Providence BE Tournament Game thread 03/09/2018

[hoosiermark]

Just a different level of player. Nova with a 17 pt 2nd half lead, game over. X with a 17 pt 2nd half lead-still a game. Trevon and J.P. absolutely soiling themselves in the big moment. You are what your record says you are, and Xavier is at historic levels, but they just can’t seem to embrace how good they can be and take it to the next level. Of course PU played out of their minds in the 2nd half.

hats off to Providence but man, we neeed to win this one. If we lose a no. 1 seed for the NCAA, it might make a difference. So many missed layups will not be forgotten for a while.
LET'S just hope for the best the rest of the year.
We can still win the Final Four championship.

[hoosiermark]

were there any post game altercations after this one? and was it true St Johns players beat on Xaviers locker room door last night trying to get at JP?

[X4LIFE]

Agreed AH. But I hate when they lose. I’m a fan not a bandwagon fan. I don’t take losses like this well. I was the same way against ASU and Nova. X has one really big weakness. They do not play well against quick teams that can run the floor. And you can bet that’s who they’ll be pitted against in the first round. And if they advance th committee will have it set up that they have an opportunity to play a couple more.
I’m not trying to offend anyone. I just need to vent.

[oldhoopster2]

X just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop and turned it over 8 times in the second half. Tre couldn’t hit the ocean. Many missed layups and forced shots. Odd bounces went against them. And all round off night. Most concerning thing to me is the panic mode where everyone wants to be the guy and team play goes out the window. Not the first time we seen that, where they lose their basketball IQ. That and two possessions down the stretch where there wasn’t a touch by Tre with the game tied.

[Anti-Homer]

Agreed AH. But I hate when they lose. I’m a fan not a bandwagon fan. I don’t take losses like this well. I was the same way against ASU and Nova. X has one really big weakness. They do not play well against quick teams that can run the floor. And you can bet that’s who they’ll be pitted against in the first round. And if they advance th committee will have it set up that they have an opportunity to play a couple more.
I’m not trying to offend anyone. I just need to vent.

X4LIFE,

Your timing is impeccable. We Mods were on a conference call discussing what to do with you. Don't worry buddy, I have your back. I do owe Shadow a box of fake Cuban cigars from Aldi which swayed his vote to not ban you.

Shocker of the night. Bilas said a few minutes ago that X is still a number one seed. How has he not been canned by ESPN for not pushing the anti-BE conspiracy? He has disobeyed the mandate all year. However, X only remains a one seed if NC wins tonight, and loses tomorrow. I think it happens.

[oldhoopster2]

But, I’d take #3 in the country and a potential nbr 1 seed every year, win or lose the BE tourney. Great season and far from over yet.

[X4LIFE]

I thank you AH. Maybe I’m a different breed than what most are used to. I hate to lose...at anything. But, I can’t stand it when X loses. I’m may post some rants. But in the end I am an X man. I do love the school and team. Sometimes my competitive spirit gets the best of me. Maybe I can buy you a beer sometime. I think I may owe you one.
And I will send some fake Cuban cigars to Shadow as well. Sometimes my first instinct in situations like this is to be defiant. But, this is a Xavier board run by Xavier men. I will simply apologize for my posts if they offended anyone and ask forgiveness.

[X-Expert]

Missed lay-ups. Other than Kanter, Sr’s were not good. SOM looked like he did when he was a Fr/Soph; Bluitt couldn’t hit shots tonight and two missed layups that would have been difference makers. Macura hustled but he should have passed to Goodin for an easy lay-up. Hate the finish but X is entitled to a real bad game. Better now than in NCAA.

My worry now are Marshall and Goodin. Marshall is a stud on D and rebounding but his decision making needs to improve. He is a down hill player who will shoot when in the paint even if defended. Missed several defended shots. However, he gives so much on D and the glass. The big issue is Goodin. He had an out of body experience for about 10 games and was shooting well and now cant shoot again. The problem is other teams know it and are giving him space. He beats them into paint then turns to pass out. These two are absolutely critical for X to go deep in tourney. Bluitt will get worse looks if Goodin and Marshall cant hit a shot. Gates also seemed to have his out of body experience yesterday and returned to his form for last 10 games (since Creighton). Don't know if he just lost his confidence but as you saw yesterday, they are so much better when he can contribute offensively. He is however a good defender.

X-Pert,

Spot on re: Goodin. They gave him more room than Muskieman going thru the buffet line, b/c he has reverted back to his former shooting stroke. However, do you always have to be so negative? Gates missed 3 treys, per the sets run for him by CM, and was hitting 40% from 3 point land before tonight's game. Even CM has said he is the best shooter on the team. Kind of makes one scratch one's head as to why he pulled him when they needed a trey at the end of the game, however. Hey, like players, coaches are entitled to have clunkers. Unfortunately, 2 of those times this year have come against Providence. Good news is I took them and Nova in a parlay. I thought X would win by 4-5, then by 12-14 when they took a 17 point lead. However, the bright lights made some pee down their legs. I still say X is FF bound.

I really like Gates. If he is shooting 40% still from 3, that is more indicative of how well he shot early because he really hasn't shot well since coming out of the starting lineup (other than the first game). I remember before the Butler game he was 1 for his last 12 but did go 2-5 that game. he was great yesterday and they need him in the tourney.

[xu koop scoop]

A few days out of the hospital & watching from Suwanee River RV Resort. They had Bingo & so I watched with no sound & loopy from Meds. But didn't we have a lead of one & stole the ball with about 12 seconds & somebody (Tre?) blew a layup. If I saw correctly, why not dribble til they fouled. Maybe I saw this wrong due to medications. So let's pick on JP's drive in OT where Providence plays great D to get the charge on JP, who could have dished the ball.Or lets pick on the fact we can't get a 3 pt shot off before the buzzer. Blown layup after blown layup & inability to count to 5 plus seconds. Actually, what bothers me most is the great "team play" we had most of the year seemed to go out the window & replaced by "here, let me be the hero'" Also, folks wanted to watch Florida vs Arkansas & these folks have been seeing me at their RV Resort for the past 5 winterUs. They like me & they like XU. Don't think some know we're not in the A10 still or the difference between BE & A10. One RV Guest said, "At least you beat St Joes." I said, "St Johns" and he said sorry. That's another whole issue. Some still see the BE as Louisville, Syracuse, W Vir, UConn, etc.. even UC. These aren't your died in the wool basketball fans, they are your died in the wool football fans living in SEC Country. At least they all dislike UK Basketball. By the way, 1 of the RV Resort owners pulled me aside & said ,"If it weren't for XU, Butler & Creighton the New BE may have gone in the trash heap." So I'm asking some of you to hold your heads high, cause this man is largely correct, without XU, Butler & the Blue Jays this New Be probably ends up in the trash heap - remember the C7 talk. Hope there aren't a lot of Gator Haters reading because many of them have our back.

[Michigan Musketeer]

Can't play one good half and one bad against a good team and expect a W-still could have won the game with better decisions at the end (Seniors) I also think there is too much on court celebrating after a steal & dunks with 35 minutes left in the game. Save the celebrating till the end of the game when you know you have won. Still looking forward to the tournament and hope they can put together two halves of good play.