Senia college v X

[muskieman]

https://youtu.be/cVm1wY2q1rQ Coach Miller

https://youtu.be/awYa2Ndi6ig Green and Foster

[muskieman]

I should also say Foster had an amazing game, as did Green. The usual suspects also played well.

Guys outside Conway, Free and McKnight will likely determine the success of the team. It doesn't have to be the same player each game outside of those 3 but we will need 1 or 2 to step up and make a difference against good teams. Foster certainly seems capable.

Swain and Hunter are essentially locked into defensive, rebounding and hustle play. They will each score a bit but mostly they are doing the dirty work. That shouldn't be taken as others are not playing defense as the team seems to be playing dramatically better defense than in past years. A lot of guys are stepping up making an effort defensively.

You might want to Listen to Miller's press conference

[skyhops]

I agree with Coach Miller regarding his press conference after the game. I think when he was referring to Maddox when he was talking about selfish play trying to get points vs playing as hard as you can especially on defense. Green is not a very good defender, but he makes up for it with his shooting especially against the zone. Besides Maddox our guard play has been great and he are taking care of the ball.

My main concern with this team is and will be our lack of inside play and rebounding. Foster is a good rebounder, but he is 6'5 and Swain is not a great rebounder for his size. Freemantle has been great, but is limited on defense. I'm still not sure how Hugley can come in 60 lbs overweight and become a solid contributor. Sienna blocked 12 of our shots, imagine what the top teams in the Big East will do.

I'm caustiously optimistic because of our guard play and Free, but we have not played on the road yet. We will be fun to watch, but we will need players like Swain, Hunter, and Hugley to play a large role.

[Kevin Reilly]

I missed the first half again so from what I saw the first thing I noticed was the crowd was a little laid back. My first thoughts are Freemantle cannot get in foul trouble. I'm sure the Big East guys are going to go right at him to draw fouls .He can't lose his poise if he gets a couple bad calls. Foster had a very good game. McKnight pushing the ball and not turning it over is amazing. Green looks a lot better than last year but is still a flawed defensive player. It's going to take a total team effort to break even on the boards. This weekend should be a good test to see if we can hang with a big team

[pdxmuskie]

I did not hear Miller comment on the defense being worse than prior years? Xavier defense has been bad for a long time other than maybe 1 or 2 years. This team is solid defensively but I agree that they can be more locked in.

I'm fairly certain the 12 blocks is inaccurate. Twice LaPhonso said it was a Siena block when it appeared to simply be a miss. McKnight also essentially got his shot blocked intentionally as his angle wasn't as good as anticipated. 9 blocked shots is still bad but it doesn't necessarily translate to negative results. Shots blocked out of bounds is no harm done. Blocks because of aggressive offense that also generates a lot of fouls is also an acceptable trade. X didn't shoot a lot of FTs against Siena so if that was the intent, it didn't work out. I suspect the blocked shots is more a 1 off than a trend.

There is more upside on this team. Hopefully we see it in FL and beyond. 5-0 is as good a start as could be had.