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Muskies Gouge Gophers!! Prepare for Pitt Again!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/20/2010
Some pundit somewhere is blaming Minnesota's 65-54 NCAA Tourney First Round loss to Xavier on rumors that Gopher coach Tubby Smith is bolting for Auburn or Oregon or Chaminade maybe? Any place warmer than the Twin Cities which by definition is anywhere south of Nome!! They're dead wrong!! It was all Xavier!! Player effort and coaching adjustments led to a huge second half and an 11 point win.
The Muskies and Gophers halfcourted it to a 26-26 tie through 20 minutes. XU kept jumping ahead. MU kept hanging around. The Muskies launched an incredible 42 shots and made just 9(21%). X frequently was too quick on the trigger and M's big guys blocked 10 shots frustrating the XU post game. X was clearly quicker-winning the bulk of the hustle plays and 50-50 balls.
M struggled to move the ball on offense. Sr Lawrence Westbrook's one-on-one moves kept the Gophers from scoring in the teens.
Chris Mack and staff recalibrated at the half. Actually,they stayed true to their game plan. They kept attacking. No retreat to the pretty perimeter jump shot game was ordered. The Muskies just did it smarter-spacing the floor better-sharing the ball-using more passes-playing more inside-out-being more patient offensively.
And the defense tightened. Xavier extended to the perimeter and Minnesota couldn't beat them off the dribble. More agressive defense led to fastbreak offense and a bunch of easy(If you're an acrobat like Jordan Crawford) lay-ups. Bottom line-XU outscored MU 39-28 in the second half. Xavier shot 56%(14-25). Fewer attempts led to better results.
Again,the pundits will give all the credit to Crawford. He deserves a ton of it too. JC scored 28(second best first round scorer-Jimmer Fredette of BYU had 37 in their double OT win over Florida) on 11-21 FG,5-11 3 pointers,6 rebounds,5 assists,1 turnover,2 steals. Talk about filling every column in a box score!! Minnesota just could not guard him as I predicted.
But give cudos to the XU defense. Minn averages over 70PPG. They scored 54. XU shut them out for a 6:43 stretch in the first half. From 11:57 left in half two until 5:53 remained the Gophers made one FG. MU shot 1-7 with 5 missed 3 pointers and no second shots. That's getting stops and delivering defense.
The Muskies closed the game out well also. Terrell Holloway took over and ran his one man stall. His drive and dish to Crawford for a dead corner "3" with 38 ticks left was a thing of beauty. X won the rebound battle 50-41. They turned it over just 6 times.
Individually,Jamel McLean was a beast with 14 rebounds. Kenny Frease faired well inside(6 points-5 boards-2 blocks). His size played well against MU tall trees Iverson and Sampson.
Pitt looms next(Sunday 4:50PM-CBS). The Panthers knocked Xavier out 60-55 in the Sweet 16 at Boston last March. X led by 8 at the half and by 2 with a minute left. Late turnovers doomed XU. Sr Pitt PG Lavon Fields buried a long "3" and forced a key steal. Pitt was a 1 seed last year and X was a 4. This season it's 3 versus 6.
Pete Gillen is doing radio for CBS in Milwaukee. He selects Pitt's Jamie Dixon as his National Coach of the Year. Pitt was picked to finish 9th in the Big East after losing 4 starters including PG Fields,Center Dujaun Blair(San Antonio-NBA) and Forward Sam Young(Memphis-NBA).
Dixon has reloaded. The Panthers are 16th in both Polls(25-8 overall) and went 13-5 in the Big East. They're hot(winners of 9 of last 11-both defeats by Notre Dame) and rested(ND ousted them from the BE Tourney a week ago Thursday at MSG). Pitt drilled Oakland 89-66 Friday at the Bradley Center and their top scorer Soph G Ashton Gibbs only scored 7. 6 Panthers hit double figures.
Dixon plays 8. Gibbs starts(16PPG) along with 6-3 Jermaine Dixon(only returning regular) and 6-4 Brad Wannamaker. That's 3 guards plus an undersized but athletic forward 6-5 Nasir Robinson plus 6-10 Gary McGhee. 6-6 Gilbert Brown is the 6th man. Frosh PG Travon Woodall leads in assists. 6-9 Frosh Dante Taylor is the star recruit.
Pitt plays half court motion offense and half court man defense. Nothing fancy! Just low turnover smart sound basketball. They share the ball and value the ball leading to a very high assist to turnover ratio. Pitt scores 68 PPG and gives up just 61(Best Defense in the Big East). They are an impressive plus 5 in rebounding. The Panthers have much less star power without Fields,Young and Blair but their system is intack and it works.
X is much quicker in the backcourt than last season. They need to rattle the Pitt guards and run whenever play gets scrambled. Crawford needs to attack and force Pitt to do things out of their comfort zone to stop him. JC will make them pay by finding open teammates. The Muskie BIG GUYS can do business inside. They have to make McGhee guard inside.
X has the edge in size,speed and experience. Pitt may not realize that. Jermaine Dixon predicts they'll make the Final 4 which they just missed in 2009 courtesy of that Scotty Reynolds(Villanova) lay-up at the buzzer. I'll take Xavier in the rematch. Pitt has no Fields to beat them in the final minute.
The Muskies have Holloway and Crawford. Bring on BYU or Kansas State in Salt lake next Thursday!!!
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