Game Thread: Xavier v. Creighton (January 11, 2019) Big East Conference Gane

[Xville]

Why?????

what was that today... all those damn 3s... Did Steele give him the green light to shoot again and again just because he was open. Ugh. Between his 3s and Moore and Carter from 3... Holy SH!+ show... Batman!!!

I think of the pg as the quarterback of the team, and an extension of the coach on the court. Typically the team will look like what the pg looks like..and right now its following suit quite well. Q is a bitch and hes the softest player on the planet, which is what this team looked like yesterday. We got punked by freaking creighton

[American X]

Relax, Mick Cronin Lite does not flinch at 21 missed three-pointers.

[XUGRAD80]

What I said was the dude it making millions being the HC of Xavier's biggest money maker. What I said is, if he can't cut it, cut him and move on. It's all business to me. You win, you get paid. You lose, you're out. Clock is running.

Seems to me that I’ve heard this song before......it wasn’t any good then either. That’s my opinion of your opinion.

But since you do put your money where your mouth is, you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion. Just keep in mind that many very successful coaches and programs weren’t so cold blooded when they had early struggles, and it has paid off handsomely. There’s a reason that coaches don’t normally sign ONE year contracts, and it’s the same reason that CEO’s generally don’t either. It takes time to make major changes and a CEO or coach needs to know that they will be given the time needed to make the changes they feel they need to make. Personal changes included.

The team plays hard. They don’t quit. And they do have a overall good record under Steele, even with 2 straight loses. But they don’t have good outside shooters, they don’t always play real smart, and they don’t have an abundance of inside size. These are problems, personal problems mainly. KyKy and Witcher should turn out to be big helps to the outside shooting. Odom by all accounts will help them to play smarter. Miles, Ramsey, and whomever else they bring in should help with size. But then they may still have problems with experience and it will take TIME for all of these parts to jell together and play unselfishly. Several bad recruiting classes in a row that Mack had has left X with a talent deficit. Despite the optimism that many had for the core 4 and the newcomers they are all players with certain flaws, and lack of consistency in their shooting is one that most of them share. I certainly don’t blame Steele for the deficiencies of the players that were recruited under Mack, or for the misses in recruiting that occurred under Mack. Nor do I give him a free pass when the current players don’t play smartly or unselfishly. Those ARE on him to fix. I believe he will fix them, but it won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight.

[markchal]

At this point, why not burn Miles redshirt to see what you have and help develop him for next year? Is it really worth it to save a year when Trav might not even be here to reap the benefits? Certainly disappointing season so far. I can't remember a four-year starter like Q who was this bad as a senior. Historically, our best teams have been led by our seniors, but this group seems to be pretty lacking in that department.

I am curious to see what Trav does with only his guys here, maybe he's clashing with the guys that were still here. Still, after a rebuilding year next year, if we aren't back to where we're used to be being, we will have some pretty big problems.

[GoMuskies]

By the way, if Miles IS being redshirted, why ISN'T Ramsey redshirting? He's completely wasting a year, no?

Or is he going to redshirt? I thought maybe he'd played a couple of minutes of mop up duty, but looks like he hasn't played.

[whopper]

he played against Lipscomb and had a basket..

[xu koop scoop]

There is a separate thread for James, but thought I'd touch on it here. Where was he yesterday? Had a breakout vs St John's. Basically invisible vs Seton Hall & gone vs Creighton. Miles is redshirted. I suppose Ramsey is hurt. Bishop in the portal. Is James in said portal too?

[Lloyd Braun]

he played against Lipscomb and had a basket..

Could apply for medical hardship ala Sumner.

[XUGRAD80]

At this point, why not burn Miles redshirt to see what you have and help develop him for next year? Is it really worth it to save a year when Trav might not even be here to reap the benefits? Certainly disappointing season so far. I can't remember a four-year starter like Q who was this bad as a senior. Historically, our best teams have been led by our seniors, but this group seems to be pretty lacking in that department.

I am curious to see what Trav does with only his guys here, maybe he's clashing with the guys that were still here. Still, after a rebuilding year next year, if we aren't back to where we're used to be being, we will have some pretty big problems.

A....he’s probably not ready. Practice is one thing. BE games are another. He just turned 18, he’s still a kid. Needs to get stronger and tougher first.
B....everyone wants a solution RIGHT NOW! But is that what is best for the program and the player in the long run?
C....no reason to panic at this time. There are 14 BE games left.
D....If he was the answer then he would have already been playing

[drudy23]

Miles isn't the answer to this team's woes.

