Xavier game thread

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Yeah, I blame him for not being 6'4 too!

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Man, you are the worst. First you complain that this team doesn't play hard or look like they care and then Mussini gets a T for slamming the ball down because he was so frustrated by that play and call in a close game. The kid probably didn't know that would result in a T when he did it. He didn't realize American refs are such pusses when it comes to that stuff. I guarantee you it won't happen again.

I don't know what the hell you expect and want from Mussini this year. Apparently the staff thinks he's good enough to be a shooting guard in the BE or else they would not have recruited him to play alongside Lovett and Ponds. Unfortunately there is no true PG on the team this year so he has to play that position. Should he refuse to go in the game or bring the ball up the court when Mullin tells him he's the point guard? Not to mention the fact he has pretty much zero talent around him which makes playing the role of point guard that much harder when your teammates don't know how to get open or make shots.

You don't seem to understand the fact that freshman are generally inherently overmatched in their freshman season. That what comes from an 18 year old playing against 20 and 21 year olds. That's a big difference especially when you are Mussini's size. But if you want to continue to be an absolute nice person and declare that a player is not a BE caliber player halfway through his freshman season, when he has actually played pretty well all things considered, then that's all you. I really have no idea what your expectations were of him this year, but they were obviously ridiculous if you are bashing his attitude and think he should grow up after he has given his all and hasn't played terribly overall despite being overmatched most of the time.

It has gotten to the point where you will find something to hate about each player and member of the staff regardless of what happens. Since you can't go with your usual "they don't play with any effort" spiel after tonight's game you have to pick on Mussini for some reason, especially when it's the upperclassmen that have been the ones underperforming.

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2016, 01:22:30 AM

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Man, you are the worst. First you complain that this team doesn't play hard or look like they care and then Mussini gets a T for slamming the ball down because he was so frustrated by that play and call in a close game. The kid probably didn't know that would result in a T when he did it. He didn't realize American refs are such pusses when it comes to that stuff. I guarantee you it won't happen again.

I don't know what the hell you expect and want from Mussini this year. Apparently the staff thinks he's good enough to be a shooting guard in the BE or else they would not have recruited him to play alongside Lovett and Ponds. Unfortunately there is no true PG on the team this year so he has to play that position. Should he refuse to go in the game or bring the ball up the court when Mullin tells him he's the point guard? Not to mention the fact he has pretty much zero talent around him which makes playing the role of point guard that much harder when your teammates don't know how to get open or make shots.

You don't seem to understand the fact that freshman are generally inherently overmatched in their freshman season. That what comes from an 18 year old playing against 20 and 21 year olds. That's a big difference especially when you are Mussini's size. But if you want to continue to be an absolute nice person and declare that a player is not a BE caliber player halfway through his freshman season, when he has actually played pretty well all things considered, then that's all you. I really have no idea what your expectations were of him this year, but they were obviously ridiculous if you are bashing his attitude and think he should grow up after he has given his all and hasn't played terribly overall despite being overmatched most of the time.

It has gotten to the point where you will find something to hate about each player and member of the staff regardless of what happens. Since you can't go with your usual "they don't play with any effort" spiel after tonight's game you have to pick on Mussini for some reason, especially when it's the upperclassmen that have been the ones underperforming.

Actually, it's not the first time I've seen him and other players on this team act like a cry baby. I guess I take offense to people calling out guys like Obekpa who acted like punk, when we have punks on this team as well. And don't give me this shit that he didn't know that slamming the ball down would result in a technical foul. And I'm the nice person? Lol.

Everything is always someone else's fault. It's refs fault. It's the NCAA's fault. Maybe the real nice persons are the people who never look in the mirror?

Reading most of the posts it looks like we lost by 40 points or more.

Quote from: goredmen on January 07, 2016, 02:08:50 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2016, 01:22:30 AM

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Man, you are the worst. First you complain that this team doesn't play hard or look like they care and then Mussini gets a T for slamming the ball down because he was so frustrated by that play and call in a close game. The kid probably didn't know that would result in a T when he did it. He didn't realize American refs are such pusses when it comes to that stuff. I guarantee you it won't happen again.

I don't know what the hell you expect and want from Mussini this year. Apparently the staff thinks he's good enough to be a shooting guard in the BE or else they would not have recruited him to play alongside Lovett and Ponds. Unfortunately there is no true PG on the team this year so he has to play that position. Should he refuse to go in the game or bring the ball up the court when Mullin tells him he's the point guard? Not to mention the fact he has pretty much zero talent around him which makes playing the role of point guard that much harder when your teammates don't know how to get open or make shots.

