We meet again

[Xraycat]

It's been a few years but here we are yet again playing in the Sweet 16. Looking forward to a great game!

[XUGRAD80]

We are certainly looking forward to a different result this time!

[azgreg]

Good luck Thursday guys. Here's to a good and injury free game.

[drudy23]

I'm with you on injury free...but I'd be happy taking your luck for us and leaving you guys with none.

[GoMuskies]

Who's coaching Arizona these days?

[xuwin]

Who's coaching Arizona these days?

Who's driving the Lexus?

[OTRMUSKIE]

Who's driving the Lexus?

Kevin parrom

[Blue Blooded-05]

The Xavier coaching tree has not been fruitful to the understudy thus far...

- Miller lost to Matta as head coach of Xavier in 2007 and Arizona in 2013
- Mack lost to Miller in 2015

Here's to hoping that'll change!

[GetUp5]

Sucks we run into each other again. Crazy as it sounds, I've been a huge Sean Miller fan since he left. The way the players of the past talk about him, it's hard not to like the guy...

Arizona is down at #18 in KenPom for whatever reason, assuming because of the bottom feeders in the Pac-12. #17 in offensive efficiency and #24 in defensive efficiency. They're pretty good at almost everything they do, but not great in any one area. 15th in the nation in 3P% and score the 34th most points from the free throw line.

I did notice they're 244th in the nation in defensive turnovers, which is nice because we've had turnover problems all season. They are also 321 out of 351 in experience. While Markkanen (frosh), Trier (soph), Alkins (frosh), Simmons (frosh) are all studs, the only upper classmen that play more than 50% of the minutes are Kadeem Allen (sr.), Dusan Ristic (jr.) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (jr.). Seems like one of the few areas we may have an edge with Bluiett, JP and Malcolm all being older guys.

Who guards Markkanen? He's a huge problem if you've watched Arizona at all this year. Going to be a lottery pick, gets lots of comps to Porzingis, etc. He's 7 foot and shoots 43% from 3... Body him up with Tyrique? The game plan vs. FSU was simple - zone them up and make them beat us with the 3. While I'm sure we mix in a lot of zone vs. Arizona, there's a hell of a lot better chance that they beat us with the 3.

[Sonoran Desert Muskie]

Lord I hope we beat U of AZ this time, not just because of the way Miller left us to go to a God forsaken place like Tucson, but also because of their insufferable fans. Having lived in Phoenix for 25+ years, I am imminently qualified to state that U of AZ has the most annoying, elitist, and lowlife fans (especially for basketball) west of the Mississippi.

[xavierj]

Sucks we run into each other again. Crazy as it sounds, I've been a huge Sean Miller fan since he left. The way the players of the past talk about him, it's hard not to like the guy...

Arizona is down at #18 in KenPom for whatever reason, assuming because of the bottom feeders in the Pac-12. #17 in offensive efficiency and #24 in defensive efficiency. They're pretty good at almost everything they do, but not great in any one area. 15th in the nation in 3P% and score the 34th most points from the free throw line.

I did notice they're 244th in the nation in defensive turnovers, which is nice because we've had turnover problems all season. They are also 321 out of 351 in experience. While Markkanen (frosh), Trier (soph), Alkins (frosh), Simmons (frosh) are all studs, the only upper classmen that play more than 50% of the minutes are Kadeem Allen (sr.), Dusan Ristic (jr.) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (jr.). Seems like one of the few areas we may have an edge with Bluiett, JP and Malcolm all being older guys.

Who guards Markkanen? He's a huge problem if you've watched Arizona at all this year. Going to be a lottery pick, gets lots of comps to Porzingis, etc. He's 7 foot and shoots 43% from 3... Body him up with Tyrique? The game plan vs. FSU was simple - zone them up and make them beat us with the 3. While I'm sure we mix in a lot of zone vs. Arizona, there's a hell of a lot better chance that they beat us with the 3.

I agree with everything except Simmons. He rarely sees the floor any more. If Xavier is to win they must dominate the inside, guard the 3 and avoid dumb turnovers. Arizona does not have big physical guys so Xavier needs to use that to their advantage. I think Tyrique, Sean and Gaston can score at will on offense but will be a mismatch defensively for Arizona.

