The Defense

[Masterofreality]

Please do not take this as piling on after a loss. I love Chris Mack as a coach, but I did not agree with the defensive strategy at all yesterday. Not a second guess because I said it all through the game. Hey, I wasn't perfect when I coached and screwed up and I don't expect our guy to be perfect either. But a couple of things are bothering me.

"We practice every single day. We stress it. We don't change from game to game how we defend. We have rules."- Chris Mack after yesterday's game.

"I thought that it was evident from the beginning of the game. It seemed like everytime he drove, whether it was in transition or the half court, he wasn't dealing with his own man. It wasn't because Maj lost a burst in his step, it was because they were paying that much attention to him."- Also Chris Mack after yesterday's game talking about how Ed Cooley was "well- versed" in Semaj Christon's game, because he also recruited him, and how Cooley chose to defend Semaj.

Two very telling statements. I understand that CMack is a man on man guy. Individual accountability and all that. He loves to hedge ball screens up top. He does not like to press and he really does not like to play zone, although he has made great adjustments in the past to win games. Yesterday he waited too long to do that in my opinion. Ed Cooley, on the other hand, had a specified defensive game plan just for Xavier. While I've seen him double the post man in other games this year, he did not on Matt Stainbrook. They had a specified plan to defend Semaj. I did not, and have not seen that kind of specified plan from Xavier's defense this year. Kellen Dunham? Let Dee Davis defend him. DSR? Let Dee Davis defend him. DeAngelo Harrison? Let Dee Davis defend him. True, Xavier won all those games, but yesterday the same strategy against Bryce Cotton burned them.

Here's my point. Sometimes defense is more than just guys out there being accountable. I get that CMack has a system, I had one too, but I was not afraid to change it up based upon who we were facing or how the game was going. CMack does that also, most of the time. However, this league has better breakdown guards than any league we have been in previously. There are more good players overall and you have to be ready to be more specified in a defensive game strategy.

Providence played only 6 guys. We made no effort to speed the game up by making them play offense for 94 feet until 4 minutes left. Providence only shoots 33% from 3, but we played man almost all game and Cotton broke us down all day. True, they shot 40% from 3 yesterday, and give them credit for playing a great basketball game. Maybe changing defenses wouldn't have helped, but maybe it would have.

All I know is that all of a sudden, we're giving up 80 points a game on average "not changing from game to game". All that needs to change. Chris Mack is a smart guy. He'll watch the film and he'll huddle with his assistants. I would guess that there will be a lot of attention to detail paid to the next defensive scouting report and game plan submitted by the assistant in charge. I sure hope so.

[kyxu]

I understand the need to play zone from time to time, but I don't necessarily agree with playing zone for the sole purpose of "changing things up." Also considering Providence's ability to offensive rebound, our ability to rebound on the defensive end would certainly suffer switching to a zone which was something we couldn't afford constantly playing behind. A reason we started racking up fouls so early was because we were giving up offensive boards to guys like Henton and fouling him on an attempted put back.

Having said that, I'm not really sure what the problem is. It seems like too often when our opponent isn't scoring, we're fouling them. We're not getting many "kills" on defense, and our defense in the post is just fouling their big man.

[X-band '01]

Maybe it's a good thing that the team now has a week to rest before the game against Seton Hall. Everything about this game screams "trap game" with @Villanova and the Providence rematch ahead.

[bleedXblue]

D has not been very good the last 4-5 games. Have to get back to where we were earlier in the season. That's about it.

[XU 87]

For those of you who belong to Scout, Broering he has a good read on what's wrong the defense.

[JTG]

Please do not take this as piling on after a loss. I love Chris Mack as a coach, but I did not agree with the defensive strategy at all yesterday. Not a second guess because I said it all through the game. Hey, I wasn't perfect when I coached and screwed up and I don't expect our guy to be perfect either. But a couple of things are bothering me.

