Xavier Game Thread

Play  Branch more.    Let's see some 3 guard lineups. 

You watched it didnt you. Xavier missed open shots, we werent exactly shutting them down because of our defense. 

I feel it's disingenuous to not give credit where it's due to our defense when an opponent is held scoreless to the second TV time out.  If we had given up 30 points in the first 8 minutes of the game would you ever make the point that our defense was great but Xavier was just making all of their well defended tightly, covered shots?  Of course not.

I feel Hollywood pulled a fast one and surprised Xavier by coming out with the 1 - 3 - 1/ 2 -3 zone.  They certainly were bothered by it and looked tentative against it.  The zone was obviously played well by the unusual lineup Lavin chose to start the conference opener.

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on January 01, 2014, 12:24:20 PM

You watched it didnt you. Xavier missed open shots, we werent exactly shutting them down because of our defense. 

I feel it's disingenuous to not give credit where it's due to our defense when an opponent is held scoreless to the second TV time out.  If we had given up 30 points in the first 8 minutes of the game would you ever make the point that our defense was great but Xavier was just making all of their well defended tightly, covered shots?  Of course not.

I feel Hollywood pulled a fast one and surprised Xavier by coming out with the 1 - 3 - 1/ 2 -3 zone.  They certainly were bothered by it and looked tentative against it.  The zone was obviously played well by the unusual lineup Lavin chose to start the conference opener.

How did our zone surprise Xavier?  Have we not played that zone the majority of the year?

Phil Greene has played 323 minutes this season and has 19 assists.  Rysheed has only played 219 minutes but has 29 assists. 

Two can play this game Theo.  The Square has 6 turnovers on the season and Air Jordan has 15.  Mean Joe has better than a 3 to 1 assist/turnover ration and Jordan's is less than 2 to 1.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but hasn't Phil been playing much more at the 2 or even the 3 in our 3 guard set this year than in his first two seasons?  I think Phil played more point guard last night than in any other game this season.   

I was thinking that this was one of the reasons he was shooting so well this year and why his assist numbers were down?

No way they were surprised. The only ones who were surprised work for fix sports. We have played zone 90% of the time since lavin has been coach.

No way they were surprised. The only ones who were surprised work for fix sports. We have played zone 90% of the time since lavin has been coach.

Exactly.  Raft sounded lost and Gus clueless saying our zone was such a surprise. 

Quote from: carmineabbatiello on January 01, 2014, 09:01:50 PM

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on January 01, 2014, 12:24:20 PM

You watched it didnt you. Xavier missed open shots, we werent exactly shutting them down because of our defense. 

I feel it's disingenuous to not give credit where it's due to our defense when an opponent is held scoreless to the second TV time out.  If we had given up 30 points in the first 8 minutes of the game would you ever make the point that our defense was great but Xavier was just making all of their well defended tightly, covered shots?  Of course not.

I feel Hollywood pulled a fast one and surprised Xavier by coming out with the 1 - 3 - 1/ 2 -3 zone.  They certainly were bothered by it and looked tentative against it.  The zone was obviously played well by the unusual lineup Lavin chose to start the conference opener.

How did our zone surprise Xavier?  Have we not played that zone the majority of the year?

Good question.  Perhaps they only had the Columbia tape? Have we started a lot of our games or at least a lot of the recent games in man?  I know we came out against Columbia in man and played the entire or almost the entire game in man.  At any rate,  they sure looked lost against it at the outset.

Quote from: TRabinowitz on January 01, 2014, 04:00:44 PM

Phil Greene has played 323 minutes this season and has 19 assists.  Rysheed has only played 219 minutes but has 29 assists. 

Two can play this game Theo.  The Square has 6 turnovers on the season and Air Jordan has 15.  Mean Joe has better than a 3 to 1 assist/turnover ration and Jordan's is less than 2 to 1.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but hasn't Phil been playing much more at the 2 or even the 3 in our 3 guard set this year than in his first two seasons?  I think Phil played more point guard last night than in any other game this season.   

