(PRE-GAME) @Xavier (Cintas Ctr), Sun. Jan. 5, 4:30pm, FOX / 970AM

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Due to losing tonight and going 0-1.
The Xavier game is huge. I'll take 1-1 with these 2 road games coming up.
Just rather get that win on sunday, lose that and G-town becomes critical, lose that.......

Gotta get that first win
 
[quote="CMA TIME" post=370241]Due to losing tonight and going 0-1.
The Xavier game is huge. I'll take 1-1 with these 2 road games coming up.
Just rather get that win on sunday, lose that and G-town becomes critical, lose that.......

Gotta get that first win[/quote]

That's why I thought tonight's game was big. Back-to-back road games, we could be looking at a bad start, and then snowball like two years ago (probably not to that extent, but we have the least amount of talent in the league, so anything's possible).

It just shows you how things can change from year to year. If this group played in last year's Big East, they are contenders for the regular season crown. This year though, well, buy your tickets now for Wednesday night in the Big East Tournament (I don't think we'll finish last, though).
 
Both teams lost their opening conference game.
Xavier Villanova 62 68
St John's Butler 58 60

Should be an interesting matchup. Both teams have something to prove and want to get their season back on track.

Looks like a close matchup. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Johnnies can improve their shooting. They can't be competitive in the BE shooting like they did in the first half against Butler.
 
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While our shooting percentage from the field is close to the bottom of the BE, our free throw shooting has been steadily improving; we are now 5th among BE teams at about 71%. That is great to see.
 
All BE teams are tough at home . We and DePaul being historical exceptions the last number of years . Xavier is especially tough in Cincinnati .. losing last night , after taking a 5 point lead late, doesn’t set up well for us on Sunday .. but , we have surprised before .. Arizona notably, Arizona State not notably... We really have horrible shooting weakness , even with Figgy and Heron playing.. They are credible shooters mostly but, not sharpshooters .. in the BE you need a 3 point guy , off the Bench or , Starting . Our Recruiting needs to shore up this weakness. I m not sure Anderson has his sights on such a player ? Oftentimes , great shooters aren’t great defenders or rebounders . I don’t recall him having such a player at Arkansas but , am not certain . Just a thought .
 
[quote="Duke of Earlington" post=370272]Heron will be back as he was real close to playing last night. This is a big game. We need this one.[/quote]

Yeah, it sounds like he pulled a Joe Girardi last night, WRT Heron. Just give him "one more game". I just hope it's not totally like Girardi, where "one more game" turned in to "five more games," you know, "just to be sure."

Different sports, obviously, but it was still frustrating.
 
This team should be angry after making that comeback and then blowing it. I am expecting an angry st johns team on Sunday and Figgy should be the angriest of them all.

I think this team is ready to whup some ass and Xavier is going to take one on the chin.
 
[quote="Duke of Earlington" post=370303]This team should be angry after making that comeback and then blowing it. I am expecting an angry st johns team on Sunday and Figgy should be the angriest of them all.

I think this team is ready to whup some ass and Xavier is going to take one on the chin.[/quote]
You may want to retire from prediction business. :)
 
I think the Butler game proved we can play with anyone in the BE. Let's hope we remember rebounding has been a strength for us thus far. Hit the boards. Butler game effort reminded me too much of Mullin-coached teams.
 
I think we're capable of beating Xavier but I really, really hate playing in the Cintas Center. It's always seemed so hard for us to win there. I have a fuzzy memory of us winning 5 or 6 years ago when Pointer had a great game but that's the only time I can remember us winning there. I'd rather play at Creighton or Nova and I think both of those teams are better than X so far.
 
[quote="QueensBall" post=370332]I think we're capable of beating Xavier but I really, really hate playing in the Cintas Center. It's always seemed so hard for us to win there. I have a fuzzy memory of us winning 5 or 6 years ago when Pointer had a great game but that's the only time I can remember us winning there. I'd rather play at Creighton or Nova and I think both of those teams are better than X so far.[/quote]

I'll start sounding like a broken record now, but if we come with that defensive intensity right out of the gate, we'll have a real good at beating them. Our offense ceeds off.our defense.
They're more like us than Butler, they don't shoot the three very well, they drive to the hoop well. That's when with active hands, we could turn them over a lot.
 
[quote="CMA TIME" post=370336][quote="QueensBall" post=370332]I think we're capable of beating Xavier but I really, really hate playing in the Cintas Center. It's always seemed so hard for us to win there. I have a fuzzy memory of us winning 5 or 6 years ago when Pointer had a great game but that's the only time I can remember us winning there. I'd rather play at Creighton or Nova and I think both of those teams are better than X so far.[/quote]

I'll start sounding like a broken record now, but if we come with that defensive intensity right out of the gate, we'll have a real good at beating them. Our offense ceeds off.our defense.
They're more like us than Butler, they don't shoot the three very well, they drive to the hoop well. That's when with active hands, we could turn them over a lot.[/quote]

Agreed CMA, and Baldwin is much better than Quentin Goodin. Goodin can be turned over. Our problem is going to be Tyrique Jones. That guy is a beast strength wise and even though he not a prolific player he always seems to dominate us inside. This is where we could use Steere’s big body.
 
Naji Marshall torched SJU with 31 points last season at CA, so best not to forget him.
 
I think we have a very good shot at beating both Xavier and Georgetown in bext 2. Let’s step it up and show what we can do.
 
Unfortunately a nightmare matchup for SJU with Marshall, Scruggs, and Jones presenting distinct looks at all 3 levels offensively. Will be tough to take all 3 away with pressure alone especially given their size, add to it Goodin is oversized at guard as well. Probably as much as any game we'll play in conference this is one that can't get played in the half court for any extended amount of time.

Thankfully like us they shoot it very poorly from 3 also, so if the pressure D is impactful they shouldn't be able to neutralize it from distance the way Butler did with half their points coming beyond the arc.

X has had SJU's number, 0 for the last 8 and 2-10 in the new Big East. Would be nice to start to change that tide but tall order in the Cintas Center.
 
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this "slump" LJ is going through right now reminds me of Ponds last year. Our top guys have to snap out of it and turn it on
 
Our offense needs better spacing and ball movement with screens set to free up scoring opportunities.
 
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