DePaul game thread BET

[Anti-Homer]

I would like to point out that AAK was guarding J Johnson for most of the game, according to one of the coaches, and he was one of their leading scorers, but tonight he scored 9 points (averages 14.4 points) on 4-9 from the field and 1 for 4 from the three. AK scored 16. We await your retraction

Regarding what? Because he played decent defense one game? I don't think his lack of scoring was due to Kunkel's defensive prowess with all due respect to him. Everybody isolates Kunkel when they can. He's too slow and weak to be a great defender. He actually plays decent extended perimeter D but doesn't have the ability to make someone driving change directions, and often fouls. I guess you also think Hunter is the best 3-point shooter in on X right? He was 1-1 from three this year in one game. That's like, 100% I think. Boum has nothing on him.

again with your bipolar comments. And nice strawman arguments to deflect your strange comments. Good thing the coaches disagree with you as they pointed out his contribution tonight holding his player well under his average while other went off for DePaul

Do I have to remind you that I simultaneously coached both my son's and daughter's teams to CYO Titles in the same year? I only had 11 defenses in my repertoire. This was even before NIL. Ok, I submit. I will tell you this. Whoever was guarding Hunter when he shot 100% from three-point land probably has not seen meaningful minutes since. Or maybe your coach from 18-22' was right in giving him the green light on treys?

[Kevin Reilly]

Anti-Homer I have to disagree with your Kunkel defensive comments. Kunkel cares about his defense and gives great effort on defense. He gets his hands on more deflections than anybody not named Jones. He gives great effort on defense. He gets overpowered on switches but NEVER GIVES UP. He is aware were the picks are and tries to fight thru them. He plays with heart and hustle. Boum on the other hand gets beat off the dribble all game long. Boum shows little to no pride about defense. He has no shame about staying in front of his man. His man frequently breaks down the entire defense. I think it' unfair to lump Kunkel and Boum together as defensive liabilities. One guy cares and tries and the other guy can't cover anyone.

[Anti-Homer]

Anti-Homer I have to disagree with your Kunkel defensive comments. Kunkel cares about his defense and gives great effort on defense. He gets his hands on more deflections than anybody not named Jones. He gives great effort on defense. He gets overpowered on switches but NEVER GIVES UP. He is aware were the picks are and tries to fight thru them. He plays with heart and hustle. Boum on the other hand gets beat off the dribble all game long. Boum shows little to no pride about defense. He has no shame about staying in front of his man. His man frequently breaks down the entire defense. I think it' unfair to lump Kunkel and Boum together as defensive liabilities. One guy cares and tries and the other guy can't cover anyone.

I never questioned his heart or effort and agree with you on deflections. He is like JP lite. JP was a very good help defender but an awful man-to-man defender. Kunkel has a hard time fighting through screens and strays from his man too often. However, he'll dive for a loose ball up 30 with two minutes left in the game. Great teammate as well. I love how he encouraged Kyky, someone against whom he was competing for PT. Give me a team full of kids with Kunkel's character, and I'd take my chances against anyone. X is a much better team with both of those guys, and they continue the line of exceptional transfers X has a habit of getting.

BTW, thanks for the civil, constructive criticism. Some other posters, particularly one with a Tangerine Maserati should take heed.

[pdxmuskie]

I too was going to rip AH for his Kunkel comments but his later comments are more on point. Kunkel does leave his guy a bit too much. The question is whether that is the game plan as some of the time he is doubling on the ball. There was at least 1 occasion against DePaul where he appeared to simply be lost.

The comments on Boum are what I said weeks ago and most thought I was speaking a foreign language. The dude just lets guys get to the rim. Happens an insane number of times per game. His offense is fantastic. He closed games out at the FT line when not committing turnovers and drains 3s at a great clip. Love his offensive ability. Dude, have some pride and get into a guys face and play some D.

The thing with offense vs defense is that only 1 person can make a scoring play on offense but anyone can make a defensive play on defense. What that means is that a person can make a difficult shot or someone else can make an easy shot, doesn't really matter as the results are the same. Having 5 moderately talented players offensively will generally result in similar offensive production as 4 moderately talented players and a great offensive talent when you have a good offensive strategy. 1 terrible defensive player will however generally result in dramatically more scoring by the other team. 2 terrible defenders and well that make is very difficult to win.

I also want to address the zone defense idea. I'm not saying it is a bad idea but I am saying it isn't necessarily a good idea. Defense is dependent on personnel. For some groups Zone is a better fit. For others, it is a terrible fit. It makes sense against some teams and not against others. The Xavier bigs could benefit from zone, especially with Free in the lineup but the guards would probably be worse off. There are different zones and maybe 1 is a great fit but in general, I'm not surprised Miller doesn't use more zone.

I do think it is wise to go zone for short stretches simply for a change but X likely can't do it for any stretch of time. A player unwilling to stop his guy from driving the lane is likely not willing to run back and forth trying to prevent open shots.

Great to advance. DePaul is not a good matchup for Xavier. They are more athletic and they hit some tough shots. Creighton is a better matchup but they are a more talented team. It will be a great win or a good loss assuming we keep it reasonably close.

[muskieman]

Xavier press conference after the game https://youtu.be/X4ELtbk5ySk

[X-lucidity]

Well, one of those Deja-vu feelings most of the game with those Madison Square Garden blues. Somehow we found just enough on D to get a stop or two and survive. Disclaimer: Coach Miller has forgotten more b-ball than I will have ever pondered- but, have to concur with AH. At some point in a game when you’re getting torched relentlessly- why not sprinkle in a zone? At least one or two trips to gauge the effect. I was thinking, maybe, he does not want to show it again until the NCAA. Maybe I am overthinking. We have extremely subpar on D all year. On the bright side, AK and Nunge played well enough on O to keep us in game until Colby caught fire. And heck, you steal one like this and sometimes it takes all the pressure off going forward. All I know, is a felt like I had run two marathons when that buzzer sounded. A mixture of drained and relieved, now let’s kick some Creighton ass…

[pdxmuskie]

Hunter had some good defensive moments but how did he not get a single rebound?

