Xavier Game Thread

I agree, Amase.  This game was lost in the first 5 minutes of the second half, and it was entirely the result of playing Gift and not playing a PG.  Sure, execution in the last few minutes could be better, but we had to force things to claw our way back into it.  This one is on Lavin. 

Uncharacteristically, no scoring balance and poor offensive performance by all but Sheed and 3'lo.

Only 5 players scored at all and 4 of them shot 33 1/3%.  Air Jordan our best scoring performance but still less than 50%.  6 others, mostly subs, shot a combined 0 for 10.

Also uncharacteristically,  shot extremely well from 3 ( 50% ),  well from the line ( 74% ) and putrid from 2 ( 25%).

I watched the game on tape was it mentioned why Rysheed didnt start?
If there was no reason then I put this lose squarely on lavin. We had an opportunity to go up 15+ points at the start of the game and lavin ran out a lineup with Obekpa, Dom, and Felix out there at the same time!! That can NEVER happen. Total missed opportunity to open the game up big time. Then in the second half it takes him 5 minutes to put Rysheed back in the game while our guys play pitch and catch with each other as we fall behind by 7 points and never again get back in the game.

Plain and simple, the reason Lavins teams take so long to get going is because he tries to be to cute with lineup changes and rotations. He started a new lineup for the Bigeast opener. Unacceptable. Freaking branch has 3 assits in 5 minutes and phil, dom, and gift have more minutes than he does while felix played the same. Unacceptable.

I dont hate Lavin, im glad he is the head of our program but he needs to give up this every game is a new canvas shit and stick to a solid rotation. Thats what worked his first year, and thats what will work this year.

Amen.

I don't know coaching, as I've never been a coach of a basketball team, but putting the right guys on the floor seems easy.

Starters: Jordan, Harrison, Jakarr, Sanchez, Obekpa

Rotational guys: Greene, Branch, Pointer, Achiuwa (based on if BIGs get in foul trouble, last guy off bench)

DNP - Coaches Decision - The rest (Marco, Hooper, Felix)

I hope Lavin learned that after this game, but the worst part is that it takes him GAMES LOST to learn anything. At some point there aren't going to be any more games left to lose due to not playing the right guys. Jordan needs to be given the keys to the program. It needs to happen now. If he leaves after a year, oh well, we have him until the last game of this year, and we need to give him the keys. If he bounces we can replace him, but he is our best bet at PG. He tried to take over the game in the second half today, and with a few foul calls, he would have. It's a shame we lost a game due to personnel, and hopefully Lavin will learn that and set a shorter rotation.

Unfortunately with Lavin, it seems depth is a bad thing, as he can't recognize who has minutes. I would have rather used Gift last year, just to shorten the bench this year, give him less options. Depth will help most coaches, but not Lavin, he doesnt recognize the talent enough to play with that many cards.

If Lavin could stick to the obvious 8 man rotation (with Jordan playing 30+ mpg and Gift sparingly), we might not have to wait until February for this team to potentially be "dangerous."  This loss is on him, as were our struggles against lesser opponents in the non conf

Really disappointed with our showing today. Played soft and undisciplined on offense. What concerns me is the new Big East is going to be a tough, physical, grind it out type of league and we aren't built that way. We are a finesse, jump shooting team. But overall just way too much 1 on 1 and shuffling guys in. Set a rotation and keep it short. Lastly, we have to have Jordan out there. Bottom line is he is developing into our best scorer after Harrison.

Jim Mora on today's horrendous rotation:

"That was a disgraceful performance in my opinion. We threw that game. We gave it away by doing that. We gave them the friggin’ game. In my opinion, that sucked."

Sanchez shouldn't be allowed to lead the break after getting a rebound. He's slow and dribbles with his head down. There will always be at least two guys on the court with him that are exponentially better at running the break.

Xavier didn't score in the first 8 minutes of the game and wound up with 70. Not good

Did we even pass the #$%^ing ball in the second half??

Rotation of players.. .  who starts..  who gets minutes...   all of it doesn't matter...    you can't shoot 31% from the floor and have any reasonable expectation to win the game.

Lavin might not have made the best coaching decisions today but the players sucked shooting the ball - that is why we lost.

today's loss has lavin's name all over it.  anybody who knows anything about the game of baseball knows most import ants stretch of the game is the first 5 minutes of second half and thats where the game was lost. balamou marco and branch need to start eating into phil's minutes when he plays like that . and same with marco and hooper when dom isn't giving you anything. why be so deep if you don't know how to properly use your rotation. these are the games that sting in late february.

another thing is this we have to be in the bottom 10 teams in the country when it comes to easy baskets. every basket we get seems like we have to work so hard for. no fluid offense. xavier had about 12-16 points today off of open layups and running decent to fair princeton style offense against us. we put so much effort into trying to score where are the screens ? cuts? pin downs?variety of out of bound plays?

today's loss has lavin's name all over it.  anybody who knows anything about the game of baseball knows most import ants stretch of the game is the first 5 minutes of second half and thats where the game was lost. balamou marco and branch need to start eating into phil's minutes when he plays like that . and same with marco and hooper when dom isn't giving you anything. why be so deep if you don't know how to properly use your rotation. these are the games that sting in late february.

