Musketeer Madness

Before the Seton Hall game...Xavier was ranked 149th in scoring....that alone kinda says it all. Even if they make the Dance, will not go far due to poor scoring.

Basketball also includes defense so you don't have to score a lot to win. The problem is their defense isn't as dominant as it needs to be. As of now it is looking like round of 32 but hopefully they can make it to the sweet 16. It is certainly possible they are 1 and done but hopefully they are able to reduce the mistakes and keep the defensive intensity for 40 minutes.

I would agree Madness. These are college kids playing and rep'ing our beloved X, so it's not the end of the universe if the season ends less impressively than anticipated. That said, we have all been dismayed by the poor shooting and offensive deficiencies. But those were sort of expected. My biggest disappointment to date is that our D has also been spectacularly below where we had been trending the final third of last season. Naji has been super, when inspired, which he typically is. Carter tries, but is at times just not agile enough to shine. T-Jones has been above average and really cut down on his foul issues. So really, IMHO, the main culprits on this year being just kind of solid on D, instead of it being our calling card, have been Q and Paul. Definitely not saying they are not trying. Just that it looks like we had inflated expectations.....

Q did get burned a couple times by just sitting back and letting the Hall player make a three. He can't relax on defense and be several steps away from his man. Maybe Steele conveyed that to him or maybe he just got wise cause he did block a 3 attempt later.
Offensively, I still can't understand why they don't move and pick a lot more to get Tandy more looks. It's much like they did with Redford. Sit him on one side and hope he gets an open look. Brad could have been much more a factor if X had a more mobile offense and I think Kyky could too. SH was picking and rolling everywhere to get Powell and others free. With Tandy being 'the best shooter by far' on this team, I'd be doing everything possible to get him open looks.
Last night was actually a good 3 point shooting night for X. Hopefully Carter, Scruggs and Tandy can continue to make them and maybe James starts to hit them too. Naji is making some, but also still shooting some he has no business taking. But scoring seems to be better than it was a month ago.

They ran into a buzz saw last night.