Tonights game breakdown

[TheLivingLegend]

Yancy - If he stays out of foul trouble could have had a major impact. Second half he seemed tentative, not to pick up that foul. Overal a dissapointment

Mike - what a complete disappointment, the one guy i thought we could look to besides deonta in a big game. Did absolutely nothing well and NO intensity.

Deonta - he needs to be assertive ALL game, instead of just in big moments or in second half of games. Why does he not look to score early on, cause once he heats up, wow.

Steve - Mick said about a month ago or so, he was the most BE ready and im finally starting to agree. He played huge when he was in, why was he taken out?!

Rashad - offensively is a terrible mess, he hesitates on everything he does.

Dion - i like the intensity he brings, if he coulda knocked a few open shots, that would have been hugeeee. but only a freshman, i think hes going to be a SOLID player.

Biggie, Alvin, Wilks - nothing to say, didn't do anything productive.


I understand this post is mostly negative, but this game was horrible and very disappointing.

[Thegreatone]

we got beat by a better team tonight.... lets move on and get to the next game.

[Thegreatone]

What does Alvin do for this team? He is slow and bulky and can only shoot open threes somewhat effective. I think Larry should play more, but what do I know I do trust Mick.

[dp3113]

"If Yancy stays out of foul trouble" is a big if. He has been in foul trouble every game so far this year despite only averaging 18 mins per game this year. As of right now, we have to figure that every game, he is going to run into foul trouble.

Also, Mick saying on his postgame that Mike Williams, a team co-captain, was "deer in headlights" is very discouraging.

[LongTimer]

I hope Yancy now realizes that he is not close to being ready for the NBA. He is not even ready for college basketball yet....especially Big East basketball. He's got the body, but not the head. I think Frease was much more impressive tonight than Yancy. Yancy seemed to be unprepared for the big-time atmosphere.

[joe]

I hope Yancy now realizes that he is not close to being ready for the NBA. He is not even ready for college basketball yet....especially Big East basketball. He's got the body, but not the head. I think Frease was much more impressive tonight than Yancy. Yancy seemed to be unprepared for the big-time atmosphere.


If he doesn't know....let me put it this way.....he knows.<shaking my head> He always knew and so did "others" ....at least others that really and religiously with no agendas or pay raises in the future - know college basketball. Hopefully some of the posters now know. I am not just saying this because of this game either, when I would read the posts about YG and the ones that 'said' they were there and watched him play in high school and summer league ....I don't know...I just kind of thought maybe they saw something I missed, but in the back of my big ole' head I knew different. This is the part I just do not understand. Is there potential? Sure there is. Absolutely- without a doubt. I will leave it at that. I saw him play in three high school games where he played great. But he simply was NEVER GUARDED guys I swear....lol....he now is being denied the ball and as soon as it hits his hands he is being guarded and when he shoots he is actually being guarded by a guy that actually jumps and when YG shoots the ball he is actually being guarded again and not allowed to just simply follow his shot uncontested for a monsterous slam.<shrug> It'll get better.

gregg

[Globe Trotting Cat Fan]

If he doesn't know....let me put it this way.....he knows.<shaking my head> He always knew and so did "others" ....at least others that really and religiously with no agendas or pay raises in the future - know college basketball. Hopefully some of the posters now know. I am not just saying this because of this game either, when I would read the posts about YG and the ones that 'said' they were there and watched him play in high school and summer league ....I don't know...I just kind of thought maybe they saw something I missed, but in the back of my big ole' head I knew different. This is the part I just do not understand. Is there potential? Sure there is. Absolutely- without a doubt. I will leave it at that. I saw him play in three high school games where he played great. But he simply was NEVER GUARDED guys I swear....lol....he now is being denied the ball and as soon as it hits his hands he is being guarded and when he shoots he is actually being guarded by a guy that actually jumps and when YG shoots the ball he is actually being guarded again and not allowed to just simply follow his shot uncontested for a monsterous slam.<shrug> It'll get better.

gregg

Good post Gregg. I am one of those "others" that was actually there (not to be argumentative or caddy, just to make my point, I have tapes and tapes of games that I shot myself).

