Only one question

[Go Go Golston]

With the night Baldwin was having, WHY...DID...XAVIER...ALLOW...HIM...TO...POSSESS... THE...BALL...SO...EASILY...??? ALL NIGHT??
No ball denial, no face guarding, no pressure up the floor on the last play. It's not like they didn't know what he was capable of.
That my friends is your assistant coaches. The guy had 33 when they inbounded the ball to him with 7 seconds. He trotted up the court with no pressure. WHY??
Please XU beat writers, ask the coach these questions. And demand legit answers.

[xavierj]

With the night Baldwin was having, WHY...DID...XAVIER...ALLOW...HIM...TO...POSSESS... THE...BALL...SO...EASILY...??? ALL NIGHT??
No ball denial, no face guarding, no pressure up the floor on the last play. It's not like they didn't know what he was capable of.
That my friends is your assistant coaches. The guy had 33 when they inbounded the ball to him with 7 seconds. He trotted up the court with no pressure. WHY??
Please XU beat writers, ask the coach these questions. And demand legit answers.

I agree. Why didn’t we press after the made free throw. Let someone else beat you. Trap the guy and get the ball out of his hands. No one executed that last sequence including the coaches. On top of that you have your best defensive player, Naji, and a senior in Tyrique who didn’t come out and contest the shot. No one else on Butler was going to beat them and they let the one guy beat them. So frustrating. But Xavier lost the game by not playing locked in for 40 minutes when they had to. The rest of Butler’s team basically sucked last night.

[Go Go Golston]

I looked across to that ribbon scoreboard that has team stats are on and on that last play the Butler scoring line read: 0 12 6 33 3.
All our head coach could say in his presser was that "Baldwin's a great scorer, one of the best in the country" and "Marshall should not have gone under on the screen. The only thing that beats us is a 3". No shit Sherlock. Unfortunately just an inexperienced coach letting a big moment get by him.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Hopefully Steele brings in new coaches next year.

[joe titan]

I looked across to that ribbon scoreboard that has team stats are on and on that last play the Butler scoring line read: 0 12 6 33 3.
All our head coach could say in his presser was that "Baldwin's a great scorer, one of the best in the country" and "Marshall should not have gone under on the screen. The only thing that beats us is a 3". No shit Sherlock. Unfortunately just an inexperienced coach letting a big moment get by him.

Was watching w/ my twin second graders grand nephews. After Naji makes the FT the camera shows him very nonchalantly trotting down court even with his back turned. One grand nephew screams "find your man find your man": then the camera shows Baldwin receiving the inbounds pass and start up court so the other grand nephew screams "stop the ball stop the ball." My only conclusion was the grand nephews in their first year of playing receive better coaching (*not me) than Naji.

[chico]

With the night Baldwin was having, WHY...DID...XAVIER...ALLOW...HIM...TO...POSSESS... THE...BALL...SO...EASILY...??? ALL NIGHT??
No ball denial, no face guarding, no pressure up the floor on the last play. It's not like they didn't know what he was capable of.
That my friends is your assistant coaches. The guy had 33 when they inbounded the ball to him with 7 seconds. He trotted up the court with no pressure. WHY??

That's more than one question.

[xu82]

My iPad told me my XUHOOPS account was suspended this morning. I was afraid I had stepped over some line. That just might have happened. I’m still a believer.

[Masterofreality]

With the night Baldwin was having, WHY...DID...XAVIER...ALLOW...HIM...TO...POSSESS... THE...BALL...SO...EASILY...??? ALL NIGHT??
No ball denial, no face guarding, no pressure up the floor on the last play. It's not like they didn't know what he was capable of.
That my friends is your assistant coaches. The guy had 33 when they inbounded the ball to him with 7 seconds. He trotted up the court with no pressure. WHY??
Please XU beat writers, ask the coach these questions. And demand legit answers.

Another missed opp by a staff that never gets it in advance.
You may have not had a timeout left, but you know what a really on top of it staff, and Head Coach does? They first of all have a plan worked out in practice BEFOREHAND to prepare for a close game endgame with a player like Baldwin, and secondly, they have a substitute ready to put in to slow the game down after Naji makes his free throw to get organized. I would have probably brought either Don James in to guard the inbounder from Butler-or have him as a "free safety" at mid court with Naji hounding Baldwin from the backcourt inbound, or bring in Bryce Moore/Q (I can't remember who was on the court then) in the backcourt to hound Baldwin up the court to make it tougher. Anything to let the team get set and refocused. We did zero. nothing to reset, nothing was prepared and nothing was done to hound Baldwin.
This is my biggest, among other, problems with Steele. He isn't prepared if things go sideways from his plan and he reacts slowly to adjustments from the opposition and what the game causes. Result? Another loss in a game you should have won and absolutely throwing away a great effort from your players that almost saved the game. A slow mind loses you games and this has happened too often. And stop with this "he'll learn and grow in the job. Steele has been an assistant for 10 years and seen all of these situations under Sean Miller and Mack. Did he not ever take notes, either mental or written? This guy is in over his head, and I don't know if it will get better, but I can only hope it will because he ain't getting fired this offseason.

