Musketeer Madness

Wed 8:30 PM Cintas
TV: FS1 play-by-play from Jeff Levering and analysis from LaPhonso Ellis.
Radio: Radio: 700 WLW AM XU broadcast is also on the Varsity Network and on SXM

They are #4 in the AP and Defending National Champs, which tells us we have our hands full. A tall order, but Sean has had a week to prepare. Stop Karaban or if he has a bad shooting night, there is a good chance to win. Cam Spencer, a Rutgers transfer, is a very good scoring guard and works well with Karaban in their to-man game. Castle is a McDonald's all-American who has all the shots. Newton is a headache. The big man, 7'2" Clingan, may still not be ready, but they have a 6'10" Junior in Johnson who has been an adequate, not splashy, replacement

Also returning to Cintas is Luke Murray, former X assistant and now on Hurley's staff

UConn's only BE loss is been to Seton Hall by 16 pts. 75-60, which is the only BE team Xavier has beaten 74-54. Last year X beat the Huskies both times they played them with a 10-point win at Cintas on Dec 31, 2022

I have watched a number of U Conn games. They can be beaten but, to be Mr. Obvious here it depends on which team shows up - for both teams. A lot will depend on whether we can fix our rebounding woes. Will Kachi make a difference? I really like Ciani but he needs to get stronger and do something with his shot so he doesn’t get blocked all the time, at 6’10” no less.

olsingledigit wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 09, 2024 7:46 pm

I have watched a number of U Conn games. They can be beaten but, to be Mr. Obvious here it depends on which team shows up - for both teams. A lot will depend on whether we can fix our rebounding woes. Will Kachi make a difference? I really like Ciani but he needs to get stronger and do something with his shot so he doesn’t get blocked all the time, at 6’10” no less.

Sasa could use a fake shot or take it up strong and quick. We have had big men who developed that little pause that gets the opponent in the air and then finished with a made shot and or a foul.

Ciani is not athletic enough to guard. Castle, Newton, and Spencer are all big guards who can shoot so I don't think we will get away with doubling the post like against Nova. Karaban is their best shooter and biggest matchup issue at 6'8", so I have no idea who will guard him. Hitting 3's will be a must. The game last year was one of the best I've seen in person Freemantle was best player on floor.

muskieman wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2024 10:21 pm

Wed 8:30 PM Cintas
TV: FS1 play-by-play from Jeff Levering and analysis from LaPhonso Ellis.
Radio: Radio: 700 WLW AM XU broadcast is also on the Varsity Network and on SXM

They are #4 in the AP and Defending National Champs, which tells us we have our hands full. A tall order, but Sean has had a week to prepare. Stop Karaban or if he has a bad shooting night, there is a good chance to win. Cam Spencer, a Rutgers transfer, is a very good scoring guard and works well with Karaban in their to-man game. Castle is a McDonald's all-American who has all the shots. Newton is a headache. The big man, 7'2" Clingan, may still not be ready, but they have a 6'10" Junior in Johnson who has been an adequate, not splashy, replacement

Also returning to Cintas is Luke Murray, former X assistant and now on Hurley's staff

UConn's only BE loss is been to Seton Hall by 16 pts. 75-60, which is the only BE team Xavier has beaten 74-54. Last year X beat the Huskies both times they played them with a 10-point win at Cintas on Dec 31, 2022

the transitive property of sports says we should beat UConn by 36.

i'll take it.

If our players do not know about a pump fake then we are in big trouble.

We are catching UCONN at a good time with Clingan out but we caught Villanova without Moore and that did not work out. I was surprised to see the spread at 4 pts. I thought it would be more. Difficult challenge for the Muskies. UCONN is good and they really defend and play hard. I remember last year after our 2 victories walking around the Nutmeg state wearing my XU swag. I would love to relive that again. This time if it happens I promise to show more humility towards my CT friends. GO Muskies beat Huskies!!!

Line has moved today up to 5. I expect it to go to at least 5 1/2 or six by tip..
That said, the way the schedule has played out gives X their best chance to hopefully play well enough to steal this game tonight. I will be there in section 108.
Once again, I feel our young men will have prepared well enough, and will give great effort. But as I stated numerous times, it will all come down to whether Quincy can hit 43% or more of his long-range attempts. It’s really as simple as that..

I think Ciani is athletic enough to guard bigs. He did a very good job vs Purdue and Houston. He runs into problems when he allows his man to catch the ball 6 feet from the basket. We can see he is not much of a jumper yet and when his man gets the ball close to the basket it looks to me that he is trying to not foul him. As far as pump fakes and head fakes they are not in his tool bag at this stage. He doesn't have the confidence to finish near the basket right now. I think that may be because he played in a league with older guys and his role was to be physical and rebound. I think he has a lot of potential to be developed with good coaching in the off season. For a young guy he more than holds his own physically which I can't say about anyone else but Ousmane. I think I read he is only 18 or 19. I believe he will be much better after a off season of working on his offensive game.

I think the game will be won on lost on the glass. UCONN has very good guards but I think we can hold our own against them but underneath on both the offense and defense boards I am not as optimistic. Prove me wrong X! We need to play our A game but we can steal one tonight. Or am I dreaming?