Game Thread: Xavier v. Texas Southern (11/4/2024)

[paulxu]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2a1f45a0-e1cc-4202-89d7-1b7b5c27f309_1.3c18d8e111cdcd7e8a271effb6000907.jp eg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFFVS.https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/483959120353964033/JWn-kur8_400x400.jpeg

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers open the 2024-25 regular season on Monday, November 4 vs. Texas Southern at 7:30 p.m. Xavier opens the regular season with five-straight games at Cintas Center.
Xavier has won 34 straight regular season openers, including all 24 season openers at Cintas Center. The Texas Southern game tips off XU's 25th season at its on-campus home.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (0-0, 0-0 BIG EAST)
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY TIGERS (0-0, 0-0 SWAC)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024 AT 7:30 PM ET
AT THE CINTAS, CENTER, IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

TV/Stream: FS1 BIG EAST Opening Night with whip around coverage. ConnorOnion and LaPhonso Ellis on the call for the Xavier game. Full game coverage for all games on Opening Night will be available on the FOX Sports App.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88).

Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com (http://Statbroadcast.com) and fan stats at GoXavier.com (http://GoXavier.com).

[American X]

Not sure what to expect in this era of reshuffled rosters, but even five random guys in Xavier uniforms can beat Texas Southern, right?

[X-band '01]

Texas Southern has been an occasional spoiler during buy games, but they don't have a roster that screams upset special this year.

[Mel Cooley XU'81]

Cheers for PAULXU and his Game Threads!

[paulxu]

Thanks Mel !

[Xville]

X -21.5. Should be nice and comfortable night

[Xavier]

Obviously looking forward to seeing the new faces and how the team looks. But I can’t wait for the first time Hunter checks into the game. Should be the loudest the building gets all night.

[Three Point Pete]

Texas Southern has been an occasional spoiler during buy games, but they don't have a roster that screams upset special this year.I am going to make an unashamedly bold prediction: we are NOT losing a buy game!

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[waggy]

I’ve never used the Fox mobile app to watch X. Will it give me the game, or the FS1 whip around feed?

[xu82]

I’ve never used the Fox mobile app to watch X. Will it give me the game, or the FS1 whip around feed?

I have no idea, but please let us know. I don’t love the whip-around stuff.

.

[MHettel]

Sounds like it will be on the Fox App. You have to sign in with your normal "provider" on the App to get the feed.

[X-band '01]

You should be able to watch each Big East game individually on the Fox app/website. It's only on FS1 where the coverage is whiparound.

[atljar]

Whelp the app is just showing... Starting soon. Anyone else seeing the same?

[Boro Muskie]

Same, starting soon...

[MHettel]

Whelp the app is just showing... Starting soon. Anyone else seeing the same?

yes

[waggy]

ok national anthem

[atljar]

Had to make sure everyone had time to get in seats and not miss the tip! LOL

[MHettel]

Paying attention to Huglley, Swain, and Green in particular.

Also, heard Fletcher is clear to play? Would like to see him as well.

[noteggs]

Wish we didn’t have to play Free at 5. Not because he can’t do it, but much better player at the 4

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Not a good start.

Check that, better now that my internet is actually working again. Lol.

[MHettel]

Too many 3 attempts so far. 8 or 9, including one by Hunter and Swain. Need more shots going to the rim.

[xuphan]

Not a good start.

Check that, better now that my internet is actually working again. Lol.

Not a good start indeed.

[xukeith]

Miller wanted more cupcakes.....well.

[bjf123]

Had to make sure everyone had time to get in seats and not miss the tip! LOL

Yeah, that didn’t work.


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[xukeith]

Texas Southern looks good

[xuphan]

Texas Southern looks good

Are they the blue hens of this season?

[noteggs]

Big John looks like…well big John!

[xukeith]

Are they the blue hens of this season?

I don't think Deleware started last year with a kenpom rating in the 280's. . But who knows what happens with Texas -South this yer.

[MHettel]

Big John looks like…well big John!

Cant wait to see him matchup with Eric Dixon. Below the rim battleroyal

[Three Point Pete]

Conway is looking good.

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[Xville]

This is embarassing

[xukeith]

Other BE scores::
Butler and Missouri St. tied at half.

Central Conneticut beating Providence by 2 at half

[bjf123]

This is embarassing

20% from 3 vs. 46% ain’t gonna cut it.


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[Xville]

Can we hire Kelsey at halftime?

I’m kidding, kind of.

[noteggs]

At the start 98% win probability. Now? I give ‘em 70%. Of course I don’t want to jump off the cliff. But where’s the team that played UDump? Guess I have 2023-2024 vibes.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Stop, it's an entirely new team save a senior guard and two freshmen. Give them some time before we crap on them. I think 3/15 from 3, two more go down and we are up by a bucket. This team will shoot better than 33%.

[xuphan]

At the start 98% win probability. Now? I give ‘em 70%. Of course I don’t want to jump off the cliff. But where’s the team that played UDump? Guess I have 2023-2024 vibes.

Not sure I can survive another 2023-2024 type season. Hopefully Miller can light a fire under these guys for the second half.