It just doesn't seem Steele has control of this team. I find it impossible to believe that the gameplan was to come out and shoot jump shots against Creighton, but that's exactly what happened. It happens frequently. You continue to watch this team rely on the things that they don't do well. And it's mind boggling.

At the same time, Steele isn't going crazy on the sidelines when all we're doing is chucking brick after brick after brick. He isn't pulling guys for shooting shots they shouldn't be shooting, he doesn't seem pissed off that they're doing it, and is leading with things like "have fun" in the huddle.

The teams we playing are exposing our weaknesses and we're handing our weaknesses to them on a silver platter. That is the epitome of getting out-coached. No adjustments, no accountability, no benchings. I'm sick of watching the game play out the same way every night they take the floor.

[bleedXblue]

Miles isn't the answer to this team's woes.

It just doesn't seem Steele has control of this team. I find it impossible to believe that the gameplan was to come out and shoot jump shots against Creighton, but that's exactly what happened. It happens frequently. You continue to watch this team rely on the things that they don't do well. And it's mind boggling.

At the same time, Steele isn't going crazy on the sidelines when all we're doing is chucking brick after brick after brick. He isn't pulling guys for shooting shots they shouldn't be shooting, he doesn't seem pissed off that they're doing it, and is leading with things like "have fun" in the huddle.

The teams we playing are exposing our weaknesses and we're handing our weaknesses to them on a silver platter. That is the epitome of getting out-coached. No adjustments, no accountability, no benchings. I'm sick of watching the game play out the same way every night they take the floor.

Players seem to running this team right now and setting the tone for just about everything. Q getting benched in the second half was fine. He should have been benched 5 minutes in after wiffing on his first 3 shots.

[AviatorX]

You mean you’ve made dumb points like saying it was stupid to think Miles couldn’t possibly help this team. Or was it when you suggested later in the above post that if Miles isn’t lottery material yet, how could he possibly be good enough to help the team. I am starting to understand your reality now.

I’ll put it to you this way: I am feeling very confident that D. Miles will be good enough next year that fans will be saying. “Why the hell was he redshirted last year?!!! He could have helped X win a lot more games.” Then you'll probably post some wonderfully convenient rationale next season like, “Oh, well he actually only got dramatically better right before the season started and he wasn’t nearly this good... dispite all of the oohing about him during practice the previous year.”

That’s okay. I’m going to keep suggesting very reasonable options that could help this team get better based on the situation and you can feel free to keep shooting them down and talking about my warped sense of reality and then naively stick with your belief that the coaches and players continuing to do everything the same way again and again is actually the best way for this team to get better.

No hard feelings. We both want the team to be better. I just prefer the method of moving past something that clearly isn’t working to something that actually might work and not dismissing others who offer very reasonable approaches.

In your last few posts you’ve written that Miles could average 4 blocks a game (which would be within fractions of leading the nation), average close to double digit rebounds along with 6-8 points and help this team win a lot more games. There is absolutely nothing “very reasonable” about that, and that’s before we even get into the reasonableness (or extreme lack thereof) of burning a redshirt in January.

[XU 87]

In your last few posts you’ve written that Miles could average 4 blocks a game (which would be within fractions of leading the nation), average close to double digit rebounds along with 6-8 points and help this team win a lot more games. There is absolutely nothing “very reasonable” about that, and that’s before we even get into the reasonableness (or extreme lack thereof) of burning a redshirt in January.

I always find interesting the argument that "the guy who isn't playing is the guy who could REALLY be helping the team. Just give him a chance. He'll show you."

[Olsingledigit]

Watching Purdue carve up Michigan State (currently) reminded me of another fallout from Mack's messed up leaving. Evan Boudreaux was set to come to X and backed out when Mack left. Even though he does not start, he is playing well for Purdue in his second season there. Has 5 points so far today including 1-2 from 3.

[Olsingledigit]

I always find interesting the argument that "the guy who isn't playing is the guy who could REALLY be helping the team. Just give him a chance. He'll show you."

When you are playing as badly as X was yesterday it is worth trying someone else.

[Olsingledigit]

Watching Purdue carve up Michigan State (currently) reminded me of another fallout from Mack's messed up leaving. Evan Boudreaux was set to come to X and backed out when Mack left. Even though he does not start, he is playing well for Purdue in his second season there. Has 5 points so far today including 1-2 from 3.

Boudreaux just hit another 3. 2-3 now.

[hydmuskie]

Put me in the camp of us not having even average shooters to prevent our opponents from their existing game plan - which is pack driving lanes and leave our team open to shoot 3s.

If we even shoot 30% from 3 we are even with the Jays.

Every single one of us would do exactly what the opposing coaches are doing - let us shoot 3s. We just can't make em when they are wide open.