I agree. The problem is we are going to have to worry about this all season. We have the worst in-game coaching staff in the big east and theres probably not even a close 2nd

Quote from: Chilleb on December 31, 2013, 05:29:16 PM

today's loss has lavin's name all over it.  anybody who knows anything about the game of baseball knows most import ants stretch of the game is the first 5 minutes of second half and thats where the game was lost. balamou marco and branch need to start eating into phil's minutes when he plays like that . and same with marco and hooper when dom isn't giving you anything. why be so deep if you don't know how to properly use your rotation. these are the games that sting in late february.

I agree. The problem is we are going to have to worry about this all season. We have the worst in-game coaching staff in the big east and theres probably not even a close 2nd

whit sell is proven, but he's the new guy on the block and i can understand him not wanting to be over abrasive but if you watch him on the bench and in huddles he's constantly in lavins ear trying to correct his errors

My my how our expectations are decreasing by the minute.  We started out with such expectations of being a sweet 16 team, to a solid NCAA team, to a bubble NCAA team to a ( if this team loses it's first three games) hopeful NIT team?

Outside of one good game against a mediocre Fordham team, what has this team shown to date?  In fact what has this program shown in the last three years, two top 10 recruited classes?  Big deal.  If you don't do it on the court it don't mean diddly.

The last win over a team that we were not favored to beat came three seasons ago at Cincinnati with a Mo Harkless tip in at the buzzer.  Other then that, the well has been dry.

I tried to watch the game today and not get too emotionally caught up in it as I knew disappointment would be the eventual emotion.  Aside from the substitution patterns as I will give Lavin a pass on that, the most horrific thing that I noticed was the lack of player development and understanding of the game?  Many on that other site had one excuse after another for the coaching staff and seem to want to blame it all on the players?  Personally, I'm not sure if it's entirely ones fault over the other.

In any close game, Dlo continues to put up bad, forced shots as though the situation was desperate.  Is that his fault or is Lavin relying on him too much to bail the team out, who knows? 

On one possession, Sanchez was at the top of the key and their big man raced out to guard him.  Since Sanchez is obviously faster and more mobile, a prudent thing to do would have been to blow by him and take it strong to the basket. Instead, he put up a three??

CO's offensive game has gone from mediocre to non existent and one has to wonder what was going in Pointer's head.

If it was just one player who was struggling it is one thing but it's many.  The list goes on from Gift to Hooper etc. etc. etc.  so what gives.  Any player who has a chance to score does it on their own accord ala Rysheed with great one on one moves to the basket. In terms of offensive sets, what sets.

And let's face it, we're it not for Xavier's horrendous shooting ( many shots were wide open looks ) at the start of the game, this would have been a 20 point loss. 

So what is the excuse?
A.  Inexperience
B.  poor coaching
C. Players with no basketball sense
D.  Overated players?

The reality is that we gave been playing the same brand of basketball for the past three seasons it's just that now, the excuses have run out.  One thing I do realize is how important coach Dunlap was to the program, as with the talent, depth and experience that we have, we should be doing much better then what the team has shown to date.

And for all my loyal supporters and haters as well, Happy New Year, may the Johnnies turn it around and become the successful program we all hoped they would be.

Peace

Sanchez shouldn't be allowed to lead the break after getting a rebound. He's slow and dribbles with his head down. There will always be at least two guys on the court with him that are exponentially better at running the break.

Xavier didn't score in the first 8 minutes of the game and wound up with 70. Not good

He's the old guy in the gym. Grampy Sanchez.

My my how our expectations are decreasing by the minute.  We started out with such expectations of being a sweet 16 team, to a solid NCAA team, to a bubble NCAA team to a ( if this team loses it's first three games) hopeful NIT team?

Outside of one good game against a mediocre Fordham team, what has this team shown to date?  In fact what has this program shown in the last three years, two top 10 recruited classes?  Big deal.  If you don't do it on the court it don't mean diddly.

The last win over a team that we were not favored to beat came three seasons ago at Cincinnati with a Mo Harkless tip in at the buzzer.  Other then that, the well has been dry.

I tried to watch the game today and not get too emotionally caught up in it as I knew disappointment would be the eventual emotion.  Aside from the substitution patterns as I will give Lavin a pass on that, the most horrific thing that I noticed was the lack of player development and understanding of the game?  Many on that other site had one excuse after another for the coaching staff and seem to want to blame it all on the players?  Personally, I'm not sure if it's entirely ones fault over the other.

In any close game, Dlo continues to put up bad, forced shots as though the situation was desperate.  Is that his fault or is Lavin relying on him too much to bail the team out, who knows? 

On one possession, Sanchez was at the top of the key and their big man raced out to guard him.  Since Sanchez is obviously faster and more mobile, a prudent thing to do would have been to blow by him and take it strong to the basket. Instead, he put up a three??