I was thinking that this was one of the reasons he was shooting so well this year and why his assist numbers were down?

The reason Phil doesn't turn it over is because he doesn't make anything happen and just lives on the perimeter.  Rysheed actually plays into what the style of the team should be, which is to use our athleticism, speed and length to get to the rim, and thats what you want from your lead guard.

Only 19.1% of Phil Greene's FG attempts are at the rim.  That is the third lowest amount of shots at the rim on the team, with the lowest being Max Hooper and Marco.  By comparison, Rysheed Jordan takes 37% of his shots at the rim, and the number has actually increased since the first 4 games of the year. 

Carmine, whose playing style suits our team more as a PG?? Phil or Rysheed's??  Having a kid that plays conservative works well for teams that want to slow a game down and play a low possession, half-court game that wants to limit the transition game at all costs.  But thats not what our style should be.  We were built around athleticism, length and speed.  We should be playing the PG that best fits what our identity should be. 

More numbers to back up why we want a lead guard the gets to the rim:

When we get a shot in the first 10 seconds of our offense off a rebound, 43.8% of our shots have come at the rim.  From 11 seconds to 35 seconds, only 20% of our shots come at the rim.  From 11 seconds to 35 seconds after a defensive rebound, 53% of our shots are 2pt jumpers (the least efficient shot in basketball). 

When we get a shot within the first 10 seconds after our opponents scoring, 34.9% of our shots come at the rim.  From 11 to 25 seconds after an opponents score (which is when Phil likes to use clock when hes running point), only 22.1% of our shots come at the rim.

When we get a steal, 56.2% of our shots within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock come at the rim. From 11-35 seconds, only 12.5% of our shots come at the rim.

Where are you getting these numbers from

Where are you getting these numbers from

hoop-math.com

I used to favor playing a lot of people but am now thinking it would ne best to settle on a starting line up and play them major minutes subbing for rest and foul trouble. My line up and minutes goal for each player: Dlo 35 Jordan 30 Sampson 35 Sanchez 30 CO 30. Use the bench in a manner of who needs to be subbed for and what type player is needed for opponent and situation of the game. Agree with previous poster who said what's the point of putting guys like Felix, Marco and Hooper in if it is only for 2-3 minutes at a time. no chance to get in a rhythm or a feel for the game and when to take a shot.

I fear lavin simply is not a good game coach and dunlap deserves even more credit for that ncaa season...is he still available?

I wonder if Dunlap screwed this team up with that matchup zone he pulled out of his ass. The only way something like that works is if you have a wizard tactician staying on top of the players and obsessing over every little detail. There was no chance of success with it after he left. 

As a result, none of the juniors know how to handle screens, and we switch on EVERYTHING which leads to broken assignments and bad matchups.

Quote from: Tha Kid on January 01, 2014, 10:20:07 AM

I fear lavin simply is not a good game coach and dunlap deserves even more credit for that ncaa season...is he still available?

I wonder if Dunlap screwed this team up with that matchup zone he pulled out of his ass. The only way something like that works is if you have a wizard tactician staying on top of the players and obsessing over every little detail. There was no chance of success with it after he left. 

As a result, none of the juniors know how to handle screens, and we switch on EVERYTHING which leads to broken assignments and bad matchups.

One thread over you said that Branch not being aggressive is "killing this team." Here you say that Dunlap "screwed this team." If the team is killed and then screwed, that's necrophilia, for which perversion I'd lay the blame a little closer to the top than a former assistant coach and the back up point guard.

Quote from: Tha Kid on January 01, 2014, 10:20:07 AM

I fear lavin simply is not a good game coach and dunlap deserves even more credit for that ncaa season...is he still available?

I wonder if Dunlap screwed this team up with that matchup zone he pulled out of his ass. The only way something like that works is if you have a wizard tactician staying on top of the players and obsessing over every little detail. There was no chance of success with it after he left. 

