Winthrop Eagles game thread

[Jesseandrippers]

I am very concerned. We are struggling against mid major programs at home. Albeit good mid major programs but still. The Big East is loaded and I hope I am wrong but at this point I think we will struggle to beat teams like Depaul and Georegtown on the road. Forget about the Marquettes, UCONN, Creightons, and Villanovaś of the world. I trust in Sean but I am not sold on this fast pace uptempo offense. I do not think we have enough B Ball IQ to play that type of game. We take awful shots by the wrong people away too often. I still believe our big guys are going to ok but at this point they are not ready. I am very concerned going into the Big East I thought we would be further along at this point. St. Johnś will be the first of tough games and St Johnś is the type of team we should have a chance to win. I hope I am wrong. Go X!!! I am not optimistic.

We dont have the tall timber to play an inside out half court game so we need to play fast. I like that Sean is trying to teach the team how to push the pace. It may be our only chance this year to break .500. Are we ready for it…nope. But we have to give it a shot.

[pdxmuskie]

Gytis deserves a ton of credit for this win. Glad he can play another year at X.

Claude needs to reduce his 3 point shots until he has put enough time into developing that shot. He rebounds well. Plays great defense most games and is great at attacking the rim. Late in the shot clock and possibly a rhythm pullup make sense. I get that he is open but generally it isn't helping the team.

McKnight with another big game. I sang his praises earlier then he had 2 straight bad performances, hopefully that doesn't repeat. Aside from those 2 games he has been great all year.

Olivari didn't shoot lights out tonight but he has proven his ability to knock down shots. Great get for Sean. As is McKnight.

The bigs are likely going to be a rotation all year. Officials are going to keep calling fouls on them. I could be wrong but I get the impression that officials look at the stats on player fouls before games and create a bias. X has unfortunately played a lot of games with officials determined to control the game so various Xavier bigs have a "reputation" for fouling. Luckily the bigs are all capable but not especially dominant so going 4 deep isn't necessarily a huge problem.

Good to get the win. Winthrop is solid. I'm uneasy about BE play as I'm not sure what to expect. The BE is top heavy. The middle is good but not great and the bottom is 2 teams. Xavier is capable of playing well against the middle and running the table with the bottom but I wouldn't be shocked to see struggles against both.

[Lead Guitar]

I think all of us see this year in the Big East as a struggle. Of course the non-conference has been a struggle as well. We need to win ten games in the league and maybe one or two in the conference tourney to have an outside chance at the NCAA. If our defense holds up, this could happen, for our offense will continue to be inconsistent.

I am encouraged by the future with these players but the present is a “never know who is going to show up.”

I look at the development of Creighton’s Kalkbrenner and I see Lazur’s potential. I remember O’Mara and Kenny Freese and see Ciani. Those two will be very solid. Even though he missed two dunks, I was very encouraged to see him go two-handed toward the basket with force and get fouled. (It took even David West half of his freshman year to realize you can just lay it in.)

Swain is this year’s Claude. Good defense and reliable 7th man. When his place on the team changes one of the next two years, he too, will be solid. Let’s hope Trey Green can contribute. He is definitely used to shooting. Hope it comes around.

We have two, 6’6” shooters on the bench in Reid and Cam. Hopefully one or both will be contributing next year. It will probably take two years for Nezh (sp?), but he has a basketball frame that, when filled out, could be a factor. Nothing wrong with a project or two on the roster. I just hope they will wait it out.

Our goal is the NCAA, and I am the forever optimist, but we did not rack up the usual 10/11 non-conference wins. It could be an NIT year. Go X! Bleed Blue!

[JGS]

Muskieman, thanks for posting the game stats. Banners used to do it but they have not this season

[muskieman]

Muskieman, thanks for posting the game stats. Banners used to do it but they have not this season

You are welcome. Some people mentioned putting in the score, which I try to do to keep those who can't get radio or TV updates.


BTW take a look at the Miller podcast, which is on the top of the board because this last one has Jerome Hunter and reveals how the health issues started and where he is in the process.