Xavier @ St. Johns (February 25, 2014) Game Thread

[GreatWhiteNorth]

We need this win bad. Great coming out game for Jalen....hope this is the beginning of many good things to come. He is our secret weapon.......I bet SJU did not prepare the team on defending JR. Congrats to the team for winning this must win game. Go X.

[PM Thor]

If there is no opposing crowd, the team seems to be ok. Or maybe they came up against a team that sucked more than they did. X had 16 turnovers. SIXTEEN. But we won so ignore that. Everyone don't look at the gorilla in the room. Move on.

SIXTEEN TURNOVERS. We simply won because St. Johns had 14. Nothing has changed for this team.

[Retire33]

Does he remind you a little of Dwight Howard physically? His upper body is cut!

Amare?

[mistabeecee41]

to make things better : the cryers, who have somehow found themselves in the bubble conversation, lay a turd and lose by 26 in philly.

[X Factor]

If there is no opposing crowd, the team seems to be ok. Or maybe they came up against a team that sucked more than they did. X had 16 turnovers. SIXTEEN. But we won so ignore that. Everyone don't look at the gorilla in the room. Move on.

SIXTEEN TURNOVERS. We simply won because St. Johns had 14. Nothing has changed for this team.

Why are you bitching? Damn power down.

[Cheesehead]

If there is no opposing crowd, the team seems to be ok. Or maybe they came up against a team that sucked more than they did. X had 16 turnovers. SIXTEEN. But we won so ignore that. Everyone don't look at the gorilla in the room. Move on.

SIXTEEN TURNOVERS. We simply won because St. Johns had 14. Nothing has changed for this team.

Is that you,gladden guy?

[KabeX]

Huge win, great to see em bounce back. Love to see them play with some ballz for a change!

Absolutely! I had my best reverse psych. going strong tonight.
(Red: 78 Blue: 61)

Jalen will be on page 1 of all subsequent scouting reports.

[PM Thor]

I'm not bitching. What I am saying is that nothing has changed between a win or a loss. We have 3 games left, and I don't see how this team has changed, or gotten better when it comes to the flaws. When X plays better teams than SJU, oh like Villanova and Creighton, how are we going to overcome our turnover issue?

But YIPPPPEEE we won. Hurrah.

[X-band '01]

If you look at the A-10 right now, it's clear that Saint Louis, VCU and UMass are in the tournament right now. Saint Joe's is probably in and GW is a coin flip at the moment. Dayton's best A-10 win came against GW when they had a couple of starters out of their lineup due to injuries.

[X-band '01]

And if you look at how Creighton has been playing of late, Xavier has a decent chance of getting a scalp at home. The Jays avoided a last-second scare at home against Seton Hall on Sunday.

[xsteve1]

I'm not bitching. What I am saying is that nothing has changed between a win or a loss. We have 3 games left, and I don't see how this team has changed, or gotten better when it comes to the flaws. When X plays better teams than SJU, oh like Villanova and Creighton, how are we going to overcome our turnover issue?

But YIPPPPEEE we won. Hurrah.

how about the play oh Jalen? I'm happy as hell about this win. St. John's length played a huge part in the turnovers.

[ammtd34]

I'm not bitching. What I am saying is that nothing has changed between a win or a loss. We have 3 games left, and I don't see how this team has changed, or gotten better when it comes to the flaws. When X plays better teams than SJU, oh like Villanova and Creighton, how are we going to overcome our turnover issue?

But YIPPPPEEE we won. Hurrah.

St. John's beat Creighton two weeks ago. So they got worse?

[XUGRAD80]

I agree, the turnovers are concerning, but I don't see that changing at this point in the season. Fortunately, most of those turnovers did not lead to points by SJU. In fact, many times they only led to a turnover by SJU, themselves. Sloppy game, but X hit enough shots and clutch free throws in the last few minutes to get a big win. Poor shot selection by SJU and good defense by X.

[Cheesehead]

I'm not bitching. What I am saying is that nothing has changed between a win or a loss. We have 3 games left, and I don't see how this team has changed, or gotten better when it comes to the flaws. When X plays better teams than SJU, oh like Villanova and Creighton, how are we going to overcome our turnover issue?