[BandAid]

So, Lord Helmet, at last we meet again for the first time for the last time.

[Caveat]

Who guards Markkanen? He's a huge problem if you've watched Arizona at all this year. Going to be a lottery pick, gets lots of comps to Porzingis, etc. He's 7 foot and shoots 43% from 3... Body him up with Tyrique? The game plan vs. FSU was simple - zone them up and make them beat us with the 3. While I'm sure we mix in a lot of zone vs. Arizona, there's a hell of a lot better chance that they beat us with the 3.

I don't know that Tyrique can move with him on the outside.

On the plus side, his 3 point shooting hasn't been as good lately -- lot of 0-fers behind the arc in the last ~2 months.

[AviatorX]

Markkanen is likely going to have to guard either Tre or Malcolm/Kaiser if Miller continues to favor two bigs.

I definitely think Lauri is capable and I was extremely impressed with how he adjusted over the course of the game in how he guarded Landale from SMC, but it will be interesting to see how they match up.

Xavier is definitely going to play their junk zones and keep Arizona's offense at bay a bit. Worked ok two years ago before they got it going at the end. XU's man is mediocre to begin with and as noted Markkanen and others would present massive matchup problems.

Loose comparison here, but Rick just mentioned on the Skinny Pod that a potential matchup of Lauri/Tre has callbacks to The Ellenson/Tre battles from last year.

[xufan2434]

Need to really take care of the ball again like they did against Florida State. Can't let Zona get going in transition or else they'll run em out the gym. Same goes for avoiding blocks in the lane. Thought they did as good of a job as possibly Saturday in both of those areas. Need to do it again

[drudy23]

Sean > Hamilton

We won't get handfuls of easy buckets out of sets like we did against FSU. Sean and his staff will know us backwards and forwards. This game will test us...need timely shots and good decision making.

[xufan2434]

Sean > Hamilton

We won't get handfuls of easy buckets out of sets like we did against FSU. Sean and his staff will know us backwards and forwards. This game will test us...need timely shots and good decision making.

That does really interest me heading into this one. What adjustments does Chris make going in, knowing Sean knows a lot of the sets they run. I haven't re-watched the game from 2015 in a while, but I'm guessing X isn't going to get away with the simple stuff they've run for years. The back screen for a big with JP whipping it in from the corner comes to mind

[Caveat]

Markkanen is likely going to have to guard either Tre or Malcolm/Kaiser if Miller continues to favor two bigs.

I definitely think Lauri is capable and I was extremely impressed with how he adjusted over the course of the game in how he guarded Landale from SMC, but it will be interesting to see how they match up.

Xavier is definitely going to play their junk zones and keep Arizona's offense at bay a bit. Worked ok two years ago before they got it going at the end. XU's man is mediocre to begin with and as noted Markkanen and others would present massive matchup problems.

Loose comparison here, but Rick just mentioned on the Skinny Pod that a potential matchup of Lauri/Tre has callbacks to The Ellenson/Tre battles from last year.

Xavier is pretty mediocre on defense, but on the plus side, they've logged a lot of minutes running a lot of different defensive looks. In just the last two games, I've seen them run man, 2-3, 2-3 matchup, 1-3-1, and even a few possessions of what looked like almost a 2-1-2. The downside is that they've had a lot more outright defensive breakdowns (losing guys on the baseline for easy backdoor cuts), but you can tell it confused Maryland and FSU. Part of that is coaching, but the other part is simply that it's asking a lot of college players to adjust quickly on the fly to new defensive sets that they weren't expecting coming out of a stoppage or a made basket.

[slysyl]

I hope coach Mack reads and implements what everyone has stated; we might win on Thursday. He might also hire a lot of new assistant coaches.

[Snipe]

I don't think either coach will be surprised at what gets thrown at their respective teams.

I remember last time Zona was the only team not to double Stain. Sean let him get his points and he had a monster game, but he wasn't allowing the defense to collapse and kick it out to the perimeter like we did to everyone else.

Sean Miller is a fine coach. I would like to beat him and get to the Final Four before he does. Then I think that Xavier should buy Mack a Lexus.

