Schasz Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Must have gotten a lot smarter since our last game. The X announcers are really praising the SLU defense and saying that Xavier just was not ready for that kind of in your face defense. This is easily our best win of the year and just shows that we are in for some good times with this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheA_Bomb Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I didn't watch the game, (listened) did we defend the 3 better or did X just go cold from 3? That has been a killer in the past. We do everything pretty well except the TOs. Yes, I was doubting Brad last game and this game w/ the constant switches for defensive matchups but it paid off this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I listened to the Xavier feed...how come they get FREE radio streaming and we have to pay for it...what's up with that. Anyway they shot a horrible % in the 2nd half and they are crediting it to our defense. Their coach is whining about their effort as they did not come to play tonight. I am also wondering who started for the Bills tonight??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 We definitely defended the three better. Brad's improved rotation and Drejaj's improved health definitely made a difference. Luke Meyer took most of Dwayne's minutes tonight, and it helped our shooting and perimeter defense. Brad did a much better overall coaching job, but his conservative strategy with the lead made me nervous. When we took the lead with about five minutes to go, we basically scrapped the offense, ran out the shot clock, and then had Tommie go one-on-one. Tonight it worked. I wish we would just continue to play the same style (assuming it is working) when we take a lead. I think we could blow some decent teams out if we didn't pull back the reigns whever we grab a 4-10 point lead. Regardless of my nit-picking, this was a great win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaleJarr Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Yeah we did go a bit conservative. When Ian is out of the game we really struggle offensively. We were just the passing the ball for no particular reason as the shot clock was winding down. I'm not saying take shots early as you are trying use some of the clock, but we have to get better looks when Ian is out. Lisch must be in the game when Ian goes out as he along with Drejaj seem to be the only one capable of making shots. Drejaj was masterful as he created many good looks in the 2nd half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradFan Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Seems to me the running down the clock strategy worked pretty well. Gives the defense a breather, and let's face it, we're not exactly an offensive juggernaut. We had plenty of stretches tonight (including in the 2nd half) when the offense did nothing. So no reason to force it thinking we got a bunch of George Gervins out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 go to the Billikens for the biggest win of the year. Xavier was very likely about to be ranked in the Top 25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaleJarr Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 It looked good only because we won the game. My point being that you don't stop doing the things that got you to that point. You continue to look for the best shot. We were taking shots with single digits on the shot clock. Defense won this game as Xavier missed their last 11 shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradFan Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Lighten up JaleJarr. Shots (and FTs) being made pretty much decide every game. For a change, tonight, the other team went cold down the stretch. We weren't burning it up either, but made enough big shots. Little things win games, including breaks...and tonight, the right things happened. If we had pumped up shots with 20 on the clock and missed, giving X 2-3 more chances and a possible win, my guess is you would have been critical there as well. My point is when your offense is questionable to begin with, it makes sense to take the air out of the ball a little. What will be nice to see develop over time (TL and KL in particular) is an ability to create a play in the last 5-10 seconds as time ticks down. KL did it tonight with a BIG three. TL has the ability too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I listened to the Xavier broadcast for the second half. Byron Larkin was doing the color commentary. I don't like the idea of taking the air out of the ball with 5 1/2 minutes left and going into the stall, mitigated only by the shot clock. However, tonight the strategy worked, and we will gladly take the win, irrespectve of the circumstances. And the team deserves a lot of credit for this very big and important road win over a very good and probable NCAA Tournament team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken75 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Without Ian in the game, it is hard for us to have a "go to" offense. I think it was important to this team to have a healthy Drejaj and what he brings to the team this year. I believe that experience is vastly under-rated (with the exception of teams that have the superior talent) and this team needs his leadership. And yes, it is interesting how smart Brad got since the Richmond game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBoy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Davidnark...For the first time in several days you posted something that I agree with. That is...YOU ARE NIT-PICKING. Lighten up and enjoy the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I think you are right about Vouyoukas being out of the game. That likely forced Coach Soderberg's hand. I am just very pleased and pleasantly surprised by this big win. Everyone, including the Coach, deserves a lot a credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaleJarr Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Lighten up JaleJarr. We weren't burning it up either, but made enough big shots. Actually the guys shot pretty well this game. 47% overall fg percentage, 42% from beyond the arc, and 73% from the line