Next three games will it tell the tale

[pdxmuskie]

Xavier is not going 0 for 3! That is very comforting after so much negativity after the Georgetown win. Also another Quad 1 win, at least for now. Road win makes it that much better. Split the next 2 and all is good. Get them both and we are fighting for a top seed.

1 seed is still possible. 3 is certainly more likely. Matchups are unfortunately more important than seed. X should win against top defensive teams that don't score well. X should win against great offensive teams with mediocre defense. X is vulnerable to athletic teams capable of good offense and good defense. Hopefully we don't see that matchup until the elite 8 or after.

[yellow20xd]

2-1... I'm thinking Creighton will get us at their place. I've watched a few Providence games and I don't think they're all that good... But don't bet the house on my predictions, I've been known to be wrong a few times... Dan

[muskieman]

Providence has been a win for the home team most years. X would have had them last year except for their "Roof leak" strategy. Creghton might get X because strange things happen in the birdhouse much like PC home turf

[Kevin Reilly]

PDmuskie if you watch either Freemantle or Nunge they don't fight for defensive position . Very lazy about fronting or holding their spot on defense. Georgetown doesn't really have a good offensive Big man. Factor in Spears was torching the guards. I believe Freemantle has fouled out at least twice I believe. Granted there is not much ball pressure on the guards but to me they give up position too easily under the basket

[pdxmuskie]

Hey Kev,

I disagree on Nunge not fighting for position on D. He gets beat at times but he puts in effort to stay in position. He stays very vertical and makes guys shoot over his length. I'm not sure if you are correct about his guy getting the ball too deep but I would say that it would be almost impossible to play good help defense and keep your guy pushed out away from the rim. Guards are getting to the rim with such consistency that the bigs have to constantly be in position to stop the drive. Assuming I'm correct that both cannot be accomplished, Nunge is better off allowing his man deeper and letting his length cause misses rather than allow the open layups.

Free is out of position far more often but I do think both played solid D against Georgetown. Only 20 points in the paint is solid.

In my opinion the bulk of the improvement needs to take place out top. Working around screens, hedging, cutting off the lane, etc. Free has been much improved this year on offense and defense but he certainly has room for more defensive improvement. Nunge can also get better but I don't see glaring holes in what he is doing other than the occasional obvious mistake. I will attempt to look more closely as I am wrong at times.

As a person who was always defense first, I don't love that Xavier is not good on that end. It is even more painful to be the 1 defending the Georgetown defensive performance but I do feel people became disproportionately negative after that game. I would have loved to see someone on the team tell Sean he is putting an end to the scoring and then proceed to lock down the shooter. That is what the team needs.

[muskieman]

I don't care for games in the 40s or 50s. This year we have seen some exciting games because of the offense. The first half of the UConn game was some of the best basketball we have seen this year, and our Defense was good enough to stop UConn from ever taking the lead in that game. Don't get me wrong, I don't want an Olay defense. I want to see better D but Offense and winning are what bring in the fans. Sacrificing offense for D is not my answer. A team with multiple threats on offense is always preferred if you want to win. Nothing worse than having a great defense with a team that can't put the ball in the basket. After all, the knock on soccer is there is not enough scoring. NBA teams without 3 or more legit scorers are the ones that sit at home in the playoffs.

Virginia always seems to have great defenses, but it was only when they had decent scoring that they won a championship and that was after a year when they were the top seed and #1 D in the country and became the first #1 ranked team to lose in the first round.

[Kevin Reilly]

Pdxmuskie. You made quite a few valid points. The guards got smoked. I think the two starting guards for Georgetown combined for 51 points. The Big men pick up a lot of fouls trying to stop the The opponents guards flying to the hoop. The Big men on X did Ok on defense. I think Nunge's and Freemantle's biggest flaw on defense is playing straight up and down and not being in a athletic position to react better. I get they play heavy minutes and this years offense is based on ball movement and cutting hard on offense. That is a major reason we are so fun to watch but I think the whole team is using a lot of energy on offense. That is why I think we look so slow on defense. The guards seem unsure how to get thru screens. Your point about somebody taking leadership and going out and shutting down a opposing guard would be a eye opener for the team.. I just keep thinking of Jones driving to the rim and ending up on the floor and than getting up and trying to get back on defense. That's putting out a lot of energy. There is a reason we are scoring 80 points a game. But playing 7 guys and using that much energy on offense makes us a little tired on our defensive end.

[pdxmuskie]

I'm not sure if the offense is exhausting the players primarily because a lot of the offense is aimed at moving the ball around to create open looks and driving lanes. Certainly there are moments where certain players are attacking more frequently and that can wear guys down a bit.

Playing lock down defense does however eat up a lot of energy. Burrell became a lock down defender for Xavier many years ago. His offense took a hit because of the energy he expended on the defensive end. Jones has been a very important offensive player for X so asking him to be a true lock down defender would potentially impact him on the other end. For that reason, Claude is the ideal candidate to be Xavier's lock down defender. He has the length, athleticism and size. His offense is more of a bonus than a necessity at this point in his career.

[Anti-Homer]

I don't care for games in the 40s or 50s. This year we have seen some exciting games because of the offense. The first half of the UConn game was some of the best basketball we have seen this year, and our Defense was good enough to stop UConn from ever taking the lead in that game. Don't get me wrong, I don't want an Olay defense. I want to see better D but Offense and winning are what bring in the fans. Sacrificing offense for D is not my answer. A team with multiple threats on offense is always preferred if you want to win. Nothing worse than having a great defense with a team that can't put the ball in the basket. After all, the knock on soccer is there is not enough scoring. NBA teams without 3 or more legit scorers are the ones that sit at home in the playoffs.

Virginia always seems to have great defenses, but it was only when they had decent scoring that they won a championship and that was after a year when they were the top seed and #1 D in the country and became the first #1 ranked team to lose in the first round.

A team with multiple threats on offense is always preferred if you want to win.

Mman, that is an out of the box, edgy take. Proud of you for stepping out on the ledge!