"We practice every single day. We stress it. We don't change from game to game how we defend. We have rules."- Chris Mack after yesterday's game.

"I thought that it was evident from the beginning of the game. It seemed like everytime he drove, whether it was in transition or the half court, he wasn't dealing with his own man. It wasn't because Maj lost a burst in his step, it was because they were paying that much attention to him."- Also Chris Mack after yesterday's game talking about how Ed Cooley was "well- versed" in Semaj Christon's game, because he also recruited him, and how Cooley chose to defend Semaj.

Two very telling statements. I understand that CMack is a man on man guy. Individual accountability and all that. He loves to hedge ball screens up top. He does not like to press and he really does not like to play zone, although he has made great adjustments in the past to win games. Yesterday he waited too long to do that in my opinion. Ed Cooley, on the other hand, had a specified defensive game plan just for Xavier. While I've seen him double the post man in other games this year, he did not on Matt Stainbrook. They had a specified plan to defend Semaj. I did not, and have not seen that kind of specified plan from Xavier's defense this year. Kellen Dunham? Let Dee Davis defend him. DSR? Let Dee Davis defend him. DeAngelo Harrison? Let Dee Davis defend him. True, Xavier won all those games, but yesterday the same strategy against Bryce Cotton burned them.

Here's my point. Sometimes defense is more than just guys out there being accountable. I get that CMack has a system, I had one too, but I was not afraid to change it up based upon who we were facing or how the game was going. CMack does that also, most of the time. However, this league has better breakdown guards than any league we have been in previously. There are more good players overall and you have to be ready to be more specified in a defensive game strategy.

Providence played only 6 guys. We made no effort to speed the game up by making them play offense for 94 feet until 4 minutes left. Providence only shoots 33% from 3, but we played man almost all game and Cotton broke us down all day. True, they shot 40% from 3 yesterday, and give them credit for playing a great basketball game. Maybe changing defenses wouldn't have helped, but maybe it would have.

All I know is that all of a sudden, we're giving up 80 points a game on average "not changing from game to game". All that needs to change. Chris Mack is a smart guy. He'll watch the film and he'll huddle with his assistants. I would guess that there will be a lot of attention to detail paid to the next defensive scouting report and game plan submitted by the assistant in charge. I sure hope so.
Providence plays six guys, our defense sucks, we are deeper...Why not press ? I have been saying all season we should press more and press sooner when our d isn't working. We came back on Gtown by wearing them out.I have always thought taking away what your opponent wants to do, is as important, or more important , than what your team does

[muskienick]

Providence plays six guys, our defense sucks, we are deeper...Why not press ? I have been saying all season we should press more and press sooner when our d isn't working. We came back on Gtown by wearing them out.I have always thought taking away what your opponent wants to do, is as important, or more important , than what your team does

You really cannot press with Matt Stainbrook in the lineup. If he's not in there, you lose one of your top three offensive threats. If you sit both Matt and Zeke, who do you play in their positions if the press is broken to avoid mismatches in the paint?

It's as easy as pie to say "Press!" It's quite another thing to have the total pieces necessary to make a press work, especially if its a diamond full-court press or even a half-court 1-3-1 (force - trap- deny away from the ball). We can go deeper into our bench quality and lung/leg-wise. But you have to be able to set up in a good 1/2-court defense on all the trips down court when the opposition has broken the press. It's not hockey --- you can't change on the fly!

[JTG]

You really cannot press with Matt Stainbrook in the lineup. If he's not in there, you lose one of your top three offensive threats. If you sit both Matt and Zeke, who do you play in their positions if the press is broken to avoid mismatches in the paint?

