Xavier, Sun. Jan. 29, 6pm, FS1/970AM
- Thread starter Knight
- Start date
Agree on those Ellison missed opportunities, yet somehow he still had six assists, and I don't remember any of them.
I need to check some clips of his shooting form from last year. Seems like he is now shooting from the far right side of his body near shoulder, even the foul shots to a degree.
I need to check some clips of his shooting form from last year. Seems like he is now shooting from the far right side of his body near shoulder, even the foul shots to a degree.
for sure he could be a difference maker on this squad if he were more focused and committed. Seems to me that he is one of those guys that wants to be a leader but doesn't (yet?) understand that genuine leaderships is earned. Sad example was today he was out of position, busy telling Mussini what to do.
Our rebounding flat out sucks.
The fact that we played hard at the end on defense drives me even more crazy because we should be doing that the whole game
Shout out to ccnobz because of him I bet the game so big thumbs up for winning me back some of my horrible football losses this year so I'm happy we covered
Great to finally meet Monte and Johnnyfan at the game. Both really good dudes
The fact that we played hard at the end on defense drives me even more crazy because we should be doing that the whole game
Shout out to ccnobz because of him I bet the game so big thumbs up for winning me back some of my horrible football losses this year so I'm happy we covered
Great to finally meet Monte and Johnnyfan at the game. Both really good dudes
Class of 72
Active member
It's been a long night and all I have to add is that this was yet another winnable game but our rebounding was horrific and the Xavier guards were too big and talented for our smaller guards to defend. From my vantage point both Yakwe and Lovett played poorly. Yakwe has no concept of playing defense and collected 4 fouls in 8 minutes rendering him useless. Marcus Lovett did a poor job of running the offense and missed key free throws and was no match on defense whatsoever. Tonight he was as useless as Mussini on defense but Mussini at least had 2 steals.
I like Mullin's involvement in the game and imploring his team to rebound....to no avail. He needs new and bigger bodies with the balls to mix it up. The small crowd was a disappointment but they were supportive considering we never led in the game.
I like Mullin's involvement in the game and imploring his team to rebound....to no avail. He needs new and bigger bodies with the balls to mix it up. The small crowd was a disappointment but they were supportive considering we never led in the game.
Absolutely '72:
"I like Mullin's involvement in the game and imploring his team to rebound....to no avail. He needs new and bigger bodies with the balls to mix it up"
Mr. Walker or walker-like - perhaps 1-2 kids whose forte is defense, rebounding = our obvious needs
Thanks for your long day's journey into night (O'Neill 1956) AND better still your report!
beast of the east
Active member
Ellison appears to play without any consciousness of game situations or time remaining on shot clock. Multiple times as we inched closer he would hoist a low % shot with plenty of time on the clock. There are better options on offense but he is unaware of that. Watch Gonzaga move the ball unselfishly for 5 minutes and you realize how lacking we are.
Somebody has got to tell Mussini, "Do no take the ball to the hoop in traffic - ever"
beast of the east
Active member
[attachment]20170129_202320.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment]20170129_202320.jpg[/attachment]
Mullin has clearly taken charge. During one timeout he grabbed Owens and demonstrated to him how he should be in the face of the guys he was defending. Great to see.
He did take a very late break sitting on the scorers table late but only a minute. By the time i tried to snap a shot for Maher he had popped up.
Saw jsj and chatted for a long while. Muse was there with his whole family - h8s grandson is a really smart and nice kid. Rode in with ralph from the 114 group - great guy.
Thanks to nick vendikos - he knows why
[attachment]20170129_202320.jpg[/attachment]
Absolutely '72:
"I like Mullin's involvement in the game and imploring his team to rebound....to no avail. He needs new and bigger bodies with the balls to mix it up"
Mr. Walker or walker-like - perhaps 1-2 kids whose forte is defense, rebounding = our obvious needs
Thanks for your long day's journey into night (O'Neill 1956) AND better still your report!