But YIPPPPEEE we won. Hurrah.
Thor, c'mon. I apparently need to look up the definition of bitching because I apparently don't know what it means.:sword:

[XUFan09]

Dee had eight assists to two turnovers, and he held St. John's star player (a potential 1st team selection) to 4 points on 1-11 shooting. Wow. A couple really frustrating moments but a lot more great ones.

Semaj was struggling to finish at the basket at times, needing 14 shots to get 15 points, but he still quietly got 7 assists to 2 turnovers, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. Impressive, especially since he'll view it as a "bad" game. Also, Xavier won by double digits while their star player didn't play his best game. Nice.

Jalen did okay.

Our frontcourt in general did really well. The trio of Stainbrook, Philmore, and Reynolds combined for 41 points on 17-25 shooting and 25 rebounds. 16 of those rebounds were Jalen's, but Stain played limited minutes.

Xavier rebounded on the offensive glass at an impressive 34.4% rate. St. John's actually had a 32.6% rate, but about eight of their 14 offensive boards came on two bad sequences.

Great win!

[XU 87]

Xavier rebounded on the offensive glass at an impressive 34.4% rate. St. John's actually had a 32.6% rate, but about eight of their 14 offensive boards came on two bad sequences.



Where do you find these stats?

[GreatWhiteNorth]

WOW ! Reynolds had 16 rebounds.......what a beast.

[PM Thor]

No, a win is great, but when you simply overcome the blatant flaws in a team to win, it isn't like it's so great. I'm not trying to be Debbie downer, but how was this such a great win? We had a crap load of turnovers. Look at the turnover to points ratio, do you think Creighton, Villanova is going to do what SJU did today? They looked tired, worn out. There is no let down. I am happy about this win, yep, but we are still turning the ball over too much, taking too much time in the half court. Is it like we can rest on our laurels, and the margin of error gets much, much smaller from here on out. No time to slap each other on the back, especially considering the beatdown GW gave us.

[ammtd34]

No, a win is great, but when you simply overcome the blatant flaws in a team to win, it isn't like it's so great. I'm not trying to be Debbie downer, but how was this such a great win?

Because it's a top 50 road win.

[Cheesehead]

No, a win is great, but when you simply overcome the blatant flaws in a team to win, it isn't like it's so great. I'm not trying to be Debbie downer, but how was this such a great win? We had a crap load of turnovers. Look at the turnover to points ratio, do you think Creighton, Villanova is going to do what SJU did today? They looked tired, worn out. There is no let down. I am happy about this win, yep, but we are still turning the ball over too much, taking too much time in the half court. Is it like we can rest on our laurels, and the margin of error gets much, much smaller from here on out. No time to slap each other on the back, especially considering the beatdown GW gave us.
Ok, so you do know that x just beat the hottest team in the Big East and arguably in the country in their place, right?

[XUFan09]

I'm not bitching. What I am saying is that nothing has changed between a win or a loss. We have 3 games left, and I don't see how this team has changed, or gotten better when it comes to the flaws. When X plays better teams than SJU, oh like Villanova and Creighton, how are we going to overcome our turnover issue?

But YIPPPPEEE we won. Hurrah.

What was different? Defense, especially on the perimeter.

[DC Muskie]

It was a great win Thor. Come on buddy!

[Green Mamba]

No, a win is great, but when you simply overcome the blatant flaws in a team to win, it isn't like it's so great. I'm not trying to be Debbie downer, but how was this such a great win? We had a crap load of turnovers. Look at the turnover to points ratio, do you think Creighton, Villanova is going to do what SJU did today? They looked tired, worn out. There is no let down. I am happy about this win, yep, but we are still turning the ball over too much, taking too much time in the half court. Is it like we can rest on our laurels, and the margin of error gets much, much smaller from here on out. No time to slap each other on the back, especially considering the beatdown GW gave us.

In defense of this post, we challenged a poor three point shooting teams to beat us shooting three pointers. It worked. However, we've been using that same strategy for much of Big East play, and it hasn't worked.

I am pleased with the win, however.

[Nocalmuskie]

It was a great win Thor. Come on buddy!

agree -- total ignorant post by thor ...

[Green Mamba]

What was different? Defense, especially on the perimeter.

Our defense on the perimeter was not improved at all. We were sagging off of their perimeter players. Fortunately, St. Johns cannot shoot. They are a team of slashers.

