Depaul game thread 2/5/22

[yellow20xd]

I am absolutely at a loss for words, lots of thought but I think I’ll just keep them to myself. This movie is starting to look all too familiar.

Yeah, it's getting that déjà vu feeling all over again... Dan

[skyhops]

What was going on with Steele not putting in shooters later in the game? Up five and Scruggs turns into a freshman. He hits FT's and Free boxes out we win, but this is what happened at the end of the Butler game. Once again a bench player has another career game. This is a huge loss and once again we are on the bubble not to mention we didn't cover again. I hope Steele doesn't go into the "Pauls a warrior and heart and soul of our team" crap.

[Anti-Homer]

Steele is a good guy, but should have cut his teeth as a HC at a school like Jacksonville State. He is in way over his head. I would trade him and two recruits in 25' for Wes Miller. He holds certain players accountable (Tandy and Hunter), and gives Scruggs and Free perpetual "Get out of Jail Free Cards." Free had another inefficient offensive game, was horrible defensively, and lazily didn't box out DP's shot,, so they rebounded, and went up 4. Then, he leaves the two best three point shooters on the bench on offense, and leaves Odom and Free on the court.

We squeaked by DP w/o their best player at DP, then lost without their two best at Cintas. That was on the heels on having a two possession lead ag Butler in the last couple of minutes the previous game. Again, he seems like a really good guy, but he is not the answer. He convinced our former BG AD that he would get X to the final 2%, but the 10% we were at upon his arrival is now up to about 30%.

The BE just made a request to The Masters. They asked if they could run commercials during the last six weeks of the season, when the swoon starts, saying." Steele's team folding in the last third of the year. A tradition like no other."

[skyhops]

How do we know he is a great guy? The inability to develop another big that can defend as well as shooters is hurting us thus no tourney appearances. Not boxing out and getting dunk on are not things that we expected in the past. Back on the bubble

[Anti-Homer]

How do we know he is a great guy? The inability to develop another big that can defend as well as shooters is hurting us thus no tourney appearances. Not boxing out and getting dunk on are not things that we expected in the past. Back on the bubble

What other coach do you know has Ice cream Tuesdays, and skips rebounding drills one day a week?

[X-lucidity]

So easy to pile on here. As fans and supporters of our beloved program one really must keep a long- term perspective in mind after a gut-punch loss like this. That said, let’s peel back a few layers of the onion, in hopes of gleaning some sense of reality. Ever since the true 2nd half of the season started, let’s call that Jan 12th when we hosted ‘Nova, we have seen the same trends and overall Steele Swoon as in years past. Horrific starts. No coherent flow of Rhythm on offense. Head scratching spurts of low-energy defensive lapses. Questionable late game decision making, personnel decisions & sub patterns.
We all realize the Big East aint no picnic. Ok, but either you are a contender or you are a pretender. Every league needs it’s lovable losers. Are you all good with X sliding more & more towards that end of the spectrum? I am not and today was an inflection point. This was an inexcusable / unforgivable loss. A depleted Depaul team. On your home court. Once again, a horrific, emotionless stagnant start. Digging another huge hole to chase. Questionable sub patterns down the stretch. Out-muscled for key rebounds. In the end, we lost this game in the first half by digging another hole and giving an opponent the belief they could pull the upset. Shameful. We likely will win enough to limp into a 10 seed. Bigger issue is, as I have said now to ad nauseam, this team exhibits the same glaring issues and trends over the past month. Strikingly similar to the last two seasons at or around this juncture. Does not do anyone any good to try and sweep these realities under the rug. We shall see how this plays out of course. This though, like most high level enterprises, is a results based business. How we look’in - - - not good. Anyone at the top level paying attention, Beuller..?

[Michigan Musketeer]

Losing to a bottom feeder without (2) of their better players at home does not help the resume for a team that is over ranked and once again headed in the wrong direction. One half of really good basketball (Creighton) may be the highlight reel of the season for this group. Is it lack of talent coupled with an inexperienced coach causing them unable to compete in a tough conference. Agree is it only one game but if there is not tremendous improvement by the players and coaches the remaining games especially on the road and possibly at home could get real ugly. I wonder if another meltdown at the end of the season will get this program back on the right track by hiring an experienced coach. I am getting tired of hearing about great recruiting classes and then seeing the same results. No NCAA appearances and one NIT bid in the last (3) Yrs and possibly now a fourth is not what Xavier fans are accustom to. Unfortunately I think this team still has some work to do to secure a bid in the tourney and decent seeding.

[Xavier2005]

Steele is just one of the issues for X. The players are also an issue. There is not one consistent player from game to game to game. Scoring totals are bad. Free throw shooting is bad. Defense and Offense is totally not consistent. They start most games like they are learning how to play basketball....missing lay ups, poor scoring, etc. X has not been a top tier BE team since Chris Mack left. Based on DePaul's record, Xavier players should have beaten DePaul with no coaches on the bench. The players should have stepped up and won just based on a quality effort on their part regardless of what a coach says. It is Basketball....the objective of this game is to put the ball through the net and score....out score your opponent. too many missed shots from the field and too many missed free throws.

[thecoach]

"X has not been a top tier BE team since Chris Mack left." Trevon B covered up a lot of mistakes. You're never as good or as bad as you think after losses, but he was an eraser in bball terms. It's a big factor in fan's expectations. Guys who can score like that only come along so often, and Mack was fortunate to have had him. Onward.

[Jesseandrippers]

What a joke