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Muskies 4-0 in A-10 at Quarter Pole!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/20/2013
Who would have figured this two weeks ago? X atop the Atlantic 10 at 4-0!!! Even Andy Mac was waivering a bit on this XU team after 4 losses in a row including second half meltdowns at Tennessee and Wake Forest. The defenses had seemingly figured out Semaj Christon the indispensible freshman. Free throws were clanking off the rim. Jeff Robinson,Isiah Philmore and Justin Martin seemed lost. Dee Davis struggled to score.Fair weather fans were muttering:"He's just too small." It wasn't a pretty picture at 7-6.
 | | Coach Mack and Assistant Coach Steele confer regarding the offense.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson gets an impressive “tip-in” slam.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | After blowing past his defender, Semaj Christon stuffs in two points.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Landen Amos causes a 5 second call as Graduate Assistant Dante Jackson and Assistant Coach Steele help the referee count.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Isaiah Philmore goes high to softly lay a shot in the basket.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
But coaches and players had time(over a week) and opportunity(semester break) to retool and recharge. X treated the Atlantic 10 as a new season and got to work.
The schedule broke well with 3 of the first 4 at Cintas and the seniors(Brad Redford,Travis Taylor and Jeff Robinson) stepped up and led.
Those of us who are lucky enough to see every game may take the Cintas homecourt advantage for granted,but it's very real(50-1 in A-10 games since 2006). Opposing players are intimidated,spit the bit,fold their tents,bitch and moan, fail to post,overtry(take your pick). More importantly,Muskie players take defending the home floor seriously and personally and they feed off the crowd.
A Brad Redford made three pointer is the most infectious inspiring play in the history of the building. It drives the crowd into a frenzy. Now Brad is making 3 or 4 or 5 or more bombs a game,it's like a big wave building and rolling. Pete Gillen used to say: "Seniors either get alot better and thrive on the urgency of their situaton or shrink out of fear of what happens next and get alot worse. They never stay the same."
So far Brad and JRob and Travis seem to be thriving!!! Muskie teams usually are defined by the contributions of the seniors.It's their team for better or worse.
This group works hard.They deal with adversity. They accept coaching and they execute game plans. They also take each game as it comes. 4-0 thru 25% of the conference schedule is terrific.
VCU is 4-0 also. Butler sits 3-0. Both Team Havoc and the Hinkle Dawgs are nationally rated and rolling on long win streaks. Everybody else in the league(13 teams) has at least 2 losses.
The next 4 games for XU are at Charlotte,at St Joe's,home to Dayton and at Richmond. That game by game focus is a "must".
Saturday afternoon's 70-63 win over La Salle was a weird one. The Explorers came in bubbling with confidence-enjoying their best start since the Speedy Morris days of the early 1990's. Xavier lost a practice because of travel problems returning from St Bonaventure.
Dee Davis was supposed to play for the first time since Temple. Was he ready? How would he blend in with Redford? LU led 20-9 8 minutes into the game. Xavier looked uncomfortable vs L's extended guard pressure.
The offensive struggled to get good shots. LaSalle carved XU up inside with smart passing.Enter Dee Davis!! He cracked the press and freed Semaj Christon to play off the ball. The Muskies turned the tables on L and beat them at their own game extending guard pressure-flustering their good guards Duren and Galloway(combined 6-26 shooting) and eliminating their inside game.
X attacked the basket and surged into halftime with a 35-27 lead. That's a 19 point swing to the good for a team that's suppossedly offensively challenged. Redford made 3's. Semaj took it to the rim. Jeff Robinson went on a dunkfest. Taylor and Philmore controlled the boards.
XU won the hustle plays. Landen Amos drew a charge against a LaSalle post guy. He helped jump trap Explorer star Galloway and forced him into a 5 second call. The effort continued after halftime.The blemishes were there(15-26 FT shooting-3-11 from "3") but the Muskies still outscored LU from the line 15-14 and X rocked close to the basket(23-34-67%FG). It's a wonder what dunks and lay-ups do for shooting averages.
And Xavier blocked 9 shots!! They contested everything around the rim. The angst ran so high for LaSalle that coach Dr John Giannini was slapped with a technical foul. Bottom line the Explorers average 73PPG. XU gave up 63 and the last 10 for LU were scored in garbage time. This Xavier team can deliver the defense and make scoring very tough even for a strong offensive team like LaSalle.
The Muskies play at Charlotte Wednesday(7:30-Fox Sports Ohio). Charlotte is much improved(15-3 overall-2-2 in the A-10). The 49ers lost 81-61 at Richmond Saturday. Darrien Brothers dropped 38 on them. C is 9-1 though at Halton Arena.
Elsewhere around the wild A-10 St Bonnies upset Temple in Philly 81-78. GW won at UMass 79-76. Rhode Island shocked St Louis 82-80 at Chaifetz Arena.
And Butler created all sorts of brownie points for the league with a 64-63 buzzer beater win over Top 10 Gonzaga at Hinkle Fieldhouse. ESPN lapped it up!!
Roosevelt Jones won it for Butler at the buzzer. Rotnei Clark did not play for BU still recovering from Matt Derenbecker's mugging at UD Arena.
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