[JAPER]

Great win. We played smart!

Spit in my cup.

[X Factor]

Our defense on the perimeter was not improved at all. We were sagging off of their perimeter players. Fortunately, St. Johns cannot shoot. They are a team of slashers.

Go away.

[XUFan09]

Where do you find these stats?

I just used the ESPN box score and did the math.

Xavier had 10 offensive rebounds to SJU's 19 defense rebounds, so add those together and do 10 divided by 29.
SJU had 14 offensive rebounds to Xavier's 29 defensive rebounds, so add those together and do 14 divided by 43.

Kenpom stats will offer this stuff with better detail and accuracy in probably just a couple hours. For example, the possession count is one I struggle with, because I don't know the context of all the free throw attempts. Theoretically two free throw attempts would equal a possession, but it doesn't work in practice. How many and-1s were there? Two and-1 attempts would count as a possession, when there was no extra possession. How many missed front ends of 1-1 were there? Two of these would only count as one possession, when they should count as two.

[Green Mamba]

Go away.

Yes. Because the truth is a bad thing?

As I said, I'm pleased with the win, and given the opponent, the strategy was a good one. However, to say that our perimeter defense was better is false. St. John's is just not a good shooting team.

[ammtd34]

Yes. Because the truth is a bad thing?

As I said, I'm pleased with the win, and given the opponent, the strategy was a good one. However, to say that our perimeter defense was better is false. St. John's is just not a good shooting team.

Do you think anything we did had an effect on Harrison having an awful night or did he miss shots for no reason?

[RealDeal]

12 point road win against that talent? I won't bitch about it.

[Green Mamba]

Do you think anything we did had an effect on Harrison having an awful night or did he miss shots for no reason?

I thought we did a very effective job on Harrison. However, he also is a volume, rather than efficient, scorer.

[PM Thor]

agree -- total ignorant post by thor ...

Ok, so wait a second, it's ok when X gets blown out by Georgetown with 11 turnovers, but if I point out that X has 17 vs St. Johns in a win, that's fine? We had 13 vs DePaul in a win, 19 in a loss to Marquette.

Look, I'm just pointing out how this team hasn't addressed the problem. A win makes people ignore it, obviously by the response to my post, but how has this team gotten better in this regard? 13 turnovers vs DePaul, 19 vs Marquette.

Again, when we come up against better teams, how do we not have double digit turnovers?

[XUFan09]

Our defense on the perimeter was not improved at all. We were sagging off of their perimeter players. Fortunately, St. Johns cannot shoot. They are a team of slashers.

The players we were sagging off of were shooting percentages like 20%, 26.5%, 28.6%, 11.8%, and 25.6%. Do you want to get in these players' grills? Rysheed Jordan's, yeah (26.5%), because he's also a ball-handler and creator and you want to disrupt that. But the other guys don't demand that attention. The best defenses rotate to play close enough to contest the shot if they decided to shoot but not close enough to deny the shot altogether. If a defense is working to deny the shot altogether, it spaces out the floor without the team even having to earn that spacing through made shots. Xavier executed that strategy well while playing closer to the real shooters: Harrison (0-5), Greene (1-4), and Pointer (0-0, didn't even get an attempt, albeit in limited minutes).

In other games, Xavier's problem wasn't that they were getting in the grills of mediocre shooters. The issue was that they weren't even getting close enough for a late contest. The Marquette games are perfect examples. That's the issue that didn't arise tonight. Whether it was a good coaching adjustment or better player discipline is unclear, but nevertheless, the perimeter defense was better tonight.

[bleedXblue]

Great W on the road. I didn't get a chance to watch.....sounds like things were a little ugly at times.

More than anything, this team needed some confidence going into Saturday.

Lets keem it going and kick some bluejay a** !!!!!!!!

[Green Mamba]

As I said, the strategy was a good one - keep St. John's perimeter players out of the lane, and defend the post, while sagging on three point shooters. My point, in defending someone else's post, was rather simple - our three-point defense wasn't improved. It's just that we played an opponent that doesn't shoot them well.

[PM Thor]

What was different? Defense, especially on the perimeter.

Ok I can see that. They were great on D.