The one thing that Yancy seems to do, and I believe I have posted it either here or on another board, is play to his level of competition. When guys like Mullins and Samuels and Monroe would go head up with him in high school or on the AAU circuit he would play to their level and often just made them his you know what. And for my money, from what I have seen, he was guarded in high school, often times double and triple teamed. Granted, guys are smaller in high school, but still.

The hope was that tonight he would play "up" to the competition. Obviously, this didn't happen. Lots of reasons? Sure. Will I defend the reasons for tonights game here? Not going to bother since I don't want to cause a bigger stir than what may already exist.

I shall say this. I have been reading on a lot of boards about the refs and the pace of the game and yada yada yada. X whipped us tonight for about 30 of the 40 minutes. All that doesn't fall on one individual it falls on the team. Yancy, being the highly touted freshman, will shoulder allot of criticism. I personally believe that he will use this embarrassment to his betterment down the road. If he doesn't and turns into a huge bust, I will come on here and say I was wrong, and not be angry about it just more saddened than anything.

But Yancy Gates, in my opinion, will still end the year as a 12 and 5 player, and will not disappoint.

All of this is opinion. Now, on to Monday night...

Go Cats!

[icehole3]

Isnt X ranked or will be ranked in the top 10? Theyre there for a reason and thats to take it to inexperienced teams like UC.

Mike Williams: I agree with Cronin, yes he was a deer in the headlights, but by the end of year I think we'll be glad he's on our side, its hard to find a big man with shooting ability.

Yancy: He got taught a Crosstown shootout lesson and this is part the kids development, so Im not worried the least bit, its what he does in March is what I'll be looking at.

Wilks: I actually liked what I saw, here's a kid who isnt afraid to bang. His fouled on Brown was what I wanted to see, the reason why X players were so upset when UC fouled them was because they dont like getting physical. Theyll see a physical team down the line in the Big Dance and then the truth will come out on X.

Deonte: He actually tried early on to get others involved but no one seemed to step up, so he did what a leader does, put the ball in the hole. Overall he kept them in it until he obviously ran out of gas.

Toyloy: He should start, I'd like to see him at C, Gates at PF and Williams at SF to start the game.

Dixon: Give him the keys and let him have the O, then Vaughn can do what he does best and thats run thru screens.

Cronin: Seemed to get away from what got them to this point and allowed the team to revert back to the FSU game. This team should be jamming it inside all game, all game Im going inside out, inside out... it drove me nuts. Thought he gave up on Biggie to soon. Basically I wanted to see X players getting hammered all game and turn the game into a street brawl inside, thats how you beat X, I wanted our Bigs to use every foul they had. That I was a little disappointed in. This team is in a learning curve right now so I do understand and fully trust Cronin. X is a beast and they have team a that can get up and down the floor and they shoot the ball very well, but you can pound them down low and theyre a true top 10 team and Miller deserves a lot of credit for finding gems and meshing them into his team. As far as OOC sked goes, if they dont pound it inside and go inside out I can see losses against Memphis and Miss St, use your Bigs like nobodies business and youve got a chance.

[Bearcat Jeff]

Isnt X ranked or will be ranked in the top 10? Theyre there for a reason and thats to take it to inexperienced teams like UC.

Mike Williams: I agree with Cronin, yes he was a deer in the headlights, but by the end of year I think we'll be glad he's on our side, its hard to find a big man with shooting ability.

Yancy: He got taught a Crosstown shootout lesson and this is part the kids development, so Im not worried the least bit, its what he does in March is what I'll be looking at.

Wilks: I actually liked what I saw, here's a kid who isnt afraid to bang. His fouled on Brown was what I wanted to see, the reason why X players were so upset when UC fouled them was because they dont like getting physical. Theyll see a physical team down the line in the Big Dance and then the truth will come out on X.

Deonte: He actually tried early on to get others involved but no one seemed to step up, so he did what a leader does, put the ball in the hole. Overall he kept them in it until he obviously ran out of gas.

