EricLA
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- Aug 24, 2011
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Don't let the record fool you - Xavier has played pretty much no one this year (wins over Detroit Mercy, Wofford and Indiana State and a loss to Valpo), and was picked 9th out of 11 teams in the preseason big east. They aren't as bad as Georgetown or Providence, but the bottom of the big east in general is pretty bad.
Keep in Mind Creighton and Seton Hall were preseason 5 and 6, and we beat them by 33 and 27. I will honestly be disappointed if this is not a 40 point blowout or more.
I think most would agree that we will know more about this team after their first 5 games. they are playing them in rapid succession with only a day or 2 in between for tweaks for the next game. For Xavier, they have 2 days off, a luxury for this week!
Baby steps this season. I hope Paige bounces back and has a better game. You know the competitive fire burns super hot in her belly, and you know she was not happy with her performance against Creighton. Geno has commented on her steady demeanor - not too high, not too low, and while I don't expect a triple double from her, It will be really interesting to see how she bounces back from a game where everyone, including herself, probably thinks was sub-par. Xavier's starting PG is tiny - Dangerfield tiny - 5'4". I'm guessing she's quick. Could be a problem for Paige.
We will see if Olivia can build. She didn't miss a shot last game, but surprisingly few rebounds. Xavier has some decent size but their starting center is 6'2", and their 2 big kids (over 6'4") don't get much PT or score much. And let's be fair to Olivia - she's always going to be more of a finesse player. Aaliyah is a strong body banger. You are never going to see Olivia with the kind of strength of physicality of Aaliyah, so talking or complaining about it every week won't change anything. For her, I love how she scores in a variety of ways. She hit 2 shots from deep - one a deep 2 and 1 a 3-point shot. If she can use her variety of post moves and also have a good jumper, it makes it that much harder to guard her.
Christyn has been good at everything except scoring, even if that's what everyone looks at first (missed layups, missed wide open shots). I don't expect that to change any time soon. If anyone needs to work on her shot after the game, it's her. She was such a scorer in high school, it's kind of mystifying that as a junior, she misses so many open shots. Will they eventually start falling for her, or will she just continue with more of the same? Obviously I'd like to see more shots drop and for people to see why she was the #1 recruit coming out of HS.
Some have been a bit down on Anna, but if you look at the stats, both she and Evina do a lot of other things, and it's pretty clear if you focus on them and watch when they play. I'd definitely like to see each of them score a bit more - Anna to average closer to 10 PPG (she's at 8) and Evina in the 7-8 PPG range (she's at 5). That's literally 1 more made shot per game. They are 3'd and 4th on the team in minutes played so they must be doing something right.
Aaliyah (along with Paige) took a step back last game, but that's expected for freshmen. We will see how she responds. Hopefully Mir is out of the doghouse. Aubrey had a nice game vs. Creighton. Build on that! And NO letup in the 4th quarter please, no matter who is in the game. we got the lead up to 40 vs. Creighton and a barrage of 3's closed the gap.
Creighton actually had open 3 point shots all game long. we were lucky they missed so many. Mir would be a help on defending the 3 point line... at least I think she would be.
Keep in Mind Creighton and Seton Hall were preseason 5 and 6, and we beat them by 33 and 27. I will honestly be disappointed if this is not a 40 point blowout or more.
I think most would agree that we will know more about this team after their first 5 games. they are playing them in rapid succession with only a day or 2 in between for tweaks for the next game. For Xavier, they have 2 days off, a luxury for this week!
Baby steps this season. I hope Paige bounces back and has a better game. You know the competitive fire burns super hot in her belly, and you know she was not happy with her performance against Creighton. Geno has commented on her steady demeanor - not too high, not too low, and while I don't expect a triple double from her, It will be really interesting to see how she bounces back from a game where everyone, including herself, probably thinks was sub-par. Xavier's starting PG is tiny - Dangerfield tiny - 5'4". I'm guessing she's quick. Could be a problem for Paige.
We will see if Olivia can build. She didn't miss a shot last game, but surprisingly few rebounds. Xavier has some decent size but their starting center is 6'2", and their 2 big kids (over 6'4") don't get much PT or score much. And let's be fair to Olivia - she's always going to be more of a finesse player. Aaliyah is a strong body banger. You are never going to see Olivia with the kind of strength of physicality of Aaliyah, so talking or complaining about it every week won't change anything. For her, I love how she scores in a variety of ways. She hit 2 shots from deep - one a deep 2 and 1 a 3-point shot. If she can use her variety of post moves and also have a good jumper, it makes it that much harder to guard her.
Christyn has been good at everything except scoring, even if that's what everyone looks at first (missed layups, missed wide open shots). I don't expect that to change any time soon. If anyone needs to work on her shot after the game, it's her. She was such a scorer in high school, it's kind of mystifying that as a junior, she misses so many open shots. Will they eventually start falling for her, or will she just continue with more of the same? Obviously I'd like to see more shots drop and for people to see why she was the #1 recruit coming out of HS.
Some have been a bit down on Anna, but if you look at the stats, both she and Evina do a lot of other things, and it's pretty clear if you focus on them and watch when they play. I'd definitely like to see each of them score a bit more - Anna to average closer to 10 PPG (she's at 8) and Evina in the 7-8 PPG range (she's at 5). That's literally 1 more made shot per game. They are 3'd and 4th on the team in minutes played so they must be doing something right.
Aaliyah (along with Paige) took a step back last game, but that's expected for freshmen. We will see how she responds. Hopefully Mir is out of the doghouse. Aubrey had a nice game vs. Creighton. Build on that! And NO letup in the 4th quarter please, no matter who is in the game. we got the lead up to 40 vs. Creighton and a barrage of 3's closed the gap.
Creighton actually had open 3 point shots all game long. we were lucky they missed so many. Mir would be a help on defending the 3 point line... at least I think she would be.
