Early thoughts on Xavier

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I'm really pleased to be playing in Milwaukee and throwing down a couple of brews and have been on and off the phone since the pairings were finally released on that dreadfully long show. I may need to head on over to my old stomping grounds to watch the Gophers play on my alma mater's home court. Xavier and Pittsburgh are both familiar to me, and I have seen Marquette play both of them this season.

No time for anything very meaningful now, but some thoughts on Xavier:

The then-underdog, now 6-seed Marquette beat them by 10?.. 71-61?... in Orlando during the Old Spice tourney in November.

There are two guys to know a lot about, but there's probably another 5 that can contribute well on any given night... MU wasn't the only Jesuit school that was supposed to be a little down this year... one of Xavier's question marks would be their sophomore guard Jordan Crawford...

Jordan Crawford... he's a sophomore eligibility wise, after sitting out last year. He bolted from II, II after Crean arrived. He averages about 20 points, 5 boards and 3 assists... standing about 6'4", he may play next level, but probably not an impact player. If I put my mean hat on, he's a bit of a ball hog, I can guarantee you'll see him shoot and sometimes he is on. Sometimes he's not. If you love team guys that look to hit their buddies for an open shot.. not your guy. He will throw it up. He could win or lose this game for Xavier. Crawford is the kid that 'posterized' LeBron this past summer.

You may remember him from some of the 2007-08 games vs. Indiana, when he took on the likes of DJ, Westbrook and Blake (including Blake's game winner in Indianapolis!).
Game 1 that year: Indiana wins 65-60 at Williams, Crawford has his best performances vs. Minn ... 16 points, 6 boards, 1 assist.

Game 2.. II, II hanldes MN easily at Indiana... 7 points, 2 boards.

Game 3.. 59-58 Gophers!! 9 points, 6 boards.

Crawford knows what it feels like to get daggered by the Gophers, and we need to let him feel it again.

The other guy I really like.. Jason Love. 6'9 260 pounds or so.. he's just worked every year. Grew up with a single parent - his dad. Numbers have continually increased over the years... 12 points per game, almost 9 boards. Had 21 points and 19 boards against Marquette this year!! If you don't have a physical presence, he can do big damage. This is where I really love having Colton playing how he has been playing, along with Ralph.

OK.. that's the quick babble for now - Crawford and Love... if Crawford heats up, look out. Iverson and Sampson need to get ready to bring it to J Love.
 






+ Adjusted Tempo.. almost 71, or 4 higher for Xavier.

+ Only loss to a non-Tourney team was.. Dayton? Wow.

+ Common opponents.. I think?.. only Butler. Xavier lost by 1 69-68 @ Butler.. we beat Butler on a neutral court. But... Xavier would tell you their loss to Butler was BS.. one of the more strange timeclock issues I've seen.. check out Coach Mack of Xavier:

ESPN Clip of Butler / Xavier game
 

Isn't Jordan Joe Crawford's brother? ( former Kentucky player for Tubby )
 

we've got visitors

http://www.xavierhoops.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14302

"And now a little ammunition from their board:

"Xavier plays very dirty and is full of guys with worse attitudes than Westbrook, and their coach might as well be Westbrook too. Remember Jordan Crawford from IU/Fraud U. He is their leading scorer."

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/...ad.php?t=16239

Is he a bigger idiot than asshole, a bigger asshole than idiot, or is he simply dumb for being so uninformed, yet capable of making such a post?

Anyone old enough to remember what happened to an Ohio State player during a Minn. basketball game at their place? Luke who (in '72)?"
 

Xavier fan here.

For the best civil discussion of XU basketball, I'd definitely recommend www.xavierhoops.com

Really excited for another NCAA tournament for my Muskies, but as is every game in the big dance, Minnesota will certainly be tough.
 



GW, you should do a pre-game analysis on this one. :) Good info.
 

Rex said:
http://www.xavierhoops.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14302

"And now a little ammunition from their board:

"Xavier plays very dirty and is full of guys with worse attitudes than Westbrook, and their coach might as well be Westbrook too. Remember Jordan Crawford from IU/Fraud U. He is their leading scorer."

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/...ad.php?t=16239

Is he a bigger idiot than asshole, a bigger asshole than idiot, or is he simply dumb for being so uninformed, yet capable of making such a post?

