Game 29: Xavier 630P (FS1, 570 AM)

I actually kept an eye on him throughout the game tonight. Seemed like every time he blew the whistle it was in X's favor. He was the baseline ref one time Ponds got fouled on a layup that went uncalled and Driscoll was the one that gave Mullin the T. I'm too lazy and not enough of a psychopath to rewatch the game and specifically track his whistles

I went back and looked at my stupid defunct blog and there's half a dozen references over several years to Driscoll intercoursing St John's. It's not a coincidence: it's corruption.

Meanwhile he gets bumped left and right without a whistle.

Ponds gets fouled every time he goes to the basket.

At least Marillac nailed another one. he said it would be an easy game. Too bad he had the wrong team. When I saw who the refs were I knew we would get hosed just wasn't prepared for the extent of the ref job we would get.

Without Ponds and Heron this team goes down faster than Fordham96 in the vip room of a gay strip club.

I went back and looked at my stupid defunct blog and there's half a dozen references over several years to Driscoll intercoursing St John's. It's not a coincidence: it's corruption.

Perhaps my favorite refereeing blunder of the evening is when we tried to throw a bounce pass into the middle of the zone, a Xavier guy kicked it to the point where everybody on the court stopped playing for a full second waiting for a whistle but none came and they got a transition opportunity out of it

I went back and looked at my stupid defunct blog and there's half a dozen references over several years to Driscoll intercoursing St John's. It's not a coincidence: it's corruption.

Bring back the post game blog for this game !!

It’s one thing for Nova to get the calls over us — they are known for not fouling — but  Xavier fouls everyone. They pushed off on half of their jumpers and even pushed Trimble’s dace once. This is an organized effort by the official to get back at us and it needs to end. Ponds was fouled every goddamn play. How could it ever be a 7-2 foul differential?

Perhaps my favorite refereeing blunder of the evening is when we tried to throw a bounce pass into the middle of the zone, a Xavier guy kicked it to the point where everybody on the court stopped playing for a full second waiting for a whistle but none came and they got a transition opportunity out of it

That one was crazy. I called the guy Pele on the other board when it happened. Freaking guy is probably playing in the Copa this June

Unfortunately I think they had to call the flagrant. Seen less called.  But I absolutely agree on us getting shafted by the refs tonight. First 2 minutes of game ponds had an unbelievable block/steal that was called a shooting foul. Meanwhile he gets bumped left and right without a whistle.

That hook-and-hold rule needs to change, IMO.

A lot of time, the "victim" of that plays happens to walk into that, and the defender is just going for the ball.

Not sure that's what happened there, but that new rule has been more trouble then it's worth, IMO.

There were some bad calls. Two against Ponds, the non kick ball call, the fouls started piling up at the end but they were legitimate. I believe there were only two foul calls against us in the first half. We lost this because we gave up 14 offensive rebounds which lead to 20 second chance points.

X had 14 ORebs we had 14 D rebs. 50% of missed Xavier shots went back to them. That’s unacceptable.   

X had 14 ORebs we had 14 D rebs. 50% of missed Xavier shots went back to them. That’s unacceptable.   

If only the refs knew how to box out

There were some bad calls. Two against Ponds, the non kick ball call, the fouls started piling up at the end but they were legitimate. I believe there were only two foul calls against us in the first half. We lost this because we gave up 14 offensive rebounds which lead to 20 second chance points.

This was the real difference. We all knew the rebounding would be an issue this year and it continues to rear its ugly head. Hopefully the bodies coming in next year change that but we shall see.

Blaming the refs in an 11 pt loss is fool's gold. Xavier just punked the Johnnies, pure and simple. Sunday's game is crucial assuming another loss the following weekend in Cincy.

This was the real difference. We all knew the rebounding would be an issue this year and it continues to rear its ugly head. Hopefully the bodies coming in next year change that but we shall see.

Blaming the refs in an 11 pt loss is fool's gold. Xavier just punked the Johnnies, pure and simple. Sunday's game is crucial assuming another loss the following weekend in Cincy.

Rebounding was atrocious. So was the FT differential

Rebounding was atrocious. So was the FT differential

That too. Need more dribble drive penetration. Ponds did get screwed on a few no calls last night.

We lost this game because we didn’t have Heron. Marshall had a free ride with Simon. I’ve never seen a player dribbling straight at 3/4 speed get turned over by a defender going straight at 3/4 speed until Marshal did that to Simon last night. Heron is also our best rebounder.

We lost this game because we didn’t have Heron. Marshall had a free ride with Simon. I’ve never seen a player dribbling straight at 3/4 speed get turned over by a defender going straight at 3/4 speed until Marshal did that to Simon last night. Heron is also our best rebounder.

6 TO’s from Simon in the first half was a lot to overcome.

Blaming the refs in an 11 pt loss is fool's gold. Xavier just punked the Johnnies, pure and simple. unday's game is crucial assuming another loss the following weekend in Cincy.

It's not just that X scored 30 percent of their points from the FT line and it's not just that SJ players and particularly Ponds are dissuaded from taking the ball to the basket because they're going to get hip checked in the second row. It's also that the constant starting and stopping rewards the team that wants to play an ugly half court game and penalizes the team that wants to get out and run.


 

No surprise here.

- 1 and 3 in games without the entire Wonder five. Includes 2 losses at Alumni where we're pretty good and one at the Garden. 8 and 4 with them all. Plus 12 and 1 out of conference I think.

- 8 losses in a row and counting to Xavier.  Will now have to beat them in Cincy and get help elsewhere to keep the 3 seed.

- Previously mellow Trimble summoning his inner Artest.  Techs in consecutive outings.

- Rough outing for Carmine fave Garfunkel.

- There was a bad first half sequence where we had Earlington, Williams, Trimble, Clark and Figueroa on the court together that led to a Xavier mini-run. It might be a minority opinion but I like to use the bench as little as possible. It was a huge game. Nobody fouled out. I would like some of our top guns to play 40 like Gooden did.

- Ponds was messing with the hurt right hand all game.

- Xavier is quite possibly the best team in the conference and undoubtedly the hottest.

- Driscoll might have had a few shekels on the game.

It's not just that X scored 30 percent of their points from the FT line and it's not just that SJ players and particularly Ponds are dissuaded from taking the ball to the basket because they're going to get hip checked in the second row. It's also that the constant starting and stopping rewards the team that wants to play an ugly half court game and penalizes the team that wants to get out and run.

Sure but that's all part of the game. Teams adjust and figure out a way to overcome even if the refs are shit. If it was a 1 or 2 possession game then I can understand the gripes. But the game was clearly in Xavier's favor for almost its entirety. The lead seemed to be about 8 points all night. That's much more a lack of execution and adjustments on part of the losing team than it is the refs for some bad calls and non-calls.