Musketeer Madness

So it is former Pitt guard Sean Miller who will bring his Xavier team to play Pittsburg Panthers 23-11. Earned the right to play Xavier by basically blowing out the better seed Iowa st by 18. The truth is Iowa St was never a threat. Pitt held ISt to 23%, shooting 9.5% from 3. The Cyclones went nearly eight minutes without a field goal in the second half

this is the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Panthers are back in the NCAA tournament. The Panthers resume planted Pitt firmly on the bubble, with some nerves about how the committee would feel about the team. The Panthers were 4-4 in Quad One games, 3-5 in Quad Two games, 5-1 in Quad 3 games, and 10-1 in Quad Four games.
Pitt played in the play-in game against Miss St, and the Panthers knocked down eight 3s against one of the better defenses in the country when they beat Mississippi State. Pitt is led by All-ACC performers Blake Hinson and Jamarius Burton

Pitt has twin freshman brothers, 7 foot Guillermo Diaz Graham and 6'11" Jorge Diaz Graham, and a sophomore 6' 11"Federiko Federiko. Federiko sat out with a knee injury against Mississippi State and the Panthers were outrebounded by 21.

Offensive Rating: 7.2 hile Xavier 4.7 defensive rating

Defensive Rating: 1.6 while Xavier 11.4 offensive rating

120th in the country in field goal (45%) % while Xavier 180th in field goal defense (44%)

67th in the country in 3pt shooting (36%) while Xavier 282nd in 3pt defense (36%)

131st in 3pt defense (33%) VS. Xavier 3rd in 3pt shooting (40%

I saw Pitt play Duke recently and they were blown out. They have four guards who average between 8.5 and 15 points a game. Maybe try a zone for awhile. Boum has proved all season that he can't stay in front of his man. Can't let them get confident with sloppy defense in the first half. We have the better team but O-lay defense will mean the end of the road.

KR,

I think you're on to something. The best two halves of the year for X have been the 2nd halves against MQuette and FDU when they played the most zone of any two games in the season. I would love to play man exclusively, but when your guards can't stay in front of their men, you have to adjust.

Pitt stinks. We roll by 20+.

We need to take advantage in the post. Our big men are 4-5 years olders than Pitt's. Pound it inside, they can't stop us.

As I have stated previously, I take nothing for granted with this team. We all know Xavier defense is typically horrific. The offense has been hit or miss since Free went down but the defense has been noticeably better while still being tragic.

My money is on a Xavier loss. I will gladly lose my wager and hope to lose several more as X continues to advance.

If a motivated Xavier shows up, this game will not be a problem. If I recall correctly, a motivated Xavier team has shown up for 2, maybe 3 full games. Typically, they try to save the day with batches of effort when needed. They have been successful more often than not, including in the first round, but have also failed a number of times. This team is fun but also frustrating.

It is time for the team to go all in. Getting to the Sweet 16 is huge. So much press for the teams that advance. Have some pride and stay in front of your man. Work the ball for open shots as that is what got you here. Attack the glass. Continue this throughout the tournament and become the first Xavier team to reach the Final 4 and beyond.

Defense travels and unfortunately our perimeter defense the last two games as well as three point shifting has been terrible. With our lack of depth I can’t figure out which team will show up. We will need more from Claude today unfortunately I have no expectations for Edwards.

Two things are apparent to me watching the second round games yesterday. Number one defense travels and toughness wins. Two qualities we lack. We are a finesse team with a willingness to play D but not the skills. Having said that I agree with some who say we are the better team on paper but I am not optimistic. We have only played one good game out of the last 4 and for some reason we seem out of sync on offense. I pray that I am wrong and we advance. One thing I am sure of and that is it will be another blood pressure boiler. X is very good at bringing us that.

Agree with the points made above by ‘Hops & Conn72. That said, Xavier Nation- we are now playing with house money. X is a solid team with many strengths, and yes, some glaring weaknesses especially on the D end. Nunge and Colby need to play up to their pedigree today. Souley should be more confident. In Sean we trust. Let’s enjoy and seize this glorious opportunity.

X-lucidity wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:40 am

Agree with the points made above by ‘Hops & Conn72. That said, Xavier Nation- we are now playing with house money. X is a solid team with many strengths, and yes, some glaring weaknesses especially on the D end. Nunge and Colby need to play up to their pedigree today. Souley should be more confident. In Sean we trust. Let’s enjoy and seize this glorious opportunity.

I agree. To quote Sean, "We are who we are" at this point. They are not going to suddenly play great, in your chest, tough defense, or more than a handful of possessions of zone so I am not sure why some insist on focusing on the weakness that have been present all year. Work the ball around, "don't take fucked up shots," make free throws, play loose and carefree, and see what happens. Go X!