Musketeer Madness Musings…

 

Courtesy cincinnati.com

Got a chance to check out Musketeer Madness this past Saturday with two of my chums.  Was definitely a good time, though ya can’t really garner much from a team scrimmage.

The best part of the Madness is not so much the event itself but the anticipation it produces for the damn season to finally almost be underway.  After not being in the beautiful Cintas Center for so long it feels like reconnecting with an old friend.

The highlights of the event for me were Brad Redford making 20 threes in one minute and learning a member of the women’s team has the name Special Jennings.  The dunk contest thankfully didn’t last too long, but did show the great hops of one Mark Lyons.  Was nice to see Aaron Williams there as one of the judges as well.

As most of you no doubt know, we now have banners hanging from the rafters that acknowledge past accomplishments instead of them hanging on the wall above the student section.   Said wall is now painted blue.  Although I am hoping that is not the finished product.  I love the blue, but the wall looks barren without the banners.  Hopefully a couple X’s will find their way over to the wall.  My vote would be for a large running man logo.  But that’s just me.

I was a bit surprised Chris Mack didn’t give a short speech to address the fans.  (The lower bowl was about full to capacity, so I’m assuming that would be about 5,000 fans in attendance)   Although I must say it is a nice contrast to Kentucky’s midnight madness where John Calipari looked like a dictator addressing his masses.  Then again, I’m always ready to hate on UK.

All in all though, I would rate the event a success.  It fueled my appetite for Xavier basketball that much more and I reckon that’s the goal of Musketeer Madness to begin with.  Put on a good show and get the fans amped for the upcoming season.

 

Non-Conference Schedule Released

Xavier officially released the non-conference portion of the schedule today and boy will this be an exciting season for our Muskies.  Marquette (1st round of Old Spice Classic), Kansas State, Butler, Cincinnati, Florida, LSU, Wake Forest and either Creighton or Michigan (per the 2nd round of the Old Spice Classic) round out the best match-ups for us fans to look forward to.

This non-conference schedule has to be one of the toughest in the country.  Clearly, there is a bit of unknown with first year head coach Chris Mack.  And much like last year surely there will be at least a couple setbacks.  So it will be interesting to see how Mack and the players react to those potential situations.  But I must admit I am not terribly worried about this.  And besides, today is not the day for that type of speculation.

Now that we have actual teams and dates to look forward to we, or maybe just me, can finally start to look forward to the upcoming season a scant three months away.  What with $ean Miller leaving and having to endure the ensuing coaching change and the bizarre tale of Jordan Crawford’s dunk (Thanks for the free pub Lebron!) this off-season has definitely been memorable.  Some good like the commitments of  Darwin Davis and Jay Canty and one big bad with Miller going to Arizona.  But in the end, if he didn’t wanna stay, then good riddance.

It’s hard not to feel anything but optimism with the direction this program continues to take.  The year in and year out ambition of our non-conference schedules continues to prove to the country that Xavier will not mess around and we are to be taken seriously as a true national player in college basketball.

All hail Mike Bobinski and let’s go X!

Addressing the haters….

One of the weird things about being a Xavier fan is the apparent fact that we get more love from the national media than the local media.  I listened to Lance McAlister yesterday via the podcast and he could not believe how much backlash there was towards our success.  Which in and of itself is not surprising since Xavier has a decidedly small minority of fans in Cincinnati.  And I don’t expect UC fans to jump on the bandwagon, because I would never root for UC under any circumstances as well.  

It’s the rationale that drives me insane in the haters drive to belittle us.  Since we beat a 13 and a 12 seed that seems to somehow diminish our accomplishment of getting to the Sweet 16.  

I would imagine I speak for all Muskie fans when I say, “Sorry I’m not sorry.  No really, I apologize for our highly successful non-conference results and winning the conference title to EARN a 4 seed.  And I’m sorry Wisconsin didn’t bow down to Florida State after everyone and their brother picked the ‘Noles to get into the Sweet 16.  And I’m REALLY sorry we then had the audacity to beat the Badgers and reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.”

Ugh, why do I care so much?  

But ya know what?  This is one of the reasons I love Xavier.  There is something about having a small but very passionate and smart fan base that appeals to me in a very large way.  And X does not recruit players who want the attention.  We recruit players that want to WIN, period.  And that is more than evident from the quotes and demeanor of this and past year’s teams.  This was a quote from Derrick Brown I found off of Lance’s blog.  

“You can’t explain it to the outside world because they’re not in here, they don’t understand, People might think that it’s about stats and yadda yadda yadda, but we all care about each other and we got the job done. We’re going to the Sweet 16, baby!”

That pretty sums it up for this Xavier fan.  I doubt there are too many players around the country that think this way about their program and team.

And to all the haters I say, “Meh.”  

Tomorrow, we shall delve into the world of Pittsburgh basketball and our perception of how to pull off the upset.

Let’s go X!

Sweet… Pitt it is.

