Xavier Post Game Thread

[ctchamps]

He played great - also created into kickouts. I’d say the one silver lining in this game, along with Solo’s rebounding(where did that come from?!?).

I’ll say this with Solo, while his defense remains a catastrophe, you do see him intentionally working on the other gaps in his game (taking ball to hoop, rebounding), which is nice to see. Meanwhile I have no idea what Stew and Ross are working on.

Still no love for Samson? I would have given him the game ball if we had won.

 

[CTBasketball]

You guys all laugh at me, but the key to this season is getting Mahaney playing well.

Liam will solve our woes when he returns, but to get to the next level we need Mahaney.

 

[homunculus]

People are understandably doom and gloom because it was a loss but again, we showed real toughness in a very hostile environment against yet another solid team geared up for us. We had a chance but didn’t execute in crunch time again. Solo, Samson and Aidan were great. Our defense was actually pretty good overall. Alex was disappointing, I hope it’s just a slump and not a lingering injury.

We may have 6 losses but 5 of them were by a total of 14 points and 3 of them were without our best player. Very literally all but Dayton were were essentially coin flips at the end. That builds teams for March, win or lose. Yes our seed will not be as great at this point but if McNeeley comes back soon as something resembling his old self, by March we are still a second weekend team with him.

 

[superjohn]

You guys all laugh at me, but the key to this season is getting Mahaney playing well.

Liam will solve our woes when he returns, but to get to the next level we need Mahaney.

We can't be relying on Mahaney, he's a role player and hasn't been a consistent one. If Liam is back and totally healthy we should have a scoring attack of Liam, Solo, AK, and Tarris. Saving this season and being a postseason threat will depend on Liam back doing what he does, AK back to his efficient role, and getting the ball down to Tarris again on the block. Right now all we've got out of that equation that's clicking is Solo.

The defense is largely what it is at this point, it should improve a little when Liam gets back but we're going to have to outscore teams.

 

[YellowMamba]

I don’t understand why we don’t play zone on some possessions. Just don’t get it.

Because giving up a two is better than giving up a wide open 3

 

[housekeys]

You guys all laugh at me, but the key to this season is getting Mahaney playing well.

Liam will solve our woes when he returns, but to get to the next level we need Mahaney.

I agree with this. It may not happen. But if, big if, Mahaney starts to play the way Dan Hurley expected him to play, UConn will be on another level. Although you can say the same about Ross and Stewart, I guess. Mahaney is key, IMHO.

 

[alphasigko]

Add Samson to the positive note. He's string along a few games now where he's playing well.

FIFY

 

[CTBasketball]

We can't be relying on Mahaney, he's a role player and hasn't been a consistent one. If Liam is back and totally healthy we should have a scoring attack of Liam, Solo, AK, and Tarris. Saving this season and being a postseason threat will depend on Liam back doing what he does, AK back to his efficient role, and getting the ball down to Tarris again on the block. Right now all we've got out of that equation that's clicking is Solo.

The defense is largely what it is at this point, it should improve a little when Liam gets back but we're going to have to outscore teams.

Getting Mahaney playing well reduce Diarra’s minutes, which needs to happen to have everyone be at their peak effectiveness.

 

[RuffRuff]

We can't be relying on Mahaney, he's a role player and hasn't been a consistent one. If Liam is back and totally healthy we should have a scoring attack of Liam, Solo, AK, and Tarris. Saving this season and being a postseason threat will depend on Liam back doing what he does, AK back to his efficient role, and getting the ball down to Tarris again on the block. Right now all we've got out of that equation that's clicking is Solo.

The defense is largely what it is at this point, it should improve a little when Liam gets back but we're going to have to outscore teams.

We lost a key month with the kid, and it may take a little time until he gets his footing and endurance back, here as we get smacked in the face with the hardest stretch of our conference schedule.

Even with him there is a decent chance we drop 3 of the next 4 and go BE 7-6. It’s not crazy to think we roll into the tourney as a 8-9 seed.

