Seton Hall Game Thread

[Musketeer1]

I am a Steele critic and have written about my belief that his on-the-job training is a very bad thing for this program. Credit is due, however, for taking a team that was on the brink of full fracture and collapse on a win streak in the middle of conference play when teams are jockeying for seeding. This shows me something, at least, about his ability to encourage (most) players to remain committed to the team despite unfortunate results. While not marathons or sprints, college seasons are 400ks, shall we say, and having the fortitude to slog through when times are tough is an important trait for a head coach. Well done.

... Now, to work on a capable assistant to help with game management...

[harryfe]

I believe we have to win out regular season and make it to Final game to make The Dance. Of course unless we win The Big East tourney.
Have no idea what it would take to make NIT

[oldhoopster]

Highly unlikely we win out but it is the type of year an unexpected team wins the BE tourney. So why not X? Hopefully they learn from last night to attack a zone with passes and not wait for the trap they know is coming their way. That was ugly. And we can’t win many with Q, Nagi and Paul totaling 13 TOs. If they can steal a couple and finish over .500 that would be nice.

[bmuskies]

It's funny no one was complaining when X won at providence by 14. But when Xavier barely wins last night by 1 and turns the ball over 17 times the message boards are all over Steele and the lack of a pg. Everyone knew what they were getting from this team first year coach and lost a majority of their scoring from last year. With what Steele has I think he's done a pretty damn good job. Cut back on turnovers and this team will be dangerous in March. Tired of these so called fans bashing Steele and Q being a bad pg. Give this guy some time and until then don't bash the coach. This team has won 3 straight whats their to bitch about so called Xavier fans!

[Anti-Homer]

Inbound to Jones might not be the optimum choice in most circumstances but Jones was probably the strongest player and the way SH was playing the ball anyone else might have turned it over. They might have been up by 16 but they didn't give it all back and as a person that is optimistic it was a positive sign. Look at this team during their 6 game losing streak, X would have lost this game. They may be frustrating to fans that expect a double-digit win but a win is a win and based on most fans outlook they should be happy with that right now.

Mman,

I'd agree with your take if this was posted on Xavier's Greco Roman Wrestling fan board. Play design and personnel in the game left a lot to be desired. That being said, congrats to the Muskies again for 3 in a row, and for the effort of both the players and coaches. SH is the 3rd best team in this league. Kind of like urine trickling down his leg when he saw Jay Wright on the other bench, Nova is going down this Saturday.

[harryfe]

It's funny no one was complaining when X won at providence by 14. But when Xavier barely wins last night by 1 and turns the ball over 17 times the message boards are all over Steele and the lack of a pg. Everyone knew what they were getting from this team first year coach and lost a majority of their scoring from last year. With what Steele has I think he's done a pretty damn good job. Cut back on turnovers and this team will be dangerous in March. Tired of these so called fans bashing Steele and Q being a bad pg. Give this guy some time and until then don't bash the coach. This team has won 3 straight whats their to bitch about so called Xavier fans!

Is turning the ball over a total of 17 times and having a 16point lead mid 2nd half and almost losing a good thing?. Q is not a good pg? NO !! Do we have an alternative? NO!!!

[Musketeer1]

It's funny no one was complaining when X won at providence by 14. But when Xavier barely wins last night by 1 and turns the ball over 17 times the message boards are all over Steele and the lack of a pg. Everyone knew what they were getting from this team first year coach and lost a majority of their scoring from last year. With what Steele has I think he's done a pretty damn good job. Cut back on turnovers and this team will be dangerous in March. Tired of these so called fans bashing Steele and Q being a bad pg. Give this guy some time and until then don't bash the coach. This team has won 3 straight whats their to bitch about so called Xavier fans!

The angry face cartoon tactfully enhances this measured and insightful post

[skyhops]

I don’t think any of us expected Goodin and Scruggs to turn the ball and be as careless as they have. We are at the bottom off then Big East innturnovers, so I believe we are justified in being frustrated regardless of a win. Neither Scruggs nor Q can handle the ball and they were considered our best players entering the year.

[bluegrass]

I believe we have to win out regular season and make it to Final game to make The Dance. Of course unless we win The Big East tourney.
Have no idea what it would take to make NIT

If we can get up to 19 wins,I think we could sneak in as weak as the field is this year.20 wins would require making the BE Finals. I think that would put us in.Might be wishful thinking but it's still possible.If I'm not mistaken NIT requires a .500 record. If we finish with 17 or 18 wins we will look back to the home games against SH,PU and DePaul and think if only..

[X-Expert]

I appreciate people being excited about the 3 game winning streak as am I. But need to put things in perspective. The last two wins saw Naji shooting 3s well beyond his normal capabilities. It kind of reminds me of the 6 game stretch where Q was on fire in BE play last year. I am hoping they keep winning but to rely on this kind of shooting from Naji would be unrealistic. Having said that, the area that I do believe they can improve is in the turnovers. Their D has improved since the beginning of the year so if they can reduce turnovers, they can continue to win a few more games. I don't see wins against Marquette or Nova unless they catch Nova on a very poor shooting day which is possible (See GT and St Johns). I think X will struggle to win either vs St Johns too but every other team X can beat on any given day