[Xville]

Stop, it's an entirely new team save a senior guard and two freshmen. Give them some time before we crap on them. I think 3/15 from 3, two more go down and we are up by a bucket. This team will shoot better than 33%.

While I hear ya, x should never be down to a team like this at half, ever. Maybe miller needs to stop being Mr. Nice guy and lay into some of these guys. This is not a young group, this is a very experienced team that has played a ton of basketball.

[xu82]

X -21.5. Should be nice and comfortable night

This is the life of a Bills fan.

[Xville]

Thank goodness for conwell

[noteggs]

Stop, it's an entirely new team save a senior guard and two freshmen. Give them some time before we crap on them. I think 3/15 from 3, two more go down and we are up by a bucket. This team will shoot better than 33%.

Good gawd man, normally the most positive man on here. Just typing out loud on a message board during a game.

[SkyWalker]

Need better defense.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Good gawd man, normally the most positive man on here. Just typing out loud on a message board during a game.

Should have quoted mine was after your but not for you, it was meant regarding the Kelsey comment.

[Xville]

Should have quoted mine was after your but not for you, it was meant regarding the Kelsey comment.

It was a joke. Kelsey also has an entire new group and his team is winning by 50

[IM4X]

Maybe I missed it. Is Hunter sitting this one out? I see no stats for him.

[MHettel]

So far, plus games for Free, Conwell, & McKnight. Swains been decent, but out of control. Everyone else....well, there is still 12 minutes to add some value.

[xuphan]

Maybe I missed it. Is Hunter sitting this one out? I see no stats for him.

I heard on the radio that Hunter missed atleast one shot in the first half so he is playing tonight.

[IM4X]

I heard on the radio that Hunter missed atleast one shot in the first half so he is playing tonight.

Okay thanks. Just getting home. I am now just seeing he missed at least one 3, a mid range jumper and two free throws. Ouch. Not sure any of us were expecting this much rust. Looks like X started the game jacking up a bunch 3s that didn’t go in.

[GoMuskies]

Fire Miller!

Just kidding. Can't watch and just seeing the score. Yuck.

[Xville]

As we thought would be a problem, rebounding not good, bob

[xuphan]

Okay thanks. Just getting home. I am now just seeing he missed at least one 3, a mid range jumper and two free throws. Ouch. Not sure any of us were expecting this much rust. Looks like X started the game jacking up a bunch 3s that didn’t go in.

Looks like we only have 1 point off the bench. Not ideal for squad depth needed for a long season.

[Xuperman]

Nothing here that is disturbing. TSU played out of their minds...with good reason.

X will be exposed down low....again....in the BEast.

[bjf123]

Looks like we only have 1 point off the bench. Not ideal for squad depth needed for a long season.

We now have 3 bench points, all by Jerome from the line. Their bench has out scored their starters 33-26.


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[Xuperman]

Swain is going to make some serious impact. He is a very impressive Musketeer.

[Xville]

Losing traore kills the trajectory of what this team should be

[ArizonaXUGrad]

84.6% from the FT line.

[xuwillie]

Losing traore kills the trajectory of what this team should be

True but holy hell no bench field goals against this team. That’s concerning

[Xville]

True but holy hell no bench field goals against this team. That’s concerning

Where is Maddox? Everyone wanted that guy and he looks lost.

[Xuperman]

Losing traore kills the trajectory of what this team should be

Big loss with no depth. That is exactly why a #3 finish is not happening. Get 20 and go dancing.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Shooting % were low and I expect that to improve in future games. We won mainly because they kept fouling us and we made the FTs.

[XUGRAD80]

If it is any consolation, it seems that just about every other BE school has struggled too.

[Xville]

Big loss with no depth. That is exactly why a #3 finish is not happening. Get 20 and go.

We will see. Most of the big East looked like crap tonight. 11-9 in conference would be a big problem

[ArizonaXUGrad]

We won't shoot that low too often. I also don't think our bench is that terrible. I think it's guys trying to find where they fit in with this team. Miller will figure out how to win with this team. He just lost Traore who was supposed to start. He has to pull Swain from a bench role and fill the gap. I trust Miller. We came out of the half and played a bit better.

[SkyWalker]

I don't want to be critical but better defense and rebounding will be needed as the season progresses.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

As we thought would be a problem, rebounding not good, bob

I think the team was a bit tight on opening night. Hugley and Green were benched in second half due, I think, to first half defensive lapses. I was a bit disappointed with Hunter but I think I expected too much from a guy who is understandably rusty. I'm pretty confident the three-point shooting will come good as season progresses.

But am very concerned with rebounding. I cannot recall a single second shot basket. I'm sure there must have been a few but just don't remember any. No tip-ins nothing. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I know we have the shooting to compete in the B.E. but I don't see the ability to rebound.

Also, I didn't like our defense. We need to get that fixed! But don't know if lack of rebounds is fixable.

[drudy23]

I'm not going to dwell on the poor performance. They didn't execute well in the halfcourt, and forced some early shots instead of establishing Free. Free would have scored 25+ if they fed him more and were more patient. I don't know if they were playing some type of match-up zone, but we couldn't figure it out.