It's as easy as pie to say "Press!" It's quite another thing to have the total pieces necessary to make a press work, especially if its a diamond full-court press or even a half-court 1-3-1 (force - trap- deny away from the ball). We can go deeper into our bench quality and lung/leg-wise. But you have to be able to set up in a good 1/2-court defense on all the trips down court when the opposition has broken the press. It's not hockey --- you can't change on the fly!
So how has it worked in the games we've used it ? I'm not saying use it 40 minutes just in short bursts...the idea of a press is score off turnovers...its not a half court d

[Masterofreality]

So how has it worked in the games we've used it ? I'm not saying use it 40 minutes just in short bursts...the idea of a press is score off turnovers...its not a half court d

Score off turnovers, if possible, but more to speed up the game, make the other team uncomfortable and give your team energy.

Again, I do not want a full blown Havoc type of defense, but be willing to use it at needed times, and earlier if the opposition is short on players.

[Muskie]

X may not be playing great defense, but my hats off to the rim, and backboard. They've been denying X bunnies, lay-ups, and 3 foot jumpers all year. Their performance has been MVP like.

[BandAid]

Many of you are much more informed in basketball strategy than I am, so this is a serious inquiry:

Why can't you press with Stain in? Leave him pretty much under the basket, and use the other four (I presume Farr or Reynolds in instead of Zeke) to press? It should accommodate well enough to get the other team to hurry.

[muskienick]

Many of you are much more informed in basketball strategy than I am, so this is a serious inquiry:

Why can't you press with Stain in? Leave him pretty much under the basket, and use the other four (I presume Farr or Reynolds in instead of Zeke) to press? It should accommodate well enough to get the other team to hurry.

If you sacrifice one player because of his relative lack of mobility, there will always be an opponent open for a somewhat easy break of the press. But if your intent is merely to step up the pace of the game you can make that sacrifice and have the big guy in the lane to help prevent easy fast break scores if and when the opponents break the press.

[JTG]

Score off turnovers, if possible, but more to speed up the game, make the other team uncomfortable and give your team energy.

Again, I do not want a full blown Havoc type of defense, but be willing to use it at needed times, and earlier if the opposition is short on players.

Thank you, exactly the point I was trying to make.

[Mrs. Garrett]

I agree that the defense has struggled of late. On Saturday they just came out flat and it's hard to play good defense when you are flat. I also didn't like that the focus of the offense seemed to be getting the ball down low to Stain early on. He was only getting about 2 inches of the ground and really struggling to convert easy buckets. That really set the tone for a struggling offense. Semaj didn't even show up for the first 30 minutes. The offense seems to flow better when Stain is used as a facilitator who passes out of the post for easy buckets to the other guys.

[xuinmd]

Not to make an excuse but a request for info. Local tv in providence Saturday morning reported a problem with an unnamed college basketball team's chartered flight (xavier) on friday night with a large number fire trucks awaiting the landing. I have verified that it was x's flight. My question is did they not get in untill friday night for a sat 12:00 game?

[LA Muskie]

Not to make an excuse but a request for info. Local tv in providence Saturday morning reported a problem with an unnamed college basketball team's chartered flight (xavier) on friday night with a large number fire trucks awaiting the landing. I have verified that it was x's flight. My question is did they not get in untill friday night for a sat 12:00 game?

Yes. And they got in late. No Friday shoot around. (Everyone was fine -- it was precautionary.)

[coasterville95]

Shannon posted that the flight was delayed three hours, and that their late arrival meant they had to cancel shoot around at the arena. Word was not said about how rattlled the team may have been from the experience.

Muskie: absolutely. The rims and backboards hate us this year. We are having clean shots bounce away for no apparent reason and put opponents are sinking circus shots as if they are on auto pilot.


With all the stats people keep, surely somebody has figured out a luck factor for stuff like the rims, getting ( or not getting) the 50/50 calls, your star player tripping on a court decal, and other stuff that falls in either the Stuff Happens category or the "I can't believe we made that, but I'll take it" category

Or it could be perception. I read a tweet this morning about when you are losing, the refs calls seem way more dubious and the announcers seem way stupider (or biased or annoying).