As a result, none of the juniors know how to handle screens, and we switch on EVERYTHING which leads to broken assignments and bad matchups.

So you're blaming our old assistant coach for being TOO good and saying he should've dumbed it down?? Why not blame the guy being paid $1.5 million for not being able to continue teaching it?

The guy being paid 1.5 million cant be blamed for anything around here. Do you want Norm back?

The reason Phil doesn't turn it over is because he doesn't make anything happen and just lives on the perimeter.

Au Contraire mon frère.  In his first season he led the team in assists.  Second season he was second in assists.  This is his third season.

Only 19.1% of Phil Greene's FG attempts are at the rim.  That is the third lowest amount of shots at the rim on the team, with the lowest being Max Hooper and Marco.  By comparison, Rysheed Jordan takes 37% of his shots at the rim, and the number has actually increased since the first 4 games of the year.

Congratulations.  I have never even heard of such stats nor could I ever have imagined that they existed.  However,  I'm about to render them meaningless with my trump card stats:

Phil          - 48% from field  40% from 3
Rysheed - 33% from field   15% from 3

What the heck does it matter where your shots come from?  Either you throw the brown spherical thing through the round orange metal thing or you don't.  That's all that matters.

Carmine, whose playing style suits our team more as a PG?? Phil or Rysheed's??

I'm glad you're asking me this question.  I feel that Jordan is naturally more of a PG and Phil is more of a SG.  The versatile talents of both players make it possible for both of them to play the other guard position as well.  Ideally, both of these players would see big minutes.

I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST RYSHEED JORDAN OR JAMAL BRANCH.  In fact, I believe Jordan will either be BE rookie of the year or a future all BE team selection and that he has Nba potential down the road.  There are aspects of Branch's game that I like as well.

Phil Greene has been continually hammered on this board and blamed for the teams woes for going on two years now and I've been his self-appointed protector.  Posters complaints about him have mainly been two-fold:

1) He has a tendency to dribble in a pattern resembling Charlie Brown's head.

2) He's a bad shooter.

Now that his shooting percentages have climbed to a level that's not only ahead of Jordan, but also ahead of 3'lo; and it's been revealed that not only has he been dutifully playing out of position but also on an injured hip that required off-season surgery, I was optimistic that the bashing would cease.

But lo and behold we take a loss that anyone could a have seen coming ( I predicted a 10 point loss exactly ) to a tough conference foe on the road and Phil get's blamed.

I really don't mind defending him as it's easy.  I don't have to make sh*t up...I just go to the numbers.   

People are only bashing the fact that Phil Greene has been playing a position which he isn't as good at or as suited for as 2 other guys on the roster.  He has definitely improved his shot and there is definitely room for him to back up D'Angelo and to play the 3 when we go small (which I think should be more of our identity).  He just isn't as suited for our style as a PG as Rysheed or Branch. 

And btw, Phil's first year he was pretty much the only guy to play PG after Nuri left and then last year we had 2 PGs and he came in 2nd in assists.  Not much of an accomplishment.  Again, Phil is a 2-guard and a 3-guard when we go small.  He shouldn't be playing meaningful minutes as a 1 unless Rysheed or Branch go down.

Versus Wisc, Ga Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, and Columbia Green is 11-33 from the floor, 2-10 from 3, and is averaging 5 ppg.

Versus Fordham, Bucknell, Monmouth, Longwood and Youngstown he's 30 -45 from the floor, 7-14 from 3, and is averaging 16 ppg.

What might explain his increased output versus the second group?

Versus Wisc, Ga Tech, Syracuse, Penn State, and Columbia Green is 11-33 from the floor, 2-10 from 3, and is averaging 5 ppg.

Versus Fordham, Bucknell, Monmouth, Longwood and Youngstown he's 30 -45 from the floor, 7-14 from 3, and is averaging 16 ppg.

What might explain his increased output versus the second group?

Thats been his rap for 3 years now.