UD Pride in turmoil but...

[Murph85]

There is not really an outcry to get rid of BG and yes I know this is a Xavier Basketball site and we don't care about Dayton... but still

There is lots of criticism but very little talk that he has to go. Some want the AD to hire an assistant with offense in mind but I find it amazing that they are not calling for his head. His best road victory, per their back and forth, was something like Richmond two years ago.

Imagine if X was rated 23rd in the country at the start of the season and had the whole team returning off an NCAA appearance with the coach in his 6th year. There is no way it happens hell Matta was being fed to the wolves the year we went to the elite 8 when our record was sub par in January. I remember Cunningham leading the charge and for the record I was not in any way on board.

I posted last year or maybe the one prior that we at X had reason to celebrate when BG was given an extension perpetuating their mediocrity. I did not expect this. Not in my wildest imagination.

We have it good. Real good.

[Masterofreality]

Never take our success for granted.

[jdm2000]

Agreed, MOR. We really have no idea just how great we have it as X fans.

I can see why they're so worked up this year--they really thought it was their year. Gregory really hasn't been able to get many of those players to improve, and he clearly doesn't seem to be able to get the team to win on the road.

The crazy thing to me is to hear UD fans talk about next year (as they are now writing this year off to some extent). I just don't see how they think they will be better next year, losing a bunch of seniors. I know that they are bringing in some talented frosh, but to go into a season expecting to improve when you are going to be relying heavily on freshmen is a recipe for a letdown.

[Murph85]

A lot of the next year talk seems to be out of frustration stemming from th pg position. They have a stud coming in by the name of Staten and they are very frustrated with Warren/Lowery.

Not hard to see why if you throw out the X games at Dayton. They looked good that day.

[waggy]

The secret for them this year has always been about the PG position - either Warren improving, Lowery returning with pre-injury form, or both. I haven't watched them much, but my guess is they look pretty good when either of those two have good games. Staten may turn out to be a special player, but it will not before at least his soph year.

[jdm2000]

A lot of the next year talk seems to be out of frustration stemming from th pg position. They have a stud coming in by the name of Staten and they are very frustrated with Warren/Lowery.

Not hard to see why if you throw out the X games at Dayton. They looked good that day.

Oh, I know Staten is supposed to be a stud. But if you are pinning your hopes on a freshman PG whose name is not John Wall or Derrick Rose, I think you are in for a letdown.

[The_Mack_Pack]

Xavier made the Sweet 16 with a freshman PG last year. The difference between Xavier and Dayton however is that they are Dayton so yes they probably will be disappointed.

[danaandvictory]

I just looked at the boxscore of this game. Gregory gave Kurt Huelsman 31 minutes. More than Chris Johnson, more than Chris Wright, more than Lowery or Warren or Williams or Marcus Johnson or Searcy etc. What an absolute bozo.

[chico]

I just looked at the boxscore of this game. Gregory gave Kurt Huelsman 31 minutes. More than Chris Johnson, more than Chris Wright, more than Lowery or Warren or Williams or Marcus Johnson or Searcy etc. What an absolute bozo.

Looks like Johnson and Wright both had foul trouble. Both had 4.

Still, Gregory once again gets out-coached in the second half.

[xubrew]

Imagine if X was rated 23rd in the country at the start of the season and had the whole team returning off an NCAA appearance with the coach in his 6th year

my first year at xavier they were ranked #8 to start the season, had been to the tournament the year before, had the entire team back, and didn't go to the ncaas. i don't recall anyone yelling for prosser's head.

this is a common tale, really. there were 14 teams in the preseason top 25 that aren't in it now, and teams like california, washington, louisville, dayton, north carolina, uconn, michigan, minnesota, oklahoma and mississippi state are either fighting for their ncaa tournament lives or not even in the picture without the automatic bid.

i guess i have a different way of looking at this. it's not so much that dayton failed. it's that they were never really 23rd in the first place. none of the teams that i listed were top 25 teams in the first place. the lesson here isn't that those teams are underachieving, but rather that the preseason polls are not to be taken seriously.

dayton was ranked because they won an ncaa tournament game and returned the bulk of the team. that's all anyone really looked at. just one game. had people looked deeper they would have had a better sense of how good they really were. dayton barely made the tournament, wasn't all that impressive on the road, won a lot of close games against weak teams, and lost a few as well. if you look at the season they're having this year, it actually isn't all that different from where they were at this point last year. duquesne beat them last year too. so did slu. so did a much poorer charlotte team. they also barely won against the likes of gw and la salle. in reality, they're not any worse than they were a year ago. they barely got in last year, and if they get in this year it will be under similiar circumstances.

[THRILLHOUSE]

my first year at xavier they were ranked #8 to start the season, had been to the tournament the year before, had the entire team back, and didn't go to the ncaas. i don't recall anyone yelling for prosser's head.



Except for some guy named Darnell Williams. Yeah, it was a disappointing season, but losing Darnell for the year killed that team.

