Ominous Sign for Muskies!

[Sonoma Muskie]

The Morehead St. slaughter seems to portend the 2021 Xavier bb team as a bona fide contender for the national championship. But the 2d half of that game revealed a tendency which could be a fatal weakness later in the season. They held a halftime lead of 47-19 and at one point in the 1st half tripled Morehead’s point total 45-15. So what to worry?
How about the inevitable 2d half letdown.
The Muskies came out for the perfunctory coup ‘d gras & promptly threw the ball away 4 times in a row each leading to an alert Morehead St. interception & 8 easy points off barely contested lay ups. Big deal. Xavier still won the game but 21 points.
Yes, but that type of ball carelessness could be a fatal flaw when allowed against a more worthy opponent.
Hope I’m just being an old fuddy duddy worry wort!

[muskieman]

I see that many teams which people seem to think are serious contenders do the same thing from time to time.

[Jesseandrippers]

The Morehead St. slaughter seems to portend the 2021 Xavier bb team as a bona fide contender for the national championship. But the 2d half of that game revealed a tendency which could be a fatal weakness later in the season. They held a halftime lead of 47-19 and at one point in the 1st half tripled Morehead’s point total 45-15. So what to worry?
How about the inevitable 2d half letdown.
The Muskies came out for the perfunctory coup ‘d gras & promptly threw the ball away 4 times in a row each leading to an alert Morehead St. interception & 8 easy points off barely contested lay ups. Big deal. Xavier still won the game but 21 points.
Yes, but that type of ball carelessness could be a fatal flaw when allowed against a more worthy opponent.
Hope I’m just being an old fuddy duddy worry wort!

I usually loathe sloppy play but not worried about it. Playing Morehead State is like fighting a female MMA fighter. If you lose, you cant show your face. If you win, you cant brag. Lose, Lose.

[kyzrex]

Half time breaks can be real momentum killers, especially when the team has a huge lead. It’s really difficult for any athlete to get bsck to the same mental state that they were in during the surge. A let down at that point is certainly understandable. Unfortunately for X in this past game, it manifested itself in the form of sloppy passes that led to turnovers near the half court line. Those usually result in easy baskets for the opposition, and this game was no exception to that. I’d not worry to much about it. Chances are good that X won’t have any 30 point halftime leads against any of the BE schools they will play. But I sure hope they do!

[X-lucidity]

Apologies, but my take is this was a silly thread. Right B4 the Buckeye game we were lambasting just about everything about this team from coach, to the water boy. We have not come so far in 3+ weeks that a lopsided win over a decent mid-major, even with a sloppy stretch in the 2nd half, isn't cause for a smile and celebration. These aren't pros, they are college kids facing exams worried about girlfriends and eagerly looking forward to Big East play. I for one and damn happy about the evolution over the past few weeks. A rotation has formed and roles starting to define themselves. The team seems confident yet not cocky and appear to enjoy making the extra pass. I am sure you all are pleased and do not mean to insinuate otherwise. But in the immortal words of Mr. Rogers, R-E-L-A-X... Going to be a bumpy ride through this Big E gauntlet. I like where we are. Don't let perfect spoil terrific.

[longliveskip]

agreed, Lucid. if all we can complain about in a 23-point win was a little lull of lazy turnovers to start the 2nd half, well then i'm fine with that.

10-1 heading into BE conference play. i'm guessing 95% of this site did NOT predict that.

[skyhops]

We are in a good position for sure, however we have been in the past as well heading into BE with Steele. With really only one true road game we will have to step it up in order to finish above .500 in BE, which seems to be the magic number for the tourney. Anything less is unacceptable

[oldhoopster]

I don't think the point was to be negative, but realistic. X has way too many turnovers to survive most BE teams. A main reason we destroyed UC was keeping turnovers under 10, well below our average. I too have concerns when we have 15-18 against weak teams. I guess players get sloppy with big leads and against inferior opponents. The focus in the UC game will be needed in many BE games and I hope it's there.

[pdxmuskie]

Turnovers are certainly a concern but great defense can offset some of that. Efficient shooting is also a difference maker. We will see if X can generate good looks and defend within the BE but I feel good about it. Half the BE is about the same level as the top half of teams X has already beaten. The other teams are easily within range of getting wins. X should be shooting for winning the BE, not finishing in the top half. Anything less than 3rd is completely unacceptable.