 

[HooperScooper]

The carry was on Solo

Pretty sure Mahaney had one also. One turnover they called a double dribble when the ball stuck to his hip and another was a carry that the announcers were saying they don’t ever call. Solo’s carry was very obvious.

 

[Nick2005]

At this point, play two bigs at all times. Solo needs to take 30 shots a game. Lineup should be Hass, Ball, Mahaney, Samson, and Reed. Singare first off the bench. We don’t have enough guards. Just go big. It is our strength.

 

[ucp990411]

What the hell did Hurley draw up in that timeout....

Plays break down all the time. I am sure the play was not designed to get the ball to Ross. Not even an option.

 

[Hoophound]

You literally have nothing to say this is true. Who were these freshmen he instantly benched for making mistakes.

Just cause you say something clever and are condescending doesn’t make you right. With how your replies to my post age I’m shocked you keep setting yourself up to look stupid like this.

Calhoun pretty much invented the quick hook. That’s how he taught. The number of names that escaped the quick hook would probably fit on one hand. Ray, Rip, Caron, Emeka….

 

[ucp990411]

Mahaney did give them a lift. That was nice to see. But on the negative side all 3 of those turnovers were brutal. How many times do you see a carry called these days?

It was double dribble and was the correct call

 

[Hoophound]

Hurley recruited Mahaney to be our starting point guard. It was a big miss.

Why would he recruit a shooting guard to be our starting point? I thought Mahaney was recruited to be a combo guard and backup Hassan and Solo.

 

[freshler40]

NO ONE on this team hunts for a shot. 10-12 passes per possession for nothing, just to put up a contested shot with 3 seconds on the shot clock.

I wish Danny would put a max attempt on passes per possession. 5-6 passes and a shot, we throw the ball around and our offense looks crazy. WOW look at all that running and all those screens and all those cuts, just to put up a crappy shot.

So true, unfortunately.

 

[CT2SC]

We lost a key month with the kid, and it may take a little time until he gets his footing and endurance back, here as we get smacked in the face with the hardest stretch of our conference schedule.

Even with him there is a decent chance we drop 3 of the next 4 and go BE 7-6. It’s not crazy to think we roll into the tourney as a 8-9 seed.

I’m not worried about seeding I just want a bid at this point. If we lose 3 of the next 4 we are sitting at 9 losses and still have games with Marquette, St John’s, @ Providence, Nova, and the BET. Not hard to envision 12 losses. Does that get us in?

 

[ucp990411]

I thought this was a great game for us. I know people are complaining, but we almost won. Off night from Solo and AK. With Liam we win easily. As usual the refs were against us pretty clearly especially once we got to the second half. A call or two made fairly and we win. I think it was very encouraging to see Aiden emerge. If we can rely on him to play like this the rest of the way, we will be so much more dangerous. Overall a positive outcome in a tough road game with the refs stacked against us per usual. Can’t complain.

Please stop the complaining about the officials. Thought they were pretty good last night. We play defense with our arms and can’t keep stay in front of a light post.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

It was a deep team on paper, hasn’t panned out that way. Reed, Ross, Stewart, Mahaney, even Karaban are all underperforming against expectations. Team is just so inconsistent and they can’t afford guys having an off night during McNeeley’s absence

a not insignificant part of this board had Stew and Ross going pro soon, so there clearly is some talent evaluation issues both here and potentially with the coaching staff with this roster

 

[freshler40]

Yes, double bigs for parts of the game would be better than playing four on five offensively with Ross. It’s too late to hope that our defense gets better without making some changes. Samson is mobile enough to guard 4s and him being available to help rather than being pushed around under the basket is worth a shot.

Perhaps, except for the foul situation that hangs around our neck.

 

[boog204]

I

Nice strawman. I said he’d be a productive player here and I’m not ready to write him off. Not that he’s been amazing this year or that it’s his first poor performance. Go way back and you’ll see I said the same thing about Isaiah Whaley when he was buried on the bench. Time will tell.