[bjf123]

My iPad told me my XUHOOPS account was suspended this morning. I was afraid I had stepped over some line. That just might have happened. I’m still a believer.

It wasn’t your account. The entire site was unreachable. I thought the same thing this morning, but then tried reaching the site from a different device and browser. That’s when I knew it was the site, not my account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Muskie]

It wasn’t your account. The entire site was unreachable. I thought the same thing this morning, but then tried reaching the site from a different device and browser. That’s when I knew it was the site, not my account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was in fact the site.

[SM#24]

They first of all have a plan worked out in practice BEFOREHAND to prepare for a close game endgame with a player like Baldwin
They did that on Friday.

[Masterofreality]

They did that on Friday.

Helluva plan if that’s the case. Just retreat, let Baldwin bring the ball up unimpeded for 5 seconds then let him shoot an open 3 with no hand in the face.
Great scheme Travis!

[SM#24]

Helluva plan if that’s the case. Just retreat, let Baldwin bring the ball up unimpeded for 5 seconds then let him shoot an open 3 with no hand in the face.
Great scheme Travis!
"let him shoot an open 3 with no hand in the face", I'll acknowledge I wasn't there, but common sense tells me this was not part of the plan.

[nuts4xu]

"let him shoot an open 3 with no hand in the face", I'll acknowledge I wasn't there, but common sense tells me this was not part of the plan.

If it wasn't part of the plan (which I agree with you) then why did it happen? Did the players know the plan, and choose to disregard? Did they forget what the plan was? Were they asleep at practice? My point is I think it falls on both the coaching staff and the players...but the coach is responsible for the program. It is his responsibility to do whatever it takes to put his players in the best position to make plays. For whatever reason, this didn't happen.

It's inexcusable. Team 98 is not high on the baskteball IQ scale, we have lots of evidence to support this. The coaching staff knows, yet can't find a way to get their message through to the team. This team has shot ill advised, early shot clock 3 pointers for 2 years now...in spite of the fact, the guys shooting, aren't good shooters. It's baffling why this has persisted for so long.

[Lamont Sanford]

Team 98 is not high on the baskteball IQ scale, we have lots of evidence to support this. The coaching staff knows, yet can't find a way to get their message through to the team. This team has shot ill advised, early shot clock 3 pointers for 2 years now...in spite of the fact, the guys shooting, aren't good shooters. It's baffling why this has persisted for so long.

+1. One of the more frustrating seasons of X hoops that I can recall in the last 25+ seasons. Even if we beat DePuke on Weds, this is NOT an NCAA tourney team. At least not one that would win a game if it sneaks in. Too many glaring weaknesses and a head coach in over his head.

FML.

[xcellentx]

We can argue whether or not the overall defensive plan was lacking or the best idea, but at the end of the day the players need to make the play. Jones and Marshall made a mistake and did not play D correctly.

[Xavier]

+1. One of the more frustrating seasons of X hoops that I can recall in the last 25+ seasons. Even if we beat DePuke on Weds, this is NOT an NCAA tourney team. At least not one that would win a game if it sneaks in. Too many glaring weaknesses and a head coach in over his head.

FML.

I disagree- I actually think if Xavier makes it they can win a game or two...especially if Dayton is 2nd round matchup. (Though, it looks like they will be a 1 seed and I don't see X getting to a 9)

[AviatorX]

I disagree- I actually think if Xavier makes it they can win a game or two...especially if Dayton is 2nd round matchup. (Though, it looks like they will be a 1 seed and I don't see X getting to a 9)

I actually think Dayton is one of the worst possible match ups for X. They get off the bus for warmups with 65 points on the scoreboard - you think Xavier has a prayer to match that?

Dayton is basically Creighton's high powered offense with the National Player of the Year. No thank you.

[D-West & PO-Z]

+1. One of the more frustrating seasons of X hoops that I can recall in the last 25+ seasons. Even if we beat DePuke on Weds, this is NOT an NCAA tourney team. At least not one that would win a game if it sneaks in. Too many glaring weaknesses and a head coach in over his head.

FML.

Frustrating team for sure I agree but if you definition for a tournament team isnt a team that makes the tournament then what is it?