Toyloy: He should start, I'd like to see him at C, Gates at PF and Williams at SF to start the game.

Dixon: Give him the keys and let him have the O, then Vaughn can do what he does best and thats run thru screens.

Cronin: Seemed to get away from what got them to this point and allowed the team to revert back to the FSU game. This team should be jamming it inside all game, all game Im going inside out, inside out... it drove me nuts. Thought he gave up on Biggie to soon. Basically I wanted to see X players getting hammered all game and turn the game into a street brawl inside, thats how you beat X, I wanted our Bigs to use every foul they had. That I was a little disappointed in. This team is in a learning curve right now so I do understand and fully trust Cronin. X is a beast and they have team a that can get up and down the floor and they shoot the ball very well, but you can pound them down low and theyre a true top 10 team and Miller deserves a lot of credit for finding gems and meshing them into his team. As far as OOC sked goes, if they dont pound it inside and go inside out I can see losses against Memphis and Miss St, use your Bigs like nobodies business and youve got a chance. You have to have perimeter penetration on a consisitent basis to pound the ball inside. The guards have to make a concerted effort to do that. You can't just stand still and lob the ball underneath, especially against a long athletic team like Xavier. Xavier is very sound defensively and they get to the line. They know who they are and play to it. Mark of a mature team.

[jeffto]

We got whupped by a better team. No shame in that.

X won just as they have all year - at the free throw line. We didn't/couldn't take that away from them - we lost.

We're obviously not where we need to be, but we're making progress. Time for the next game!

[Billy Don]

"

Also, Mick saying on his postgame that Mike Williams, a team co-captain, was "deer in headlights" is very discouraging.

I seen that "deer in headlights" post but didn't know Mick was the one that said it. I don't buy it myself. Mike Williams just turned 23 years old! He's an old man compared to an 18 year old freshman. Been in college for over 4 years. Not like this was the first time he was ever in a big time game. What I think really happened is Mike was exposed as a player that is slow and can't jump. When guarded by a player who is close size wise, who is quicker and can jump Mike is going to have problems. My opinion is on a top 15 or so team Mike Williams is a role player. But even the best teams need those kind of players. Just expect Mike to be a solid player and not a go to guy. Last year all the hype was about how great Mike was, McDonalds All American and everything, even though he hadn't done anything after 2 years in college ball. This year of course Cashmear takes his place in the hype. I feel as a freshman point guard it isn't going to be all that easy for him next year and he may or may not take UC to the NCAA tournament. It's a bad habit for fans to give a player or coach credit for something they haven't actually done as yet. It's a lesson few learn.

[London 'Cat]

Cronin: Seemed to get away from what got them to this point and allowed the team to revert back to the FSU game. This team should be jamming it inside all game, all game Im going inside out, inside out... it drove me nuts. Thought he gave up on Biggie to soon. Basically I wanted to see X players getting hammered all game and turn the game into a street brawl inside, thats how you beat X, I wanted our Bigs to use every foul they had. That I was a little disappointed in. This team is in a learning curve right now so I do understand and fully trust Cronin. X is a beast and they have team a that can get up and down the floor and they shoot the ball very well, but you can pound them down low and theyre a true top 10 team and Miller deserves a lot of credit for finding gems and meshing them into his team. As far as OOC sked goes, if they dont pound it inside and go inside out I can see losses against Memphis and Miss St, use your Bigs like nobodies business and youve got a chance.

I see a different perspective here. The team could not have played worse in the first half. They could not hold onto the ball - rebounds, passes, dribbles. 14 TOs in the first half is where this game was lost. However, whatever halftime adjustments Cronin made obviously worked. The team trimmed a 14 point halftime lead down to three with around 8 minutes to play. From that point on, X responded and notched up their defense. UC began turning the ball over and then X pulled away for the final few minutes. Cronin, in my opinion, coached a great game in the the second half. In the end, the players have to execute what he installs, and they simply did not last night.

