Don't poke the bear!

[pki1998]

I hope all Big East fans adopt the J P Sucks chant! First it's stupid, if an opposing player actually sucked you would bother chanting about him. Second, J P likes to shut people up, if we could get all opposing fans to start this chant we might not lose on the road again this season.

[edgecliff hall]

I like the way your mind works, pki1998. Do you do Stand-Up?

[X-Expert]

Unless I missed something it seemed like they started chanting after he got the foul on Rodriguez on the 3 point play. Don't get that. Just a smart basketball play. Played great second half D (last 10 minutes of game for sure).

Scruggs had one bad turnover late but overall, good game. While he missed 2 FTS, made 2 huge ones later. Beat Marquette.

[kyzrex]

For certain players emotion is a major factor in them playing well. JP seems to be one of those players. He seems to love it when the opposing crowd is getting on him the most and sometimes plays even better the more they get on him. I love it!

[muskieman]

Wisconsin found it out the hard way.

[Michigan Musketeer]

JP played one of the best games ever in a Xavier uniform. Every time we needed a bucket rebound or loose ball he was there. Great performance on the road with the crowd on his back. His stick back dunk deserved to be a SC top 10 play- another snub by ESPN. This guy will be missed big time.

[Anti-Homer]

JP played one of the best games ever in a Xavier uniform. Every time we needed a bucket rebound or loose ball he was there. Great performance on the road with the crowd on his back. His stick back dunk deserved to be a SC top 10 play- another snub by ESPN. This guy will be missed big time.

Few guys in recent memory have the stones of JP. Tu is one who also did. However, I'll take JP's character on, and especially off the court any day, as Hops and my mentor Mman can attest.

[madness31]

JP was almost a different player against SH. He is always active and shows the ability to hit long range shots as well as put it on the floor quite regularly but his activity around the basket was on a different level. He is good rebounder but I've never seen him have so many tip ins from various angles. An impressive performance. It is a shame he missed the lay-up and had another tip-in bounce off the rim. He was also cheated out of a 1 and 1 that Tre somehow got to shoot. Would have been nice to see JP crack 30 given how well he played.

It would be spectacular if he could bring that energy and determination every game. He always plays hard but he has another gear that he can only access with motivation. You would think NBA would be enough motivation but it doesn't work that way. Psychologically he needs to feel slighted or doubted to access his best self. It is possible teammates or coaches could give him this edge but there is risk that such an attempt would have a negative impact. With any luck X will deserve a 1 seed in the tourney and end up with a 2 seed and it will be enough to get him fired up for the whole tournament.

[edgecliff hall]

Madness 31, you've opened the door on the subject, so here I come stumbling through. For some years now I've been tinkering with a movie story idea about a famous football coach of the early 1900's to 1930's. The guy was famous for being able to manipulate the minds and emotions of his players. Trouble is, he (I estimate) didn't really understand how he did it. I suggest that this fact bothered him. His mind and emotions were disturbed by the mystery of himself. My hang-up then is how to dramatize this internal conflict. To make the story either better or worse, he was about to achieve some top notch success, starring in a movie, moving to LA for a great new job where his wife longed to live, when he got on an airplane which flew into a storm. It's right wing fell off.
As for JP, what puts him into overdrive as we saw on Saturday? The game was on the line, and he took it upon himself to win it. I don't think his feeling were hurt, or anything like that. He is a mentally tough young man. He has found a way to express that mental toughness through his superior basketball skills. When he goes, he goes.

[kyzrex]

All 5 of the SH starters played 30 minutes or more in the game, and they have been doing this all season long. It could be that part of the reason that JP took over the game, and X pulled away, is that the SH players wore down. That probably gave JP more opportunities to make plays. That he stepped up and took advantage of those opportunities is a credit to his mental and physical toughness. Simply put, if I was going into combat I’d like a whole bunch of JP’s with me. Throughout his career he has shown this part of his personality and ability more often than not.