[paulxu]

I saw this thread title and thought it was one of those matador/bull deals. Glad it wasn't.

[bobbiemcgee]

Good luck Thursday guys. Here's to a good and injury free game.

Is alkins going to play?

[GIMMFD]

I saw this thread title and thought it was one of those matador/bull deals. Glad it wasn't.

Would have been a good bit of humor before the game though

[azgreg]

Is alkins going to play?

I haven't heard otherwise. I'd be very surprised if he didn't.

[X-band '01]

I saw this thread title and thought it was one of those matador/bull deals. Glad it wasn't.

It's weird, but the Bull/Matador combo was unintentionally entertaining.

[vee4xu]

A bit tangental to this topic, in this year of firsts, maybe we will see Gonzaga vs Xavier with two storied private school men's BB programs squaring off, with the winner breaking their Final Four cherry. After Cavs winning the NBA Finals and Cubs winning WS, seems fitting.

[bjf123]

So, Lord Helmet, at last we meet again for the first time for the last time.

Public reps for the gratuitous Spaceballs reference!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xudash]

A bit tangental to this topic, in this year of firsts, maybe we will see Gonzaga vs Xavier with two storied private school men's BB programs squaring off, with the winner breaking their Final Four cherry. After Cavs winning the NBA Finals and Cubs winning WS, seems fitting.

As long as we win that one. I'm good with it.

[vee4xu]

As long as we win that one. I'm good with it.

Agree. I want us to all be popping champaign while X celebrates popping it's Final Four cherry.

[letskeepitreal]

What'll it take to win? Pack in the zone to prevent the slashing and rebound like hell? Score with our bigs and hope they don't shoot well over our zone? Thoughts on this? Arizona will be the best team we've played by a fairly good margin other than maybe Villanova. I think we're playing with house money so should just go out there loose and compete. Coaching has been the best I've seen in a while.

[waggy]

What'll it take to win?

65% from 3 again.

But I think we can do it. Gates is on fire.

[XUMIOH12]

65% from 3 again.

That'd be nice

[OTRMUSKIE]

Just show up, play smart ball, keep turnovers to under 12. Hit 75% from the line and outrebound them. The biggest thing that I have noticed and I'm sure you all have too is the lack of playing time for gaston. The guy is the strongest weakest guy I know. It's amazing how he got blocked so many times. Jones has taken over and slams that ball down people's throats. I really have a feeling this will be the year. No pressure, it's all gravy, and these kids are having fun. X is going to make us happy campers come Friday morning.

[Xraycat]

Hey guys, I wasn't trying to post and run. I work nights and sleep during the day so this is the first chance I've had to read all the comments and get your guys' feel for the game.

I think Xavier is in trouble IF:

Dusan Ristic gets going early. The 7' center has a deadly baby hook shot that is almost impossible to stop. Either hand is very effective and if he can hit his first few, he will only become tougher to defend down low. Xavier will try to deny the hook shot but that will only open it up for other post moves. He doesn't need to score 20, but as he nears the 12-14 range it will force double teams which only opens up everything else for the rest of the Arizona players.

I think Xavier is good IF:

Blueitt can find his game. And this doesn't necessarily mean hitting 3's, but that is where it starts. If he can hit a couple early, and Arizona adjusts to take it away, the rest of Xavier should expect to get the ball in a good position to score. Another goal for Xavier is to crash the offensive glass. Arizona can get lazy when the opponent's shot goes up. They rely too much on their height and forget to box out.

I think Arizona is in trouble IF:

Xavier has some nasty zones and if Arizona can't figure them out, we'll settle for long contested 3's. They can shoot the 3 very well but not in a panic situation. Failure to be able to get to the center of the zone defense or failure to get the ball down low to drag the zone in tight could spell danger to Arizona. Arizona also tries to force penetration into a zone by splitting double teams which often ends up as a turnover and a run out for their opponent.

I think Arizona is good IF:

If Arizona can play inside-out, they will create havoc for Xavier's defense. Good entry passes to our taller frontcourt where the bigs can either score or find a cutter especially as the game goes on. Markennan will be difficult for Xavier to guard. As much of a threat he is from outside, he's actually only taken 2 three point shots in this tournament. Xavier can't just sit on the three point line and make Markennan shoot over them. Alkins is expected to play.