There are flashes but man he’s pretty bad just as much as he’s good. I’m not saying it’s time to write him off but for the life of me I do not understand how people are still making new threads about how he’s “figuring it out” and calling him a shooter. The sample size on him is getting bigger and bigger.

And I think we’re finally clearly seeing how much of a liability he is defensively and why Dan Hurley doesn’t trust him. He’s every bit as bad as Solo but more often than not gives you nothing offensively.

 

[boog204]

Pretty sure I just watched Mahaney create his own shot about 6 or 7 times, leading to all 14 of his points.

That’s fair. He does have that ability when he plays with confidence.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Please stop wasting my time with these stupid examples. Scott Hazelton was a bad player period. He wasn’t a guy who was on a short leash BECAUSE he was a freshman.

Kemba Walker AVERAGED 25 minutes a game.

If you look at that Rutgers full game I posted Marcus Williams was in the game within the last two minutes ON THE ROAD IN THE BIG EAST.

You are literally making stuff up and it’s stupid.

Wait, you dont think JC had a quick hook with young players?

 

[boog204]

"That last possession was regrettable," Hurley said, "and a failure to execute something."

"We were trying to get the ball to Aidan there," Hurley explained. "When they're switching out, the guy has to screen his own man. We were hoping to get that ball to Samson (to kick it out). Besides Solo, with Alex fouled out, in terms of options, we wanted the ball in Aidan's hand. When you're switching, you've got to screen your own man so that Aidan can then get to the ball and get downhill, where he had success."

Johnson wound up hitting Ross on a throwback.

"If that pass is on target, he has a chance to shoot a 3 to win, and maybe we get out of that with a win," Hurley rued. "Frustrating."

Had a chance, but not a good one based on how Ross has shot this season.

It was actually Diarra who made the pass. Watch it again, he short hopped Ross and the pass was behind him. I don’t think Ross would’ve hit the shot, but he kinda had no choice but to try and make a play. Would’ve been nice if he knew the time situation, though.

Also, could we devise a set where our 5 man doesn’t have the ball with ten seconds left on an island desperately looking for someone to pass to?

 

[djct1999]

Maybe time to let Abraham play.

Why? So he can get three fouls in two minutes. Abraham isn’t playing for a reason. The staff, who sees him regularly in practice while you have seen him play maybe once, believes he can’t contribute yet. We all wanted Nowell. We saw how that played out last night. Abraham and Nowell are development guys.

 

[djct1999]

Alex played an okay game but he was nowhere near an All American level or even what a led dog needs to be.

Alex is trying to be someone he is not. Liam returning helps Alex more than anyone.

 

[Mr. French]

Please stop the complaining about the officials. Thought they were pretty good last night. We play defense with our arms and can’t keep stay in front of a light post.

There’s no honor in claiming the refs were good just for the heck of it. They weren’t good, both ways.

 

[yungdowork]

Jayden Ross competes way too hard for the way that some of you guys are talking about him. He has flaws, especially offensively, but he’s in over his head because the roster needs him to be.

He’s probably our best wing defender, generally attacks the glass pretty hard, had some good contests at the rim as help side defender, and didn’t turn the ball over. Obviously he can’t have 40/22/66 shooting splits forever, but the reason he plays is because we need SOMEBODY who can guard. Swain was making a lot of noise in the first half and Ross is a big reason he didn’t continue to.

 

[Chasm64]

Does anyone here know Karaban barely practiced all week because of the ankle issue? Granted he’s been a little off lately but hard to fault him on this particular game for the effort.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Getting Mahaney playing well reduce Diarra’s minutes, which needs to happen to have everyone be at their peak effectiveness.

Yes, what I saw last night gave me hope that AM may be able to contribute in a meaningful way when we reach the point where a loss would end our season.

I also believe that Reed will need to start contributing something of substance on a very consistent basis for us to have a chance.

Last night should have been a great spot for him as he should have had physical advantages over Fremantle or Hunter yet he disappeared. He has regressed over the past couple of weeks and this is a problem.