BE Tournament Game Thread: Xavier vs. Villanova (March 15, 2019)

[Xville]

Just watched steele's postgame...pretty clear what he thought of gilespie's foul at the end of regulation that was instead called on naji.

I like Jay Wright but I find this nova team to be unlikable which hasnt been the case since we joined the league. Booth fouls every time he gets the ball, Gillespie is a wannabe arcidiacono who couldn't hold his jock, and quinerly is a mcd aa prima donna who should have been kicked off the team earlier this year.

[xavierj]

Can’t help but think, either D Miles better by ready to go, or we really need to find another true big like Hankins (6’10 or taller) for next year. Jones is gonna be important too but man if Miles could be plugged in and play like Hankins (or of Steele and staff could find another big similar to him), look out.

I have simply loved watching Hankins go from solid contributor to absolute stud in one season. Just amazing!

Zach Freemantle is more ready to play. 6’9” center with skill and a decent stroke. Miles is a major project and don’t think he will be anywhere near ready to play for another two years. He is also really young and could be a junior right now. Best to beef him up and have a good 4 years with him. Maybe another grad transfer big will happen.

[Xville]

Zach Freemantle is more ready to play. 6’9” center with skill and a decent stroke. Miles is a major project and don’t think he will be anywhere near ready to play for another two years. He is also really young and could be a junior right now. Best to beef him up and have a good 4 years with him. Maybe another grad transfer big will happen.

Yeah I'd think miles will probably redshirt if for nothing else than to balance out the classes a little bit.

[xu82]

From what I was told earlier this year, Q was dealing with a pretty significant personal issue this year and Steele was the first one he went to about it. I think the guys are bought into Steele. Steele grew as a coach big time this year.

I know nothing about nothing. The one thing I’m confident in is we don’t know what other people are going through. I’m as guilty as anyone here, but we shouldn’t be judging beyond a certain level. Bad passes and missed shots are one thing, a guy’s personal issues is next level stuff. If he went to Steele first, that speaks volumes.

[stammina0721]

I know nothing about nothing. The one thing I’m confident in is we don’t know what other people are going through. I’m as guilty as anyone here, but we shouldn’t be judging beyond a certain level. Bad passes and missed shots are one thing, a guy’s personal issues is next level stuff. If he went to Steele first, that speaks volumes.

This is where I'm honestly at. I am devasated for Hankins. I absolutely love the way he plays and I'm so sorry he could not be a musketeer more than one season. I want that guy in the tournament because he would be an absolute beast in that environment. I have never felt for an athlete like I have for him. A man who truly appreciates the opportunity to produce on the big stage.

That is why I'll be a huge supporter in the NIT if we get a bid. I want to see him get back to MSG. It's not the NCAA but it is the next best thing. I wish there was a way for him to get one more year because he would be amazing to watch. Hankins is the definition of what it means to be a Musketeer. I hope he gets a few more games

[AviatorX]

I'm not sold that Q and Naji are 100% bought in to Steele. If they're not, I hope that changes before next year. I feel if those three were seeing eye to eye from the start, we're playing next Thursday/Friday.

It was obvious our best strategy was inside - out. Although it did get better the last 10 games, there were times where they still made poor decisions with quick shots and dumb plays.

I hope they embrace their leadership roles next year and realize that the whole is bigger than the sum.

I sincerely mean this with no offense because generally I agree with your posts, but this is really dumb unless you have some specific insight. Is this just based on nothing? Everything indicates the current guys were the biggest supporters of Travis getting the job.

[AviatorX]

Is that why UK and UNC turned down NIT invites? Oh wait...

The right move? Get over yourself. Keep your tv off. If the guys want to play in the NIT, that’s great. Go win the whole thing.


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Seriously. No one is thrilled with the NIT, but it's laughable that it's beneath X. IU, UK and UNC have all participated in recent memory. All have just a bit more history than X.

[IM4X]

This is where I'm honestly at. I am devasated for Hankins. I absolutely love the way he plays and I'm so sorry he could not be a musketeer more than one season. I want that guy in the tournament because he would be an absolute beast in that environment. I have never felt for an athlete like I have for him. A man who truly appreciates the opportunity to produce on the big stage.

That is why I'll be a huge supporter in the NIT if we get a bid. I want to see him get back to MSG. It's not the NCAA but it is the next best thing. I wish there was a way for him to get one more year because he would be amazing to watch. Hankins is the definition of what it means to be a Musketeer. I hope he gets a few more games


Absolutely. The NCAA needs Hankins. They need a Zion and a Hankins. X needs to be invited to the dance.