XU has advanced to their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance for the first time ever to face off against Coach Miller’s Alma Mater Pittsburgh,  and I couldn’t be drunker happier.  The general discussion with Mr. Golfitup and I before the game was that this was going to be one of those first-to-sixty games, and this was exactly the case as XU won 60-49.

Xavier was the team to reach it first, and they did so with suffocating defense on the other end.  There was spread out scoring (signature Sean Miller coaching), big-time plays from just about everybody (except for Brad Redford’s 7-minute One Trillion), and did I mention The Muskies played with suffocating defense?  Well they did.  Wisconsin only shot 3-20 behind the 3-point arc, and only shot 28% total from the field. The biggest defensive play to me was a HUGE block by Kenny Frease all the way out to the 3-point line with about 7 minutes left.  He extended out to a guard and threw a shot back that could have tied this game, where every point was so important until X was finally able to pull away with 2 or 3 minutes to go.  But that isn’t meant to take anything away from the D the rest of the team played.  It was a thing of beauty.

Dante was a pain im the Badger Ass, Jamel’s 18 minutes included some of the biggest momentum plays of the game, Kenny had his best all-around game despite still strugling from the free throw line, and I drank Budweiser.  The thing that shocks me is that some things that I thought would be our Achilles  Heel in the tournament, especially in a back-and-forth close game like this did not spell our demise.

The Badgers shot about 13% better than us from the line with the help of some odd foul calls in the first half, and they only had 7 TO’s compared to our 14.  But it seemed as if every Wisconsin possession went down to the last 3 seconds of the shot clock before a bad shot was forced up or, you know, the occasional make.  Their epically slow style just appeared to fall right into the pack-line trap as they could hardly get anything by us,  and our Muskies had just a little more than enough offense to advance to the Sweet 16… again, bitches.

Now I get to nervously watch another huge game on Thursday, but until then, I will celebrate.  And I wonder how many times we will get to see this until and during our game against Pitt.  SEND IT IN JAMEL!!!

***also, did anyone else notice D Brown in the post-game interview say that they weren’t going to let CJ and BJ play their last games?  As in this wouldnt have been his last anyways?  I liked the way that sounded…

No need to panic

When the schedule came out a few months back one three game stretch clearly stood out above the rest.   UC, Duke and Butler presented a great challenge and I think it’s fair to say that most of us Muskie fans would have taken a 2-1 mark in those three games and been happy with it.  But something happened between now and then.  We won every game and got ranked 7th in the country.  Our expectations went through the roof.  Fast forward to yesterday and we saw those same expectations come crashing back down to Earth.

Like Sean Miller said, lots of lessons were learned today.  I think it’s possible the boys came out too amped up for the game.  Probably were just a little too on edge for a game that Duke is all too familiar with.  Clark Kellogg made a good point saying Duke knows exactly how to tow that line between intensity and execution.  And boy did it show Sunday afternoon.  Hopefully it’s a good thing that Tuesday’s game against Butler comes only three days later.  Less time to slouch and the immediate need to refocus for a very good Butler team. 

Now don’t get me wrong we still have the potential for one of the best seasons in Xavier history.  And in the immortal words of that dude in Forrest Gump, “Shit Happens.”  There is still plenty of season left and the need to improve is always there, no matter how good a team you have.  And let’s not forget that it wasn’t even a month ago that Coach was saying how our offense is a work in progress.  And while it has been progressing quite nicely the past month, there is obviously still room for improvement.  And games are needed to get better because practice can only do so much.  Ya gotta put it all on the line from time to time.  Alright I’m rambling, but the point is this.  

There is still PLENTY of room for optimism about this season and the program in general.  So let us not fret Muskie fans.  We still have way too much to be thankful for.  Let’s take out our anger on the Butler generic nicknames.

I am never gonna get tired of this!

(Cincinnati.com)

Jason Love and Dante Jackson are great American heroes!  

Ledgewood will have a complete rundown of our experience at the Crosstown Shootout in a day or two after he sorts out camera issues.  (We have plenty of pics)  

In the meantime, let’s bask in the glory that is being Kings of the Queen City for another year!  

Let’s go X!

You Know it! Puerto Rico Tip-Off Champs!

(AP/Andres Leighton)

So yeah, 5-0, ranked 16th in the AP and 20th in the Coaches’ Poll, Puerto Rico Tip-Off Champs, and two tickets to the Crosstown Shootout were just purchased so Ledgewood and I can attend the game on December 13th. All in all, a great day and weekend to be a Musketeer fan!

It’s hard not to feel anything but very optimistic about the rest of the season. Two solid wins and one great win this early in the season with games still to come against UC, Duke, LSU, Butler, Auburn and Virginia mean we have the opportunity to put together a very special non-conference resume for the selection committee come March.

It was said during one the early games in Puerto Rico that Sean had the team watch the last five minutes of the loss to Tennessee from last year. The point of it being to show just how tough you have to be as a team in order to win games that go down to the wire. I think it’s safe to say this was a good motivational ploy by Sean to get the team in the right mindset. Sure, it took a little bit of luck with Dante’s last second shot, but it was readily apparent the toughness this team possesses and it can only mean good things for the future.