Green, Maddox and Hugley have to improve. Green has to be more patient to get open looks. Maddox forced a bad one too, because you could tell he was frustrated by not getting any looks.

Honestly, TSU was pretty decent. Their point guard played awesome, and I don't think it was a fluke, he could play. I wonder if they have the same coach when we played them in 2018 in Nashville. If you remember, that game was a foul fest as well. It's just how they play.

[UCGRAD4X]

I think the team was a bit tight on opening night. Hugley and Green were benched in second half due, I think, to first half defensive lapses. I was a bit disappointed with Hunter but I think I expected too much from a guy who is understandably rusty. I'm pretty confident the three-point shooting will come good as season progresses.

But am very concerned with rebounding. I cannot recall a single second shot basket. I'm sure there must have been a few but just don't remember any. No tip-ins nothing. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I know we have the shooting to compete in the B.E. but I don't see the ability to rebound.

Also, I didn't like our defense. We need to get that fixed! But don't know if lack of rebounds is fixable.

Credited with 4 second chance points and two were from free throws near the end of the game.

[waggy]

I imagine Dailyn will be a fixture in the starting lineup. I don't see anyone that's going to move him out.

[X-band '01]

Let's just say it's a good thing Xavier shot well from the FT stripe. They weren't completely prepared for how aggressively Texas Southern was defending; they had 3 guys foul out and multiple players with 4 fouls and 3 fouls.

Think I heard postgame that Ryan Conwell was 5-for-10 from outside but everyone else was 1-for-13. That's gotta change for the next 2 upcoming buy games.

[Xavier]

It was refreshing to see Freemantle play well. What could’ve been if he stayed healthy Sean’s first year. Conwell and McKnight played great. I’ll put good
Money that’s the worst 3pt game X has all year.

Hugely not being able to see much time is tough. I know rebounding already will be an issue but might need to play with going to zone sometimes. Interior D will be a major isssue. First game, saw some rust and saw some positives.

[GoMuskies]

Not being able to watch the game, the two things that stand out on the box score are four guys scoring 73 of our 78 points and not being able to outrebound TX Southern.

Let's improve before Friday!

[Xville]

Conwell, Free, Dayvion and Swain all looked the part, and Swain is probably our next draft pick.

The rebounding and the play of Dante Maddox, as a guy who has played a ton of basketball, is very concerning.

[drudy23]

Zero FGs from the bench isn't great.

[UCGRAD4X]

Yes. We need someone to be able to come in and make a bucket or two. This team will not go far with the level of bench scoring from last night.

[waggy]

The bench will be fine. Remember last season there were questions early if Q was going to be any good.

[MHettel]

I watched the game and well...the previous comments here sum up that experience. But I always like to analyze the box score as well.

-Held STU to 41.4% shooting overall. Although we allowed 10 made 3's on 23 attempts (43.5%), that means we held them to 40% from 2 (14 of 35).

- Our shooting was pretty awful. 37.3% overall and 26.1% from 3. 45% of our attempts from 3....

-We allowed 8 ORebs on 34 misses (23.6%). Seems slightly higher than typical. But while watching, it seemed much worse.

- opponents had 7 steals and 4 blocks, while we had FOURTEEN steals and 3 blocks. 14 of the opposing 17 turnovers were due to a steal by us. Thats not too common. Alot of times it's passes out of bounds, travel, offensive fouls, etc. I dont expect that we'll keep those defensive stats up. I think Blocks will be few and far between for this team but maybe the steals will be a strength.

- 31 Opponent fouls vs 15 for us. That was the game right there. We took 28 more FTAs and made 23 more. They had 3 guys foul out, so that let us exploit the end of their bench.

- Back to our shooting. You dont see alot of fouls on 3pt attempts, and we took alot of those. But we got fouled 31 times on 28 2-pt attempts. So they dont count an attempt if you get fouled and it's a miss, so i suppose we actually were alot more effective "shooting 2's" when you factor in the 41 FTAs we had. You need to consider that some of those came in a non-shooting situation during the Bonus and Double Bonus. But overall, Attacking the basket and interior scoring seemed difficult to stop without them fouling us.

- Conwell took 10 of our 23 3PA, and made 5 of our 6. Some of those seemed forced. I'd like to see slightly fewer 3 Attempts, and spread out a little more among fewer guys. Hunter and Hugley should have a red light. Free a yellow light. But we need more attempts from McKnight (2), Foster (3), and Maddox (1). I feel like we may win a game or 2 this year just due to shooting the lights out. But I think we could take 1 or 2 bad losses on those nights that the rim had a lid on it from deep.

- 17 assists on 19 makes. Very good and surprising. Wonder how many good passes led to fouls and FTs that would have other wise been an assist if it was a make?

- as individuals, Free, Conwell and McKnight all had pretty good games.

- Swain was interesting. Scored 14 and had 9 FTAs. And it looks like most of his damage is going to the rim. Didnt expect 5 assist. But I didnt expect 2 rebounds and 4 turnovers either. He should be a "scraps" guy on offense and a disruptor on defense. Overall, solid game with several things that he did well, but also a few areas needing some cleanup / improvement.

