Marquette game thread 1/23/2022

[skyhops]

Defense & adjustments matte as well, FYI

[pdxmuskie]

I am less negative on this game as many seem to be and as I have been after other games. Shot selection was better. Shots didn't consistently fall but far fewer were bad shots than in most games this year. Additionally, Marquette made a number of well contested shots.

There were too many defensive breakdowns, primarily due to terrible help defense. Scruggs must protect the ball. Free should never shoot from 3.

I shut the game off with a minute left so no idea who did what after that but the turnaround fade by Scruggs was not a bad shot. He hits a high percentage of those shots and should probably shoot them more often. That being said, he made that shot more difficult than it needed to be as he could have easily pivoted the opposite way toward the basket. at least 1 of his 3s was completely unnecessary but the biggest issue is turnovers. He could have had 3 more and was lucky to recover the ball.

I disagree with Muskieman's take on Jones. He is playing within himself, taking what the defense gives him. This is what everyone should be doing, playing to their strengths, not forcing the action but taking advantage of opportunities. He will score in the teens some games and mid single digits other games. He brings so much more than offense.

Odom is also playing fine. He needs to develop a shot but that won't be this season.

Johnson as mentioned is in a slump. He should be more selective with shots until he breaks out of the slump but generally I'm not going to get upset when he shoots.

Free's minutes were by far the most concerning thing about this loss. Had Nunge been in longer and Free less, X may have won. The defensive performance is night and day different between the 2. The offense is similar with Nunge being capable of hitting 3s. Nunge should only shoot 3s when completely open but when he is open and set, he hits a high enough percentage to consider it a good shot.

Hunter is a decent shooter. He obviously started the season shooting horribly but the prior 2 years indicates he does have the range. He needs to limit his shots to good looks and look for better opportunities first.

Marquette should be ranked above Xavier based on recent performance. Other than that the X ranking is about right. If this is the typical Travis meltdown then the ranking will prove to be optimistic but that is not what this game looked like to me. Plenty of room for improvement. Plenty of correctable mistakes but X lost to a very good team.

[Anti-Homer]

Caveat: Needless to say I bleed Xavier blue & white. I am an alum and my daughter will graduate in May. I love and respect all our players and am proud they chose to join my beloved school. I admire and respect our coaching staff.
Now for a reality check. It is normal for most folks to be optimistic. Human nature feeds off hope. The sky is not falling but trends are now firmly rooted and can no longer be ignored. Coach Steele can be excused in his first year after Vanilla Ice bolted and stabbed us in the back on the way out on his recruiting efforts, (or lack thereof). I even give Travis a partial break in year two. However - - - what we are witnessing here as we cross over into the 2nd half of the season are the same trends as the last 3 years. Player in-season development is non-existent. A previous post aptly noted Scruggs and Nate are regressing. I will throw Odom into that mix as well. AH & ‘Hops constantly reference the similarity to AAU ball describing our offensive sets and strategies, yes- spot on. Another trend is, for lack of a better description, we seem to peak early each year. By late December we are as good as we are going to be. Now let us turn to the defensive side of the ball. Not many talking about that today, but this is where I am most concerned. X’Bob rightly mentioned that, at some point, players gotta play and make some shots. There is a ring of truth to that where a coach is powerless. Our D though is woeful. Depaul & Marquette abused us with good ball movement. Our hedge/help/recover skills are pitiful. We are suspect to dribble drives and lately back-door cuts. Only Depaul wearing down in the 2nd half saved us from another debacle. I could go on but this is already akin to A Tale of Two Cities. So Coach Steele, here are my humble recommendations:
1) Go back to boot camp on D. Tenacious box out drills. Demand more energy, awareness and communication on D. Those that cannot physically hedge/help/recover should have their minutes reduced. No matter the name on their jersey.
2) Offense: the ball needs to move quicker, less dribbling unless a purposeful probe/attack. Emphasize a “good shot” versus a “bad shot” Too many “bad” shots gets your minutes reduced. No matter the name on the jersey.
3) Dabble with Adam running the point a bit. He can dribble and is basketball savvy. I am not saying to hand the job to him, but worth a few minutes now and then to think outside the box.
4) Finally, and I have no real solution to this, but Travis – for God’s sake, figure out what buttons to push to help this group get off to a better start the first 8 minutes of games.
• Thank you all for enduring my cathartic moment.