Mullin has clearly taken charge. During one timeout he grabbed Owens and demonstrated to him how he should be in the face of the guys he was defending. Great to see.
He did take a very late break sitting on the scorers table late but only a minute. By the time i tried to snap a shot for Maher he had popped up.
Saw jsj and chatted for a long while. Muse was there with his whole family - h8s grandson is a really smart and nice kid. Rode in with ralph from the 114 group - great guy.
Thanks to nick vendikos - he knows why
I didnt even catch him on the scorers table without you guys mentioning it.[attachment]20170129_202320.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment]20170129_202320.jpg[/attachment]
Absolutely '72:
"I like Mullin's involvement in the game and imploring his team to rebound....to no avail. He needs new and bigger bodies with the balls to mix it up"
Mr. Walker or walker-like - perhaps 1-2 kids whose forte is defense, rebounding = our obvious needs
Thanks for your long day's journey into night (O'Neill 1956) AND better still your report!
Mullin has clearly taken charge. During one timeout he grabbed Owens and demonstrated to him how he should be in the face of the guys he was defending. Great to see.
He did take a break sitting on the svorers tanle late but only a minute. By the time i tried to snap a shot for Maher he had popped up.
Saw jsj and chatted for a long while. Muse was there with his whole family - h8s grandson is a really smart and nice kid. Rode in with ralph from the 114 group - great guy.
Thanks to nick vendikos - he knows why
While it would still bother me at least this year Mullin is doing most of the coaching on the sidelines so I don't have to watch St Jean running the team most of the game so it bothers me a lot less now
Surprised at the negativity on this thread given how our first game with Xavier went.
IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.
I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.
There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.
Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.
IMHO Xavier is just a tough matchup for us physically. We give away 4 inches and 30 pounds at virtually every spot on the floor with the exception of Ellison (Owens doesn't give up the height, he just gives up 50 pounds). The stat sheet ended up pretty even with two exceptions: Xavier (unsurprisingly) killed us on the boards, and we (unsurprisingly) turned them over pretty well (I think 19 turnovers for X). Size versus quickness, and size won this one by a couple of buckets.
I thought the team competed for the whole game. Unfortunately a few shots didn't drop, and a few free throws didn't go in (though you can't really complain much about shooting 75% overall from the line). There were a couple of poor decisions, but that happens to every team every game. To his credit, none of the poor decisions were by Ahmed, who played perhaps his most under-control game of the year.
There's no question that the press was effective at the end of the game, and I have been advocating for it since the beginning of the year. However I don't think we have enough horses to run it for 40 minutes, and I thought the staff used it appropriately.
Overall I thought the game was a positive step forward on many fronts, result aside. Now let's see if we can beat Marquette.
Defensive commitment is the core deficit, still too many end to end lay ups & wide open threes in transition IMO. Young guys will learn the importance of playing both ends of the court sooner than later I hope. Xavier has struggled offensively for a while, last night had it too easy IMO. Oh well, on to perimeter shooting Marquette, who does not defend well either. Also, let's not let Luke Fischer look like Bill Walton.
Game was a microcosm of total season. Team cannot rebound vs a roster like X. Offense is built on quick guards penetrating and passing out for three point shots . When they go in team can compete.When they don't it is very unlikely they can beat a big east team.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.
Problem with the rebounding looking ahead is that both Owens and Yakwe deficiencies are not correctable. Bad hands and body structure are not going to change by next season. Improvement has to come from elsewhere.
Physical makeup aside, Owens can play on my team anytime. He battles, cares about defending & hustles. Yakwe unfortunately is lost & prognosis is poor IMO. I suspect he will not be here next year or get marginal minutes if he is. He is an example of the perils of recruiting raw athletes v basketball players.
We have bigger issues, and Malik Ellison isn’t the reason we lost, but this game was alarming amongst a concerning trend with him and the staff.
