UConn game thread

[gundun]

As Old Hoopster said "What a difference a coach can make. Happy New Year all." All I can add is ditto

[PT71]

Awesome win...team effort...pls work at reducing the turnovers...its gonna sink our ship sometime...HUNTER is the player of the game...what a lift he provides in his "new role," thanks to a real coach...Miller is our MVP. When players accept their roles, this is the outcome. What a happy glow all of us Muskies have now...what a way to ring in the New Year! Savor for now...then, back to work...gotta beat Nova next weekend.

[ChitownSteve]

Needed to work today, so listened to Joe and Byron on the radio … great call, as always. Then, came home and watched the recorded game. As the game reached the final 10 minutes, it was evident X’s players were positive and the UConn team began to exhibit concern.

Coach Miller properly worked the refs, moved on to the next play, while Coach Hurley shrank as the game remained close, still stewing over previous calls.

Today reminded me of a story about Coach Lou Holtz at ND. Only wish I could recall the two players, but the story remains the same. There was a game against a rival and ND was down on the scoreboard. The underclass player was showing some doubt and a Senior star came over to him and said, “(D)on’t worry, see that little guy over there? (meaning Holtz). He’ll find a way for us to win.” The Senior was right, ND came back and the younger player carried that perspective for the remainder of his ND days, imparting it to others. Seems that might apply again in the Cintas Center with Coach Miller back.

And, kudos to the fans attending! A great crowd, which Coach Miller gave credit to in the post-game show.

Happy New Year! Go Muskies!

[muskieman]

What I like about this year's X team is that we have steady players and in every game, we have one, two or even three step up and have a big game. Today Hunter was everywhere X needed him to be, and while X only had 4 offensive rebounds, he had three of them and turned them into points. Double-double Zach was the guy in the first half that helped X get some stability and a sick Jack still chipped in 15 points. Everyone that played for X did something positive

[xaviermuskie2003]

Coach Steele deserves credit for putting together such a talented and experienced roster (and keeping them at X).

We have one of the oldest and most experienced teams in all of college basketball.

C - 6th year
PF - 4th year
SF - 3rd year
SG - 5th year
PG - 5th year
6th - 4th year

Huge advantage.

[Running Man 94']

To play off one of Any MacWilliam's great quotes, "The UC Bearcats are number 1 in the country, number two in their own city."

The UConn Huskies are number two in the country, number two in their own conference!

Great win for Sean Miller and our Musketeers. Also, a great TEAM performance today, but I have to call out Jack Nunge. Really not feeling well, but what he was able to do today solidifies him as a warrior on the court. Incredible!

[muskieman]

Thank you, Dan Hurley. You make sure that you insert yourself into the game to the detriment of your players. You called Jeffery Anderson a very poor ref, a terrible name in the Nova game. Today you picked up a T and turn a three-point into a lead into a 7-point lead with the two shots and the two foul shots called just before the T. You turned your team into a beaten group that lost all heart in the last minutes of an up-and-down game.

OH BYW Dan keep it up

[muskieman]

https://youtu.be/Q68QqUypvE0 Sean's Press conference

https://youtu.be/agrtmAz3R10 Zach and hunters press conference

https://youtu.be/aNyycpY0YR8 Highlights

[Anti-Homer]

Sean Miller has awakened what has always been in the DNA of Xavier Basketball after a four-year hibernation. From 200-2017, X statistically was one of the most CBB successful programs in the country, in both the regular season and Tourney, without the comfort of playing in a middling mid-major league. Looking up SM’s career, he is on track to be a surefire Hall of Famer. Quoting Facts, “Miller is a three-time gold medalist as a member of USA Basketball: once as a player, once as an assistant coach, and once as head coach. Miller has won five league Coach of the Year Awards: once in the A10, three in the Pac-12, and once as USA Basketball Coach of the Year."