Jones obviously had a very good game but twice he got a steal and ended up turning it over on the same play (if I recall correctly).

Nunge seemed to take offense to not being 1st or 2nd team. He will have his shot tomorrow to once again prove he can play with the supposed 1st team center. Nunge has looked great against the Creighton center when on the court. Lets hope he has more of that tomorrow.

[muskieman]

Well, one of those Deja-vu feelings most of the game with those Madison Square Garden blues. Somehow we found just enough on D to get a stop or two and survive. Disclaimer: Coach Miller has forgotten more b-ball than I will have ever pondered- but, have to concur with AH. At some point in a game when you’re getting torched relentlessly- why not sprinkle in a zone? At least one or two trips to gauge the effect. I was thinking, maybe, he does not want to show it again until the NCAA. Maybe I am overthinking. We have extremely subpar on D all year. On the bright side, AK and Nunge played well enough on O to keep us in game until Colby caught fire. And heck, you steal one like this and sometimes it takes all the pressure off going forward. All I know, is a felt like I had run two marathons when that buzzer sounded. A mixture of drained and relieved, now let’s kick some Creighton ass…

DePaul's coach (See Press conference posted above... toward the end of the video) mentioned that Sean threw a zone on them, and it slowed their scoring up at the end of the game.

[Anti-Homer]

Well, one of those Deja-vu feelings most of the game with those Madison Square Garden blues. Somehow we found just enough on D to get a stop or two and survive. Disclaimer: Coach Miller has forgotten more b-ball than I will have ever pondered- but, have to concur with AH. At some point in a game when you’re getting torched relentlessly- why not sprinkle in a zone? At least one or two trips to gauge the effect. I was thinking, maybe, he does not want to show it again until the NCAA. Maybe I am overthinking. We have extremely subpar on D all year. On the bright side, AK and Nunge played well enough on O to keep us in game until Colby caught fire. And heck, you steal one like this and sometimes it takes all the pressure off going forward. All I know, is a felt like I had run two marathons when that buzzer sounded. A mixture of drained and relieved, now let’s kick some Creighton ass…

DePaul's coach (See Press conference posted above... toward the end of the video) mentioned that Sean threw a zone on them, and it slowed their scoring up at the end of the game.

Did you miss the part when I gave my excellent coach kudos for employing a Triangle and Two for two whole possessions? It wasn't a zone, but a hybrid. Regardless, it confused them and made DP adjust, with their best player out. BTW, they scored in one of those two possessions. However, it was a bailout foul with a couple of seconds left and lowered their gaudy shooting percentage and previous PPM.

[Anti-Homer]

I too was going to rip AH for his Kunkel comments but his later comments are more on point. Kunkel does leave his guy a bit too much. The question is whether that is the game plan as some of the time he is doubling on the ball. There was at least 1 occasion against DePaul where he appeared to simply be lost.

The comments on Boum are what I said weeks ago and most thought I was speaking a foreign language. The dude just lets guys get to the rim. Happens an insane number of times per game. His offense is fantastic. He closed games out at the FT line when not committing turnovers and drains 3s at a great clip. Love his offensive ability. Dude, have some pride and get into a guys face and play some D.

The thing with offense vs defense is that only 1 person can make a scoring play on offense but anyone can make a defensive play on defense. What that means is that a person can make a difficult shot or someone else can make an easy shot, doesn't really matter as the results are the same. Having 5 moderately talented players offensively will generally result in similar offensive production as 4 moderately talented players and a great offensive talent when you have a good offensive strategy. 1 terrible defensive player will however generally result in dramatically more scoring by the other team. 2 terrible defenders and well that make is very difficult to win.

I also want to address the zone defense idea. I'm not saying it is a bad idea but I am saying it isn't necessarily a good idea. Defense is dependent on personnel. For some groups Zone is a better fit. For others, it is a terrible fit. It makes sense against some teams and not against others. The Xavier bigs could benefit from zone, especially with Free in the lineup but the guards would probably be worse off. There are different zones and maybe 1 is a great fit but in general, I'm not surprised Miller doesn't use more zone.

I do think it is wise to go zone for short stretches simply for a change but X likely can't do it for any stretch of time. A player unwilling to stop his guy from driving the lane is likely not willing to run back and forth trying to prevent open shots.

Great to advance. DePaul is not a good matchup for Xavier. They are more athletic and they hit some tough shots. Creighton is a better matchup but they are a more talented team. It will be a great win or a good loss assuming we keep it reasonably close.

The thing with offense vs defense is that only 1 person can make a scoring play on offense but anyone can make a defensive play on defense. What that means is that a person can make a difficult shot or someone else can make an easy shot, doesn't really matter as the results are the same. Having 5 moderately talented players offensively will generally result in similar offensive production as 4 moderately talented players and a great offensive talent when you have a good offensive strategy. 1 terrible defensive player will however generally result in dramatically more scoring by the other team. 2 terrible defenders and well that make is very difficult to win.

What? Who's on first?

The Xavier bigs could benefit from zone, especially with Free in the lineup but the guards would probably be worse off.

The zone defense sprinkled in would help both Free

and

and the guards. All have difficulty staying in front of their men. If you have 5 guys who have the defensive caliber of Jones, Claude, and Hinter in the game, you probably don't need to go to zone except for players being in foul trouble, or if the other team is scoring at will. See X vs DePaul, MSG, 3-9 as an example for an appropriate time to play zone.