Friday, August 14, 2009

Reggie Redding To Miss Games

Reggie Redding's legal problems have now led to a suspension: he will be ineligible in Villanova games during the fall semester. Of course, on its face this isn't really a big problem for Villanova for a number of reasons. First of all, many people misinterpret these types of semester suspensions to mean that the player can't play until classes start up in the spring semester. In fact, Redding will not have to miss any practices, and will be eligible to play in games starting on December 18th.

Villanova's full schedule doesn't seem to be entirely set right now, but they will play a few good opponents before December 18th. They'll be at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but they'll be solid favorites even without Redding (full field and bracket here). They are scheduled for a home game against Maryland on December 6th, and a road game at Temple on December 13th. I don't see any other scheduled games that I'd qualify as "tough". Somebody let me know if I'm missing a big match-up, but otherwise it seems as if Villanova should be heavily favored in every game they play before December 18th.

Besides, even a bad loss or two in November and December isn't a big deal. The Selection Committee wants to see what you do later in the year more than what you do in the first two months. Villanova is still a pretty solid favorite in the Big East, in my opinion at least. And sometimes small injuries like these can help teams by getting the younger guys some playing time early in the season so that they'll be in a better position to contribute late in the season.

The only worry for Villanova is the possibility of this suspension being extended. Right now nobody is talking about it, but you never know if things will change or if Redding will get himself in trouble again. But if Reggie Redding does return before the end of December, I don't see how this has any real effect on Villanova's Big East chances.

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