Personally, I dont know what Travis can do about it. If he asks his guards to drive regardless of how clogged the lanes are - then we will sit here on this board and criticize Naji for driving into double teams/traffic and throwing up impossible shots. Yes Q is open on the wing - but he went 0-6 for the game from 3

[Olsingledigit]

Put me in the camp of us not having even average shooters to prevent our opponents from their existing game plan - which is pack driving lanes and leave our team open to shoot 3s.

If we even shoot 30% from 3 we are even with the Jays.

Every single one of us would do exactly what the opposing coaches are doing - let us shoot 3s. We just can't make em when they are wide open.

Personally, I dont know what Travis can do about it. If he asks his guards to drive regardless of how clogged the lanes are - then we will sit here on this board and criticize Naji for driving into double teams/traffic and throwing up impossible shots. Yes Q is open on the wing - but he went 0-6 for the game from 3

Hard to argue. We simply have no trustworthy outside shooters.

[Olsingledigit]

Boudreaux just hit another 3. 2-3 now.

3 threes for Boudreaux now.

[drudy23]

Put me in the camp of us not having even average shooters to prevent our opponents from their existing game plan - which is pack driving lanes and leave our team open to shoot 3s.

If we even shoot 30% from 3 we are even with the Jays.

Every single one of us would do exactly what the opposing coaches are doing - let us shoot 3s. We just can't make em when they are wide open.

Personally, I dont know what Travis can do about it. If he asks his guards to drive regardless of how clogged the lanes are - then we will sit here on this board and criticize Naji for driving into double teams/traffic and throwing up impossible shots. Yes Q is open on the wing - but he went 0-6 for the game from 3

You can press. You can half court trap. You can play super aggressive man to man. You can pressure the ball over the whole court. You can try a 1-3-1. We've done nothing.

These are things coaches do to create offense when their offense is lacking. This team absolutely has the right personnel to try it. In fact, I think they'd be very good at.

[Lloyd Braun]

You can press. You can half court trap. You can play super aggressive man to man. You can pressure the ball over the whole court. You can try a 1-3-1. We've done nothing.

These are things coaches do to create offense when their offense is lacking. This team absolutely has the right personnel to try it. In fact, I think they'd be very good at.

They are already gassed by mid 2nd half, can’t imagine what pressing would do. Worth trying I suppose but I think we know how it ends. They play too skittish to expect it to go real well.

[IM4X]

In your last few posts you’ve written that Miles could average 4 blocks a game (which would be within fractions of leading the nation), average close to double digit rebounds along with 6-8 points and help this team win a lot more games. There is absolutely nothing “very reasonable” about that, and that’s before we even get into the reasonableness (or extreme lack thereof) of burning a redshirt in January.

I was suggesting Miles could make some key blocks in some key games in the post that the other new bigs were unable to do (which unfortunately resulted in easy baskets for the opponent) - I wasnÂ’t trying to sUggest he would average 4 block in every game he played. second, I never suggested Miles would average double digit in rebounds - just that he could possibly grab more per minute than either Carter to Freemantle are doing right now (Miles would not likely be averaging more than 17 min a game).

I also wasn’t suggesting he would average 8 points a game... though again I absolutely could see him contributing a few key buckets a game and having games where he scored 8 points. To those points, what I am suggesting is in fact “very reasonable.”

[waggy]

IMO redshirting Miles was a bad call. You can't coach size. But at this point after two really bad home loses, reactivating a redshirt just reeks of desparation.

The seniors need to lead this team. They are going to have win with defense.

[IM4X]

I always find interesting the argument that "the guy who isn't playing is the guy who could REALLY be helping the team. Just give him a chance. He'll show you."

I also find it interesting when certain fans like to say, “Well, he is not playing now, therefor it is absurd to even suggest he might be able to help the team” and then feel obliged to chime in on how dumb it is for anyone to think otherwise.”

I wonder how Dontarius James feels about it.

[GoMuskies]

Assuming you are including Marshall and Scruggs with the "seniors", I agree. Only that group can save this team. Everyone else is just playing a supporting role.

[waggy]

Assuming you are including Marshall and Scruggs with the "seniors", I agree. Only that group can save this team. Everyone else is just playing a supporting role.

The actual seniors especially though, they need to produce more, and more efficiently. They need to lead.

Schematically, and I might be way out in left field on this, but I would look at Tandy instead of Carter.

[XUBison]

They are already gassed by mid 2nd half, can’t imagine what pressing would do. Worth trying I suppose but I think we know how it ends. They play too skittish to expect it to go real well.

Yep. I expect a turnover whenever we play fast, and then it usually happens.