This one is going to be fun. I expect a three point margin at halftime with either team being up. A final prediction of about 9 points in favor of Arizona though the actual game will be much closer.

[xukeith]

Possible similarities.

Out of bounds and set offensive plays.

Both Mack and Miller played pack line defense. This year Mack tweeked everything due to injuries.

But XU is known for probably under the basket inbounds plays (maybe 10-15 of them). I wonder if XU can defend Miller's inbounds plays.

I remember 2 years ago, Mack wanted Stainbrook to shoot a top of the key 3 pointer as the first shot of the game so that may rattle Miller but it did not work out.
I ponder what clever psycological tricks are up eachother's sleeves.

[xufan2434]

I re-watched the 2015 game last night to refresh my memory on how it played out. Obviously both teams are now completely different, but more wanted to see how the Mack/Miller match up went.

1. There were a lot of similar plays that I noticed, primarily on out of bounds plays and coming out of time outs. X played a lot of zone so there wasn't a lot of m2m action plays Sean could run. Funny what it looks like when you see similar stuff coming from the opponent

2. Arizona got a lot of good looks against the 1-3-1 that just didn't fall. McConnell, Gabe York, and Standley Johnson didn't shoot that high of percentages from deep which kept X in the game. I like that Mack has tweeked the zone to more of a 2-3 match up at times. Gives em better coverage to run guys off the 3 line

3. X was keeping their own on the glass and then some in that game against a very athletic and big front line. Will be a similar story line again this year. Although, two years ago Mack played 2 bigs more primarily out of necessity. Will be interesting how he plays it this year. God I miss Jalen's athleticism.

4. If X would have been able to shoot the ball from outside whatsoever, they win that game. Myles, JP, and Trevon were not even close on all of the 3's they took. 3-17 that game. JP and Tre are obviously way different players now, but I can't see X winning if they're cold from outside. If Tre gets going early, this game will be real interesting

[Xavier]

I don't know much about Arizona at all besides what I have read in this thread. I'd say it is a long shot to win, and it might be. But I also didn't think we could score against FSU and we put up 90+. Obviously if we play like we did in that game we could beat anyone.

I agree with XUFan, I like the 1-3-1 but I love that we have been switching to more of a 2-3 match up also and still man-to-man. Throwing a lot of different looks at teams definitely helps. Still, FSU had a fair share of open looks in the first half that didnt drop. If AZ struggles from behind the arc I think we can definitely beat them.

[markchal]

I don't know much about Arizona at all besides what I have read in this thread. I'd say it is a long shot to win, and it might be. But I also didn't think we could score against FSU and we put up 90+. Obviously if we play like we did in that game we could beat anyone.

I agree with XUFan, I like the 1-3-1 but I love that we have been switching to more of a 2-3 match up also and still man-to-man. Throwing a lot of different looks at teams definitely helps. Still, FSU had a fair share of open looks in the first half that didnt drop. If AZ struggles from behind the arc I think we can definitely beat them.

Agreed. I don't think we can beat Zona. But, I didn't think we could beat FSU, so who knows what can happen? Granted, Sean Miller is a tremendous coach, but I'm looking forward to the game and am proud of how this team battled and came together when it counted most no matter what happens.

Funny how a few games in March completely changed how we felt about this season, which featured our worst losing streak in decades, and last season, which was our best regular season in program history.

[BMoreX]

I re-watched the 2015 game last night to refresh my memory on how it played out. Obviously both teams are now completely different, but more wanted to see how the Mack/Miller match up went.

1. There were a lot of similar plays that I noticed, primarily on out of bounds plays and coming out of time outs. X played a lot of zone so there wasn't a lot of m2m action plays Sean could run. Funny what it looks like when you see similar stuff coming from the opponent

2. Arizona got a lot of good looks against the 1-3-1 that just didn't fall. McConnell, Gabe York, and Standley Johnson didn't shoot that high of percentages from deep which kept X in the game. I like that Mack has tweeked the zone to more of a 2-3 match up at times. Gives em better coverage to run guys off the 3 line

3. X was keeping their own on the glass and then some in that game against a very athletic and big front line. Will be a similar story line again this year. Although, two years ago Mack played 2 bigs more primarily out of necessity. Will be interesting how he plays it this year. God I miss Jalen's athleticism.

