Game Thread: Xavier v. University of Cincinnati (December 8, 2018) Crosstown Shootout

[Lloyd Braun]

I don't think we are quite there yet, but at some point you have to start sitting guys if they either aren't defending hard enough or taking ill advised shots that the coaches are encouraging them not to take.

Are you calling for more Leighton Schrand? Who are you playing in place of those that shoot ill-advised shots?

[bleedXblue]

Are you calling for more Leighton Schrand? Who are you playing in place of those that shoot ill-advised shots?

Really not that hard. Harden can play SG and Scruggs can go to point. Dontarius James isn't playing at all. Keonte Kennedy is hardly playing. Hell, Welage isnt logging many minutes.

Its sending the message IF they don't start to curtail the ridiculous amount of 3's they are chucking up.

[Lloyd Braun]

Really not that hard. Harden can play SG and Scruggs can go to point. Dontarius James isn't playing at all. Keonte Kennedy is hardly playing. Hell, Welage isnt logging many minutes.

Its sending the message IF they don't start to curtail the ridiculous amount of 3's they are chucking up.

I wouldn’t be opposed to staggering Q’s and Scruggs’ minutes more at all. However there just isn’t much depth past Welage.

[whopper]

this move to sit people more is not necessarily punishment. It would be because they are playing 5% harder and have to come out. I think when you know you are playing 35 min you would tend to pace yourself. Our "good" guy aren't that much better than the bench guys that they need to pace themselves. For example if Harden replaced Q and Scruggs going to point guard we would attack with 3's; If Welage played a few minutes as the main wing instead of Naj you might see some of that playmaking ability that got him 25-30 pt against Nevada and St Mary's instead of pure spot up. These are just a couple of examples but if you are not exhausted you won't come out. People need to be so tired they are asking to come out and that will come from defense and harder running the floor.

[bleedXblue]

I wouldn’t be opposed to staggering Q’s and Scruggs’ minutes more at all. However there just isn’t much depth past Welage.

How do you know what you have or don't have when Harden is hardly playing at all and Kennedy is getting sparse minutes.

[XU 87]

How do you know what you have or don't have when Harden is hardly playing at all and Kennedy is getting sparse minutes.

through watching them in practice.

[bleedXblue]

through watching them in practice.

Yeah I get that, but these guys go against each other damn near every day. They know what each others tendency's are/strengths and weaknesses etc. You've seen the development of a lot of Xavier players over the years from their freshman year to their senior year. I think a great point made earlier by another poster is that some of our guys are playing way too many minutes. Are they really able to defend at a high level and leave it on the floor playing 35 minutes a game? Harden,Kennedy and Welage need to playing more but for the simple point of giving Q and Scruggs and Marshall a blow.

37 minutes for Q yesterday and 38 for Marshall. These guys aren't playing all that great to have to leave them on the floor for the entire game...........

[XU 87]

Kennedy played 12 minutes yesterday and had no points, one assist and no rebounds. I also think that was Kennedy's area of responsibility when Cumberland hit back to back threes in the first half against the 1-3-1.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...meId=401083367

Welage played 15 minutes and did have 8 points, but only had one rebound and can't guard. Personally, in games like this when the team is having trouble scoring, I like Welage out there. He's the only guy who has a consistent outside shot, but he is defensive and rebounding liability.

I also think a bigger issue yesterday was with Tyrique- he played 26 minutes and scored 2 points, taking 3 shots.

Bottom line as I view it- this team has transfers from San Jose State, Columbia and Ferris State, and we need them to make fairly significant contributions. Other than Welage and to some smaller extent Scruggs, this team has no consistent three point shooter. UC dared Goodin and Marshall to shoot threes yesterday, and they went a combined 2-15. If you want to argue that those 2 shouldn't be shooting a combined 15 threes per game, you'll get no dispute from me. But then again, sometimes you have to take what the defense gives you, and UC was cutting off the dribble penetration and leaving the three open.

[bleedXblue]

Kennedy played 12 minutes yesterday and had no points, one assist and no rebounds. I also think that was Kennedy's area of responsibility when Cumberland hit back to back threes in the first half.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...meId=401083367

Welage played 15 minutes and did have 8 points, but only had one rebound and can't guard. Personally, in games like this when the team is having trouble scoring, I like Welage out there. He's the only guy who has a consistent outside shot, but he is defensive and rebounding liability.

I also think a bigger issue yesterday was with Tyrique- he played 26 minutes and scored 2 points, taking 3 shots.

Bottom line as I view it- this team has transfers from San Jose State, Columbia and Ferris State, and we need them to make fairly significant contributions. Other than Welage and to some smaller extent Scruggs, this team has no consistent three point shooter. UC dared Goodin and Marshall to shoot threes yesterday, and they went a combined 2-15. If you want to argue that those 2 shouldn't be shooting a combined 15 threes per game, you'll get no dispute from me. But then again, sometimes you have to take what the defense gives you, and UC was cutting off the dribble penetration and leaving the three open.

Pretty sure we made the brilliant decision to go zone late in the first half when Cumberland hit his wide open 3's. Regardless, we have guys on the bench that need to be playing more. They also need to understand that they need to contribute. For Kennedy yesterday I chalk some of that up to being a frosh in his first true college road game.

[XU 87]

Those Cumberland threes were against the 1-3-1, which I thought was effective until Cumberland hit those threes. Both threes were in Kennedy's area of the zone.