xudash
12-22-2013, 02:10 PM
From the Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer: "But once we went to the locker room, we talked about what we needed to change. I love this group. We always stay together. We never break apart, and we learned that in the Bahamas when we were 0-3.”
That quote is from Isaiah Philmore.
I now believe a somewhat fragile, but effective team went to the islands and a perfect storm ensued. With a couple bad breaks along the way, they lost a game they should have won against a strong B1G, ranked opponent. That sent us into a revenge match with UT. 0-2 sent us into a listless loss against USC, even with a frantic comeback effort that came up too little too late. Home we limped, with a lot of questions.
What happened then? A couple of wins were bagged, but were listless themselves and in question to the end.
Along comes UC. The Xavier team that took the floor for the UC game was effectively prepared for that game, by themselves AND their coaching staff. It was a total beat down, executed by a focused, enthusiastic team.
Yet the fan base was nervous as the Muskies had to once again head out to the airport, but for a true away game this time, against an SEC team that was desperate for a win.
Chris Mack chimes in: "I don’t think our guys ever felt like we were out of it. They never felt rattled,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “You could just see us coming together in a much different way than our group in the Bahamas. I think we really learned from those experiences, that when you’re down eight or nine points in the first half or the beginning of the second half, it’s not the end of the world. There’s a lot of game left to be played.”
The one thing I notice when we win is how close these guys are to one another. They have a lot of enthusiasm. They do care for one another.
Bottom-line: As has been the case with Xavier teams of the past, the iron is being forged; they're coming together as a team. They're doing that under Mack's guidance.
We're 9-3, looking at a clear shot to make it 10-3 prior to our New Years Eve fling with SJU. We'll have our moments the rest of the way, meaning we'll have a certain amount of complaining going on here, and some of it for good reason I presume, but I feel like these guys have made it to the base camp. It was a shaky climb to this point, but we've made it the base camp.
Time to climb the mountain, and I believe we can.
That quote is from Isaiah Philmore.
I now believe a somewhat fragile, but effective team went to the islands and a perfect storm ensued. With a couple bad breaks along the way, they lost a game they should have won against a strong B1G, ranked opponent. That sent us into a revenge match with UT. 0-2 sent us into a listless loss against USC, even with a frantic comeback effort that came up too little too late. Home we limped, with a lot of questions.
What happened then? A couple of wins were bagged, but were listless themselves and in question to the end.
Along comes UC. The Xavier team that took the floor for the UC game was effectively prepared for that game, by themselves AND their coaching staff. It was a total beat down, executed by a focused, enthusiastic team.
Yet the fan base was nervous as the Muskies had to once again head out to the airport, but for a true away game this time, against an SEC team that was desperate for a win.
Chris Mack chimes in: "I don’t think our guys ever felt like we were out of it. They never felt rattled,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “You could just see us coming together in a much different way than our group in the Bahamas. I think we really learned from those experiences, that when you’re down eight or nine points in the first half or the beginning of the second half, it’s not the end of the world. There’s a lot of game left to be played.”
The one thing I notice when we win is how close these guys are to one another. They have a lot of enthusiasm. They do care for one another.
Bottom-line: As has been the case with Xavier teams of the past, the iron is being forged; they're coming together as a team. They're doing that under Mack's guidance.
We're 9-3, looking at a clear shot to make it 10-3 prior to our New Years Eve fling with SJU. We'll have our moments the rest of the way, meaning we'll have a certain amount of complaining going on here, and some of it for good reason I presume, but I feel like these guys have made it to the base camp. It was a shaky climb to this point, but we've made it the base camp.
Time to climb the mountain, and I believe we can.