[Green Mamba]

The players we were sagging off of were shooting percentages like 20%, 26.5%, 28.6%, 11.8%, and 25.6%. Do you want to get in these players' grills? Rysheed Jordan's, yeah (26.5%), because he's also a ball-handler and creator and you want to disrupt that. But the other guys don't demand that attention. The best defenses rotate to play close enough to contest the shot if they decided to shoot but not close enough to deny the shot altogether. If a defense is working to deny the shot altogether, it spaces out the floor without the team even having to earn that spacing through made shots. Xavier executed that strategy well while playing closer to the real shooters: Harrison (0-5), Greene (1-4), and Pointer (0-0, didn't even get an attempt, albeit in limited minutes).

In other games, Xavier's problem wasn't that they were getting in the grills of mediocre shooters. The issue was that they weren't even getting close enough for a late contest. The Marquette games are perfect examples. That's the issue that didn't arise tonight. Whether it was a good coaching adjustment or better player discipline is unclear, but nevertheless, the perimeter defense was better tonight.

You clearly struggle with reading comprehension, as I've said a few times now that the strategy was a good one.

[Green Mamba]

The players we were sagging off of were shooting percentages like 20%, 26.5%, 28.6%, 11.8%, and 25.6%. Do you want to get in these players' grills? Rysheed Jordan's, yeah (26.5%), because he's also a ball-handler and creator and you want to disrupt that. But the other guys don't demand that attention. The best defenses rotate to play close enough to contest the shot if they decided to shoot but not close enough to deny the shot altogether. If a defense is working to deny the shot altogether, it spaces out the floor without the team even having to earn that spacing through made shots. Xavier executed that strategy well while playing closer to the real shooters: Harrison (0-5), Greene (1-4), and Pointer (0-0, didn't even get an attempt, albeit in limited minutes).

In other games, Xavier's problem wasn't that they were getting in the grills of mediocre shooters. The issue was that they weren't even getting close enough for a late contest. The Marquette games are perfect examples. That's the issue that didn't arise tonight. Whether it was a good coaching adjustment or better player discipline is unclear, but nevertheless, the perimeter defense was better tonight.

But to be honest, I'm not sure what game you were watching. We were giving wide open looks to St. John's. As I said, however, they just missed.

[danaandvictory]

Thor, just for context, St. John's is leads the conference in defensive efficiency and effective FG% against. They also force more turnovers per possession than anyone else in the league. X turned the ball over too frequently, no doubt, but it wasn't quite that bad.

[XU 87]

Ok, so wait a second, it's ok when X gets blown out by Georgetown with 11 turnovers, but if I point out that X has 17 vs St. Johns in a win, that's fine? We had 13 vs DePaul in a win, 19 in a loss to Marquette.

Look, I'm just pointing out how this team hasn't addressed the problem. A win makes people ignore it, obviously by the response to my post, but how has this team gotten better in this regard? 13 turnovers vs DePaul, 19 vs Marquette.

Again, when we come up against better teams, how do we not have double digit turnovers?


I didn't realize we had 17 to's. That's bad. There are too many lazy passes. There are too many forced passes to guys who aren't open.

That said, nice road win.

[PM Thor]

Thor, just for context, St. John's is leads the conference in defensive efficiency and effective FG% against. They also force more turnovers per possession than anyone else in the league. X turned the ball over too frequently, no doubt, but it wasn't quite that bad.

Well just great. Thanks a lot. Now I look like an idiot. Ha. But they looked tired, am I right? Am I right?

[XUFan09]

You clearly struggle with reading comprehension, as I've said a few times now that the strategy was a good one.

No, I'm not. You're saying the defense isn't improved. I'm pointing out why that isn't true. We agree on it as a good strategy, so I didn't mention that, but I'm saying how it was a better executed strategy tonight as opposed to previously. If you have video of the Marquette games, go back and watch them, as I've already mentioned them as perfect examples. Xavier gave a late contest on all but two three-point attempts tonight (one in transition). Against Marquette, there were a lot more wide open looks without the late contest. And that doesn't even account for the job they did on the good shooters, whom they played much closer without sacrificing good help defense.