You don't seem to understand the fact that freshman are generally inherently overmatched in their freshman season. That what comes from an 18 year old playing against 20 and 21 year olds. That's a big difference especially when you are Mussini's size. But if you want to continue to be an absolute nice person and declare that a player is not a BE caliber player halfway through his freshman season, when he has actually played pretty well all things considered, then that's all you. I really have no idea what your expectations were of him this year, but they were obviously ridiculous if you are bashing his attitude and think he should grow up after he has given his all and hasn't played terribly overall despite being overmatched most of the time.

It has gotten to the point where you will find something to hate about each player and member of the staff regardless of what happens. Since you can't go with your usual "they don't play with any effort" spiel after tonight's game you have to pick on Mussini for some reason, especially when it's the upperclassmen that have been the ones underperforming.

Actually, it's not the first time I've seen him and other players on this team act like a cry baby. I guess I take offense to people calling out guys like Obekpa who acted like punk, when we have punks on this team as well. And don't give me this shit that he didn't know that slamming the ball down would result in a technical foul. And I'm the nice person? Lol.

Everything is always someone else's fault. It's refs fault. It's the NCAA's fault. Maybe the real nice persons are the people who never look in the mirror?

Other than a silly T, what has Mussini done to indicate he is a "punk"?  Im not sure anyone on this team is a punk. Those days ended with Lavin / Sheed / Obekpa.

Did the team play with sincere effort, in your view?

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2016, 02:43:13 AM

Quote from: goredmen on January 07, 2016, 02:08:50 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 07, 2016, 01:22:30 AM

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Man, you are the worst. First you complain that this team doesn't play hard or look like they care and then Mussini gets a T for slamming the ball down because he was so frustrated by that play and call in a close game. The kid probably didn't know that would result in a T when he did it. He didn't realize American refs are such pusses when it comes to that stuff. I guarantee you it won't happen again.

I don't know what the hell you expect and want from Mussini this year. Apparently the staff thinks he's good enough to be a shooting guard in the BE or else they would not have recruited him to play alongside Lovett and Ponds. Unfortunately there is no true PG on the team this year so he has to play that position. Should he refuse to go in the game or bring the ball up the court when Mullin tells him he's the point guard? Not to mention the fact he has pretty much zero talent around him which makes playing the role of point guard that much harder when your teammates don't know how to get open or make shots.

You don't seem to understand the fact that freshman are generally inherently overmatched in their freshman season. That what comes from an 18 year old playing against 20 and 21 year olds. That's a big difference especially when you are Mussini's size. But if you want to continue to be an absolute nice person and declare that a player is not a BE caliber player halfway through his freshman season, when he has actually played pretty well all things considered, then that's all you. I really have no idea what your expectations were of him this year, but they were obviously ridiculous if you are bashing his attitude and think he should grow up after he has given his all and hasn't played terribly overall despite being overmatched most of the time.

It has gotten to the point where you will find something to hate about each player and member of the staff regardless of what happens. Since you can't go with your usual "they don't play with any effort" spiel after tonight's game you have to pick on Mussini for some reason, especially when it's the upperclassmen that have been the ones underperforming.

Actually, it's not the first time I've seen him and other players on this team act like a cry baby. I guess I take offense to people calling out guys like Obekpa who acted like punk, when we have punks on this team as well. And don't give me this shit that he didn't know that slamming the ball down would result in a technical foul. And I'm the nice person? Lol.

Everything is always someone else's fault. It's refs fault. It's the NCAA's fault. Maybe the real nice persons are the people who never look in the mirror?

Other than a silly T, what has Mussini done to indicate he is a "punk"?  Im not sure anyone on this team is a punk. Those days ended with Lavin / Sheed / Obekpa.

Did the team play with sincere effort, in your view?

Yes, finally, they played like they cared last night. Mussini had a shit fit against Sonoma State more than once. He gets frustrated because he can't handle the difficulty of D1 ball. Against the zone, he's great. Against man d, he's one of the worst players I've ever seen.

Johnson got up into the face of NJIT players more than once. He should have been ejected. M'vouika does the Rasheed Wallace every time he gets called for a foul, or when he thinks there should have been a could called on the opposing player.  He stops, and cries to the ref while the other team is racing down the court for an easy basket. Maybe instead of Jesus tweets he can work on manning up and not blaming the refs because he doesn't move his damn feet.

We have had a few thugs under Lavin, but at least they played hard all the time. Isn't that one of the things Mullin is here to bring back? Tough, NYC hard-nosed play? Why did it take 16 games for the team to try for 40 minutes?

I am not anti St. John's or anti this particular team, but any time mussini goes off I think it is more of the other team making mistakes not him beating his guy. The kid has range 2/3 steps behind the NBA line. Any coach that lets him get his feet set and shoot is making a mistake. I would think most coaches are going to over play him and deny him the ball. I hope we start setting some screens for him, but we really haven't . He did get by his man once and almost had a huge and 1.
Overall, I think sima played a very good first half. We rebounded well. Guys hit some shots to keep it close. Not a great game, decent effort and a better then expected out come.