- Foster was quiet. He delivered on his rebounding (6), but was 0-5 from the field. I expected a few more attempts and obviously some makes. 1 assist?

- Hugley was quiet and played only 6 minutes. He did very little in the Dayton exhibition. That didnt concern me. But we need him to be a 18-20 minutes per game guy that is a space eater and inside scorer. Havent seen that potential yet.

- Green was gunning and playing fast. Exaqctly what i expected. Still high on his potential. If he can hit 40% from 3, he'll be instant offense.

- maddux had 11 minutes and didnt score? 2 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 Foul. I viewed Maddux and Conwell and fairly "equal" in terms of their potential impact. Conwell won this round 10-8. Need maddux to be #3 scorer for thsi team.

- hunter did very little. Need more, period. I get the circumstances, but hes gotta be the guy we saw 2 years ago, and not the one we saw 3 years ago.

Overall, if we play like that against a BE opponent, we probably lose 90% of the time. i dont think a BE team is going to foul us nearly that much and they wont turn the ball over as easily. Get this one behind us and lets hope we see a few more guys step up in the next one.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

I watched the game and well...the previous comments here sum up that experience. But I always like to analyze the box score as well.

-Held STU to 41.4% shooting overall. Although we allowed 10 made 3's on 23 attempts (43.5%), that means we held them to 40% from 2 (14 of 35).

- Our shooting was pretty awful. 37.3% overall and 26.1% from 3. 45% of our attempts from 3....

-We allowed 8 ORebs on 34 misses (23.6%). Seems slightly higher than typical. But while watching, it seemed much worse.

- opponents had 7 steals and 4 blocks, while we had FOURTEEN steals and 3 blocks. 14 of the opposing 17 turnovers were due to a steal by us. Thats not too common. Alot of times it's passes out of bounds, travel, offensive fouls, etc. I dont expect that we'll keep those defensive stats up. I think Blocks will be few and far between for this team but maybe the steals will be a strength.

- 31 Opponent fouls vs 15 for us. That was the game right there. We took 28 more FTAs and made 23 more. They had 3 guys foul out, so that let us exploit the end of their bench.

- Back to our shooting. You dont see alot of fouls on 3pt attempts, and we took alot of those. But we got fouled 31 times on 28 2-pt attempts. So they dont count an attempt if you get fouled and it's a miss, so i suppose we actually were alot more effective "shooting 2's" when you factor in the 41 FTAs we had. You need to consider that some of those came in a non-shooting situation during the Bonus and Double Bonus. But overall, Attacking the basket and interior scoring seemed difficult to stop without them fouling us.

- Conwell took 10 of our 23 3PA, and made 5 of our 6. Some of those seemed forced. I'd like to see slightly fewer 3 Attempts, and spread out a little more among fewer guys. Hunter and Hugley should have a red light. Free a yellow light. But we need more attempts from McKnight (2), Foster (3), and Maddox (1). I feel like we may win a game or 2 this year just due to shooting the lights out. But I think we could take 1 or 2 bad losses on those nights that the rim had a lid on it from deep.

- 17 assists on 19 makes. Very good and surprising. Wonder how many good passes led to fouls and FTs that would have other wise been an assist if it was a make?

- as individuals, Free, Conwell and McKnight all had pretty good games.

- Swain was interesting. Scored 14 and had 9 FTAs. And it looks like most of his damage is going to the rim. Didnt expect 5 assist. But I didnt expect 2 rebounds and 4 turnovers either. He should be a "scraps" guy on offense and a disruptor on defense. Overall, solid game with several things that he did well, but also a few areas needing some cleanup / improvement.

- Foster was quiet. He delivered on his rebounding (6), but was 0-5 from the field. I expected a few more attempts and obviously some makes. 1 assist?

- Hugley was quiet and played only 6 minutes. He did very little in the Dayton exhibition. That didnt concern me. But we need him to be a 18-20 minutes per game guy that is a space eater and inside scorer. Havent seen that potential yet.

- Green was gunning and playing fast. Exaqctly what i expected. Still high on his potential. If he can hit 40% from 3, he'll be instant offense.

- maddux had 11 minutes and didnt score? 2 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 Foul. I viewed Maddux and Conwell and fairly "equal" in terms of their potential impact. Conwell won this round 10-8. Need maddux to be #3 scorer for thsi team.

- hunter did very little. Need more, period. I get the circumstances, but hes gotta be the guy we saw 2 years ago, and not the one we saw 3 years ago.

Overall, if we play like that against a BE opponent, we probably lose 90% of the time. i dont think a BE team is going to foul us nearly that much and they wont turn the ball over as easily. Get this one behind us and lets hope we see a few more guys step up in the next one.

100% on this.

[bleedXblue]

It's one game with a bunch of guys who haven't played with each other. Geesh. I liked Swain he looked much more comfortable. Defensive rebounding is going to be a problem...but we knew that. FT shooting was really good. Onto the next one......