[Green Mamba]

No, I'm not. You're saying the defense isn't improved. I'm pointing out why that isn't true. We agree on it as a good strategy, so I didn't mention that, but I'm saying how it was a better executed strategy tonight as opposed to previously. If you have video of the Marquette games, go back and watch them, as I've already mentioned them as perfect examples. Xavier gave a late contest on all but two three-point attempts tonight (one in transition). Against Marquette, there were a lot more wide open looks without the late contest. And that doesn't even account for the job they did on the good shooters, whom they played much closer without sacrificing good help defense.

We'll just agree to disagree, as no one can go back (at least I can't) and review tape.

[danaandvictory]

Well just great. Thanks a lot. Now I look like an idiot. Ha. But they looked tired, am I right? Am I right?

No, it's definitely too many turnovers. This was a slow-paced game, just eyeballing it no more than 60-62 possessions, you turn the ball over on 30% of your possessions it's very bad.

However, given that St. John's tends to force a ton and X shot okay and defended well, it didn't hurt them.

[xavierj]

Well just great. Thanks a lot. Now I look like an idiot. Ha. But they looked tired, am I right? Am I right?

Wow if you can't enjoy a road win against a hot team, in conference, against a team fighting you for third place, in the garden, what is the point of being a fan? Not saying they were perfect but jeezle it beats the freaking alternative. Lighten up Francis. Now beat Creighton and they are in great shape. I would also like to point out that if Jalen can bottle this up, this team will be dangerous.

[vee4xu]

Points off turnovers-XU 12,STJU 14.

Here is the bottom line. X did not get smoked in the points off turnover category. In the Seton Hall loss at home, X got killed in this category. The amount of turnovers really become killer when they become points for the other team and more so when there is a large disparity. Tonight, this wasn't the case. Does is overshadow the TO's themselves? No. But, it does provide statistical context for tonight's game.

[XUFan09]

We'll just agree to disagree, as no one can go back (at least I can't) and review tape.

Fair enough.

[vee4xu]

Also, X is now at #43 in Live RPI and was #50 prior to the game. St. John's started at #53 and is now #63.

[PM Thor]

Oh good God J. X turned it over too much. We won, a BIG win, HUGE WIN. I know that. There you go. I am extremely happy with the win. But the win doesn't address the most blatant problem with this team. Why are guys like you ignoring it? We turn it over waaaaaay tooo much. We overcame that tonight right?

But how did X get better?

[gladdenguy]

I didn't watch the game because of my high blood pressure during games and nerves but re-watching it now and just seeing the Jalen turnaround and 1 to go up 8 with over 7 min left had me fist pump real hard and jump off the couch even though I know they won. Awesome.

[xavierj]

Oh good God J. X turned it over too much. We won, a BIG win, HUGE WIN. I know that. There you go. I am extremely happy with the win. But the win doesn't address the most blatant problem with this team. Why are guys like you ignoring it? We turn it over waaaaaay tooo much. We overcame that tonight right?

But how did X get better?

Well they over came not playing perfect, won by 12 and had a freshman with a ton of upside play like a man. I would say that the play of Jalen made them much better. But yes they are turnover prone. Tone it down and they win by 20.

[xu82]

I get it. We need to protect the ball better and play better defense. Most teams probably say the same thing, especially after a loss. This was a win and one I wasn't really expecting. I am concerned about our play and I am not predicting a Final Four, but I'm happy with a great road win against a hot team. It's one thing to be critical after a loss, but tonight I'm pleased. You have to get in the tournament to win the tournament. Let's be happy about wins that may help us get in! (And, sadly, maybe hope UC wins out.)

[PM Thor]

Good response.

[XU 87]

Also, X is now at #43 in Live RPI and was #50 prior to the game. St. John's started at #53 and is now #63.

ESPN and CBS had X at 60 before the game. On tv they had X at 50. Which one is correct, or did I read something wrong?

[XU 87]

Well they over came not playing perfect, won by 12 and had a freshman with a ton of upside play like a man. I would say that the play of Jalen made them much better. But yes they are turnover prone. Tone it down and they win by 20.

I with Thor. I'm happy about the win. No doubt. But they need to take care of the ball better. There were too many sloppy and unforced turnovers today.

[XUFan09]

Kenpom stats are up-to-date:

Xavier:
Points per possession - 0.98
Turnover rate - 22.7%. Big factor in the sub-1.00 point per possession mark.
Assist rate - 70.8%! Their assist rate of 60.0% overall is 23rd in the country; basically, tonight's is really, really good.

