five rival Penn at the Palestra on Tuesday night, head coach Jay Wright offered praise for junior guard Scottie Reynolds on a night when he had connected on only 3-of-9 of his attempts from the field.
"Scottie's not making shots," stated Wright. "I'm not happy about it but I know he's going to make shots. I like how he's playing not making shots. He's distributing the ball, he's playing defense, he's rebounding and he's keeping his composure. I like that."
In fact, in Villanova's first seven games Reynolds was converting just .343 of his field goal attempts.
It hasn't been for a lack of practice. Before each game, Reynolds is on the floor some two hours before tipoff, launching multiple long range shots from all over the court. The 6-2 Herndon, Va., product was there again on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m., working up a good sweat as he prepared to face Houston Baptist University.
Reynolds found that offensive groove on Thursday night, helping the Wildcats to a wire-to-wire win over the Huskies, 93-57. He was 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc while also dishing out six assists with just one turnover. One of those was an acrobatic 3-pointer that drew a foul and a roar from the Pavilion crowd that created memories in the Nova Nation of a similar off-balance triple he made in the rally from a 19-point deficit in last year's NCAA Tournament victory over Clemson.
"Getting Scottie going again was good," stated Wright. "We got him shots tonight. He's been doing a good job of getting everyone else shots but tonight his teammates got him shots. It was good for him to experience that rather than him getting everybody else shots."
Wright made it clear, though, that the offense is now just one part of Reynolds' contribution to the 8-0 Wildcats.
"Scottie came in as a great scorer," noted Wright. "That's what everyone knew him as and kind of what he thought of himself as. He's been playing like a great leader and an outstanding point guard this whole season.
"He and I talked about this today. Our team is playing well because he's the leader with Dante. Even though he wasn't making shots, he's still doing everything. Missing shots isn't changing his demeanor. So it's great tonight to see make some shots".
Of course, the coach could not resist one final point while peering at the box score.
"But you notice that when he gets 23, he only gets one rebound," added Wright. "When he wasn't making those shots, he was getting like five or six rebounds a game. We've got to get him to work on that."
To Reynolds, his ability to be a factor without scoring is a product of experience and maturity. He paid close attention to former captains Mike Nardi, Will Sheridan and Curtis Sumpter as a rookie in 2006-07 and hasn't forgotten the core values of Villanova basketball they taught him.
"When I was younger, in my freshman or sophomore year," he said, "I would definitely have been (down). I've definitely matured, just knowing that I'm pushing to be a Villanova guard. With Fish (Corey Fisher) and (Corey) Stokes, I have to set the example every night. If I'm not hitting shots and my head is down then what are Fish and Stokes looking at? If I'm not hitting shots and my team is still winning and I have a good attitude, they are seeing a positive guy day in and day out. That's what it's about."
On a night when he led five Wildcats in double figures, Reynolds seemed less focused on that than the victory.
"It's all right," he stated. "If I didn't score 23 tonight, I wouldn't be up here (at the podium). But I would still be happy. And I feel like my teammates know that I would feel the same way even if I hadn't made them and we came up with the win."
Stokes also sees all of the intangibles that his older teammate brings to the court each time out.
"We don't need Scottie to score," said Stokes. "When he's not scoring he does other things - rebounds, steals, and brings a lot of positive energy to the team. He's been keeping a good attitude about things. Tonight was a breakout game for him so far but he's not concerned about his points. He's just been working on being a good team leader this year."
The 23 points lifted Reynolds into 43rd place on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,154 points and he needs just one more point to tie Harold Jensen in 42nd place. He also moved into the top 10 in school history for career 3-pointers made (158). That places him 10th all-time and he is 30 away from the two men tied for 8th place, Greg Woodard and Chris Walker (188).
While the numbers are all well and good, it's the total performance that matters to most to this man who not long ago earned his reputation as a prolific scorer.
- MIKE SHERIDAN
