Game Thread: Xavier v. Michigan (11/27/2024)

[xukeith]

X has issues. If Conwell is being relied upon to do a ton of scoring like Olivari last year, it likely won't result in much X success.
McKnight has to score 7-12 points a night for this limited team. Foster did well with defense, rebounding and offense.
What can X realistically get from Swain and Hunter this season? I will give Hunter a little break as he looks better than the rest of the jv squad.

Green, Maddox, and Hugley? Can they produce a combined 15 points a game?

[Xville]

I will always cherish this week at #22.

I am not sure that Trey Green should be a ballhandler for Xavier. Everybody raves about him, but I am just not seeing it. Maybe he would be a better fit at a smaller school firing away every time he touches the ball. He is supposed to be this otherworldly free throw shooter, so maybe learn to draw a foul. Here is the highlight at the 19 second mark of him driving last night:

I agree. I just don’t think he’s good enough for this level. Way too small, and doesn’t know how to use his body. A liability on d, and a one trick pony on o. Yes there are games here and there where he will make 4 threes, but they are seldom and I don’t see that he’s improved at all from last season. I’ll be surprised if he’s here next year.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

X has issues. If Conwell is being relied upon to do a ton of scoring like Olivari last year, it likely won't result in much X success.
McKnight has to score 7-12 points a night for this limited team. Foster did well with defense, rebounding and offense.
What can X realistically get from Swain and Hunter this season? I will give Hunter a little break as he looks better than the rest of the jv squad.

Green, Maddox, and Hugley? Can they produce a combined 15 points a game?

The morning after. Really good questions along with the previous post about Tre Green. I am a big fan of Green. I view him as a potential microwave off the bench. But last night he looked like he didn't belong on the court---at all.

OK so we suffered a beat down and as a much earlier post noted, this can be a good thing with longer term effects. Let's hope so.

My biggest take on last night, besides agreeing with many of the earlier observations, is we got punched in the mouth almost immediately and we never recovered. That is not supposed to happen with a veteran team. These guys are fourth- and fifth-year guys, and I saw only one player who seemed willing to fight...... Freemantle. Everyone else, Conwell, Hunter, Maddox, Swain, Hugely, even McKnight, appeared to be intimidated from the get-go. Just like Wake, Michigan came out and guarded the three-point line. We kept backing up and launching moon shots, sometimes deep into the shot clock, instead of taking it to the rim. At least Green had the balls to go inside even if the results were predictable. We completely surrendered to the opponent and that, for me, is very concerning.

The match ups for us were horrible and we will likely see that happen a least a few more times. We cannot change that. But we got punked last night. Punked with a bunch of veterans on our team. It felt like our guys lost that game in their heads before they ever stepped on the court.

[American X]

I would love to see Green break out and be an awesome four year player for Xavier. I am just not sure playing him on the ball is putting him in a position to succeed. Play off the ball, get lost by the defense, fire away catch and shoot in rhythm. Creating his own shot off the dribble usually ends poorly. I would rather Conwell be the ballhandler to spell McKnight and find Green when the defense collapses on him.

[JTG]

Once again the curse of the holiday tournament rears its ugly head on X. We again get our asses handed to us. I would just as soon we skip these things and schedule a couple A10 or MAC level home games. I guess they are a recruiting tool, but I get tired of losing every year. Even when we are good, we seem to throw up on ourselves. As for Hugley, maybe staying at 280 would have been the better idea. Getting used to his current body size is obviously taking a toll on his effectiveness. And having Conwell spell McKnight does seem like a better idea than Green at the point.
And on a side note, How in the world did Wake beat Michigan?

[XUGRAD80]

Michigan played Michigan’s game and took X out of their game. With 2 7-footers (and 6’10 backups) Michigan likes to pressure the outside and force teams to drive toward those twin towers. It worked against X because Swain wouldn’t take shots when he was wide open and others couldn’t make the shots they took at a high enough rate. It will probably work pretty often for them, but on the flip side more often than not X will make those shots they missed. It was a bad matchup for X and they didn’t play to their potential either. Hey at least we aren’t UConn!

Forget the game everyone….have a Happy Thanksgiving anyway!

[drudy23]

We didn't seem prepared for what Michigan threw at us. We were lost on offense.

We had no answer for their high pressure, which is head scratching as teams are going to try to take away our strength, which is shooting. I was shocked we never really attacked the rim knowing they were over-playing the perimeter.

[drudy23]

2nd team has to get better - or just start playing the starters more minutes.

Green is only a weapon if he gets good looks. He's not getting any. He will always struggle against bigger guards, which he will see the rest of the season.

Hugley will continue to struggle guarding big guys that can move or play on the perimeter. He just can't guard mobile bigs...period.

Maddox needs to step up and make his mark. Be the best defender on this team and make some open looks when you get them.

[drudy23]

The program continues to have a true power forward/center problem. Yes, an injury caused that, again, but it feels like the 10th year in a row where not having a 2nd quality physical and athletic post player is dooming the potential.

Can we prioritize this type of player PLEASE so we never run out again. Sean is going to continue to get guards.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Stop thinking too hard. Michigan is good!!! How can you stop two 7 footers when you have no real big guys of your own. X is going to struggle all year vs big teams. Michigan is an awful matchup. Good news for X is the rest of the BEAST looks awful too.