Here's what i saw dec. 7

[wkrq59]

Bowling Green v. Xavier--
The good-- An overtime victory, record now 6-3, Xavier wins pts in paint, 38-32, fast break pts, 15-10, bench pts 39-12. held BG to 37.9 shooting, 25 % from 3, outscored 'em 17-5 in OT; Ft shooting better, 69.7, but inconsistent. Semaj hitting two MUST free throws with 5.5 seconds left in regulation.
The bad--Blowing an 11 pt. lead in regulation to cause overtime.Hesitant play, too damned many turnovers at the wrong times, too. Allowed way too many second chance points and was outrebounded. Lousy half-court offense. Overall lack of toughness. Ball not valued. Lack of individual consistency in shooting free throws. Shoot one way on the first, another on the second and v.v.
Individually:
Semaj--pld 34 of 45 minute, 22 pts, 1 ONE, rebound;3 assists, 0 to.
Brandon--Missed every shot he took, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 TO, 1 Steal.
Martin--1 three, 0 ft, 6 reb. 5 pts, 1 Tech. Why??5 pts, 1 a, 5 TO.
Isaiah--5-8 FT, 1 Reb. in 23 min. 15 badly needed pts, fouled out
Stainbrk--4 shots, 5 reb. 5 fouls,16 min 2 to.
Jalen--0 reb, 2 pts, 2 fouls, 1 a, 1 blk, 0 TO, 11 min.
Farr--7-8 fg, 1-1 3s, 9 reb, 4 PF, 15 pts, 1 A, 0 TO,
Dee--2-4 fg, 4-5 ft, 6 reb, 3 pf, 8 pts, 8 a 3 TO,4 steals 37 min.
Myles--4-5 fg, 4-5 3s, 2-2 ft, 4 reb, 1 pf, 14 pts14 pts, 1 a 1 TO, 2 stls 29 min.
General observations--This team needs leader on the floor, a gu4s and 5s are eldom the floor leaders (West the exxception) and threes --save Byron Larkin on occasion but mainly a two and a one-- so it falls to the ones and twos.
Semaj may be the man but he doesn't often control the ball He can pass and initiate the off mostly with a drive, but most effective in up tempo and that leaes one of three players--Dee, Miles and Brandon. By process of elimination, that means Dee, because freshmen are reluctant to be coach on the floor.
I have been reluctant until now to really comment on the officiating. But Saturday it was putrudly inconsistent. I'd be interested to her what justin said to the one zebra that drew the T especially after the ref said something to him. Really, he should have kept his mouth shut. BUT, I saw Xavier players clobbered and no call, slapped andelbowed and bodied on drives and when they're on defense.
The NCAA has got to reduce the emphasis of hnd checking because if they keep calling every damn ticky tacky foul and aren't consistent, they will turn an exciting game into a game that sound like an out of tune engine that burps and sputter and coughs and eventually sighs.
Finally, Xavier has a deep and talented ball club that can be as fun to watch or as exaspering and inconsistent as any Musketeer tam I have seen in 75 years of watching X.

:crazy::lolgroup::seestars2::cool

[blueblood]

I think the main positive from yesterday is that in March during the selection process they will not being saying "Xavier had a terrible loss to a MAC team." At least at this point we have losses to three "name" teams.

They are still learning to play together. I am very impressed with Randolph, Myles Davis and Farr and you can see that Reynolds will develop just fine. The future looks pretty bright.

Stainbrook had a poor game and so did Philmore other than one scoring stretch. Semaj played fine, he just suffers from our high expectations. Martin is Martin, but at least he was really hustling yesterday.

I would like Farr, but he obviously sold his soul to the devil to be able to improve that much from last season.

Every time Myles Davis shoots the ball I keep thinking "Brad Who?" If this is him as freshman he is going to develop into a very nice player. Once he adds some size perhaps he'll be another BJ Raymond?

Regarding floor leaders -- I sit very close to the floor and the guys are talking and calling out to each other much more than they have in the recent past. I agree they don't have a floor general yet since Davis, Randolph and Semaj haven't quite taken to that role, but at least they are communicating.

I agree about the new rules and officiating. It is making the games a lot less fun to watch since it is hard to develop any flow when they are blowing a whistle every thirty seconds. I'm not sure -- have we had a half at home yet where both teams weren't in the double bonus? And seriously, how are you supposed to play defense when the offensive player can just lower his shoulder and run toward the basket and if you touch him it's a foul? I don't think there was a single charge called yesterday. And it's why Holmes scored so much.

I'm reasonably encouraged by how the players are developing and I think if Mack does his job well they will be a pretty good team by the end of the year. They just need to play more games together.