CO's offensive game has gone from mediocre to non existent and one has to wonder what was going in Pointer's head.

If it was just one player who was struggling it is one thing but it's many.  The list goes on from Gift to Hooper etc. etc. etc.  so what gives.  Any player who has a chance to score does it on their own accord ala Rysheed with great one on one moves to the basket. In terms of offensive sets, what sets.

And let's face it, we're it not for Xavier's horrendous shooting ( many shots were wide open looks ) at the start of the game, this would have been a 20 point loss. 

So what is the excuse?
A.  Inexperience
B.  poor coaching
C. Players with no basketball sense
D.  Overated players?

The reality is that we gave been playing the same brand of basketball for the past three seasons it's just that now, the excuses have run out.  One thing I do realize is how important coach Dunlap was to the program, as with the talent, depth and experience that we have, we should be doing much better then what the team has shown to date.

And for all my loyal supporters and haters as well, Happy New Year, may the Johnnies turn it around and become the successful program we all hoped they would be.

Peace

Harrison puts up bad, forced shots because guys like Pointer, Gift and Obekpa can't score the ball.

My my how our expectations are decreasing by the minute.  We started out with such expectations of being a sweet 16 team, to a solid NCAA team, to a bubble NCAA team to a ( if this team loses it's first three games) hopeful NIT team?

Outside of one good game against a mediocre Fordham team, what has this team shown to date?  In fact what has this program shown in the last three years, two top 10 recruited classes?  Big deal.  If you don't do it on the court it don't mean diddly.

The last win over a team that we were not favored to beat came three seasons ago at Cincinnati with a Mo Harkless tip in at the buzzer.  Other then that, the well has been dry.

I tried to watch the game today and not get too emotionally caught up in it as I knew disappointment would be the eventual emotion.  Aside from the substitution patterns as I will give Lavin a pass on that, the most horrific thing that I noticed was the lack of player development and understanding of the game?  Many on that other site had one excuse after another for the coaching staff and seem to want to blame it all on the players?  Personally, I'm not sure if it's entirely ones fault over the other.

In any close game, Dlo continues to put up bad, forced shots as though the situation was desperate.  Is that his fault or is Lavin relying on him too much to bail the team out, who knows? 

On one possession, Sanchez was at the top of the key and their big man raced out to guard him.  Since Sanchez is obviously faster and more mobile, a prudent thing to do would have been to blow by him and take it strong to the basket. Instead, he put up a three??

CO's offensive game has gone from mediocre to non existent and one has to wonder what was going in Pointer's head.

If it was just one player who was struggling it is one thing but it's many.  The list goes on from Gift to Hooper etc. etc. etc.  so what gives.  Any player who has a chance to score does it on their own accord ala Rysheed with great one on one moves to the basket. In terms of offensive sets, what sets.

And let's face it, we're it not for Xavier's horrendous shooting ( many shots were wide open looks ) at the start of the game, this would have been a 20 point loss. 

So what is the excuse?
A.  Inexperience
B.  poor coaching
C. Players with no basketball sense
D.  Overated players?

The reality is that we gave been playing the same brand of basketball for the past three seasons it's just that now, the excuses have run out.  One thing I do realize is how important coach Dunlap was to the program, as with the talent, depth and experience that we have, we should be doing much better then what the team has shown to date.

And for all my loyal supporters and haters as well, Happy New Year, may the Johnnies turn it around and become the successful program we all hoped they would be.

Peace

Welcome back from your vacation, it was a long one! Lasted from the Cuse game to the Xavier game.

This is the first game I really have to put on coach. His rotations are so strange. How did Jordan not start the second half? How badly did Dom have to play to get pulled for Jakarr who played well in the first half and only had two second half points?

I know there are many factors why we lost this game but for the third time this year  Samson has killed momentum in a crucial part of the game and then our team fell apart. The first instance was against penn state fouling the best shooter for them up  2  and sending kid to line who hit all 3. Yes we could of won game if Harrison makes both free throws but he didn't and we lose.

Second, against cuse, he has a chance to keep game in a one possession game and misses both free throws and we fall apart and lose.

Then today, 3 on 1 break down 4,  he has no spacing from Harrison, gets ball in paint and turns it over. Momentum killer and we fall apart, yet again and lose.

Not saying all 3 games we win but it just seems as though he somehow was in middle of 3 big plays and he can't come up with a positive play.  Kid is good, but he has to be the good that helps this team win and with our margine of error, this type of stuff hurts our team.. Sju players feed off him and Harrison and if these 2 can't become consistently good at turning points of game,  it will be tough all yr to win close games.

Probably nit picking but these things just keep happening in the big game situations.

This is the first game I really have to put on coach. His rotations are so strange. How did Jordan not start the second half? How badly did Dom have to play to get pulled for Jakarr who played well in the first half and only had two second half points?

Yup, I love the guy but fair is fair,  brutal job today.