Sean Miller

[millersdad]

I just want to give coach a big congradulations for a well coached game...for the most part. I think Miller may end up being the best coach in all of Xavier history. I do have one suggestion for my son. One mistake that Miller made during this game, and he has made all season ,occurs during the last play of the half and/or the last play of the game when X has the ball and they are trying to run out the clock for the last shot. For some odd reason he always waits too long before going for the shot. he has drew wait until there are only 7 or 8 seconds left on the shot clock before making his move to the basket. This almost always forces x to have a bad shot and they miss it and do not have time for an offensive rebound and stickback. i have seen every game this year and the same thing happens over and over with the same results. Miller..don't wait this long next time...it almost cost us this game....it happened twice this game. My suggestion is this....drive at 14 seconds not 7 or 8. With 14 seconds it give you time to make some passes, get an assist, get a shot off then get the rebound and stick back if you miss. i am not the only one with this observation. my friend who watches every game with me has also noticed this and i would like to hear from other xavier loyals if they have noticed this also.

[principal]

I have noticed this and it drives me crazy. However, I don't know the first thing about coaching, so I am not sure why they do this. My only thought - we'd rather put our destiny in our own hands. If we go for it with 14 seconds we may leave 6-7 seconds on the clock - more than enough time to let the other team control the outcome (at least offensively). I guess it comes down to do you want your offense to decide the game or your defense? I agree it seems to work out poorly for us, though I don't have the stats to be sure, so maybe trying the other route would work better?

[nteetee]

Yes, that just about gave me a heart attack. If you're dribbling up near half-court, you definitely need Drew to make that move at about 10 seconds, with the intention of driving into the lane and either shooting or dishing. You cannot wait until 6 or 7 seconds and expect him to get close to the basket from that distance. There's no reason to have to take a desperation, contested 18-footer in that situation. Thank God we survived it.

[madness31]

If the game is tied you do not go with 14 seconds left. That is just asking to lose. Adding a second or two is doable but the only reason they didn't get a second chance shot this time is because Lavender had to overcorrect and therefore wasted another second or 2.

If you believe in your team you should go for the last shot and not worry about a second chance. If you miss then win it in OT. Just don't turn it over. If we are down then take the shot earlier to get the second chance. If you believe the competition is better and you don't feel confident about OT then give a few extra seconds.

Miller is by far the best coach I've seen at X. We had too much tallent too many other years and always underachieved. Skip was a great recruiter and a good guy but was not a good coach. I'm thinking Matta might have benefited from Miller but maybe Miller learned something from Matta.

[muskiedude]

two thoughts on this ,
I say dribble out front and have the rest of the team stay in motion hoping for an opening under the basket for an easy dunk. dont just wait for the last six seconds and hope you get a good look as we usually dont, and usually no time left for a put back.

other option is, when there are approx 50 seconds on the clock i say work hard for a shot within 10 seconds, if you shoot at 40 seconds and make , ok, if you miss and rebound, still ok, if you miss other team gets the ball , and whether they make or miss the odds are still in your favor that you get the last shot... basically you get two possessions against their one. I I want the ball last.

other than that , how great the boys played. All of them.. What an great team effort. Is this fun or what.

There will be 19,000 UCLA fans at Phoenix on Sat, and 1000 XU
We the fans need to be at out best, believe it or not our players know it can can make a difference. Go Muskies

[gym from delhi]

Millers Dad, I thoroughly agree. My brother and I could not understand why 1) Drew didn't show more urgency, or 2) Sean didn't use a timeout. The play should have been go to the unguardable Josh, and hope to get a shot or a foul. We have seen far too many clock winding down desperation flings the last few years. Otherwise great game guys!

[finalfourorbust]

Millers Dad, I thoroughly agree. My brother and I could not understand why 1) Drew didn't show more urgency, or 2) Sean didn't use a timeout. The play should have been go to the unguardable Josh, and hope to get a shot or a foul. We have seen far too many clock winding down desperation flings the last few years. Otherwise great game guys!

Xavier was out of timeouts. Xavier had three guys crashing the boards on that last shot and was in a good position to get a stick back which indicates to me that Sean didn't intend for Drew to wait that long. Why is it that every time Xavier doesn't execute a play properly Sean is accused of bad strategy?

[gym from delhi]

Finalfour, my TV graphic had X with one TO remaining; if that's not the case I respectfully withdraw my comment.

[AlabamaMuskie]

This strategy did work agaisnt Purdue to close out the half.

[gundun]

While I would have liked to have seen Drew set up the play a little faster last night, I don’t agree with the idea of calling a timeout.
Earlier, a similar situation occurred in a game involving Bob Knight and he didn’t call a timeout. He reasoned that a timeout gave the other team a chance to set up their defense and besides there might be an in-bounding problem.
Besides that, over the last four years, Sean has proved his is a better coach.
Love you Sean. Thanks for the victories.