Anyone old enough to remember what happened to an Ohio State player during a Minn. basketball game at their place? Luke who (in '72)?"
Click to expand...

Anyone remember Xavier trying to attack the scorers table against Butler?
 

Not that it makes it any better but they were actually attacking a fans who were throwing stuff at them. Now that i say it sounds worse, and Terrell Hollaway also ripped the water fountain out of the locker room.
 

Xavier really isn't that good. I saw them play and they remind me of Depaul from the Big East
 




I actually woudn't be surprised at all if you beat us, but for probably one of the last teams in you guys are a little cocky
 

xavier2 said:
Not that it makes it any better but they were actually attacking a fans who were throwing stuff at them. Now that i say it sounds worse, and Terrell Hollaway also ripped the water fountain out of the locker room.
Click to expand...

Completely undisciplined. If the Gophers get out to a good start, the X will crumble.
 


xavier2 said:
Undisciplined yes, but untalented NO
Click to expand...

Didn't read where they said they were untalented. Did I miss something?

And you say we are being cocky about our team on our board? Really? Do you expect us to believe our team can't beat Xavier?
 

CremeX said:
Xavier really isn't that good. I saw them play and they remind me of Depaul from the Big East
Click to expand...

Most unintelligent post ever in the history of message boards. Xavier has done serious damage in the tournament for the last seven years.
 

CremeXIsJealous said:
Most unintelligent post ever in the history of message boards. Xavier has done serious damage in the tournament for the last seven years.
Click to expand...

Since this is CremeX's 3rd ever post they are more than likely a troll.
 

The assessment of X above is pretty good but soph point guard Terrell Holloway is a big key for X. He gets the big guys involved and drives to the hole which means many trips to the FT line. Freshman guard Mark Lyons is a little more athletic than Holloway and loves to attack the glass as well. When X is playing well juniors 6-8 Jamel McClean and 6-5 Dante Jackson are playing their roles. McClean is 6-8 230 and plays the weak side when center Jason Love is on the post. McClean can block shots and can finish above the rim around the goal. He has no range and is an average FT shooter. Jackson ran the point last year while Holloway was hurt. Jackson is a streaky perimeter shooter and brings alot of energy on defense. Look for Tubby to try and force Jackson to turn the ball over whenever possible as his ball handling skills can struggle at times. As for Crawford he has matured greatly since the Orlando trip and the losses to Baylor and Marquette. He hunted shots all week down there. Now he has a comfort zone with his team mates. Crawford as you all know can really finish in traffic and in the open court. His three point shot has really improved. 7-0 265 soph Kenny Frease backs up Love at center. You'll see all of his best moves are over his left shoulder on the right block. He's working on a lefty baby hook. He's not the rebounder that Love is yet. Jason is a solid rebounder and can block shots since he goes up lefthanded. 6-7 junior Andrew Taylor is a role player off the bench and plays fundamental ball near the glass. Key for X..perimeter defense...they can give up alot of threes at times, foul trouble in the post, and overall guard play. If X is going to the FT line alot then that means Holloway and Crawford are having their way. I watched Minn in the B-10 Tourney and they seem to play with alot of emotion. We all know Tubby around Southern Ohio being just 90 miles from UK.
 

xavier2 said:
I actually woudn't be surprised at all if you beat us, but for probably one of the last teams in you guys are a little cocky
Click to expand...

How did you guys get a 6 seed? I saw you play on TV a couple of times and all I saw was defense, you guys can't shoot :cool:
 

XU1990 said:
The assessment of X above is pretty good but soph point guard Terrell Holloway is a big key for X. He gets the big guys involved and drives to the hole which means many trips to the FT line. Freshman guard Mark Lyons is a little more athletic than Holloway and loves to attack the glass as well. When X is playing well juniors 6-8 Jamel McClean and 6-5 Dante Jackson are playing their roles. McClean is 6-8 230 and plays the weak side when center Jason Love is on the post. McClean can block shots and can finish above the rim around the goal. He has no range and is an average FT shooter. Jackson ran the point last year while Holloway was hurt. Jackson is a streaky perimeter shooter and brings alot of energy on defense. Look for Tubby to try and force Jackson to turn the ball over whenever possible as his ball handling skills can struggle at times. As for Crawford he has matured greatly since the Orlando trip and the losses to Baylor and Marquette. He hunted shots all week down there. Now he has a comfort zone with his team mates. Crawford as you all know can really finish in traffic and in the open court. His three point shot has really improved. 7-0 265 soph Kenny Frease backs up Love at center. You'll see all of his best moves are over his left shoulder on the right block. He's working on a lefty baby hook. He's not the rebounder that Love is yet. Jason is a solid rebounder and can block shots since he goes up lefthanded. 6-7 junior Andrew Taylor is a role player off the bench and plays fundamental ball near the glass. Key for X..perimeter defense...they can give up alot of threes at times, foul trouble in the post, and overall guard play. If X is going to the FT line alot then that means Holloway and Crawford are having their way. I watched Minn in the B-10 Tourney and they seem to play with alot of emotion. We all know Tubby around Southern Ohio being just 90 miles from UK.
Click to expand...