[Xavier]

Just looking at there schedule and squeaking out a bunch of close games against A-10 teams makes me think they are the easiest of the top dogs. I am not too worried about them

How many wins do they have over tournament teams? I know X only has a couple

[D-West & PO-Z]

I actually think Dayton is one of the worst possible match ups for X. They get off the bus for warmups with 65 points on the scoreboard - you think Xavier has a prayer to match that?

Dayton is basically Creighton's high powered offense with the National Player of the Year. No thank you.

They are definitely efficient offensively but I have witness SLU play them twice and once totally blow a 13 point lead late at home and lose it OT (SLU is literally dead last in team FT %, they make X look like all stars at the line) and lose only by 6 at UD and SLU is definitely an offensively challenged team at times similar to XU. SLU is pretty good defensively though.

I dont think UD would be easy by any means or that we would beat them but if you are going to face a top seed I would choose one from the A10. Moot point though as they will most likely be a 1 seed.

[Masterofreality]

+1. One of the more frustrating seasons of X hoops that I can recall in the last 25+ seasons. Even if we beat DePuke on Weds, this is NOT an NCAA tourney team. At least not one that would win a game if it sneaks in. Too many glaring weaknesses and a head coach in over his head.

FML.

For people who think I "hate" Travis Steele. No, I hate this season of underachievement with quality players who can play. And those players being poorly coached in games that should have been wins through the efforts of those quality players turned into losses.

-Xavier had a First Team All Big East player and arguably another one in Tyrique who was voted 2nd Team.
-Xavier had TWO Big East All Freshman players,
-Xavier had a former 4 star , highly desired recruit in Paul Scruggs.
-Xavier had a Point Guard who had led Xavier to an Elite 8 before.
-Xavier had a Closer Assassin in Naji Marshall who was not afraid of the moment and saved numerous games with ending heroics.
-Xavier was preseason 18th nationally.

What has happened?
-44th in the latest NET.
-Take away the Seton Hall game where we were unconscious shooting the ball for the first 12 minutes, then got outscored by 12 points in the last 28, zero high quality wins, other than on the road vs mediocre TCU, DePuke, GTown with injuries and St, Johns-also with injuries (Heron) barely.
-A losing 4-5 Conference home record.
-A losing Conference record overall after being picked 2nd in the League.
-An eye bleeding offense system that does not use its players to their best capabilities and has only been saved by individual player heroics
-A coaching staff that is clueless on timely adjustments, anticipation, and, apparently, end of game preparation.

This is what I hate. The 6 points above. Plus, I hate "leaders" who do not live up to their hype and are too stubborn to change, or learn from their mistakes. I never feel that I want a season to end, but I am this year. I'm going to MSG and will cheer my ass off, but I know what's coming. Just shoot this year and put it out of its misery. Then we have next year to look forward to without our Assassin but with the same staff. Ugh.

[Masterofreality]

We can argue whether or not the overall defensive plan was lacking or the best idea, but at the end of the day the players need to make the play. Jones and Marshall made a mistake and did not play D correctly.

They were instructed to be in the wrong spots to begin with, putting both of them at a disadvantage. The players couldn't properly make a play because of a flawed plan- just like this team's offense all year.

[SemajParlor]

Thought the one question was going to be is anyone actually going to be playing these games?

[noteggs]

They were instructed to be in the wrong spots to begin with, putting both of them at a disadvantage. The players couldn't properly make a play because of a flawed plan- just like this team's offense all year.

I get it, you think Steele should have pressed in that situation. I’ve enjoyed reading and respected your posts before I joined the message board and still do. Don’t really care if you like Steele or not like some have speculated. However, thinking you’re going down the wrong path here.

For the scenario that Steele wanted them to run, they (Naji and Ty) completely blew the coverage and gave Baldwin an open look. Period. Are you telling us that if Butler got into a similar situation after pressing and Baldwin hit a similar shot after a high screen, only then it would’ve been Naji and Ty’s fault because then they would’ve been positioned in the right place? At no time did I see them at a disadvantage defensively unless you consider the moving screen, but even then it could’ve been corrected with proper execution. Sounds like the only way to blame the players is to run the defense the way you want it. I believe in blaming all (coaches and players) if things aren’t executed properly regardless of what I may think the proper play should be.

[SkyWalker]

I get it, you think Steele should have pressed in that situation. I’ve enjoyed reading and respected your posts before I joined the message board and still do. Don’t really care if you like Steele or not like some have speculated. However, thinking you’re going down the wrong path here.

