Butler game thread

[yellow20xd]

Geez... Dan

[XavierBob]

Disappointing to lose to teams you are clearly better than, but, you have to come to play every night. Did the refs suck the last minute or so, yeah, but we put ourselves in that position. I swear teams play worse after long layoffs, I think playing a couple of times a week keeps teams sharp. Tonight poor free throw shooting and turnovers killed us. Can’t change the past have to buckle up and get one at Marquette somehow. And yes beat the hell out of Butler here.

[bluegrass]

Losing to DePaul and Butler will cost us the regular season title. Horrible effort in the first half was their undoing. Sean said the final play was the worst defense he’s ever seen in the situation. Plus Nunge’s timeout and poor foul shooting just added to a crappy night.

[skyhops]

As I have mentioned our lack of depth killed us this game. Thanks to Steele we have no bigs that can even give us valuable minutes. If Boum is hurt sit him because he can’t guard a mailbox and not knowing you don’t have a TO is inexcusable. Jones is a great player but great players don’t shoot 48% in BE play from FT. The first goaltend was terrible and second was silly by Jones but not a call u make. Matta had a great plan on D. I don’t see us winning another game on road hope I’m wrong. Told Mrs Hops we will get screwed at Butler

[muskieman]

As I have mentioned our lack of depth killed us this game. Thanks to Steele we have no bigs that can even give us valuable minutes. If Boum is hurt sit him because he can’t guard a mailbox and not knowing you don’t have a TO is inexcusable. Jones is a great player but great players don’t shoot 48% in BE play from FT. The first goaltend was terrible and second was silly by Jones but not a call u make. Matta had a great plan on D. I don’t see us winning another game on road hope I’m wrong. Told Mrs Hops we will get screwed at Butler

Sean Miller is the Head Coach. IF he thought there was a lack of depth, then he had the power and the responsibility to go out and get the guys he needed and then to play the bench to get them experience. Stop blaming everything on Travis that is weak thinking and excuse-making and makes you sound like Joe Biden blaming everything wrong on someone else. Travis is gone, and we have a better experienced coach, one that should be able to evaluate talent and get the pieces he needs. Unless you are now on the "Sean is not the coach we thought he was" bandwagon? Don't be Joe Biden, Sky,

[Anti-Homer]

Losing to Butler and DePaul is God awful. Kudos to Jones in particular, but also , Kunkel, and Claude, who played well. Hunter had butter fingers uncharacteristically. I love having Nunge on the team but now I know why there is a picture of him in the dictionary next to soft and melted butter. He has been mosty good this year, but when he's awful, he leaves no room for debate. His numbers looked ok on paper, but he was blocked/stripped about five times today, and he made Bates look like Shaq. They have to double a center who averaged 11 points a game. Throwing zone in just to disrupt his rhythm may have been a good idea. They finally made an adjustment and doubled him, so he only shot 90% from the field, not 100%. Excellent adjustment by Coach....for a couple of possesions.

Fitting the game was lost by a boneheaded T.O. by Nunge. How does that happen to a very intelligent 30 year old? It's even more perplexing becaue he had control of the ball and an open man in his sight. I suspect he will put on his headphones and listen to Streisand on the way home.....or Norah Jones, not that there's anything wrong with it. I still loves me some Nunge, for the record.

On a bright side, Claude looks like he is going to be a big time player in the BE. Away games at Providence and MQuette are now must wins. Hopefully, Coach reads the book Defense for Dummys on the way home. He has fallen from one of the top four, down to one the top eight coaches in the NCAA. AH's rankings are an an objective but fickle mistress. He's only in the 97th percentile now. Good news is he can get back to the 99th percentile with winas at two very daunting road games, assuming no more eggs are laid.

Seacrest out.

