PROVIDENCE game thread cross fingers

[muskieman]

When: Not tomorrow but moved to Wednesday because of 32+ inches of snow
play-by-play from J.B. Long and analysis from Grant Hill.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC

[skyhops]

I'm sure we will play one good half of basketball and end up with no points the last few minutes with multiple turnovers.

[muskieman]

X can't buy a bucket, can't play defense, and rebounding is below average, but man, can X commit fouls.

[muskieman]

Well, until the last play, I thought X might just make it to single digits. Down 13 has to be considered a small victory. The comeback was fueled by getting to the rim. Ended half 2-14 or 14% from the three.

The team didn't rely on their biggest strengths, which is assists, as they had 2 on 14 made shots. They want to beat PU, then stop Sellers 6-7 and 2-2 and Edwards 5-7 and 3-3

[Kevin Reilly]

Well most of the half we played like a 5-11 team. Is there any guard in the country who runs under ball screens more than Moore? Moore played 19 minutes and besides being awful on defense had zero points and one assist. Filip had a very good first half and Anderson had a good first half too. We need a lot of new players. Most of the players seem unfazed by being down by 20.

[Kevin Reilly]

Terrible offensive call on Anderson. If we don't get Carroll involved we don't have a chance. Need to play some defense.

[muskieman]

I'm sure we will play one good half of basketball and end up with no points the last few minutes with multiple turnovers.

Thought I would bump this up. Looks like Nostradamus.

Can't let the opponent's back court score 50

[muskieman]

Well, we beat them by more in Cincy (dripping in sarcasm). The Pitinos had a bad night, but Dad had a really bad one. X scores fifty points in the second half

[Kevin Reilly]

Well more of the same. Can't defend. Jones probably had 5 dunks himself. Our starting guards combined for 4 points in 40 minutes. Very soft team. Not built to physically compete. We need a serious influx of talent and grit.

[longliveskip]

there is no doubt in my mind that this is the WORST defensive team we've ever put on the floor since I started at X in '92. there's no comparison. we can't keep anyone in front of us at all. and have no rim protector. don't know how to defend screen and rolls most of the time. it's just bad. it's hard to watch. we've had some offensively challenged teams who could still at least GUARD a little bit. these dudes just CAN'T guard. they can't. very frustrating. I do think Pitino is doing the best with what he was able to assemble given the circumstances. hopefully he finds a way to recruit/bring in dudes that can score a bit more but also STOP the other team from scoring just a bit more. there's a decent chance that we actually finish LAST in the Big East and that is quite disappointing.