Game Thread: Xavier v. Evansville (November 10, 2018) Non-Conference Game #2

[XUGRAD80]

I just watched the replay of the game, which I missed watching yesterday....

The encouraging thing to me is that team has a lot of talent. A lot of talent. They are not going to loose to many games because they are flat out NOT talented enough to win.

But what they are not enough RIGHT NOW is......they are not SMART enough to beat really good teams. They are making a lot of MENTAL mistakes. That could be because they don’t understand the system, or that they aren’t experienced enough to run it, but I don’t think it’s because they can’t PHYSICALLY do it. It’s not because they are too small, or too slow, or not physically capable of doing g the things they need to do.

I expect that they will show a great deal more understanding and knowledge of the system as time goes on, and that they will play much better defense as the season goes on and they become more comfortable playing in the positions that they placed in.

[sirthought]

As it's the second game, with mostly young players and a new coach, WE ALL understood this team was going to take time and learn execute to the level fans here have grown accustomed to.

But in my experience I'm pretty pleased when the team has four players score well into double figures, and they more than double the opponent on rebounds, and 56% of our field goals came off an assist. Our team was able to block nearly a quarter of all their 2 point attempts. (Most teams don't do that well with any D1 opponent.)

I enjoyed that it wasn't a blow out and the players we had on the floor who needed to fight through adversity to get the win. At least the game wasn't boring.

We don't have many seniors with experience at this level. They all need to improve, no doubt. But I'm please with Scruggs improvement, although I think he's been really overhyped and has a long way to go to play team ball better. His growth this season might be most important to the team's success. Castlin's efficiency so far has been impressive and I hope that they allow him to participate on more plays.

Hardin likely won't play as much if Goodin walks the line. But this playing time has got to only help him improve, under fire, working to figure it out. I agree with others that the coaching staff needs to move on from the pack line and zone defense as much. It's hard to know who is or isn't accountable and they should still be able to help each other in a man to man situation. Never liked it with Miller or Mack either.

I don't see a victory at Wisconsin, sadly, but again...this is a young team. Hankins and Jones are showing us some good stuff and the front court was what we've been worried about. If that continues and Goodin and Marshall can keep improving, they might have a shot to pull out a win at home.

[drudy23]

Wisconsin will be a good test because they are patient, methodical, and smart. Something that will test a young defense. If not playing the whole possession has been an issue, as Steele stated, he better get that fixed quick when playing Wisconsin. They will execute well and they won't panic.

It's not a great match-up for us early in the season. We should have the athletic advantage overall if we can find a way to utilize it without being careless.

[IM4X]

If the starters can stay out of foul trouble and Steele can just keep some of those bench players on the bench until they are absolutely needed, maybe we see better chemistry a little faster and more players in rhythm more often.

Starting to think that in order for this team to compete at a higher level...

Q needs to be running the offense for at least 32 minutes a game.
Scruggs and Naji need to play 32+ minutes
Jones 28+
Castlin 28+
Hankins 20+
Welage 18+
Kennedy 2-5
James 2-5
Hardin 2 -5

With Jones and Hankins sometimes on the floor together.

[bobbiemcgee]

Gotta find a way to guard the 3 pt. line. UE 51 pts. from 3 and had 12 against Illini.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Gotta find a way to guard the 3 pt. line. UE 51 pts. from 3 and had 12 against Illini.

It was actually 18 points against Illinois according to the box score on ESPN. 6/24. 17/33 against us. I was thinking of they took around the same number maybe they just got lucky and made a lot more but they took 9 more against us so maybe they had that many more open looks due to our poor D.

[XUGRAD80]

maybe they had that many more open looks due to our poor D.

Bingo

Im certainly not one to point the blame at past staffs and say it’s their fault, but I think we have to realize that playing tough, in your face, take no prisoners, defense was not a part of the culture over the last several years. The returning players are not in that mindset at this point. No surprise to me. The same thing was true when Skip left. It will take some time for the mental approach to change and it’s not going to be a painless or easy transition. Nor will it be a quick one. I expect to hear Steele talking about it every day for the rest of the year. As I’ve said earlier, I don’t believe it a physical inability as much as it’s a mental block. It’s not like they are asking 5’9” guards to stop 6’4” guards from shooting 3 pointers. X has plenty of height and length to guard the 3 point line effectively. But right now, the players are not moving quickly enough to do so. Evansville was able to easily move the ball around the outside and get open 3 point shots. Part of that has to be mental....players thinking about where they have to be and not just moving instinctively slows them down. Part of it is determination and desire....players have to WANT it enough to fight through the picks and get into the correct positions. The last administration didn’t emphasize that enough perhaps? Are the transfers and freshman are not up to speed yet? I wouldn’t think so. They probably don’t understand just how hard they have to play on the defensive side of the ball...yet. I suspect that will be emphasized much more during practice and film work.

If Steele is the coach that we all hope he is (and many believe him to be) it’s only a matter to TIME before they do. But it is going to be painful for us fans to watch them go through this process. We can say all we want that they need to do this, or need to do that, but we might as well be talking to the wind for as much good as it will do. At least we have a coach that seems to “get it”. I have faith that he will instill that into the players over time as well.

[MITTENMUSKIE16]

As many have stated so far, the defense isn't bad because of a lack of physical ability, unlike last year with Tre, JP, Kerem, etc. This team's on-the-ball defense should be pretty relentless because of their length and speed, and I think that really hasn't been a problem (but they will face bigger and better athletes once the schedule picks up). However, the thing that I've seen is how poor some of the defense has been off the ball. Falling asleep when your guy doesn't have the ball allows open passes, bad close-outs, and good ball rotation for open threes. Steele stressed in the offense extending the pressure a bit more, after made free throws and timeouts, which would be nice to see. Also, this team needs to play the passing lanes much better, and that should be something they can do with their length. I think they'll get there with better effort and execution, but it is a matter of when that can happen.

[Caf]

Our 3pt defense could surely be better, but this seems to be exactly what we saw under Mack. It's less of an effort issue and more of a strategic one. The coaches value interior defense over perimeter and a strong shooting team can exploit it. I think it's important to note that while they torched us from 3 they only pulled down 3 offensive boards and we more than doubled their total rebounds.

[Xville]

As many have stated so far, the defense isn't bad because of a lack of physical ability, unlike last year with Tre, JP, Kerem, etc. This team's on-the-ball defense should be pretty relentless because of their length and speed, and I think that really hasn't been a problem (but they will face bigger and better athletes once the schedule picks up). However, the thing that I've seen is how poor some of the defense has been off the ball. Falling asleep when your guy doesn't have the ball allows open passes, bad close-outs, and good ball rotation for open threes. Steele stressed in the offense extending the pressure a bit more, after made free throws and timeouts, which would be nice to see. Also, this team needs to play the passing lanes much better, and that should be something they can do with their length. I think they'll get there with better effort and execution, but it is a matter of when that can happen.

Everything you stated here though about the passing lanes and the way the defense has played off the ball is because of the packline, which is why I hate it. The packline is more about interior defense, leaving wings open until the ball gets swung to one side or the other. In my opinion, it's a stupid defense and I hope Steele gets away from it, or at least makes tweaks to it by extending out the perimeter, but if you do that, then it's not really a packline.

I think in an era where basketball is going more and more to shooting 3s and essentially having 4 guys on the floor at a time that can shoot and make them, the packline is a losing strategy. People will point to Virginia as having success or Arizona, but I don't want to be either of those teams....I'd like for the team to make a final four.