http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200601220682 Did you see the Georgetown-Duke game? G-Town took a big lead in the 2nd half vs Duke. Instead of going conservative they continued to run their offense and caught Duke many times overplaying with back door layups. I'm not saying take ill-advised shots but when you refused to look for the best shots invariably that is what you will get. If we had pumped up shots with 20 on the clock and missed, giving X 2-3 more chances and a possible win, my guess is you would have been critical there as well. If those shots were being taken by Dwayne Polk and Tommie Liddell from 3 point range then yes I would have been critical. If the shots were taken within the offense or were good shots then no I would not complain, especially as well as the Bills were playing defense. What will be nice to see develop over time (TL and KL in particular) is an ability to create a play in the last 5-10 seconds as time ticks down. KL did it tonight with a BIG three. TL has the ability too. Talk about pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Starters were: IV, KL, TL, LM, AD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I don't know if we really went into a stall-type offense in the closing minutes...it seemed as though Xavier brought a tougher press on both sides of the floor; we had to work harder and be more patient for looks at shots and even passes. Also, UB worked the guys to the bone in practice this week...lots of sprints, lots of passing drills too... All in all, fun game to be at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 it seemed to me Xavier increased their pressure, took five to seven second to get the ball over half court, and a couple time we just had to reset xavier played good defense at the end. Just those damn players that Soderberg recruited like lisch, Ian, and TL came through. Those same damn players from last game.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 the defense last night really was the story. drejaj in the second half was the old drejaj. when ever the camera allowed, it was a show watching drejaj harrass burrell. he just manhandled him and really made burrell work. my guess is that burrell feels like he was in a car wreck this morning. newborne played very good the second half as well. that duncan kid is a huge talent. and newborne really did a good job on him. third was ian. while ian's offensive line looks like less than normal, he really combatted thornton. thornton might be a draft pick. and i bet that was one of his worst offensive games of the year. couple that with kevin and luke's normal strong defense and that was the difference in the game. it will be interesting to see how we continue to dole out the minutes. my guess after luke's strong game, we are in for more 4 guard play. but luke undoubtedly earned the time. xavier is the best in the conference imo. and even those that think that george washington is better, we should have beaten them as well. i hope those that had us at the bottom are now rethinking that prediction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I don't think there is a team in this league that we should not be able to go head to head with and have a good chance of beating. If we can just get another player or two who can score FG's then we will be in excellent shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I think we have one of those "player or two" you are asking for already on the court, and his name is Kevin. We need Brad to get this kid more involved in the offense and/or get Kevin more aggressive in looking to score. Also, if Danny B would decide to pay attention to his responsibilities on defense, he would get more minutes on a consistent basis which would then give us another real threat from the perimeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I think Danny has the body to play great defense but not the experience. He gets lost once in a while and turns the ball over a bit. Both things will improve with age. He and Luke will be HUGE subs in our final four trip next year. I'm calling it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I thought Danny's defense was good yesterday.{Everybody played good defense]. Danny's problem is he turns the ball over too much and he can't finish at the rim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 SLU has to root for Xavier to win ball games. Xavier did win at Charlotte, but Charlotte ins't good this year. Their one "big" win was the OT win over a depleted Cincy team who had just previously lost Kirkland. But their timing of that game was very good...I think later in the year, Cincy's rating may have been sliding with Kirkland out. The last thing you want to see is Xavier falling back. I can't imagine Xavier losing very many more ball games. This really hurts Xavier's tourney hopes. I don't see more than two from A-10. Without many quality non-conference wins for X, they need to dominate the league and conference tourney. I actually think Iowa is in same boat...not strong non-conference, so they need an upper Big Ten showing, and get another Illinois type win or two. Of all of SLU's opponents, UNC may be in best spot, but certainly a bubble team as well. Their nme, being last year's champ...they will get some benefits of the doubt. If season ended today, which it doesn't, I would say in order of possibility to get in...UNC, Iowa, X. It unfortunately will be difficult for SLU because of opponent quality remaining. Winning most of the remaining games is all they can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 As of today, the CBS Sportsline NCAA Tourney picker has the A-10 with 3 teams in, but you gotta wonder how much he knows since he lists Richmond as a Bubble team. I just don't see Richmond as that strong, but maybe our loss to them will not turn out to look that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 picking richmond as a bubble team would make me question someone's sobriety. now if he is saying someone in the conference will upset the conf tourney, to pick gw, xu and the tourney winner might be ok. imo, the chances of anyone else getting in the tourney from the a-10 is a slim and none chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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