How about Kenny talking some trash? That was great. He is not backing down from anyone. Methinks we have a true point guard for the next four years in Mr. Tutu. 20-20 from the foul line from the tournament?! That’s just good stuff. Always nice when the guy handling the ball late in games is also your best free throw shooter. Also, it didn’t take too long for us Muskie fans to not be afraid of full-court pressure. Good times all around!

We have been (or maybe just me) a little hard on CJ for his turnovers but the leadership and toughness he brings to the table outweigh the negatives in his game. He is simply not afraid to go in amongst the big boys and more times than not he succeeds. Obviously, this rubs off on the rest of the team. We would not have won this tournament without him and he more than deserves the tournament MVP trophy.

Just imagine what this team will look like when our half-court offense rounds into shape like it did last year. I would venture to guess that will happen some time around the start of conference play. That should be a scary thought for the rest of the A-10. Our defense is already being executed at a very high level. It’s just like the old saying, “offense comes and goes, but defense can’t.” Truth.com on that one.

We shall return later in the week with not so polite words for our neighbors in Oxford.

Let’s go X!

THANK YOU DANTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It’s a celebration!

(AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

 

May have to do a couple shots of tequila in honor of this victory…….

And here’s the link to Joe and Byron’s call of the game winning shot.

I Had an Awesome Time

Well the Musketeers are 1-0. I made the trip down to the Queen City with my family for my dad’s birthday to watch the guardians of the king take on the gigantic elephants. After somewhere between a few and a lot of blue beers from Ryan’s Pub, I was ready for the game. Watching the boys play IPFW could only show us so much, so here is what i took from the game:

• Findlay is better than IPFW
• Kenny Frease is big. Very big.
• McClean and Brown will be back and forth highlight reels
• Not only can Redford shoot, but he has very good basketball IQ
• XU’s defense may just be as good as it was last year
• We need to get better at the charity stripe…a higher field goal % than free throw %… remember how good Stan and Drew were from the line?

Kenny Frease is as good as advertised. I don’t think anyone in the Atlantic 10 will be able to contain him in the post. And on D, it seemed like anytime the ball was shot anywhere near him never had a chance. I heard a lot of chatter about him starting before too long, but I think last year showed us that it doesn’t matter where he is at the opening tip (Josh Duncan). It was just so exciting to see such a monster in the home whites. In just 20 minutes, he picked up 12 points, 7 boards, and three blocks. Also, I’m pretty sure he ate someone.

Again, not much to take away from an ass-whoopin’ ‘cept a W, but it is good to see that we were just too much for IPFW. Tomorrow, The Musketeers battle Toledo, who failed to upset No. 19 Florida on Friday. At least this time it won’t take me until 2:30 am to find someone’s coffee table to sleep on…

11/17: Toledo Rockets at Xavier Musketeers – 7:30 tip

Thoughts On the New Three-Point Line

 

As we all know, the three-point line is being moved back one foot to 20’9” this season. Frankly, this move needed to happen. It just makes sense. Men’s college basketball players were shooting three-pointers from the same distance as 8^th grade girls. That puts it all into perspective for this writer.

Now how will this affect the game in general? Hard to say. Coaches seem to be conflicted on the new three-point line. Ben Howland (ugh) seems to think it will clog up the lane even more because there will be fewer players worthy of taking the three point shot. Whereas Vandy’s Ken Stallings believes spacing will be of bigger importance because there will be more, well, space for players to operate in. Still, in my limited internet research a lot of the coaches interviewed didn’t seem to think the game would change a whole lot or at the very least were resigned to a wait and see approach.

Obviously, our best shooter who will see the most playing time is BJ so I’m not concerned about him. Brad has unlimited range, but it’s still yet to be seen how much playing time he will get. My guess would be more and more as the season goes on. Dante and Derrick will probably only shoot threes when they have enough time to clearly set their feet and step into the shot. And to be honest, I have no idea how good of three point shooters Brian Walsh, Jamel McLean, Terrell, and Kenny are.

I’ve written before about this topic, but it bears repeating with the season so close to starting. Having a guy like Kenny Frease come into the program could mean even more with the advent of the new three-point line because of the aforementioned spacing. With more space to operate in, it will (hopefully) mean fewer double teams in the post and make ball movement perhaps more important than it already is. The kick out to open three point shooters should become even more of a threat should teams decide to double team the post because that one foot in distance gives the shooter that much more space in which to get off his shot. And in the understatement of the year, having Brad Redford will be a nice commodity for this new distance.

 

And just because I enjoy posting and watching this video so much…..

Let the record show that I think the new three-point line will be good for the game and not allow inferior teams to just adopt a bombs away approach in the hopes of keeping the game close. The three-point line will still be a great weapon, but for not as many players and teams.

We as X fans already trust Sean Miller as much as can be humanly possible. Therefore, I don’t anticipate the new three-point line to be a problem for the Musketeers this season. We have too many good players and too great of a coaching staff.

 

Let’s go X!