[Anti-Homer]

As I have mentioned our lack of depth killed us this game. Thanks to Steele we have no bigs that can even give us valuable minutes. If Boum is hurt sit him because he can’t guard a mailbox and not knowing you don’t have a TO is inexcusable. Jones is a great player but great players don’t shoot 48% in BE play from FT. The first goaltend was terrible and second was silly by Jones but not a call u make. Matta had a great plan on D. I don’t see us winning another game on road hope I’m wrong. Told Mrs Hops we will get screwed at Butler

Sean Miller is the Head Coach. IF he thought there was a lack of depth, then he had the power and the responsibility to go out and get the guys he needed and then to play the bench to get them experience. Stop blaming everything on Travis that is weak thinking and excuse-making and makes you sound like Joe Biden blaming everything wrong on someone else. Travis is gone, and we have a better experienced coach, one that should be able to evaluate talent and get the pieces he needs. Unless you are now on the "Sean is not the coach we thought he was" bandwagon? Don't be Joe Biden, Sky,

MMan, you're my mentor and Sr. Mod. However, as I have said before, we shall not discuss politics, religion, and our favorite Nathan Lane movies....Too polarizing. For the record, I'm with you about the Steele bashing. They guy was a very good recrutier for the most part, but not an in game strategist, nor a developer of talent. He did his damn best though. That's all anyone can ask. Miller has created such lofty expctations, that we're lamenting that X is now in 5 seed territory intead of 3. There hasn't been a bigger impact on Victory Pkwy since I came on board as a Mod seven years ago.

[Jesseandrippers]

As I have mentioned our lack of depth killed us this game. Thanks to Steele we have no bigs that can even give us valuable minutes. If Boum is hurt sit him because he can’t guard a mailbox and not knowing you don’t have a TO is inexcusable. Jones is a great player but great players don’t shoot 48% in BE play from FT. The first goaltend was terrible and second was silly by Jones but not a call u make. Matta had a great plan on D. I don’t see us winning another game on road hope I’m wrong. Told Mrs Hops we will get screwed at Butler

Master of panic. Relax…

[Anti-Homer]

SM is still a NCOY worthy candidate and has had an outstanding year, but he was resposible for two losses this year, Zags and Butler.

Against the Zags, X gave up about 25 points in the last 6 to 7 minutes, and Miller made no defensive adjustments, whether it was token 3/4court pressure or zone. I know, I know, the game is played on paper, so you never play zone against good shooting perimter teams , or poor rebounding teams, yet ALL other good to great coaches not named Boeheim (hasn't been good or great in two decades though) do it. Maybe the game isn't always decided on paper??? They have shown to be poor defenders all year, and have the personnel to be a very good 1-3-1 team, with Claude, Jones, and Hunter, with all three being able to play the top (see Huskies, UConn). How does he not see this? You can also hide Free in the middle with this defense.

Butler doubled the post every time, which befuddled Nunge and Hunter, and......Coach. No quick passes to the perimeter for an open 3 by the best shooting perimeter team in the country. Both Hunter and Nunge forced up bad shot after bad shot for the most part.

Then, the players clearly didn't know how to defend the last possession of the game. If it's one, or even two players, I'd understand, but everyone??? He called them soft afte the game, which they are, but adapt to your personnel, and prepare them. I had an uncomfortable ***** to the SW 16 game against OSU. Use more than one crayon in your box of 24 Coach!

Ironically, he is known as one of the best defensive minds in the game with the way he employs the pack line D. He is/was. If I never knew his history, I would think he was the basketball equivalent of Lincoln Riley, whose idea of defense is outscroing the other team. He has taken a team with no offensive identity in the previous four to the best in the country. That's incredible. Unfortnately, his lack of a defensive identity or strategy dilutes this a chievement somewhat. I and the whole world know they dont have the personnel to play solely zone, so adjust dammit. They can't press, because when you play only 6 players, your team will wear out. Matta took him to the woodshed last night. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Matta channeled Mr. Miyagi and ordered Sean to do that "wax on wax off" thing before the game yest. It's like running 40 sweeps a game with Perrine and throwing five 7 yd slants a game cumulatively to Chase, Higgins, and Boyd. ADAPT TO YOUR PERSONNEL.

Due to Miller, X can play with anyone in the country this year. Anyone. At least on paper.

[Xavier2005]

LOL i did not know it was NOW policy that posts can use POLITICAL comparisons to talk about Xavier Basketball !! Since Muskieman has opened this door ...i guess WE all can now start doing the same. LOL