The best part is I no longer have an asterisk in my mind about Miller, who after a very, thorough vetting was emphatically deemed to be completely innocent. It’s great to know that the consistently high level of excellence sans the Steele years X has shown, has been accomplished doing it the right way. It’s truly ironic that one of the most integrous programs in the NCAA, is only separated by 4 miles from the most corrupt, led by Bobby DUI Huggins, who committed so many infractions, that even guys like Haskins, Bliss, Selg, Harrick and Tarkanian think he is a disgrace. The icing on the top for his and UC’s legacy is the distinction of graduating zero players (while X graduated 100% of seniors) and recruiting Bloods and Crips to run rampant in Cincy for over a decade. But I digress.

Keys to the game:

• Another balanced attack with no one taking more than 11 shots. 20 assists again as well. I said before the season that this team reminds me of the 08’ one, with some very good players but no clear Alpha, though they have four guys who I have great confidence in during crunch time. Thanks for acknowledging yet another accurate prognostication of mine.

• After an unsteady 8 minutes, Jones played Alpha along with Free, whose physicality helped overcome the most physical team in the Conference.

• Hunter continues to be one of the League’s best 6th men.

• Nunge showed tremendous will playing while being sick as a dog.

• Tandy scored a key bucket, and his lack of PT was the only blemish in a perfectly managed game. Kunkel was absolutely awful today and has not been good for the last three. He is also a defensive liability. I’m still a huge fan, but he needs to be held more accountable. I don’t know what Tandy needs to do to play more. The 7-man rotation just isn’t sustainable.

• X making a specimen of a big, a top-three center in the country seem pedestrian for someone with his skillset. He scored an inefficient 9 for 17 with 6 boards, and he couldn’t consistently guard either Nunge or Free.

• Colby’s Jones’, and the collective defensive effort of the post guys. Many of you hammer Free for his alleged defensive deficits. He was pretty solid today. Naysayers don’t look for my hand to pull up back onto the Freemantle bandwagon.

• The crowd. X has consistently filled the arena better than local schools despite having 1/8 of the students compounded over a hundred years. I beamed with pride watching from the Moderator’s Box.

• X has four guys who could earn BE’s 1st and 2nd team honors. Part talent/part amazing management by Miller to put them in positions to be successful. Free’s 2 and 3pt FG percentage is off the charts because SM has instilled discipline in him and the rest of the team. Even when he shoots threes, he always has 2-3 seconds to set and shoot and usually explores a pass to someone with a better look before taking one. Under Steele, he would shoot Welage-type threes regardless of circumstances.

• Sean’s strategy of dropping Jones and others to allow Jackson to shoot threes looked suspect at first but worked out as planned in the end. He goaded a 30% three-point shooter to shoot 12 threes. 12 threes.

• Sean Miller. Every coach should be able to get a good look offensively out of a time-out, but SM does it routinely without the need for one. Connecticut shot 37 threes against a team who struggles to defend. There is a Nat’l COY candidate on Victory Pkwy.


I thought it would take three years to get X back on track. Happy to see I was wrong. Sure, they picked up Boum, but he and all players have elevated their game under Miller. Keep in mind they lost Scruggs, who when healthy and under control was X’s best player last year. The void in excellence in Cincy basketball was covered by X from 2000-2017, then good basketball in Cincy went on hiatus. Even the Clifton Height’s team couldn’t put together a Tourney run with wins despite playing in a league a tad better than the GCL. Sounds familiar with another of their programs, which kills me because I’m a closeted fan.

Happy New Year to our 16,000+ members. Footnote: Membership was only around 2,200 before I was brought on as a Mod in 2017. Just sayin……

[Alpalpa]

Hurley was SOOO outcoached. He let his team take 37 of their 67 shots from 3 point range…55% of their shots! And then he complained about the foul disparity. If you don’t take the ball to the hoop, you’re not going to draw many fouls. And then to have a crucial technical called because you’re complaining about the disparity you created is really like complaining about the cold with your pants down.
Little Pouty Dan really did remind me of another short, pouty coach yesterday. It’s really going to be fun to have Sean back.