[Masterofreality]

Yes. And they got in late. No Friday shoot around. (Everyone was fine -- it was precautionary.)

This actually bothers me. I know it was a charter flight, which you would not normally expect to very late, but what is wrong with planning a departure around noon Friday where you'd have a bit of wiggle room? 3 hours late would still put you in Providence at 4:30 so the shoot around is OK.

Get in, get in the hotel, get a rest, have your shoot around and be ready for Saturday. Why is that so hard to accomplish?

[GoMuskies]

You'd prefer they miss as little class as possible, and I suspect at least one member of the team has classes running into early Friday afternoon.

[Masterofreality]

You'd prefer they miss as little class as possible, and I suspect at least one member of the team has classes running into early Friday afternoon.

That is on the academic advisor then. Should have NO classes past noon on Friday. No way, no how.

[Muskie1000]

do they still do the schedules like when I went there - Monday and Friday a long class between 10:30 and 12 and off on Wednesday during that time for a break? MOR, when I went there it was really hard not to have a noon class Monday, Wednesday and Friday because of the weird scheduling. Now normally I could be done after the noon class, but even my senior year I still had to have a noon class. Just kinda sucked the way the scheduling was - now it could be different.

[GoMuskies]

That is on the academic advisor then. Should have NO classes past noon on Friday. No way, no how.

I just did a quick search of the class schedule, and that would be EXTREMELY limiting for the players. No way you could do that for 13 different guys (plus managers).

[nuts4xu]

I am all for players/managers making their classes as much as possible but...

Players can miss classes for road games, especially this early in the semester. It wasn't like they were waiting around for guys to finish a final or mid term exam. When I was at Xavier the team left whenever was best suited for the schedule, and we were flying commercial back then. I know there were a few Friday classes missed for this reason.

It isn't an excuse for losing Saturday, but the delay didn't do us any favors either.

[RoseyMuskie]

That is on the academic advisor then. Should have NO classes past noon on Friday. No way, no how.

I was able to schedule so I did not have classes on Friday both semesters junior and senior year. Now, I paid for it on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'd take an early evening class on Monday or Wednesday (which athletes probably could not do), but athletes were also given scheduling priority before the remainder of the student body (meaning they could get any class they want). I'd imagine the basketball team has even more priority than other athletes, too. Furthermore, I believe all (or most) basketball players take summer classes, so they would only need to take 9-12 credit hours during second semester.

Point being, I'm not sure of their specific scheduling restrictions, but I was able to do it relatively easily with a greater classload, and graduate in four years.

[RealDeal]

I didn't hear about any delay, were they coming in from New Jersey?

[LA Muskie]

My understanding is that the delay was equipment related. Missing shootaround was not the plan. Let's all chill.

[RealDeal]

I didn't hear about any delay, were they coming in from New Jersey?

Anyone? Bridge closing? Anyone?

[GoMuskies]

Providence is about a 3 hr. drive once you get across the GW Bridge. That may affect the joke.

[LadyMuskie]

I didn't hear about any delay, were they coming in from New Jersey?

I heard Mack refused to endorse Christie, so the charter flight had to "experience some turbulence".

[RealDeal]

Providence is about a 3 hr. drive once you get across the GW Bridge. That may affect the joke.

Boo! A pox upon your "facts"! Boo!

[RealDeal]

I heard Mack refused to endorse Christie, so the charter flight had to "experience some turbulence".

Now that's what I'm talking about!

[joe titan]

Chris Mack holds a totally different concept of "Governor" Christi.

[X-band '01]

My understanding is that the delay was equipment related. Missing shootaround was not the plan. Let's all chill.

At least the delay had nothing to do with passports.

[paulxu]

So far this year we've had:
Crampgate
Casinogate
Passportgate
Flightdelaygate

...now we've got Toegate.

Whatever. Play better defense. Press a little more. Pick up the tempo when you've got a deeper bench.