[Muskeagle]

Just watched steele's postgame...pretty clear what he thought of gilespie's foul at the end of regulation that was instead called on naji.



I just watched it again....to show my son who hadn't seen it. It's sooooooo bad. Make the right call there and we're in the championship. Pretty frustrating. Soooo bad.

Meanwhile, this Marquette/Seton Hall game is crazy.

[D-West & PO-Z]

What makes it worse is Seton Hall looks like they are going to win. We could have beat them. Marquette would have been much tougher for us.

[IM4X]

I know nothing about nothing. The one thing I’m confident in is we don’t know what other people are going through. I’m as guilty as anyone here, but we shouldn’t be judging beyond a certain level. Bad passes and missed shots are one thing, a guy’s personal issues is next level stuff. If he went to Steele first, that speaks volumes.

Great post.

[stammina0721]

What makes it worse is Seton Hall looks like they are going to win. We could have beat them. Marquette would have been much tougher for us.

I'm disgusted. A banked on three and a missed block out by Scruggs is going to keep us out. Look back at the season and we are three possessions from a bid. Just have to Cheer for Hankins and Co. in the NIT

[HenryMuto]

Damn would been a game vs Seton Hall for a bid

[IM4X]

Zach Freemantle is more ready to play. 6’9” center with skill and a decent stroke. Miles is a major project and don’t think he will be anywhere near ready to play for another two years. He is also really young and could be a junior right now. Best to beef him up and have a good 4 years with him. Maybe another grad transfer big will happen.

Zach does have a nice stroke. I saw it live a few weeks ago. He may end up being a really great player for X, but I just don’t know about how ready to step in and play lots of minutes as a freshman.

In the game I saw, he was playing against players who were like 6’5”. He was certainly one of the best players on the floor, but it wasn’t like he looked head and shoulders better than everyone. I guess I thought he’d be a little more physical in the paint than what I saw. It was only one game, but it is hard to know how ready he will be to go up against (6’9” or bigger) BE level players. It’s just a completely different level of skill and speed.

Also, it looked like he is closer to 6’8”. So it nice that we have him, but I would love us to also have a 6’11” type of big (like Hankins) who is ready to contribute right away.

[scoscox]

Can't wait for travis to start getting some respect from refs. outscored nova 44-30 in the paint and shot 5 fewer threes, but somehow we never got in the bonus in either half or overtime and they were in the double bonus.

[scoscox]

Getting a little tired of naji ankle injuries in the postseason. he was clearly not back in game shape

https://twitter.com/musketeerreport/status/1106717575654883328

this is a killer. if he shoots even 30% we win the game going away.

[scoscox]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MattSugam/status/1106730975759880192

[GIMMFD]

It could be the massive amounts of alcohol at formal, it could be honesty, but genuinely I'm proud of this team. Shit happens, you can't control anything other than the win/loss column, you play to referees, you play to competition, but for a team that was 3-8 in conference to give us this type of excitement heading towards the end, I'm proud of them. I didn't have any faith in the system, in Coach Steele, or in our guys, and they proved me wrong. We will probably be in the NIT (it sucks as a Xavier basketball fan), but guys, this was our rebuilding year. A first time new head coach, probably close to what? 80% of our scoring gone, and they gave us this product at the end? Exciting times lay ahead for Xavier basketball, this sucks now, but I'm sure in a couple years when we're knocking on the door of a final four, we won't remember this. The conference streak is alive, our guys grew up in front of us, the program is in good shape. It sucks, it does, but we are Xavier basketball, we will be that team in March that annoys the living hell out of other programs because we're a tough out, things are okay.

[slysyl]

Lets go to the NIT and enjoy Xavier basketball. Remember that old song about ruiting for the home team. Their has been to much negativity on this board all year. I wonder how many of you are as good at your job as you want these kids to be at basketball. Lets go X.

[XfansinKy]

Lets go to the NIT and enjoy Xavier basketball. Remember that old song about ruiting for the home team. Their has been to much negativity on this board all year. I wonder how many of you are as good at your job as you want these kids to be at basketball. Lets go X.
The NIT is hard for some of us hard core fans to get up for, but I believe Hankins deserves to play as long as possible. He improved so much as the season went on, that I believe he's probably the best back to the basket post guy in the league. He's been playing his heart out too. I believe these guys could win the NIT tournament too.

[Xville]

The telling people how to be a fan on this board has got to stop.

