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SLU Slays Muskies!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/26/2012
It's easy to get down in the dumps, ring your hands and look for someone to blame when things are going poorly. That's where we're at - at the moment - with Muskie basketball. XU lost 73-68 at Cintas to a very good very disciplined veteran St Louis team. The Billikens torpedoed the Muskies' Atlantic 10 record 43 game home court winning streak which dated back almost 6 years. Hey, 43 out of 44 is not bad in almost any endeavor. OK, maybe you'd expect a better record in parachutes opening while sky diving but you get the picture. Still there are problems!!
The Muskies have sunk to 13-7 overall after the fabulous 8-0 start. They're 4-3 in the conference-just a half game out of first (Dayton, St Louis, UMass, La Salle and St Bonnies are 4-2 while Temple is 3-2). So, technically, Xavier sits in 7th place with St Joe's,Duquesne,Richmond and GW licking their heals at 3-3.
And X now faces 3 straight on the road at Charlotte,GW and Memphis. The losses at Dayton and home vs SLU held a lot of similarities. The Muskies started slowly-missed a ton of inside shots-gave up 40 plus points before halftime and were buried under a double digit deficit. Both UD and SLU gave X virtually no fast break opportunities. Kudos to them for getting back on defense.
But XU rebounding was to blame also and the Muskie defense isn't creating havoc and turnovers. Both The Flyers and Billikens worked the ball consistently for great shots while X relied on individual talent and more difficult contested shots.
There's a Muskie disconnect between the guards and the inside guys. Maybe the G's don't really believe good things will happen when they throw it inside?? Maybe the bigs aren't posting up hard enough?? I'm no X and O guy but the offense is not functioning very efficiently. SLU's effective FG% in the first half vs XU was an incredible 64% while X struggled to get to 40%.
Dez Wells starved in both games because the Muskies could not secure misses and cause scrambles and get out on the break. There's plenty of talent on the Xavier roster. There's a ton of knowledge in the Xavier coaching staff. The players aren't selfish or lazy but for some reason the whole group is underachieving. Were expectations too high? Is the A-10 just better overall? Are the fellas missing a vocal leader (Dante Jackson's role)? Are they missing a muscle rebounder (Jamel McLean's role vs a committee this year)? How much do we miss Pat Kelsey? I don't have any definitive answers but I'll wager that Coach Mack does.
Stick with this! Be positive! Work the problem! The pieces are there. We just need the right blue print and the proper glue. There's time and opportunity and will and determination. Seniors either get better or they get worse. This is an excellent senior group. They deserve a strong finish and I think they are willing to do what it takes to earn a happy ending, whatever that means.
Expect things to change for the better at Charlotte Saturday and if not then, GW next Wednesday!! A little adversity just builds character and, gosh darn, if the Muskies aren't slogging through some turbulent territory.
The pay-off will be worth it if XU keeps on working.
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