ST JOHNS GAME THREAD

[muskieman]

Well, Xavier is in the cellar along with Marquette and UConn. The Bif East is tough, and the road not be a friend

[pdxmuskie]

Ousemane had 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. That is an impressive number. Ciani 5 rebounds in 15 minutes is very solid. These guys are not too small to play BE ball. Offensively the bigs were terrible. Possibly related to competition and possibly just a bad game. There were certainly plays where the bigs showed they were not prepared for an athletic post challenging their shots. That is an unfortunate situation X finds themselves in. The team doesn't have athletic post players so they only see this in games.

The assists were non existent. Part of that is the defense. St Johns does a great job of defending and X struggled to create easy opportunities.

Green had a very good game. Got X back in it in the first half. Not sure how well he played defense, X allows open shots on a consistent basis so almost not worth talking about.

I will never understand why people get caught up on weight and muscle in basketball. Durant is about as frail as they come and most consider him a reasonably talented player. Posey, Marshall, Brown, etc were all on the thin side. Players will get knocked to the floor sometimes and might happen more frequently when they are thin but sometimes that is intentional to draw a foul and other times they just hit the floor. Has nothing to do with being able to compete. Competing is all about desire. You either stay with your man or you don't. You either play efficiently on offense or you don't. Thickness will never be the deciding factor for whether a person can compete. Height helps. Long arms help. Athleticism helps. Muscle can help but can hurt if it impacts speed or flexibility. Most post players will benefit from muscle mass but it is a toss up for the rest.

[skyhops]

Even the announcers commented on Oushman getting schooled. We can even finish a high ball with our bigs. I know we had to get some bigs in a hurry, but it would have been nice to have one be a BE caliber player. Swain is not physically ready, Green probably not either but at least he can shoot. Gytis might not want to come back next year after the looks he was getting from Miller. SH will clean our clock on Sat with this effort. This is the least physical team I’ve seen in 30 years.

[pdxmuskie]

A final and probably unnecessary comment on physical size.

The thoughts that run through the mind of a slender player when going against a thicker player is I can take him to the rim all night long. There is no way he can stay with me, give me the rock. This of course does not always play out correctly but there is a reason people think this.

Defensively, leverage and positioning make up for any lack of strength. 165 lbs vs 300 lbs on a box out, the small dude will maintain his position every time as long as he is using leverage and in the correct position. That doesn't mean the big dude won't reach over him for the ball, which is where height comes in.

[Kevin Reilly]

PDmuskie. I don't care if they weigh 100lbs if they compete. With 8 minutes to go in the game Swain had 0 points and zero rebounds. Swain is tall... has LONG ARMS AND IS ATHELETIC. We don't need offensive lineman but we do need guys who can compete better. I am to hard on the freshman but do you watch Green and Swain on defense. In my opinion they are poor defenders. Ciani and OusmaNE BOTH HAD SOLID GAMES BESIDES THE TURNOVERS. There is a lot of blame to go around and the truth is this is a probably a team that is a year away at best.

[pdxmuskie]

I'm not sure I want Gytis back at this point. He plays scared offensively. He can shoot but doesn't seem to want to. He does a lot of little things well but he needs to facilitate the offense to be an asset.

Swain didn't have a good game. Possibly a learning curve as St Johns has some legit athletes. I don't jump to conclusions after a single game, mostly because some players reflect on that game and come back much stronger the next opportunity. Swain will be fine but maybe not this year. I think he will bounce back and contribute but his game has a lot of growth to be where we need him to be.

I really can't comment on Trey's defense nor Swains vs other Xavier players. The team doesn't play defense. Specifically on the perimeter and how that results in players attacking the rim on a regular basis. Xavier is the dream opponent right now for any offensive team. You are practically guaranteed to get open looks from outside or at the rim. It isn't just when the subs come in.

There are a lot of frustrating rules that make defending difficult. That doesn't excuse the open looks from deep or wide open layups. It does explain some fouls on players, especially the bigs.

[muskieman]

Xavier is in last place along with UConn, Marquette and Creighton! Just college basketball

[XU_2011]

I understand the overall level of pessimism. This sucks. But there is talent on this team. Guys just look utterly lost on offense.

No one has confidence to take a 3 (forcing Claude to shoot them). Defense looks good at times and then the offense sputters and the whole thing collapses.

I thought honestly the bigs fought super hard tonight on the boards but got embarrassed in the post on offense. Even a putback seems far from a sure thing. THE BIG GUYS NEED COACHING. Bad.

[skyhops]

The talent is not there and we didn’t have much choice but to add a couple Euro’s based on the injuries to Free and Hunter. Sawin is not ready on either end especially in BE. Our bigs are dreadful on offense no hands. Good teams will shutdown Olivari. St John’s is average and they. We’re beat by UD and UD beat Oakland by 20. Those saying size doesn’t matter haven’t been around HS recruiting

[bluegrass]

Xavier is in last place along with UConn, Marquette and Creighton! Just college basketball

Hate to say it but we will be near the cellar all year.Those teams won't.