[whopper]

being at the game and not having rewind and my computer available(harder to follow on phone) I got the impression Naj played a decent floor game with good rebounding, assists and defense (Booth made some tough shots). He did force the 3s (worst was. "heat checK" on Cremo that if it went in would have put us up 12 I believe and bought house down) and if he just realized it was not his day could have just dished some and surely Welage would have hit one. It was a huge Nova crowd. It would have so enjoyable to make the 1.5 mile walk and 2 hr train trek home with a W but not to be. Lots of good teams in the NIT it seems looking at the many "first four out" scenarios so hopefully we have some more X basketball.

[XUGRAD80]

Going to the NIT is OK with me. It’s beneficial to the program in the long run, and unless someone gets hurt there really is no down side to the experience. As evidenced by past experiences in the NIT, some fans will support it, others won’t. The real question is will the TEAM members be excited about playing in it? I think that all depends on just whom they are playing. I really think that the grad transfers will ALL be excited about playing. They all had a goal of playing in the NCAA tourney, and that’s not goi g to happen now. But playing in the NIT is still playing. Hankins probably finds a home in a European league, but I don’t see Castlin or Welly playing professionally. That means this is it for them. I’m sure they don’t want it to end with last nights game. I know that I’m not ready for the season to come to an end.

[paulxu]

I'm going out on a limb here, and saying that there was not one game this year when Q and Marshall each played 40 minutes...and didn't draw one shooting foul.

Impossible. I know they jacked up a lot of threes, but surely there was one foul on them in there somewhere.

[Go Go Golston]

That's fine for the development of the program if they choose to do that. Most of the team is either leaving or a tested vet. So whatever.

I doubt they would turn it down, but who knows.

As a fan, I don't care. Just being honest.

What would you rather see? X being a number 1 seed and losing in the second round or advancing past the first weekend in this years NIT. I know what my answer is. The NIT has many times been a springboard to the next years success. UCONN, OSU, Villanova, Baylor, TCU and West Virginia have all won NITs. To say Xavier too good for it or better than those programs is ludicrous.
JUST PLAY.

[xukeith]

Theres one coming in next year but Q will still start every game over him.

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Unless he is a first round NBA pick, no frosh is starting over Q and Jones.

[xuwin]

Unless he is a first round NBA pick, no frosh is starting over Q and Jones.

If he can shoot 3's he could definitely start in a 3 guard offense though with a faster pace since we will have depth to run.

[Xville]

I dont know why, but this loss is really staying with me. Maybe it's because I hate that hankins will never get a taste of the tourney, maybe it's because I wanted this so bad for Steele, maybe it's because I wanted to stick to Mack for leaving and letting him know we will be better without him. Whatever it is, this loss really really stings and I was at the game against Wisconsin a couple of years ago. That sucked but for some odd reason, this feels worse.

[AviatorX]

I dont know why, but this loss is really staying with me. Maybe it's because I hate that hankins will never get a taste of the tourney, maybe it's because I wanted this so bad for Steele, maybe it's because I wanted to stick to Mack for leaving and letting him know we will be better without him. Whatever it is, this loss really really stings and I was at the game against Wisconsin a couple of years ago. That sucked but for some odd reason, this feels worse.

It sucks because it's obvious to those of us who watch all the games that X is a really good team right now (not a second weekend team, but definitely safely in the top 30-40), but at the same time there's basically no argument you can make that's the case looking at the body of work. Weird feeling.

[xukeith]

I am happy that I witnessed this team show off their top 30 talent and execution to the BE teams and nation.
Hope they can make it back to MSG in NIT and show some fans their DEFENSE and roster is solid.

All this Q bashing is similar to the Dee Davis bashing. Q is a big guard who plays great defense and is good with the ball in March. He rebound well but he is no Steve Nash.
Shooting will not be his forte but if he is left wide open and the ball comes to him in rhythm, I have no problem with him shooting. He was stuck with the ball often last night as shot clock had 8 seconds. He did find Hankins often with 2-3 seconds on shot clock to lay it in. He knows what he is doing.

[Xville]

I am happy that I witnessed this team show off their top 30 talent and execution to the BE teams and nation.
Hope they can make it back to MSG in NIT and show some fans their DEFENSE and roster is solid.

All this Q bashing is similar to the Dee Davis bashing. Q is a big guard who plays great defense and is good with the ball in March. He rebound well but he is no Steve Nash.
Shooting will not be his forte but if he is left wide open and the ball comes to him in rhythm, I have no problem with him shooting. He was stuck with the ball often last night as shot clock had 8 seconds. He did find Hankins often with 2-3 seconds on shot clock to lay it in. He knows what he is doing.