St. John's:
Points per possession - 0.80! This is one of the best marks by Xavier on the defensive end in a long time, outside of @Butler (which no one should count)
Turnover rate - 21.2%. This is a really good mark, considering Xavier doesn't really turn opponents over much and St. John's has one of the lower TO rates in the conference.

[The_Mack_Pack]

ESPN and CBS had X at 60 before the game. On tv they had X at 50. Which one is correct, or did I read something wrong?
ESPN and CBS count Abilene Christian against the RPI but they shouldn't be.

[XUFan09]

ESPN and CBS had X at 60 before the game. On tv they had X at 50. Which one is correct, or did I read something wrong?

Any service that gives Xavier a noticeably lower RPI is counting the Abilene-Christian game, which they shouldn't.

[XUFan09]

Irony: Xavier loses the more winnable road game by 22 and wins the less winnable road game by 12.

[XU 87]

ESPN and CBS count Abilene Christian against the RPI but they shouldn't be.


Good thing. But one thing that tells me- play a D3 team instead of a terrible D1 team.

[Smails]

I would hate to be a ref.

Yeahhhh. Let's see...you would be able to do what you want..call whatever you want, and when someone got on your nerves you could make a hand gesture and have them removed from the premises at the blink of an eye. And you could always have the last word. I think you missed your calling brother. To hell with the non-profits, put my boy David Charles Muskie in stripes!

[The_Mack_Pack]

Good thing. But one thing that tells me- play a D3 team instead of a terrible D1 team.

X was basically forced to play Abilene in order to play in Atlantis. In hindsight, they would've been better off playing a D3 school and avoiding Atlantis though..

[XU 87]

X was basically forced to play Abilene in order to play in Atlantis. In hindsight, they would've been better off playing a D3 school and avoiding Atlantis though..

you lost me. Why they were forced to play Abiline?

But I agree, we should have played 3 D3 games instead of Atlantis.

[The_Mack_Pack]

you lost me. Why they were forced to play Abiline?

But I agree, we should have played 3 D3 games instead of Atlantis.

Abilene was basically a buy game that the Battle for Atlantis made Xavier play. Iowa had to play them too.

[XU 87]

Abilene was basically a buy game that the Battle for Atlantis made Xavier play. Iowa had to play them too.

Still lost. Why does Atlantis care about Abiline Christian?

[Nocalmuskie]

what is the rule with the NCAA selection committee in terms of including the Abiline game. Should they include it or not?

[The_Mack_Pack]

Still lost. Why does Atlantis care about Abiline Christian?

No idea, somehow they made a deal. I do know that that game was essentially an exhibition game for X and won't count against the RPI but makes the record look a little better.

[LA Muskie]

Dana O'Neil continues her barrage against the Big East.

Dana O'Neil ‏@ESPNDanaOneil 8m
Ouch. St. John's loses to Xavier. Not good.

Not sure I follow you. It's a home loss for St. John's that makes them 0-2 against a team to which they will be compared by the committee. It wasn't good. For them.

[xsteve1]

Not sure I follow you. It's a home loss for St. John's that makes them 0-2 against a team to which they will be compared by the committee. It wasn't good. For them.

Everything written by her has had a negative connotation towards the league. She could have also said something to the effect that it was a big win for Xavier's NCAA hopes as well.

[XU3232]

Got home late and just got done watching the recording and what an awesome surprise. That what a huge win. Jalen was an absolute monster.

[XUFan09]

Still lost. Why does Atlantis care about Abiline Christian?

Exempt tournaments give three extra games. In a three-game tournament, teams only take advantage of two of those extra games, so the tournament committees often schedule a common opponent. Since a lot of the teams play the same opponent, it counts as one of the tournament games.

[XU 87]

Exempt tournaments give three extra games. In a three-game tournament, teams only take advantage of two of those extra games, so the tournament committees often schedule a common opponent. Since a lot of the teams play the same opponent, it counts as one of the tournament games.

Well now I'm really lost. X played three games in Atlantis. Abilene would be 4th.

[LA Muskie]

Everything written by her has had a negative connotation towards the league. She could have also said something to the effect that it was a big win for Xavier's NCAA hopes as well.

