Providence game thread

[muskieman]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1620979581640650755 Sean miller with John Fanta

https://twitter.com/i/status/1620966681756708864 game highlights

https://youtu.be/Nt3OGQPrGl4 player's new conference

https://youtu.be/-8NszZ27n9c Miller news conference

[X-lucidity]

Always been impressed with John Fanta- he conducts a nice interview and is very knowledgeable and respectful of the sport he covers.

[skyhops]

He does a great job especially with the Big East and seems to have a good relationship with Coach Miller.

[Anti-Homer]

Souley didn’t play up to Souley standards, whose metrics are in the top 3 of PGs nationally. Only 1-9 from three but closed it out well again in the final two. He also had a ridiculously good 9/1 A/T ratio, against a high-pressure defense with smothering guards. He could not contain Bynum, but he just isn’t a good defensive player. His shot selection has gotten worse as well, but he is still the B.E POY as of now.

Claude quietly was great defensively, and hit 4-4 FT.s, including a clutch two in O.T. He also had no turnovers in 30-35 minutes. He has improved in that area since some astute poster noticed his ball security was statistically less than average on this team. Great motivating tactic. Des’ FT shooting balanced out the poor F.T. shooting of Hunter, who had one of those rare off nights at the line. Hunter was again the MVP though, as he played stellar D on Hopkins, who could not bully his way to the hole, as he tries to go downhill every time. That was the key to the game. He also had only one foul, and six (seven?) offensive boards. There was also an awful non-call when Hopkins literally pushed Hunter away with no call late in the game on the wing. It was far worse than Ossai’s push on Mahomes. Other observations:

• Jack Nunge picked up his production w/o Free with 23 pts & 14 rebounds. Great game.
• Rare day as X shot less free throws than Providence and made them at a low percentage.
• Jones played 40+ min with only 2 or 3 TOs, & 20 points. He also played great against Hopkins as the 2ndary defender, including when Hopkins tried to bulldoze his way left side to the hole under two minutes, and Jones walled him up forcing a miss.
• The bench is just not going to give them much, but they will be forced to play some because X cannot sustain with 6 players. Critical error by Coach for not developing them despite having ample opportunities earlier in the year. Ironically, Tandy played very well in extended minutes, and he could still be effective, but it’s hard to perform knowing one mistake and anything less than two threes in the precious 150 seconds he plays will cause a quick hook. He can still return his shoes to Foot Locker at the end of the year if he still has the tags. Kraft shoots 39% from three and though lost defensively (not unlike some of our starters oftentimes) X can hide him defensively when we play zon…..uh, scratch that.

Overall, Sean is still keeping pace with the other NCOY candidates and is just so good at making adjustments. I feel good about my recommendation to Greg Christopher.

[Timeless]

Isn't Fanta a Seton hall man? Not to say he isn't fair but isn't his go-to phrase, Arrrgh?

I noticed him mentioning Seton Hall in endearing terms several times, but he seems fair to Xavier, and as someone said, he and Miller get along.