Thanks for some insight into Xavier. See you in Milwaukee!
 

CremeXIsJealous said:
Most unintelligent post ever in the history of message boards. Xavier has done serious damage in the tournament for the last seven years.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should see that he joined today as has 3 posts.

Can't you guys do this over on the Xavier boards??
 

Also yes Xavier did serious damage.... when they had Derrick Brown, Josh Duncan and Drew Lavender. Without those players, they're just an OK team. Nothing special. I'm not trying to troll, I'm just being honest. You guys are more akin to a 13 seed
 

X fans are more insufferable than Buckeye fans, and that is saying something.
 

XU1990 said:
The assessment of X above is pretty good but soph point guard Terrell Holloway is a big key for X. He gets the big guys involved and drives to the hole which means many trips to the FT line. Freshman guard Mark Lyons is a little more athletic than Holloway and loves to attack the glass as well. When X is playing well juniors 6-8 Jamel McClean and 6-5 Dante Jackson are playing their roles. McClean is 6-8 230 and plays the weak side when center Jason Love is on the post. McClean can block shots and can finish above the rim around the goal. He has no range and is an average FT shooter. Jackson ran the point last year while Holloway was hurt. Jackson is a streaky perimeter shooter and brings alot of energy on defense. Look for Tubby to try and force Jackson to turn the ball over whenever possible as his ball handling skills can struggle at times. As for Crawford he has matured greatly since the Orlando trip and the losses to Baylor and Marquette. He hunted shots all week down there. Now he has a comfort zone with his team mates. Crawford as you all know can really finish in traffic and in the open court. His three point shot has really improved. 7-0 265 soph Kenny Frease backs up Love at center. You'll see all of his best moves are over his left shoulder on the right block. He's working on a lefty baby hook. He's not the rebounder that Love is yet. Jason is a solid rebounder and can block shots since he goes up lefthanded. 6-7 junior Andrew Taylor is a role player off the bench and plays fundamental ball near the glass. Key for X..perimeter defense...they can give up alot of threes at times, foul trouble in the post, and overall guard play. If X is going to the FT line alot then that means Holloway and Crawford are having their way. I watched Minn in the B-10 Tourney and they seem to play with alot of emotion. We all know Tubby around Southern Ohio being just 90 miles from UK.
Click to expand...

Frease was probably headed to UK to play for Tubby until he changed jobs (for Minnesota).

Tubby also recruited Dante Jackson but DJ had little interest in return.
 

Pomeroy percentages say...things are tight in the 6/11 matchups:

Xavier over Minnesota 52%
Marquette over Washington 51%
Tennessee over SDSU 52%
and.. one 11 seed ODU over Notre Dame 53%
 

xavier2 said:
I actually woudn't be surprised at all if you beat us, but for probably one of the last teams in you guys are a little cocky
Click to expand...

In our defense, a couple of weeks ago we did not think we had much of a chance to go dancing. We have played some great games against good teams. Given our play as of late, it is not unreasonable to think we could pull a couple upsets in the tournament. Factor in our 'homer shades' and we could seem a little cocky. Xavier deserves to be favored, but I will not be surprised to see us win, either.
 

I sincerely apologize to the Gofer fans who are now going to be subjected to the insanity that Xavier fans have been subjected to by certain dayton and/or Cincy fans. They will register as if they are Xavier fans, then flip and start bashing on X. It's their (or his, whatever) Modus operandi.

I am looking forward to a good, clean game against a worthy opponent. If the number crunchers have it right, it should be a tight one. Good luck.
 

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