4. If X would have been able to shoot the ball from outside whatsoever, they win that game. Myles, JP, and Trevon were not even close on all of the 3's they took. 3-17 that game. JP and Tre are obviously way different players now, but I can't see X winning if they're cold from outside. If Tre gets going early, this game will be real interesting

Wow 3-17 that game. I actually just looked up the box score because I didn't believe you.

[azgreg]

If you guys are interested this is probably the most active Arizona board out there.

http://beardownwildcats.com/viewforum.php?f=8

[xudash]

If you guys are interested this is probably the most active Arizona board out there.

http://beardownwildcats.com/viewforum.php?f=8

Thanks for sharing.

[bobbiemcgee]

Seems like they are more worried about WVA press than X. Hopefully, they'll keep looking past us. The guy who sez we have no inside game may want to check "points in the paint" our last 2 games.

[GoMuskies]

Seems like they are more worried about WVA press

I thought they stopped playing third place games in regionals years ago.

[Wheelhouse]

If you guys are interested this is probably the most active Arizona board out there.

http://beardownwildcats.com/viewforum.php?f=8

Thanks for link. And after reading the Sweet 16 thread, I'm sorry I missed our game but it sounds like you guys crushed us. Congrats and good luck in the Elite 8!

Kidding but I do find it funny that most of those posters:

1. Seem to think Arizona will have no trouble with Xavier, and
2. Are dumping in their pants at the thought of playing West Virginia in the Elie 8

[xavierj]

Seems like they are more worried about WVA press than X. Hopefully, they'll keep looking past us. The guy who sez we have no inside game may want to check "points in the paint" our last 2 games.

I see they think They should pound Xavier on the glass. Xavier ranks 17th in the country in rebounding and Arizona ranks 34th.

[GoMuskies]

Thanks for link. And after reading the Sweet 16 thread, I'm sorry I missed our game but it sounds like you guys crushed us. Congrats and good luck in the Elite 8!

Kidding but I do find it funny that most of those posters:

1. Seem to think Arizona will have no trouble with Xavier, and
2. Are dumping in their pants at the thought of playing West Virginia in the Elie 8

And (3) Have not watched Xavier play since 2015

[Wheelhouse]

There is another thread called "Xavier Analysis" and virtually every person thinks we were better in 2015. Uh, is there one person on this board that thinks that? I think we are significantly more talented this year, even without Ed and Myles. Maybe they think they played us last year or the link went to a Wisconsin board.

[GoMuskies]

We were a 6 seed that year, so I can certainly understand their line of thinking. Two weeks ago I thought Xavier '15 was significantly better than Xavier '17.

[azgreg]

Seems like they are more worried about WVA press than X. Hopefully, they'll keep looking past us. The guy who sez we have no inside game may want to check "points in the paint" our last 2 games.

While there is talk among the fan base on who we'd rather face in the E8 you can be sure that none of us are taking your team lightly. For damn sure Sean Miller and the team aren't.

[xufan2434]

Pretty sure most of the Xavier talk is in the "Xavier Analysis" thread lol. And the S16 thread just got bombarded with press talk. If I'm being honest, at first glance there's certainly a better overall basketball analysis on that board than other ones I've read

[Wheelhouse]

We were a 6 seed that year, so I can certainly understand their line of thinking. Two weeks ago I thought Xavier '15 was significantly better than Xavier '17.

True but I don't think that 2015 team had a very high ceiling. Maybe my memory is foggy. Either way, I think this year's team's ceiling is significantly higher.

[xavierj]

True but I don't think that 2015 team had a very high ceiling. Maybe my memory is foggy. Either way, I think this year's team's ceiling is significantly higher.

Look back at that box score in 15. Xavier really played pretty shitty.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Wow, look at the box score. We have two guys left off of that '15 team and they have the same. PJC and Ristic and we have Macura and Bluiett.