Why did X even bother showing up tonight?

[X Factor]

We are NOT that talented. We've got a bunch of good players who can play very well on certain nights, and not so well on other nights, and we're way too dependent on the 3 without being a consistently good 3-pt. shooting team.

I guess that just goes to show you how good of a coach Sean Miller really is. With a "not so talented team", he led them to more regular season wins in a single season than any other coach ever at Xavier, and against probably the toughest schedule Xavier's ever played. (SOS 18th)

For the record, I don't agree with your post at all.

[muskieman]

(1) Winning and playing your best ball are two different things. Can you honestly say that you thought X was playing just as well in February & March as we were in the wins over Indiana, Kent State, K-State, VA and Auburn? I say absolutely not, though you may disagree..

Personally, I think those teams would have just as much trouble in the A-10 as X. If all you judge a team by is margin of victory then you are right but I don;t. I do see 15-18 and 27 point wins in Feb. I am sure you have heard from people around the country that conference play is much different than ooc. Teams in conference play games much tighter than occ because of reason provided countless times.

[Mr. Neutral]

The voters who didn't put any X players on the 1st team all-league apparently agreed with me re our talent level.

And when Lavender, Burrell and Duncan draw no NBA interest, that will be additional confirmation.

You can argue that the sum of this team is greater than the parts, which is a compliment in its own right, but some nights, our lack of a big-time player shows, like tonight.

We're very much like the Chicago Bulls' teams of the past few years (not this year's disaster) which had good, hard-working players who shared the ball and played solid D. But in the playoffs, their lack of "star" talent showed and they made early exits. Even two years ago, it was clear they had nobody who could match up with Larry Hughes, Gilbert Arenas and Antwoine Jamison. We're the same way.

[X Factor]

Then you have to give Sean a ton of credit for winning a record 27 games against the toughest schedule Xavier's ever played.

[XavierTragedy]

We can gang up on Nuetral all we want; the team sucked tonight pure and simple. Burrell owes some apologies for the egg that was laid today. C'mon, all of those "weapons"!!

Someone please leave a wake up call for BJ Raymond.

[XU-XHI]

Okay - X laid and egg (and we're still in the game). Yes, they have not played their best basketball since drew got hurt and yet went 13-3 in league play. Did St. Joe's all of a sudden have the sky falling on them when they lost to us when they were #1. Oh yeah they made the E8 also. Even with today's loss, the team played solid D throughout and were in the game. I'll trust the coaches, not us, to work on the O and as long as we have that kind of D. we have a chance to make our run. Nice comeback X but a little late.

[madness31]

This team is not the most talented ever. They are the most successful ever in the regular season. That is nice but we need wins in the NCAA tourney.

There are some crazy arguments on these threads with someone complaining Burrell didn't shoot enough 3's and instead drove the lane while at the same time complaining that Lavender didn't drive the lane. We are losing games when we don't shoot well because not enough players are putting the ball on the floor and taking their man to the rim. I didn't get to watch the game but judging by the number of 3's taken and having made only 1 I'd say shooting more 3's is the last thing we needed today. St Joe shot more free throws then X so it is likely we settled for too many jumpers rather then attacking the rim.

Bad shooting nights happen but you have to use other weapons when they do. That is a short-fall for this team given we don't have a post player to depend on. Duncan and love serve the team well but they are not post up players. We do however have quickness at several positions and also shoot well from the line so that should be the answer.

One good thing to take from this game is that the team did not fold like they did against Temple and Arizona St when they had off nights. They found a way to keep the game reasonably close and made a last minute run. Could Raymond please put the ball on the floor when he is off rather then going 0-6 from 3. He has been a very streeky shooter and while I don't want him thinking too much about his shot it is just wise to mix it up. Jackson needs to shoot a few times when the rest of the team is struggling to score.

It was a great regular season but I think everyone will be disappointed if we don't reach the sweet 16. Should have been there last year and could have made an even deeper run given how well we matched up with Tennessee, etc.

[letsgoxu]

This may be the most over reaction to a basketball game I have ever seen. Bad nights are a part of the game. It just so happened we had our worst game of the last 2 months and still had a chance to win in the last 3 minutes against a team who is a possible at-large NCAA Tournament team. We all are saying how much better we played the non-conference than the teams in our own conference. Guess what!! We won't be playing any conference teams in the dance!!

[wkrq59]

Gary,
Please accept my deepest sympathy for not being able to shake that cloud that has permanently affixed itself over your head. You and your ilk who jump on the Negative Bandwagon and at times become mean, vicious and nasty must be very unhappy and hard to live with in the everyday world.
Hey, life is too damn short to not be able to take a loss with dignity and grace and move on. This Xavier team deserves the respect that Stanley Burrell complained about not getting. Take a look at the season past and for heaven's sake try, at least try to enjoy it. Many of the posters on this board have shown a degree of maturity of late that is refreshing. I can't say that's been demonstrated tonight (errr this morning).
My wife found a white sock a few years ago that was a full 36-inches long (I measured it). She painted the faces of two of her most unpleasant bosses over the years on either side of it. She called it "The Sluggable Sock," and whenever she experienced a disappointment--not unlike the one we all experienced last night--she would beat the living crap out of that sock. When she got tired, she'd call my daughter in and tell her, "It's time for some sock abuse."
My daughter (a teenager then) would gleefully take the Sluggable Sock in her two hands, pet the top of its head and say, "Pooooooorrrr ting," then she'd slam it off the nearest wall, throw it on the floor and jump on it, grab it up and twist the sh!t out of it and in general have sock abuse. All the while my wife displayed this Cheshire Cat grin.
And when Colleen got tired, she'd offer it to my son who would give it a couple of twists and then throw it on the floor and walk out of the room. I never was much for beating the damn thing but I got a few licks in on a couple of occasions.
The "Sluggable Sock" has long since gone to the Garbage God, but it hasn't been forgotten.
Gary, you and some others on this board really need a Sluggable Sock. It would be very worth your while to make one and use it, rather than subjecting the rest of us who read and post here to your unhappyness.

[xubuck]

Q, you are a man of great wisdom. Have never met you, but read you for years. Sometimes people on this board remind me of people who, if having an intimate relationship with Cindy Crawford or Sophia Loren(showing my age) would complain that she couldn't cook.
Great personal difficulty brings out the best or the worst in a person. I've never taken sports too seriously since my wife went through chemo and radiation in 1990.
Sometimes it gets hard to read this board sensing that some would trade what we have for a UNLV or other sleazy program that wins a championship.