[Xville]

It's one game with a bunch of guys who haven't played with each other. Geesh. I liked Swain he looked much more comfortable. Defensive rebounding is going to be a problem...but we knew that. FT shooting was really good. Onto the next one......

That’s not a valid excuse. Most p5 teams have players that have never played together. This isn’t last year with a bunch of really young guys and intl players. Some looked great like Louisville, St. John’s and uk. Others like x and most of the big East looked like crap. I don’t think x ever shoots that bad again this year, and plenty of time to fix things. However there are pretty glaring problems that I’m not sure gets fixed and will be an issue against big East and other p5 opponents

[drudy23]

I watched the game and well...the previous comments here sum up that experience. But I always like to analyze the box score as well.

-Held STU to 41.4% shooting overall. Although we allowed 10 made 3's on 23 attempts (43.5%), that means we held them to 40% from 2 (14 of 35).

- Our shooting was pretty awful. 37.3% overall and 26.1% from 3. 45% of our attempts from 3....

-We allowed 8 ORebs on 34 misses (23.6%). Seems slightly higher than typical. But while watching, it seemed much worse.

- opponents had 7 steals and 4 blocks, while we had FOURTEEN steals and 3 blocks. 14 of the opposing 17 turnovers were due to a steal by us. Thats not too common. Alot of times it's passes out of bounds, travel, offensive fouls, etc. I dont expect that we'll keep those defensive stats up. I think Blocks will be few and far between for this team but maybe the steals will be a strength.

- 31 Opponent fouls vs 15 for us. That was the game right there. We took 28 more FTAs and made 23 more. They had 3 guys foul out, so that let us exploit the end of their bench.

- Back to our shooting. You dont see alot of fouls on 3pt attempts, and we took alot of those. But we got fouled 31 times on 28 2-pt attempts. So they dont count an attempt if you get fouled and it's a miss, so i suppose we actually were alot more effective "shooting 2's" when you factor in the 41 FTAs we had. You need to consider that some of those came in a non-shooting situation during the Bonus and Double Bonus. But overall, Attacking the basket and interior scoring seemed difficult to stop without them fouling us.

- Conwell took 10 of our 23 3PA, and made 5 of our 6. Some of those seemed forced. I'd like to see slightly fewer 3 Attempts, and spread out a little more among fewer guys. Hunter and Hugley should have a red light. Free a yellow light. But we need more attempts from McKnight (2), Foster (3), and Maddox (1). I feel like we may win a game or 2 this year just due to shooting the lights out. But I think we could take 1 or 2 bad losses on those nights that the rim had a lid on it from deep.

- 17 assists on 19 makes. Very good and surprising. Wonder how many good passes led to fouls and FTs that would have other wise been an assist if it was a make?

- as individuals, Free, Conwell and McKnight all had pretty good games.

- Swain was interesting. Scored 14 and had 9 FTAs. And it looks like most of his damage is going to the rim. Didnt expect 5 assist. But I didnt expect 2 rebounds and 4 turnovers either. He should be a "scraps" guy on offense and a disruptor on defense. Overall, solid game with several things that he did well, but also a few areas needing some cleanup / improvement.

- Foster was quiet. He delivered on his rebounding (6), but was 0-5 from the field. I expected a few more attempts and obviously some makes. 1 assist?

- Hugley was quiet and played only 6 minutes. He did very little in the Dayton exhibition. That didnt concern me. But we need him to be a 18-20 minutes per game guy that is a space eater and inside scorer. Havent seen that potential yet.

- Green was gunning and playing fast. Exaqctly what i expected. Still high on his potential. If he can hit 40% from 3, he'll be instant offense.

- maddux had 11 minutes and didnt score? 2 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 Foul. I viewed Maddux and Conwell and fairly "equal" in terms of their potential impact. Conwell won this round 10-8. Need maddux to be #3 scorer for thsi team.

- hunter did very little. Need more, period. I get the circumstances, but hes gotta be the guy we saw 2 years ago, and not the one we saw 3 years ago.

Overall, if we play like that against a BE opponent, we probably lose 90% of the time. i dont think a BE team is going to foul us nearly that much and they wont turn the ball over as easily. Get this one behind us and lets hope we see a few more guys step up in the next one.

Mostly agree, but a few responses:

1) Hunter was pretty good on defense. He literally played the best defense against the PG who had 20+ points. He shouldn't have to score a bunch of points on this team. He's a true valuable role player in every sense of the word.
2) Green is not patient enough. He hasn't shown his ability to shoot 40%+ because he's not patient enough to get open looks. If he gets open looks, he will shoot close to 50%. He rushed and forced multiple shots.
3) If we're comparing Maddox to Conwell, we're setting up Maddox for disappointment. Maddox can be a valuable member of this team, but he's not Conwell.