[ralph1950]

It was simply a matter of the better team not winning, it happens all of the time, see UC/XU 1999/2000 season. Some nights you play well and some nights you do not. There has not been an undeafeated D1 college basketball team since Indiana 1975-1976. Everyone loses games they should have won.

[jeffto]

I seen that "deer in headlights" post but didn't know Mick was the one that said it. I don't buy it myself. Mike Williams just turned 23 years old! He's an old man compared to an 18 year old freshman. Been in college for over 4 years. Not like this was the first time he was ever in a big time game. What I think really happened is Mike was exposed as a player that is slow and can't jump. When guarded by a player who is close size wise, who is quicker and can jump Mike is going to have problems. My opinion is on a top 15 or so team Mike Williams is a role player. But even the best teams need those kind of players. Just expect Mike to be a solid player and not a go to guy. Last year all the hype was about how great Mike was, McDonalds All American and everything, even though he hadn't done anything after 2 years in college ball.

The fact is Williams has not played a lot of college ball. He was a (small) role player at Texas and hasn't played since until this year. Posters who have painted him as the next coming were delusional. Oh, and throw in a major injury.

That's why I've always said that those posters who say "no excuses, two deep at every position" are delusional as well. Paper is not nearly as hard as a basketball court.

[jeffto]

It was simply a matter of the better team not winning, it happens all of the time, see UC/XU 1999/2000 season. Some nights you play well and some nights you do not. There has not been an undeafeated D1 college basketball team since Indiana 1975-1976. Everyone loses games they should have won.Sorry tR, the better team did win. That's why they keep score. Rankings and stats are not garbage.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

1990 through 2009 seasons, X leads UC by 11-9.

All-time, UC leads X by 47-29.

X has the better team right now.

[Thegreatone]

1990 through 2009 seasons, X leads UC by 11-9.

All-time, UC leads X by 47-29.

X has the better team right now.

Yes they do. Not shocking, but it wont/cant last. They are very good but are you shocked that their success came during our down years? They wont ever beat us out for recruits and talent will take over. Excuse or not this is a young team.

[Joe_Pong]

I think x has won 9 of the last 13, including 2 games where we were #1 in the country. Soon, it will not be a rivalry if things don't change.

As for the comment about how our big men should have dominated inside... I really think not enough people understand college basketball. If you don't have a PG and you have trouble running any sort of offense, it makes it VERY hard on your big men to do anything. That's exactly what I predicted would happen in this game. We couldn't run an offense, our big men never got the ball, they got frustrated, got in foul trouble. Besides, from what I have seen, our big men are not very skilled witht he ball.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

I think x has won 9 of the last 13, including 2 games where we were #1 in the country. Soon, it will not be a rivalry if things don't change.

As for the comment about how our big men should have dominated inside... I really think not enough people understand college basketball. If you don't have a PG and you have trouble running any sort of offense, it makes it VERY hard on your big men to do anything. That's exactly what I predicted would happen in this game. We couldn't run an offense, our big men never got the ball, they got frustrated, got in foul trouble. Besides, from what I have seen, our big men are not very skilled witht he ball.

X has won 9 of the last 13 and 3 of 4 since coaching change in 2005.

X has the better team for now.

[ralph1950]

Sorry tR, the better team did win. That's why they keep score. Rankings and stats are not garbage.

Sorry the better team lost last night.

[jeffto]

Sorry the better team lost last night.If you've got some new way of rating teams beyond scores, stats and rankings, do share.

[ralph1950]

UC is the better team, just had a bad game, go ask the Washington Redskins about having a bad game.
Is Duke a better team than unranked Michigan? You certainly might have thought that on November 21 when Duke whooped Michigan 71-56. However, on December 6 Michigan beat Duke 81-73.

[Mick's Da Man]

I think x has won 9 of the last 13, including 2 games where we were #1 in the country. Soon, it will not be a rivalry if things don't change.

As for the comment about how our big men should have dominated inside... I really think not enough people understand college basketball. If you don't have a PG and you have trouble running any sort of offense, it makes it VERY hard on your big men to do anything. That's exactly what I predicted would happen in this game. We couldn't run an offense, our big men never got the ball, they got frustrated, got in foul trouble. Besides, from what I have seen, our big men are not very skilled witht he ball.