I don't think that's true at all. She has had some really good Big East reporting. The fact that a reporter doesn't jump on our jock after our lone meaningful road victory of the season does not equal negativity.

[LA Muskie]

Well now I'm really lost. X played three games in Atlantis. Abilene would be 4th.

You're missing the "extra". You can play up to 4 games. We played 3 at Atlantis. The 4th for us (and Iowa) was Abilene. As designated by the tournament.

[bobbiemcgee]

We went on the the road to the Big Apple and won. We played a BIG EAST game in MADISON SQUARE GARDEN and won. We won a game we HAD TO WIN. We beat the hottest team in the league. We may have won a 1st game bye in the BE tournament. We found a guy who can apparently play passionately when he's under fire. 17 and 16. Wow. No negatives for me. HUGE! Bring on The Jays!

[XU2011]

Byron said on the pregame that Isaiah looked to be only 60% during practice

Was he sick or hurt?

[GoMuskies]

Just got finished watching on the old DVR. Wow, what a huge win. Not too much to say about that one. Obviously Jalen was a revelation. He's the most physically talented player on the roster (not named Semaj). But good Lord St. John's is turrible. Talented, but turrible. Steve Lavin is a waste oof coaching oxygen.

Oh, and the announcers were horrible. Hope we don't get that team again.

[X-band '01]

Well now I'm really lost. X played three games in Atlantis. Abilene would be 4th.


You're missing the "extra". You can play up to 4 games. We played 3 at Atlantis. The 4th for us (and Iowa) was Abilene. As designated by the tournament.

This is a setup so bottom-feeders like Abilene Christian can also play up to 4 teams in an exempt-tournament setting. They played 2 other bottom-feeders while the real Atlantis tournament was taking place.

[Masterofreality]

Only have one thing to say in summary.

Winning in Madison Square Garden is awesome.

[kyxu]

Just got finished watching on the old DVR. Wow, what a huge win. Not too much to say about that one. Obviously Jalen was a revelation. He's the most physically talented player on the roster (not named Semaj). But good Lord St. John's is turrible. Talented, but turrible. Steve Lavin is a waste oof coaching oxygen.

Oh, and the announcers were horrible. Hope we don't get that team again.

I don't want to make any accusations, especially since he appeared to get the worst of it, but it seems on the play where D'Angelo Harrison was injured late in the game going for the loose ball, he kicked out his right leg trying to up-end Dee. Getting up, Dee looked like he was in visible pain, but he still dug for the ball and saved the Xavier possession. Dee was also nursing an injured wrist.

Jalen played a whale of a game, but Dee Davis played GREAT defense last night. Say what we will about his production at times, but Darwin is not a soft basketball player. Kid is a warrior.

[XU 87]

I just used the ESPN box score and did the math.

Xavier had 10 offensive rebounds to SJU's 19 defense rebounds, so add those together and do 10 divided by 29.
SJU had 14 offensive rebounds to Xavier's 29 defensive rebounds, so add those together and do 14 divided by 43.



Yea, I guess the math ain't that hard on that stat. Dumb question.

[Muskie1000]

We went on the the road to the Big Apple and won. We played a BIG EAST game in MADISON SQUARE GARDEN and won. We won a game we HAD TO WIN. We beat the hottest team in the league. We may have won a 1st game bye in the BE tournament. We found a guy who can apparently play passionately when he's under fire. 17 and 16. Wow. No negatives for me. HUGE! Bring on The Jays!

You do know we are still 3 behind Villanova and 4 behind Creighton - right? In order for that to happen we would have to win out and one of those teams would have to lose out. Not gonna happen.

[danaandvictory]

You do know we are still 3 behind Villanova and 4 behind Creighton - right? In order for that to happen we would have to win out and one of those teams would have to lose out. Not gonna happen.

That's not right. The top six teams go directly to the quarterfinals. The other four have to play Wednesday.

[GIMMFD]

Boy, suspending Jalen was a great move Mack. On to the next one.

[Muskie1000]

my bad then... I thought I heard that only the top 2 teams got a bye

[American X]

You clearly struggle with reading comprehension.

You clearly struggle with not being a jerk on this board. Go join your other already banned username.

[XUFan09]

You clearly struggle with not being a jerk on this board. Go join your other already banned username.

The irony of that comment was that the struggle with reading comprehension was on his side when he responded to me.