Game One - not concerned mostly because TSU played somewhat of a gimmick defense (that we didn't execute against), but I will admit, they played hard and scrappy. It was a good sign we only had 9 TOs against a team like that. In games like this, they have to SLOW DOWN and establish Free to open up the perimeter. I know they always want to play fast, but you have to be able to execute in these rock fight type of games.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

I'm hoping Friday's opponent is more of a cupcake so Maddox, Green, Hugley and Hunter get lots of minutes. Our projected strength is depth and guard play so need to get these guys minutes and looks. I'm not going off the deep end after last night (other than about the parking) but Hettel's analysis, from what I saw last night, is accurate.

First game and maybe looking so different against Tx Southern than we did against Dayton is a good thing. We know Miller will react to last night and so it will be interesting to see if he makes any adjustments.

[bigdiggins]

I'm hoping Friday's opponent is more of a cupcake so Maddox, Green, Hugley and Hunter get lots of minutes. Our projected strength is depth and guard play so need to get these guys minutes and looks. I'm not going off the deep end after last night (other than about the parking) but Hettel's analysis, from what I saw last night, is accurate.

First game and maybe looking so different against Tx Southern than we did against Dayton is a good thing. We know Miller will react to last night and so it will be interesting to see if he makes any adjustments.

We're hoping for teams to be worse than one of the worst 60 teams in college basketball? (You're in luck IU-Indy is one of the 5-10 worst per Torvik). But none the less, disappointing that after suffereing through last year's shit show, that's what we have to hope for in order to be able to win comfortably.

[MHettel]

Mostly agree, but a few responses:

1) Hunter was pretty good on defense. He literally played the best defense against the PG who had 20+ points. He shouldn't have to score a bunch of points on this team. He's a true valuable role player in every sense of the word.
2) Green is not patient enough. He hasn't shown his ability to shoot 40%+ because he's not patient enough to get open looks. If he gets open looks, he will shoot close to 50%. He rushed and forced multiple shots.
3) If we're comparing Maddox to Conwell, we're setting up Maddox for disappointment. Maddox can be a valuable member of this team, but he's not Conwell.

Game One - not concerned mostly because TSU played somewhat of a gimmick defense (that we didn't execute against), but I will admit, they played hard and scrappy. It was a good sign we only had 9 TOs against a team like that. In games like this, they have to SLOW DOWN and establish Free to open up the perimeter. I know they always want to play fast, but you have to be able to execute in these rock fight type of games.

1) I didnt notice Hunter defensively. In order for me to really notice defense, I typically just focus on one guy and kind of ignore the rest of whats happening. That lets you see how a guy works around screens, closes out, moves his feet etc. the other way i notice defense is when a guy just does stuff that you just absolutely cant help but see....good or bad. I wasnt looking at Hunter last night, but i didnt notice him either....

2) I think Green has to play this way. He's gonna be ineffective defensively and if he's just gonna be a spot up shooter, he'll have a shadow the entire time he's out there. He needs to command attention the entire time he's on the floor. A "pull up from anywhere" guy that can also drive. The defense needs to overplay against him. Thats where his value will come from. He needs to hit some daggers to create this situation for himself.

3) uhhhh, not sure I agree. Both guys put up big scoring numbers last year, doing it in all kind of ways. Arguably, Conwell was a little ahead of Maddux as a portal recruit, but neither guy was considered a top transfer. lets just dispense with that, however. Did maddux play like you expected? Again, first game and he might have just had a clunker. But I'm not giving up on the guy or declaring him a bust. He just didnt have a good game. Thats pretty undisputed.

Also, I generally disagree about allowing your opponent to dictate your game plan. Frankly, I'm thinking this team should do the very opposite. We have the horses, and we're gonna run. That's our advantage and its up to you to stop it. In a tight game, near the end we should we have a well oiled halfcourt offense. But if all goes well with our primary up-tempo offense, we wont have many close games late....

[Xavier]

Hmm, I thought Conwell would be our best and most consistent scorer. At least from what I saw at Indiana St. I thought Maddox would be more of a solid role player. Could knock down open looks and drive a little. A slightly better Malcom Bernard type. Admittedly unfair, I didn’t watch much of his film at all. He didn’t play well last night. I’ll wait a few games before really judging what we are seeing. Feel like it took McKnight awhile to get into a groove last year. Like Xville said though, it’s really not much of an excuse when every team in the country has a bunch of new faces also.

Attack and get fouled will be a big part of the offense all year I bet. Hugely was the glaring, obvious weakness.

[Xville]

Hmm, I thought Conwell would be our best and most consistent scorer. At least from what I saw at Indiana St. I thought Maddox would be more of a solid role player. Could knock down open looks and drive a little. A slightly better Malcom Bernard type. Admittedly unfair, I didn’t watch much of his film at all. He didn’t play well last night. I’ll wait a few games before really judging what we are seeing. Feel like it took McKnight awhile to get into a groove last year. Like Xville said though, it’s really not much of an excuse when every team in the country has a bunch of new faces also.

Attack and get fouled will be a big part of the offense all year I bet. Hugely was the glaring, obvious weakness.

I heard a wide array of opinions on Maddox from he’s a possible all American candidate and every big time team wanted him all the way to meh he’s just a dude with some athleticism.

