Offense less Semaj

[JTG]

Watching the game last night it seemed as though the offense was much smoother without Semaj. More assists, better spacing, just a more fluid offense in general.

[bleedXblue]

I think you saw an offense that shot the ball when players were open. I hope that becomes their mantra......b/c it hasn't been for most of the year. ...a lot of hesitation and indecision. Move the ball, work to get good shots......and take them.

[MD Muskie]

Watching the game last night it seemed as though the offense was much smoother without Semaj. More assists, better spacing, just a more fluid offense in general.

That happens at a lot in most sports where one guy is the main focal point of the offense. When he is out/sitting, others have to pick up the slack and be more aggressive. That's really what happened Saturday night. The hope is that these guys won't regress back when said player is back to normal minutes.

[boozehound]

That happens at a lot in most sports where one guy is the main focal point of the offense. When he is out/sitting, others have to pick up the slack and be more aggressive. That's really what happened Saturday night. The hope is that these guys won't regress back when said player is back to normal minutes.

Yeah. We have a lot of guys who have the talent, but don't always have the confidence. Hopefully this game helps them build the confidence.

[Smails]

Watching the game last night it seemed as though the offense was much smoother without Semaj. More assists, better spacing, just a more fluid offense in general.

I agree to a point, but it's amazing how a team's confidence can grow throughout a game when they are shooting the ball at a high level. Once the shots start falling, they tend to keep falling on a given night.

[Fireball]

This team has always been built on teamwork, spreading the ball around, and having multiple threats. I think it is easy when you have a great player like Semaj on your team to let him create instead of running your offense. What I'm hoping is that the team learns that they are just that, a team, and don't expect Semaj to do everything.

As much as I loved Tu, the team would have stretches the same way with him.

What I'm hoping we'll see is that this is a launching point in terms of team confidence for the rest of the season. I don't think the team thought that they could do it without Semaj before the first half of the Shootout, but now they should know they can. We'll start to see against Alabama what the lessons learned are. You have a team that spreads the ball around, and then you add Semaj to it, and that's going to be a really good team.

[Pete Delkus]

I agree the O looked open with Semaj on the bench vs UC.

However, this is a game by game situation. If you remember Iowa, this wasn't the case, as when he was out, the offense fell apart.

[West is Best]

I agree the O looked open with Semaj on the bench vs UC.

However, this is a game by game situation. If you remember Iowa, this wasn't the case, as when he was out, the offense fell apart.


I don't think Semaj hurts our spacing more than any other player on the roster. He's a terrific offensive player off the ball, especially for a PG. I think it has more to do with Xavier hitting some 3's early. In previous games, X players have passed up good looks from outside in the 2nd half.

[XUFan09]

I don't think Semaj hurts our spacing more than any other player on the roster. He's a terrific offensive player off the ball, especially for a PG. I think it has more to do with Xavier hitting some 3's early. In previous games, X players have passed up good looks from outside in the 2nd half.

Dee and JMart are both solid three-point threats; this was a game where they didn't hesitate to take them. Love it.

[UCGRAD4X]

Great outside shooting solves a lot of ills.

The other point of fact is, UC really sucks!

[vee4xu]

I recall the offense looking really good for the first half against Iowa, with Semaj, then looking really bad the second half after he left with cramps. So, my feeling is that the team is starting to find an identity more that in being about Semaj being either in or out of the lineup. The key may really be more about JMart who played well both the first half against Iowa and the entire game against UC. Teams are kept more honest on defense when they have to defend 5 players instead of just four.

[vee4xu]

Also, teams can't pack in that zone against X when they hit threes to the tune of 11-16 and much of that starts too with Martin. By hitting threes and forcing man coverage, that opens the middle for Stain, a driving Semaj and Dee/Randolph to make passes to open players close to the basket.

[bleedXblue]

This team is shooting over 40 percent from 3 pt range. The UC game was the first in which they simply found the open shooter and that shooter took the open shot with no hesitation. I hope the confidence gained from Saturday night carries over into the next few games and into Big East play. It's a strength of this team and should be exploited.

[XUFan09]

This team is shooting over 40 percent from 3 pt range. The UC game was the first in which they simply found the open shooter and that shooter took the open shot with no hesitation. I hope the confidence gained from Saturday night carries over into the next few games and into Big East play. It's a strength of this team and should be exploited.

Agreed. Myles and Farr are great three-point threats, and Dee and Martin are solid ones. The problem this team had early in the season was that second pair of guys wasn't confidently shooting.

JMart is a great example of this (Warning: Small sample size). He's 9-25 from 3, good for a solid 36%. Now, of those nine, how many involved him hesitating before deciding to shoot? My guess is 0. When you consider that he's hesitating way too many times, he's probably shooting close to 50% on 3s when he doesn't think about it and just takes it.

[GuyFawkes38]

I think we know what we are going to get out of Dee, Semaj, Myles, and Farr (some frustration at times, but solid play). Martin seems to be the "X" factor. When he played well we crushed Iowa in the 1st half and killed UC. When he's off, we can be beat by anyone.

[Xfan5667]

Regarding Matt Stainbrook what is with his lack of consistency from the 3