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[Masterofreality]

Finally got away from work today and wanted to post my overall thoughts.

St. Johns was the perfect team for Xavier to play after the GTown game for many reasons. A) They do not shoot well from outside. B)Xavier's hedging defense works against the Johnnies because they emphasize driving to the tin. C) St. Johns overplays guys underneath going for the big block and back door passes to the off-side forward work..something Xavier does well. D) Many of St. John's bigs (Achiuwa, Obekpa) do not shoot frees well. E) St. Johns had just played a very tough emotionally draining game vs Villanova.

Jalen Reynolds was a monster and Stain played great while he could. Dee Davis hit a huge shot and JMart was superb defensively. Semaj got his 15. All credit to them for executing and to Coach for the correct game plan. It was all good.

That being said, however, I am not ready to proclaim our defense as "fixed" and I am still very concerned about the continual hedging. Against St. Johns it works because we match up well. Our last three games, however, are against 3 teams that are in the Top 4 in the league in 3 point shooting percentage- Xavier being the fourth. All 3 of them torched us before and unless we get out on them we are in danger. Of course, 2 of those games are in the friendly confines of Cintas, and hopefully, those teams will not shoot as well there, but we still have a lot of work to do defensively.

The win was superb, in the bright lights of NYC and in the Garden. Much more work to be done, however.

[ThrowDownDBrown]

Stainbrook needs to get his temper under control. His fifth foul last night was just an inexcusable play from a fourth year junior. Stop bitching at the refs and picking up stupid cheap fouls because you're pissed off. When he was actually in last night he played very well but the guy has got to learn to stop losing his cool.

[xu82]

Stainbrook needs to get his temper under control. His fifth foul last night was just an inexcusable play from a fourth year junior. Stop bitching at the refs and picking up stupid cheap fouls because you're pissed off. When he was actually in last night he played very well but the guy has got to learn to stop losing his cool.

I agree the whining is not a good thing. It's unpleasant to watch and it doesn't help you with the ref's (unless you happen to go by "Coach K"). Maybe I didn't see it properly, but the 5th foul looked like the guy just ran into him. Did I miss something? I didn't go back and replay it. Is he supposed to be faster at getting out of the way? Were the ref's just sick of hearing from him? Or was it a foul?

[mohr5150]

His fifth "foul" was, most definitely, just him standing there and his guy running down the court and running into him. Just a horrible call. I think he tried hard last night to keep things under control. He could have easily blown his lid with the target he had on his back. I think it is hilarious how our recent big guys (Frease and now Stainbrook) get called for touch fouls while the smaller guys on other teams can completely mug guys without being called for anything.

[XU3232]

I realize we are all biased, but some of the fouls called on our guys the last few games are terrible compared to what our opponents have gotten away with. Just last night alone had several and I couldn't believe no foul was called on Harrison when he ran over Dee late in the game and injured himself.

[XUFan09]

I can't believe they didn't call anything on Harrison there, and a couple of Stainbrook's fouls were bad (especially the one just mentioned). Other than that I thought it was a really well-called game. Surprisingly so, as some recent ones have been awful.

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[xu82]

He seems to just smile at times when he gets called for a foul. His lips move, but I have no idea what he's saying. We used to just tell our kids in high school, just stay quiet and smile and walk away. One son got a technical called on him. His coach thought HE had gotten the T for complaining about the call. The ref explained the T was on my son. He hadn't said a word but he reportedly "rolled his eyes". Pissing off the refs does not help.

[XU3232]

I can't believe they didn't call anything on Harrison there, and a couple of Stainbrook's fouls were bad (especially the one just mentioned). Other than that I thought it was a really well-called game. Surprisingly so, as some recent ones have been awful.

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Yea I agree.. Overall it was well officiated.. There were definitely a few head scratchers though.

[XUFan09]

He seems to just smile at times when he gets called for a foul. His lips move, but I have no idea what he's saying. We used to just tell our kids in high school, just stay quiet and smile and walk away. One son got a technical called on him. His coach thought HE had gotten the T for complaining about the call. The ref explained the T was on my son. He hadn't said a word but he reportedly "rolled his eyes". Pissing off the refs does not help.

For rolling his eyes? Man, what a touchy ref. That's a nice way of putting it.

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