Scoring 16 in the mac, you’d think he’d be pretty good, but I agree Conwell was always the biggest get.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I watched the game and well...the previous comments here sum up that experience. But I always like to analyze the box score as well.

-Held STU to 41.4% shooting overall. Although we allowed 10 made 3's on 23 attempts (43.5%), that means we held them to 40% from 2 (14 of 35).

- Our shooting was pretty awful. 37.3% overall and 26.1% from 3. 45% of our attempts from 3....

-We allowed 8 ORebs on 34 misses (23.6%). Seems slightly higher than typical. But while watching, it seemed much worse.

- opponents had 7 steals and 4 blocks, while we had FOURTEEN steals and 3 blocks. 14 of the opposing 17 turnovers were due to a steal by us. Thats not too common. Alot of times it's passes out of bounds, travel, offensive fouls, etc. I dont expect that we'll keep those defensive stats up. I think Blocks will be few and far between for this team but maybe the steals will be a strength.

- 31 Opponent fouls vs 15 for us. That was the game right there. We took 28 more FTAs and made 23 more. They had 3 guys foul out, so that let us exploit the end of their bench.

- Back to our shooting. You dont see alot of fouls on 3pt attempts, and we took alot of those. But we got fouled 31 times on 28 2-pt attempts. So they dont count an attempt if you get fouled and it's a miss, so i suppose we actually were alot more effective "shooting 2's" when you factor in the 41 FTAs we had. You need to consider that some of those came in a non-shooting situation during the Bonus and Double Bonus. But overall, Attacking the basket and interior scoring seemed difficult to stop without them fouling us.

- Conwell took 10 of our 23 3PA, and made 5 of our 6. Some of those seemed forced. I'd like to see slightly fewer 3 Attempts, and spread out a little more among fewer guys. Hunter and Hugley should have a red light. Free a yellow light. But we need more attempts from McKnight (2), Foster (3), and Maddox (1). I feel like we may win a game or 2 this year just due to shooting the lights out. But I think we could take 1 or 2 bad losses on those nights that the rim had a lid on it from deep.

- 17 assists on 19 makes. Very good and surprising. Wonder how many good passes led to fouls and FTs that would have other wise been an assist if it was a make?

- as individuals, Free, Conwell and McKnight all had pretty good games.

- Swain was interesting. Scored 14 and had 9 FTAs. And it looks like most of his damage is going to the rim. Didnt expect 5 assist. But I didnt expect 2 rebounds and 4 turnovers either. He should be a "scraps" guy on offense and a disruptor on defense. Overall, solid game with several things that he did well, but also a few areas needing some cleanup / improvement.

- Foster was quiet. He delivered on his rebounding (6), but was 0-5 from the field. I expected a few more attempts and obviously some makes. 1 assist?

- Hugley was quiet and played only 6 minutes. He did very little in the Dayton exhibition. That didnt concern me. But we need him to be a 18-20 minutes per game guy that is a space eater and inside scorer. Havent seen that potential yet.

- Green was gunning and playing fast. Exaqctly what i expected. Still high on his potential. If he can hit 40% from 3, he'll be instant offense.

- maddux had 11 minutes and didnt score? 2 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 Foul. I viewed Maddux and Conwell and fairly "equal" in terms of their potential impact. Conwell won this round 10-8. Need maddux to be #3 scorer for thsi team.

- hunter did very little. Need more, period. I get the circumstances, but hes gotta be the guy we saw 2 years ago, and not the one we saw 3 years ago.

Overall, if we play like that against a BE opponent, we probably lose 90% of the time. i dont think a BE team is going to foul us nearly that much and they wont turn the ball over as easily. Get this one behind us and lets hope we see a few more guys step up in the next one.

10-15 mins is a lot more reasonable to expect from Hugley I am thinking. If he can be solid in those mins I think that will be enough.

[drudy23]

3) uhhhh, not sure I agree. Both guys put up big scoring numbers last year, doing it in all kind of ways. Arguably, Conwell was a little ahead of Maddux as a portal recruit, but neither guy was considered a top transfer. lets just dispense with that, however. Did maddux play like you expected? Again, first game and he might have just had a clunker. But I'm not giving up on the guy or declaring him a bust. He just didnt have a good game. Thats pretty undisputed.



Conwell is a potential first team all BE player - Maddox is not. That doesn't mean he's not important, he is.

[bleedXblue]

That’s not a valid excuse. Most p5 teams have players that have never played together. This isn’t last year with a bunch of really young guys and intl players. Some looked great like Louisville, St. John’s and uk. Others like x and most of the big East looked like crap. I don’t think x ever shoots that bad again this year, and plenty of time to fix things. However there are pretty glaring problems that I’m not sure gets fixed and will be an issue against big East and other p5 opponents

LOL, whatever. Its one game and the FIRST game of the year. Some of you guys.......

[Xville]

LOL, whatever. Its one game and the FIRST game of the year. Some of you guys.......

I'm not here jumping off a cliff. I'm still bullish on this team. However, there are issues that most of us saw before the game, and those issues showed against a buy opponent. Defense and Rebounding is a glaring issue, and I think it is fair to point that out.