He gets bashed because the pg is the QB of the team and decision making is absolutely critical at that position, as well as finishing late in the shot clock. We have seen extraordinary point guards and whether fair or not, q and dee are always going to be compared to the likes of tu, lavender, Chalmers (during the run) etc, and quite frankly he doesnt compare to that at all. Is that fair to him for some of us fans to make those comparisons? No, but that's life and if we want xavier to get to that final 2%, either he needs to be better, or we need someone more talented at that position. Sorry but that's reality.

[Xavier]

I think last night the game plan played into a lot of hero ball for Q. We waited and waited to get into the offense to slow the game down (most of the time in the second half just barely getting it over half court in time). Once we got into the play if it didn't work (most of the time it didn't) they didn't have time to draw anything up and got the ball in Q's hands with 7 second left.

From my eye Q did get better over the course of the season with his horrible turnovers. Unfortunately for him, he had a couple big ones late in the game last night. I won't blame him for a lot of the hero ball at the end of the shot clock, though.

[SlimKibbles]

The telling people how to be a fan on this board has got to stop.

You’re right. I apologize if that is what I was doing. I haven’t been on XH and posted really at all since the fallout from Mack leaving and bashing players during this season. Some folks and their posts just turned me off. Maybe they are being passionate fans and I’m not as much of one. I’ve been going to X games since I was 12 (31 years) and love following the team but never felt the need to bash players on social media or wish for failure on a hometown coach leaving his alma mater. Just the way I’m wired as a fan I guess.

[scoscox]

I think last night the game plan played into a lot of hero ball for Q. We waited and waited to get into the offense to slow the game down (most of the time in the second half just barely getting it over half court in time). Once we got into the play if it didn't work (most of the time it didn't) they didn't have time to draw anything up and got the ball in Q's hands with 7 second left.

From my eye Q did get better over the course of the season with his horrible turnovers. Unfortunately for him, he had a couple big ones late in the game last night. I won't blame him for a lot of the hero ball at the end of the shot clock, though.

I agree. As good as Paul was and is, he needs to be a little more selfish/assertive at times. He should be the one with the ball in his hands there.

Tandy is going to be so great next year because we'll finally have a legitimate back up for q. we haven't had a backup point since edmond went down his freshman year. it'll be nice to have an option for when q doesn't have it. 2 and a half years with only 1 point guard on the roster is way too long.

[scoscox]

Something that needs to be a point of emphasis moving forward against nova is secondary boxouts. they got a ton of offensive boards from secondary players against us in all three games this year. hopefully we can fix that

[X Factor]

If he can shoot 3's he could definitely start in a 3 guard offense though with a faster pace since we will have depth to run.

There are only 5 teams in KenPom Top 20 who have an ADJ Tempo in the Top 100. I'm glad Steele slowed down the pace this year, even if it was out of necessity.

I hope he keeps the tempo slower going forward.

[GIMMFD]

I dont know why, but this loss is really staying with me. Maybe it's because I hate that hankins will never get a taste of the tourney, maybe it's because I wanted this so bad for Steele, maybe it's because I wanted to stick to Mack for leaving and letting him know we will be better without him. Whatever it is, this loss really really stings and I was at the game against Wisconsin a couple of years ago. That sucked but for some odd reason, this feels worse.

I think it's the adversity the team faced, where they were at, and how they responded. A couple years ago against Wisky was a punch in the gut, it was a brutal way to lose, but that team was damn good. Along with last year, a team that didn't face much adversity. It hurt last night because they were so close to being on the brink of something special, if Naji was even close to normal, or a couple stops here and there. It hurts because we have guys like Hankins who give their all and deserved a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. It sucks because Steele was finally getting into a little bit of a groove, becoming a better coach and game planner. It sucked because that team was literally 3-8 at one point in conference play but rallied together and make the last few weeks enjoyable. Definitely a tough loss to palate, but at least we're set up well for the future. I'm excited for Tandy and Bishop to get here, I'm excited to see how much better Naji and Scruggs get through another off-season (post NIT of course), so I'm trying to stay positive but you're right, it does sting a bit.

[Xville]

You’re right. I apologize if that is what I was doing. I haven’t been on XH and posted really at all since the fallout from Mack leaving and bashing players during this season. Some folks and their posts just turned me off. Maybe they are being passionate fans and I’m not as much of one. I’ve been going to X games since I was 12 (31 years) and love following the team but never felt the need to bash players on social media or wish for failure on a hometown coach leaving his alma mater. Just the way I’m wired as a fan I guess.

I was speaking more to how to feel about the nit...nothing more.

[scoscox]

Can't get over how good paul was. 28 points on 14 shots, 11 boards, 7 assists, a near triple double on nova in the semis at the garden. incredible. they had no answer.

we also need to invest in some heavy duty ankle braces for naji. tired of ankle injuries to him affecting our postseasons

[paulxu]

I'm a glass half full guy. When it gets halfway down...I refill it.
So it's taken a day to collect my thoughts.
I cannot get over being upset that we didn't play Creighton tonight. I think we'd have won.