For the scenario that Steele wanted them to run, they (Naji and Ty) completely blew the coverage and gave Baldwin an open look. Period. Are you telling us that if Butler got into a similar situation after pressing and Baldwin hit a similar shot after a high screen, only then it would’ve been Naji and Ty’s fault because then they would’ve been positioned in the right place? At no time did I see them at a disadvantage defensively unless you consider the moving screen, but even then it could’ve been corrected with proper execution. Sounds like the only way to blame the players is to run the defense the way you want it. I believe in blaming all (coaches and players) if things aren’t executed properly regardless of what I may think the proper play should be.

Even if you didn't want to all out press, I would think you would at least attempt to deny Baldwin the inbound pass with Naji or a double team. After all, he had half their points. If you're going to lose the game, let someone else beat you besides Baldwin.

[paulxu]

Just need someone (or two) near half court to slow him down, not be backing up.
Run some time down.

[xu koop scoop]

1st question. Who was primarily guarding Baldwin in 1st game vs Butler this year? My answer is I believe it was Scruggs. Second question. Who was injured for 2nd game vs Butler this year? SCRUGGS. We likely win with Scruggs or if we shoot 68% from the line instead of 60%. Butler lived and died with Baldwin the other night. Like some teams live and die with the 3,etc.... In a 10 point loss, No Scruggs may not have mattered much. In a 1 point loss, Scruggs should have easily made the difference. Stop blaming Coaches for a close loss missing too many Free Throws and missing a Key Player.

[Xavier]

Its hard to say- the game is completely different when you add scruggs. Now, asking to make 16-25 FT's doesn't seem to be much.

[IM4X]

My iPad told me my XUHOOPS account was suspended this morning. I was afraid I had stepped over some line. That just might have happened. I’m still a believer.

Ha! had the same happen to me and thought exactly the same thing.

[IM4X]

They were instructed to be in the wrong spots to begin with, putting both of them at a disadvantage. The players couldn't properly make a play because of a flawed plan- just like this team's offense all year.

I posted after the game my surprise that we did not go full court press. I was shocked that there was not an attempt to trap Baldwin or at least Naji was not being told to stick to Baldwin like glue, coming up the court. Even if Naji ends up fouling while guarding him, there is still very little chance for Butler to win (two made free throws at best and we go to overtime).

I am scratching my head still today. How is zero pressing a good idea? Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

[whopper]

adding scruggs probably makes carter less effective it is always hard to say. Remember against St Johns senior day Naj out and Welage gets the most efficient 19 pts ever (plus 4 r and 4a). Even GTown is very effective as moseley, Pinkett, Blair, Allen know there is little behind them so are confident. I keep replaying the last play in my mind(damn illegal screen) and literally having a Schrand harass him in back court could have changed outcome. Imagine the shot going in and out? So many variables but you and especially they have to let it go

[Masterofreality]

For people who think I "hate" Travis Steele. No, I hate this season of underachievement with quality players who can play. And those players being poorly coached in games that should have been wins through the efforts of those quality players turned into losses.

-Xavier had a First Team All Big East player and arguably another one in Tyrique who was voted 2nd Team.
-Xavier had TWO Big East All Freshman players,
-Xavier had a former 4 star , highly desired recruit in Paul Scruggs.
-Xavier had a Point Guard who had led Xavier to an Elite 8 before.
-Xavier had a Closer Assassin in Naji Marshall who was not afraid of the moment and saved numerous games with ending heroics.
-Xavier was preseason 18th nationally.

What has happened?
-44th in the latest NET.
-Take away the Seton Hall game where we were unconscious shooting the ball for the first 12 minutes, then got outscored by 12 points in the last 28, zero high quality wins, other than on the road vs mediocre TCU, DePuke, GTown with injuries and St, Johns-also with injuries (Heron) barely.
-A losing 4-5 Conference home record.
-A losing Conference record overall after being picked 2nd in the League.
-An eye bleeding offense system that does not use its players to their best capabilities and has only been saved by individual player heroics
-A coaching staff that is clueless on timely adjustments, anticipation, and, apparently, end of game preparation.

This is what I hate. The 6 points above. Plus, I hate "leaders" who do not live up to their hype and are too stubborn to change, or learn from their mistakes. I never feel that I want a season to end, but I am this year. I'm going to MSG and will cheer my ass off, but I know what's coming. Just shoot this year and put it out of its misery. Then we have next year to look forward to without our Assassin but with the same staff. Ugh.

And I have to bump this. This was before the DePaul debacle at MSG Last March that I attended. Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment but this just reinforces that I, and probably many others can only take so much. And the “much” would be only 1 more year after this one.
And you know what? Every one of those critiques can be applied to this season. Just substitute Oklahoma for Seton Hall. Our “Assassin” was gone and we got what we got. Ugh.

[bobbiemcgee]

Pencil it in. I agree with MOR.