X sets less picks then players in a wheel chair rec league (not making fun of them btw). They rarely run back door cuts, and the offense is largely predicated on a guy getting the ball on the wave and trying to create. That's AAU basketball. The tallest player on MQuette is 6'9." How many high lows did X call with Free, Hunter or Miles with 7'0" Nunge? X struggled in man, and in the 2-3. Does Steele know there is a 1-3-1- configuration? This was very effectively employed when Mack decided that playing zone wasn't a pu%@y defense in year three .

X has the length to put Hunter or Jones on top, Nunge or Miles in the post, and three guys in the 2nd level, even defensively challenged ones like the great Kunkel and Free. Wed is a must game. Time to hold players accountable.

[skyhops]

Can't believe we are favored by 8.5 tonight, Vegas is dumb

[Anti-Homer]

Can't believe we are favored by 8.5 tonight, Vegas is dumb

Watson has a major advantage over Free. They also only have a couple of good three point shooters. If they can contain Watson, they should cover, or come close.

[XU85]

I think the big mystery is Nate. Last year he has a slump in Big East and some were saying he only scored against non-conference inferior teams which was a wrong take but he has become progressively less effective since the BE started. overall in the big east he is around 35-36% which for him is bad.

The second big mystery is Colby looking solid and then looking timid. I think Colby could be a consistent 18-22 point games

The third mystery is finishing and the follow up! X came out and the first two scored were dunks and I know every score cannot be a dunk but when it is there those little layups are not working

I think the big mystery is that Steele's teams seem to peak early and don't significantly improve.

maybe but the season if far from over.

Just looked at my most recent post. I think we can agree the season is pretty close to over now. What are your honest thoughts about Steele now?

[joeabe]

As I watch X basketball from a distance on TV here's my take. My time at X was a great experience. However, as a player we weathered through 3 head coaches in 3 years....NOT FUN! A very difficult decision needs to be made. I'm not taking either side. But, whatever admin decides it must be done with 100% full steam ahead with a total commitment either way. If its Steele then go all in with him a new contract adding years demonstrating to players and recruits we got our man and confident in his ability to get us to the dance. Believing he only needs more time Or, cut bait and move on with a PROVEN coach. We cannot afford more down years. Admit our mistake if that's what administration believes and get a star and ride it to victory.
As far as a new coach goes....I've always liked Miller and totally understood his move to U of A. It appears he may have made a mistake with recruiting. I would ck this out to the max checking if he will be subject to NCAA sanctions etc I f he can jump this hurdle I believe he would be a huge catch.

[skyhops]

Why in the world would you sign him to an extension? Supposedly he has lost the locker room. I’m hearing players are on each other, Travis has no respect, players feel lied to for not playing like Wilcher, Edwards and Tandy. Just further proof how mentally soft this program is. There is no upside in keeping him unfortunately. They will probably give him another year based on money, but we will be a BE bottom feeder.

[muskieman]

I think the big mystery is that Steele's teams seem to peak early and don't significantly improve.

maybe but the season if far from over.

Just looked at my most recent post. I think we can agree the season is pretty close to over now. What are your honest thoughts about Steele now?

First, it is not over. But I think the last two games support my view. Nate was hitting on all cylinders in the GT game and was not in the Butler game. One was a win and one a loss. Now the FTs helped kill X in the Butler game but then that was also missed shots. One thing about this team is that it has become snake-bitten and when things get tough and they fight it is like they are saying; OH no, here we go again. Maybe the NT will give them a chance to shake their woes. I hope TS takes the opportunity to play Miles and Edwards. Possible two home games so let's see if the team quits or keeps fighting. Cleveland State is not a good rebounding team but they are physical and experienced and the best in their league.

[joeabe]

Sky, II would not want to be our AD should he need to make the announcement to keep and extend Steele!!!!! Did not know about the sad state of affairs re our teams bad attitudes. Is this real or BS? I really don't think they should be playing in the NIT as it could be another unflattering performance?