[IM4X]

The poor rebounding by X (outside of Free) and the uneven defensive play were a little bit concerning. Many of the missed 3s by Foster and the players off of the bench looked much like what we witnessed from undisciplined players on Steele’s roster, lazily forcing those shoots when there were better options. Sean touched on it and will likely correct it.

Having multiple veterans on the team who have been to the dance, have proven they can consistently play at a high level and can take over a game when needed should make a big difference. Those players are going to have very high expectation for the team this season and they’re going to keep pushing their teammates to play harder and get better as much as their coaches will. Zach, Conwell and McKnight are already looking very solid. I expect to continue to see those three playing up to that standard or exceeding it.

Foster, Hunter, Green, Maddox, Hugley simply looked like they had some opening night nerves in front of X fans- a bit too anxiously trying to show they can contribute. Sean needs Hunter and Foster to stay focused on attacking the rim and getting rebounds. If Foster can do that well, I believe his confidence will grow and he’ll end up sinking more of his 3s.

I believe we will see Hunter and Foster play much better next game (especially on offense). I suspect Maddox, Hugley and Green may need a little more time before they can be counted on to step in and produce in a significant way.

[Xuperman]

Can someone post something positive about Big East success with this questionable frontcourt? Again?

[Xavier]

Feel like a lot of people have been saying positive things about Zach. As for positive success in the big east- I think 2nd team All Big East is in play for him.

*misread that as positive success for front court players in the big east.

[drudy23]

Feel like a lot of people have been saying positive things about Zach. As for positive success in the big east- I think 2nd team All Big East is in play for him.

*misread that as positive success for front court players in the big east.

Why wouldn't first team be in play for him? He ultimately may not get it, but he's certainly capable of putting up numbers for consideration. He's going to have some huge games and he's absolutely in the mix as being one of the big best guys in the conference.

[Xuperman]

Elite scorer and effort guy. He's never been an effective defender in the BE. If his 3 ball is on during BE play, that will neutralize some of that when forced to play the "5".

[Xville]

Can someone post something positive about Big East success with this questionable frontcourt? Again?

Offensively, our frontcourt isn't a problem, in fact I see it as a true strength. Free is able to score about any time he wants to, and Swain is going to create a lot of matchup problems on that side of the court.

The concern is of course defensively. If Hugley can be in the shape he was back two years ago, this is going to lead to a lot of success in that regard, but the guards are also going to have to fill in, especially Foster who has the body to do so.

I think on most nights, X is going to just be able to outscore most teams even in conference play, but I do worry about rock fight type games with this group in the half court, and games against Creighton and UCONN are going to be challenging.

[Xuperman]

You can't coach size/height and X doesn't have much. The alternative is frontcourt physicality. One name....Fletcher. That is a huge roster boost. What the hell is going on?

[Xville]

You can't coach size/height and X doesn't have much. The alternative is frontcourt physicality. One name....Fletcher. That is a huge roster boost. What the hell is going on?

The plan for him has always been to bring him a long very slowly, the guy has had a ton of injuries and they want to be very careful. We may see him by conference play is what i always heard?

[drudy23]

You can't coach size/height and X doesn't have much.

That's why you have a coach.

Ever heard of a double-team? Playing more up-tempo? Throwing in a zone? Taking advantage of your skill and speed on offense?

People act like teams are just going to throw it in the paint, and bigs are going to score at will. Doesn't work that way.

[Xville]

That's why you have a coach.

Ever heard of a double-team? Playing more up-tempo? Throwing in a zone? Taking advantage of your skill and speed on offense?

People act like teams are just going to throw it in the paint, and bigs are going to score at will. Doesn't work that way.

I'd also argue we have plenty of height. Swain, Hunter are 6'8, Free is 6'9. Hugley is 6'11 and big.

[drudy23]

I'd also argue we have plenty of height. Swain, Hunter are 6'8, Free is 6'9. Hugley is 6'11 and big.

Agree. And our overall depth of talent can make up for any size disadvantage we might face.

[Xville]

UCONN's Starting Five:

6'7
6'8
6'10
6'3
6'3

Creighton's

6'8
6'9
7'0
6'5
6'0

X:

6'8
6'9
6'5
6'4
6'0

It would be nice to have Hugley in the starting lineup by January/February if he's fit and ready to go. We do have a size disadvantage because of playing Zach at the five right now, but we counter that with speed, shooting and athleticism.

[Xavier]

Why wouldn't first team be in play for him? He ultimately may not get it, but he's certainly capable of putting up numbers for consideration. He's going to have some huge games and he's absolutely in the mix as being one of the big best guys in the conference.

I just think it would be impossible to jump Kalkbrenner, so it would be between Freemantle and Karaban. If UConn is great and wins BE Karaban will be a major part. Certainly possible though

[IM4X]

I'd also argue we have plenty of height. Swain, Hunter are 6'8, Free is 6'9. Hugley is 6'11 and big.

I see Hughley is now being listed at 6’11, but it’s probably a bit of a stretch as he was listed at 6’9” his junior year and he looks pretty similar in height to Free. Still, it seems plenty big.