Quote from: bk8664 on January 07, 2016, 12:20:59 AM

Quote from: Poison on January 06, 2016, 10:01:38 PM

Wow does Mussini suck.

He does?  I saw a Freshman first hand tonight bring a few thousand fans to their feet in great applause...

I don't like his attitude. And I don't like that he wasn't ready to play either guard position. He's tiny. Is he that full of himself that he thinks he's a shooting guard in the BE? Tonight was a anomaly. Most teams aren't going to zone us, and Mussini will be in over his head. Hopefully, he grows the F up and doesn't pull that anything like that again.

Of every single poster on this site, what right do YOU have to criticize someone's attitude?  At least mussini has an excuse - he's 18.

You really are delusional - so you basically imply by accepting a scholarship at St. John's it demonstrates that mussini is "full of himself"?

The man was 5/8 from 3.  Love to know when the last time and how many players we've had in the last 15 years who have hit 5 or more 3s with a 60 pct or better clip rate against a big east or power conference opponent.  I doubt there are many on the list.

Did he make a dumb freshman mistake out of frustration on a probably bad call? Yes.  He did. How many players have suited up for us who haven't made a dumb mistake at one point or another? He will learn from this.

Why don't you just take a break from the games and return next year.  It's clear it brings you no enjoyment and clearly you can't be open minded about progress and the players this season.  Do us all a favor.

Mussini taking a beating here unfairly.  He's got too much responsibility for a skinny foreign freshman, playing out of position in the big east.  I think he's done a fantastic job actually.  He deserves some slack.  Kid is already terrific but needs some strength, and is getting a ton of seasoning this year already.  Wait til he can play off the ball and come off screens.  He will be much more free to roam and do the things he is especially good at.  He's in the top 20 scorers in the Big East right now.  He's not struggling as much as people making it out to be.  Not many freshmen guards playing out of position are going to get it done in the big East.  Look how long it took even a top ranked kid like Whitehead to start to get comfortable.

I am not anti St. John's or anti this particular team, but any time mussini goes off I think it is more of the other team making mistakes not him beating his guy. The kid has range 2/3 steps behind the NBA line. Any coach that lets him get his feet set and shoot is making a mistake. I would think most coaches are going to over play him and deny him the ball. I hope we start setting some screens for him, but we really haven't . He did get by his man once and almost had a huge and 1.
Overall, I think sima played a very good first half. We rebounded well. Guys hit some shots to keep it close. Not a great game, decent effort and a better then expected out come.

People made similar comments about JJ reddick and Stephen curry their freshman years.

How many players have we had who had that kind of range AND delivered.  How many guys have you been happy they are shooting from that deep wearing our colors.  Even if he never averages more than 10ppg after this season and is used as a spot shooter zone breaker and spreading out the other teams defense (and I do think he will do more than this for us in the future) then he will be a major asset which we have not had in this program in a long long time.

Rather than take every chance to post something negative Or give a backhanded compliment Howbout be positive for once.  We were in it until the end against a ranked team.  For this team that is a very good sign.

Poison, your ridiculous negativity adds nothing to the conversation.  What's your hidden agenda?  Did you want them to keep Lavin?  Do you hate the Mullin hire?  Are you upset about the coaching staff salaries? 

This team is playing about as well as any fair minded fan has a right to expect, they're showing individual and team improvement, and they do play hard.  It's a team of freshmen, little used holdovers, and two grad students who weren't exactly top level Big East talent at their prime in their old schools: what the hell did you expect?

Your campaign against Mussini is nice personic.  He's a catch and shoot 3 point specialist.  When he plays with a point guard (and players who give him back the ball after he gives it up and set up a screen or two) you'll see just how talented he is.  Quick release.  Deadly outside shot off the catch and shoot.  He's not a point guard/he can't make his own shot/he shouldn't be playing 35 minutes a game/and bigger, stronger, older guys are going to be a problem for him defensively.  In the right role, surrounded by the right talent, he will excel.

In CM's postgame presser, he noted that not all guys play better when you surround them with better players, but that Mussini was a kid who was going to shine when the talent around him improved.  I could not agree more.  Diallo at Kansas and Sampson at LSU are barely leaving the bench.  It's hard for freshmen to impact games at this level, yet you kill a kid who showed against Cuse and again last night that he has a very special skill set and a lot of heart.

*DK adjusted line spacing

Mussini single handedly brought us back into that game. The shooting, of course, was awesome but the near spin move he made on the baseline showed that he can create in the right situation. As for the t, he had no idea it was on him which certainly shows he wasn't trying to show up the refs at all. The camera caught Ron talking to him and Mussini was shocked to learn he was t'd up.

This team is going to struggle based on it's composition and that's not the players or the current staff's fault. I think the staff did a heck of a job creating the roster they did with the time they had to do it. I was hoping for 13 wins pre-season but that was when I thought we'd win a few more of the non-conference games. I'm happy with the future outlook and in my view Mussini can be a nice part of that.