The Nova game was one that will haunt me as long as OSU and Duke.
How two of our top three scorers, who give us 25 per game, came up with 6, I'll probably never understand.
The fact that neither one of them drew a shooting foul is positively baffling. Hardly happened all year.
We can win a game without Q (Georgetown and Butler) but I'm OK with him as a PG if he plays like one.
When you are 0 fer shooting the 3...stop shooting the damn 3. Be a real PG.

Sorry. Just hard to take. That bogus call on Naji at the end keeps replaying in my mind, over and over. Cost us the game.
I know people go on and on about one call doesn't make a difference, that you shouldn't be in that position, yada yada yada.
I don't give a crap. If one made basket in the last 2 seconds gives a team the win, that basket won the game.
That call cost us the game. Period. It should have been a blocking call with Naji at the line.

Sorry again.

[XU 87]

At this point in the season, the top teams in the BE are Nova, Seton Hall, Marquette and X.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I was foolish enough to turn on the final for the last minute or two. Just made me more upset. We would have beat hall and I am convinced we would have won a tourney game. Such a damn shame.

On a side note I really hope St. Johns, Seton Hall, and Marquette do something in the tourney. Outside of X and Nova (and Butler one year) no other BE teams have made any noise in the tourney since realignment. BE has been fantastic but that would be the one knock.

[XU88]

I'm a glass half full guy. When it gets halfway down...I refill it.
So it's taken a day to collect my thoughts.
I cannot get over being upset that we didn't play Creighton tonight. I think we'd have won.

The Nova game was one that will haunt me as long as OSU and Duke.
How two of our top three scorers, who give us 25 per game, came up with 6, I'll probably never understand.
The fact that neither one of them drew a shooting foul is positively baffling. Hardly happened all year.
We can win a game without Q (Georgetown and Butler) but I'm OK with him as a PG if he plays like one.
When you are 0 fer shooting the 3...stop shooting the damn 3. Be a real PG.

Sorry. Just hard to take. That bogus call on Naji at the end keeps replaying in my mind, over and over. Cost us the game.
I know people go on and on about one call doesn't make a difference, that you shouldn't be in that position, yada yada yada.
I don't give a crap. If one made basket in the last 2 seconds gives a team the win, that basket won the game.
That call cost us the game. Period. It should have been a blocking call with Naji at the line.

Sorry again.

No need to apologize, Paul. Same thoughts here. Tired of X always getting the short end of the stick.

[Xville]

I was foolish enough to turn on the final for the last minute or two. Just made me more upset. We would have beat hall and I am convinced we would have won a tourney game. Such a damn shame.

On a side note I really hope St. Johns, Seton Hall, and Marquette do something in the tourney. Outside of X and Nova (and Butler one year) no other BE teams have made any noise in the tourney since realignment. BE has been fantastic but that would be the one knock.

I dont expect st John's or Marquette to make it out of the first round. I do think Seton hall could make it to the second weekend with the right matchups though.

[GIMMFD]

I dont expect st John's or Marquette to make it out of the first round. I do think Seton hall could make it to the second weekend with the right matchups though.

I have Marquette winning the first one, and interested in seeing the match-up for the second. Seton Hall has potential, especially since Powell has been lights out but after a couple years ago when they were knocked out first game with a stronger team in my opinion, I don't know if I can trust them.. St. John's is still coached by Chris Mullin thus I have no faith in them at all. I don't see Nova going that far this year either. For a down year, still awesome to get a good amount of teams in, but D-West is right though, biggest knock is tournament performance. I think we have some capable coaches in conference, but match ups or whatever just end up being bad.

[XfansinKy]

You’re right. I apologize if that is what I was doing. I haven’t been on XH and posted really at all since the fallout from Mack leaving and bashing players during this season. Some folks and their posts just turned me off. Maybe they are being passionate fans and I’m not as much of one. I’ve been going to X games since I was 12 (31 years) and love following the team but never felt the need to bash players on social media or wish for failure on a hometown coach leaving his alma mater. Just the way I’m wired as a fan I guess.
Why are you apologizing for having an opinion?

[BMoreX]

St. John’s has no business playing in the NCAAT.

[Xville]

St. John’s has no business playing in the NCAAT.

The wa y they are playing right now you are absolutely right. But, they have the resume compared to the other bubble teams that suck. With that said, you never know what the committee will do so I wouldnt be shocked to see them out.