Ellison seems to think he’s better than he is. Frustrating, but don’t fault him for that, most players probably do. After last night in particular am wondering if he is going to join the club of SJU players where the coaching staff also thinks they are better than they are, which can be more troubling.
Fully understand we are short options which likely plays into this, but not sure I understand Ellison for 35 minutes including almost the full stretch run when he is making negative plays on both ends (both those that show up in the box score but also importantly those that do not) while Ahmed sits. Ahmed is better in almost every phase of the game, may be our best rebounder on a night we are getting hammered on the glass, and at least has a chance to physically match bigger guards/wings defensively. As poor as Ahmed’s shot selection is at times, Ellison was putting on a clinic last night at really untimely moments.
He’s now been at 30 or more MPG 5 games in a row and 9 of the last 12. These are huge minutes. Unquestionably he’s had a few very good games in there and I hope we get more of that, but don’t know that it’s enough to justify not just the time he’s out there but also the plays he’s trying to make.
Not sure he’s the kind of guy where offense can be the determining factor in what type of game you are going to get from him, but seems that is often the case. A lot of the defensive breakdowns we had last night either started or ended with him, a number of senseless turnovers and fouls, and he grabbed 1 rebound in 35 minutes. Lastly he’s 31.8% from 3 on the season, which should be enough to deter some of his shot selection. But we are 23 games into the season, and if you take away 3 games where he was to his credit 13-17 from 3 (almost 77%) he is 12-46 (26%). He is shooting a solid 45% from the floor overall, which means his 2pt % is even better, all the more reason for him to dial back some of perimeter attempts.
Ellison seems to think he’s better than he is. Frustrating, but don’t fault him for that, most players probably do. After last night in particular am wondering if he is going to join the club of SJU players where the coaching staff also thinks they are better than they are, which can be more troubling.
Fully understand we are short options which likely plays into this, but not sure I understand Ellison for 35 minutes including almost the full stretch run when he is making negative plays on both ends (both those that show up in the box score but also importantly those that do not) while Ahmed sits. Ahmed is better in almost every phase of the game, may be our best rebounder on a night we are getting hammered on the glass, and at least has a chance to physically match bigger guards/wings defensively. As poor as Ahmed’s shot selection is at times, Ellison was putting on a clinic last night at really untimely moments.
He’s now been at 30 or more MPG 5 games in a row and 9 of the last 12. These are huge minutes. Unquestionably he’s had a few very good games in there and I hope we get more of that, but don’t know that it’s enough to justify not just the time he’s out there but also the plays he’s trying to make.
Not sure he’s the kind of guy where offense can be the determining factor in what type of game you are going to get from him, but seems that is often the case. A lot of the defensive breakdowns we had last night either started or ended with him, a number of senseless turnovers and fouls, and he grabbed 1 rebound in 35 minutes. Lastly he’s 31.8% from 3 on the season, which should be enough to deter some of his shot selection. But we are 23 games into the season, and if you take away 3 games where he was to his credit 13-17 from 3 (almost 77%) he is 12-46 (26%). He is shooting a solid 45% from the floor overall, which means his 2pt % is even better, all the more reason for him to dial back some of perimeter attempts.
beast of the east
Active member
The problem is that Xavier played relatively poorly and kept us in the game, but without exception every time we had an opportunity to make it really interesting late, we flubbed it. Xavier gave us multiple chances, too. Here are some of the bright spots: Owens and Willams worked hard under the boards and fought for rebounds. Ponds showed he can take anyone to the hole regardless of height difference - maybe going left is a big asset. Mussini can hit open shots with very little room, but very little else.
Xavier went dead for long stretches, but we never really got on a roll and challenged them. A smallish MSG group seemed bigger because they didn't sell tix in the 200s and they didn't sell tix in the upper ones behind one basket. Still the crowd tried to help the team but our guys didn't respond when we had chances.
This was a game where you could be fooled by the final score. We didn't play well last night and would have lost to nearly all big east teams with that performance.
Xavier recap:http://www.bigeastboards.com/