**DK adjusted line spacing

Mussini is awesome. You kidding me?

I'm already trying to get him to be one of the college guards at Stephen Curry camp this summer. I think he's fantastic.

Does he struggle at times due to strength? Sure. Does he struggle at time because he's on the ball 30+ mpg? Sure. Outside of Ellison there is no other guys on this team who can handle the rock. Ellison is still a little bit of a fish out of water too. Missing out of conference has delayed his development.

Xavier thoughts: http://www.bigeastboards.com/

Mussini is awesome. You kidding me?

I'm already trying to get him to be one of the college guards at Stephen Curry camp this summer. I think he's fantastic.

Does he struggle at times due to strength? Sure. Does he struggle at time because he's on the ball 30+ mpg? Sure. Outside of Ellison there is no other guys on this team who can handle the rock. Ellison is still a little bit of a fish out of water too. Missing out of conference has delayed his development.

Thanks for providing some sanity. Anyone complaining about Mussini is nuts. He's a freshman who basically has all the responsibilities of a senior guard in trying to run the offense and he's not even a true pg! He is a very good player and watch how good he is next year when he has weapons around him and then you can backtrack on these absurd statements. The rest of the year is about developing the 4 freshman if they do that and play hard I will be happy. We are building something here and it doesn't happen over night contrary to what some people think.

Anyone on this board for two seconds should understand Poison's MO.  Don't get baited by the negative trolling. 

Poison, your ridiculous negativity adds nothing to the conversation.  What's your hidden agenda?  Did you want them to keep Lavin?  Do you hate the Mullin hire?  Are you upset about the coaching staff salaries? 

This team is playing about as well as any fair minded fan has a right to expect, they're showing individual and team improvement, and they do play hard.  It's a team of freshmen, little used holdovers, and two grad students who weren't exactly top level Big East talent at their prime in their old schools: what the hell did you expect?

Your campaign against Mussini is nice personic.  He's a catch and shoot 3 point specialist.  When he plays with a point guard (and players who give him back the ball after he gives it up and set up a screen or two) you'll see just how talented he is.  Quick release.  Deadly outside shot off the catch and shoot.  He's not a point guard/he can't make his own shot/he shouldn't be playing 35 minutes a game/and bigger, stronger, older guys are going to be a problem for him defensively.  In the right role, surrounded by the right talent, he will excel.

In CM's postgame presser, he noted that not all guys play better when you surround them with better players, but that Mussini was a kid who was going to shine when the talent around him improved.  I could not agree more.  Diallo at Kansas and Sampson at LSU are barely leaving the bench.  It's hard for freshmen to impact games at this level, yet you kill a kid who showed against Cuse and again last night that he has a very special skill set and a lot of heart.

*DK adjusted line spacing

Hidden agenda? Hysterical. I'm a fan. Not a politician. I wanted a head coach with head coaching experience. I was against the Chris Mullin experiment from the get go. STJ brought him back to bring tough, hard-nosed NYC basketball back to Queens. Last night, the team played hard. It's the first time this year I've seen them all play as hard their opponent. I criticized Lavin, but I also praised him as well for the things he did well, and he did plenty of things well.

And in regards to Mussini, if you reread your own post, you've answered your own question. He's a catch and shoot 3 point specialist. He's a little better than Max Hooper. He's not a point guard, or a shooting guard. So, like I said, he's not a fit at this level. On the rare chance that we play a team that also doesn't bother to defend, or a coach that insists on playing zone no matter what, he can be deadly, but when he has to guard the ball, or guard anyone, he either can't, or he won't. He's a defensive liability against just about every opponent he'll see at the college level.

Anyone on this board for two seconds should understand Poison's MO.  Don't get baited by the negative trolling. 

And what is my MO?

Mussini single handedly brought us back into that game. The shooting, of course, was awesome but the near spin move he made on the baseline showed that he can create in the right situation. As for the t, he had no idea it was on him which certainly shows he wasn't trying to show up the refs at all. The camera caught Ron talking to him and Mussini was shocked to learn he was t'd up.

This team is going to struggle based on it's composition and that's not the players or the current staff's fault. I think the staff did a heck of a job creating the roster they did with the time they had to do it. I was hoping for 13 wins pre-season but that was when I thought we'd win a few more of the non-conference games. I'm happy with the future outlook and in my view Mussini can be a nice part of that.

**DK adjusted line spacing

If you have a temper tantrum, and then you are surprised that people are annoyed with you for it, it's time to take a look in the mirror.

A few of Mussini's shots were halfway down but rimmed out in the first half. I think he will be fine once we have a pg that can drive and draw Mussini's defender off him a bit. Kid has a very quick release. Very happy with the team's effort last night.