[D-West & PO-Z]

my first year at xavier they were ranked #8 to start the season, had been to the tournament the year before, had the entire team back, and didn't go to the ncaas. i don't recall anyone yelling for prosser's head.

this is a common tale, really. there were 14 teams in the preseason top 25 that aren't in it now, and teams like california, washington, louisville, dayton, north carolina, uconn, michigan, minnesota, oklahoma and mississippi state are either fighting for their ncaa tournament lives or not even in the picture without the automatic bid.

i guess i have a different way of looking at this. it's not so much that dayton failed. it's that they were never really 23rd in the first place. none of the teams that i listed were top 25 teams in the first place. the lesson here isn't that those teams are underachieving, but rather that the preseason polls are not to be taken seriously.

dayton was ranked because they won an ncaa tournament game and returned the bulk of the team. that's all anyone really looked at. just one game. had people looked deeper they would have had a better sense of how good they really were. dayton barely made the tournament, wasn't all that impressive on the road, won a lot of close games against weak teams, and lost a few as well. if you look at the season they're having this year, it actually isn't all that different from where they were at this point last year. duquesne beat them last year too. so did slu. so did a much poorer charlotte team. they also barely won against the likes of gw and la salle. in reality, they're not any worse than they were a year ago. they barely got in last year, and if they get in this year it will be under similiar circumstances.

The point is with another year of coaching and experience this year should not have been similar to last year, it should have been better.

[xubrew]

any idea what is left on gregory's contract??

[joe titan]

BG was given extension after last year; not sure how lond but 3/4 years probably

[JimmyTwoTimes37]

i guess i have a different way of looking at this. it's not so much that dayton failed. it's that they were never really 23rd in the first place. none of the teams that i listed were top 25 teams in the first place. the lesson here isn't that those teams are underachieving, but rather that the preseason polls are not to be taken seriously.

dayton was ranked because they won an ncaa tournament game and returned the bulk of the team.

Some great points. The national media didn't bother to research how they won against GW or Fordham last year along with all the other ridiculously lucky outcomes favoring UD. The national media just saw the WVU game and hopped on the bandwagon seeing everyone back.

Combine this with the delusional fanbase and you get absolutely ridiculous expectations. Sweet 16, elite 8, and even final four were floated around by numerous Dayton fans. Since there is nothing else to really do in Dayton, the anticipation and ridiculous expectations for this year just kept building and building and building.

Notice how they are not learning from this though...They are hyping Staten as the next John Wall. They are hyping him to be a guy who can immediately dominate the D1 level... And so it continues on and on

[dc_x]

my first year at xavier they were ranked #8 to start the season, had been to the tournament the year before, had the entire team back, and didn't go to the ncaas. i don't recall anyone yelling for prosser's head.


You obviously didn't visit the old Xavier Roundtable website. There were many calls for Prosser's head and lots of deleted posts.

[xubrew]

You obviously didn't visit the old Xavier Roundtable website. There were many calls for Prosser's head and lots of deleted posts.

fair enough. since i'm not even sure what you're talking about, what you're saying is obviously correct. i became familiar with the xavier internet universe around the 2000-2001 season. my experience with x fans before that was limited to whomever i happened to come across outside of cyberspace. people tend to be less angry in person, so i guess i didn't get the full effect of it.

[xubrew]

BG was given extension after last year; not sure how lond but 3/4 years probably

is dayton the kind of place that likes to pay a coach for not coaching??

very few coaches are "fired" in the way that you or i are fired. their contract is upheld, which normally means some sort of buyout. if you're a coach, losing your job almost always means getting a nice chunk of cash to not work. sometimes you see coaches retained for no other reason than the school can't afford to pay a coach not to work while hiring another one at the same time. i'm sure we'll get at least a few more years of gregory.

[GoMuskies]

I don't think the Roundtable was calling for Skip's head in '99. I also don't think there were too many upset people on the Roundtable (or whatever Griffin's site was called that became the main hangout after Snipe took down the Roundtable following Xavier embarrassing themselves against ND in the '01 NCAA Tournament) when Prosser decided to leave.

[Fred Garvin]

I don't think the Roundtable was calling for Skip's head in '99. I also don't think there were too many upset people on the Roundtable (or whatever Griffin's site was called that became the main hangout after Snipe took down the Roundtable following Xavier embarrassing themselves against ND in the '01 NCAA Tournament) when Prosser decided to leave.

I was upset. I was upset when we lost at UD and knew we'd lose our last two games. ND was an embarssment. Fortunately, I could draw satisfaction in knowing Snipe had to shut down his board and hide in shame.

[DC Muskie]

I was upset. I was upset when we lost at UD and knew we'd lose our last two games. ND was an embarssment.

Same here. By that point I was ready for Skip to move on.

[Xman95]

Same here. By that point I was ready for Skip to move on.

Yeah, I think many people had reached that conclusion. It seems safe to say that there will never be a better man to coach Xavier. Skip, as a person, was phenomenal. There's a reason he is so loved by XU and those who knew him.

He was also very good for Xavier as a coach. But the time came when it seemed best, in a basketball sense, for both sides if he were to move on. The offer came from Wake Forest and Skip was able to move to the ACC, something that really interested him. Xavier was able to bring in a different voice and continue to build upon what was already in place from Staak, Gillen, and Prosser.

I don't think anyone would say they wanted to see Skip, the man, leave XU. However, a lot of people came to the realization that both sides needed to find a different path when it came to basketball. And, as we sit here today, I think X and WF are both better off because of it. (Sadly we'll never see just how good WF might have had it.)