'90-'91 at UC played on Jan 30th, 69-56 win
'91-'92 at Xavier played on January 29th, 93-75 win
'92-'93 at UC played on January 27th, 78-67 win
'93-'94 at Xavier played on January 19th, 82-76 loss (Final Four team is gone)
'94-'95 at UC played on Jan 9th, 87-80 win
'95-'96 at Xavier played on Jan 17th, 99-90 (Fortson goes for 40 pts, 17 reb)
'96-'97 at UC played on Nov 26th, 71-69 loss (Lenny Brown)
'97-'98 at Xavier played on Dec 13th, 88-68 loss
'98-'99 at UC played on Jan 28th, 87-77 win
'99-'00 at Xavier played on Dec 18th, 66-64 loss (K-Mart's #1 team)
'00-'01 at UC played on Dec 14th, 69-67 loss (rebuilding year)
'01-'02 at Xavier played on Dec 14th, 75-55 win (David West cried)
'02-'03 at UC played on Dec 7th, 50-44 loss (Xavier ranked 16th)
'03-'04 at Xavier played on Feb 3rd, 71-69 loss
'04-'05 at UC played on Feb 10th, 65-54 win
'05-'06 at Xavier played on Jan 19th, 73-71 OT loss (UC's bench consists of Chadd Moore, Ron Allen, and Connor Barwin. White and Downey played 44 mins of game)
'06-'07 at UC played on Dec 13th, 67-57 win (Burrell held to 0-10 shooting)
'07-'08 at Xavier played on Dec 12th, 64-59 loss (Xavier scraped by a bad UC team)
'08-'09 at UC played on Dec 13th, 76-66 loss (Xavier ranked 10th)

In the modern era (since 1990) the record stands 8-10 against Xavier.

In games played after January 1st, UC is 7-3.
In games played before January 1st, UC is 1-7.

Analyzing the UC losses.

'93-'94 The Final Four/Elite Eight team of Van Exel/Blount is gone. UC rebuilding. Home game for Xavier. The loss made sense.

'96-'97 UC ranked preseason #1. I said at the time and have maintained ever since that UC was the weakest/worst preseason #1 team I have ever witnessed. They had no business being ranked #1. Gave Xavier an easy target and the game was the 2nd of the season for UC. Earliest played Shootout in all of the games played since 1990. Played on November 26th. Ridiculous scheduling.

'97-'98 Rebuilding year for UC. I was at that game. UC had a bunch of unknown's and it was the year of Bobby Brannen taking over, but the game was played on December 13th, way too early for UC to grow as a team.

'99-'00 Game played on Dec 18th. UC should have won, but again, UC had all the pressure and Xavier had nothing to lose. Had it been played in January, I guarantee UC wins. They didn't get rolling until mid-late January that year.

'00-'01 UC rebuilding.

'02-'03 Xavier ranked 16th. Early game played on Dec 7th. Easily favored X.

'03-'04 Not sure why we lost.

'05-'06 UC's bench consisted of bad back Chadd Moore, Ron Allen, and Connor Barwin. UC took them to OT at the Cintas, but ran out of gas. AK was the head coach. First season after the Huggins firing debacle.

'07-'08 UC playing with scrap heap players against one of Xavier's best teams ever.

'08-'09 Xavier more experienced and the game was played way too early.



Clearly Xavier has outsmarted UC in scheduling this game. If I'm UC, I demand it be played in late January or early February, or not at all. UC is 1-7 in games played before January 1st. Xavier has been fortunate to catch UC in rebuilding years or catch ranked UC teams that had yet to gel. I guarantee that if some of those losses had been played later on, UC would have won some of them. It's a no-brainer. Bobby Brannen was 100x the player in his senior year, at the end of the season than he was early in the season. Kenyon's team really didn't get rolling until mid-January.

You consistently see alot of good/great teams get beat early in the season by opponents that return alot of experience.

It's easy to see why some of those losses have happened.