Game Thread: Xavier vs. Butler (March 9, 2017) Big East Tournament Quarterfinal

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Originally Posted by XfansinKy

What was impressive for me was he went through the options of who to put on the line quickly. That's impressive and imo the kind of thing that makes good coaches great coaches.

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apparently all the coaches were saying anyone but Baldwin, and Mack went rogue and did his own thing. Genius move.

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Originally Posted by XMuskieFTW

apparently all the coaches were saying anyone but Baldwin, and Mack went rogue and did his own thing. Genius move.

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You have to respect the balls on that call, you live and die by that decision when everyone else is telling you no. Mack felt it at the moment, and went with his gut. I'm so glad we have him as our coach. I love how he represents Xavier, I love the grit the boys showed last night. Man, I'm still absolutely wired!!

Post-Game Accolades:

1) DEFENSE - Focused and active, if you give one credit for the win, its goes to the defensive effort.

2) Malcolm X. Bernard picking the right time for his best game in a Xavier uniform.

3) J.P. 'MFM' Macura NOT jacking any wild 3s (but poor guy needed a Snickers in the second half).

4) Sean 'The Quiet Man' O'Mara rising to the top like a head of Guinness during St. Patrick's Month.

5) Resiliency, determination, pride all-around - it's runs deep.

It looked to me as though Butler's game plan was let Bluiett get his, but bottle up Macura. I dont remember him even having the room to attempt a 3. That plus all the running on D, and I think he hit a wall lete in the game. But he corralled the most important rebound of the night and helped with a steal at the end.

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Originally Posted by Masterofreality

GAWDDAMNIT!!! Mack had a foul to give before the half. JP had zero fouls, yet rather than taking the foul to take Butler out of their set, Mack just let's them play. Result? A F-Ing Butler 3.

ONCE AGAIN, a coaching error by Mack. I swear the guy is losing his edge.

Get it together Coach!!

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There is no way I would have anyone with one foul to get a second foul in that situation.

As for Macura, I personally wouldn't want him even getting his first foul in this situation. First, if he fouls, all you're doing is giving Butler less time to get a shot off. More importantly, if he picks up two quick fouls in the second half, now he's on the bench.

Bottom line- I can see arguments for having Macura, and only Macura, fouling. I can also see good arguments for not doing it. Personally, I don't like a guy committing a foul on purpose when he has 20 more minutes to play in the second half.

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Originally Posted by XU 87

There is no way I would have anyone with one foul to get a second foul in that situation.

As for Macura, I personally wouldn't want him even getting his first foul in this situation. First, if he fouls, all you're doing is giving Butler less time to get a shot off. More importantly, if he picks up two quick fouls in the second half, now he's on the bench.

Bottom line- I can see arguments for having Macura, and only Macura, fouling. I can also see good arguments for not doing it. Personally, I don't like a guy committing a foul on purpose when he has 20 more minutes to play in the second half.

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...especially JP with his style of play and how thin we are.

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Originally Posted by XfansinKy

When coach Mack picked Baldwin to shoot free throws, I thought, "What is this man thinking choosing an 82% free throw shooter." I read this morning coach Mack considering all 4 but chose Baldwin because he was tired, he had played and played hard almost the whole game. He was also a freshman who had a lot of pressure on him. He clanged it. Coach Mack may frustrate fans at times, and he's not a "rah rah!" type coach(than what I personally like about him), but never say the man can't think fast on his feet. In my opinion, last night's coaching cemented him as the best part of Xavier basketball.

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This guys, I think it's one thing ragging on the guy for recruiting but the fact is he is a great coach. XU needs to lock him down and keep him long term. He is still human and will make mistakes, but I will roll with him as long as he wants to stay in Cincy. The job he did this year was pretty remarkable to keep this team together.

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Originally Posted by XfansinKy

When coach Mack picked Baldwin to shoot free throws, I thought, "What is this man thinking choosing an 82% free throw shooter." .

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I thought the same thing when I saw he was an 82% free throw shooter. I think everyone on the floor for them at that point was above 75%, and I think he was the only freshman.

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Originally Posted by GIMMFD

You have to respect the balls on that call, you live and die by that decision when everyone else is telling you no. Mack felt it at the moment, and went with his gut. I'm so glad we have him as our coach. I love how he represents Xavier, I love the grit the boys showed last night. Man, I'm still absolutely wired!!

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Can you imagine how this board would have blown up if Baldwin - who killed us in two games - made the FTs and we went on to lose?

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Originally Posted by profson

Can you imagine how this board would have blown up if Baldwin - who killed us in two games - made the FTs and we went on to lose?

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Epic meltdown mode. But as the optimist of the group, and someone who doesn't have the knowledge Mack has, I fully have faith in his decision making abilities, and you live and die by tough calls. We won't get them 100% of the time, but I'm glad we have someone in charge who's willing to put his faith in his tough decisions.