Xavier-Georgetown 1/15/2014 X History Game

[kyxu]

Well the best team didn't win.


Oh well very confident going forward and positive we'll stomp all over Xavier in the return game.

Wow. Bitter.

It's not Xavier's fault Josh Smith didn't hand in his book report on time.

[Lavinwood]

Oh Smith was out...their Center...sorry guys my fault I thought it was Smith-Rivera! Isn't that the leading scorer for G'Town? Very impressive for Xavier and much deserved. I see a ranking for them quite soon.

[bmorex]

Biggest frustration for me in this game (besides the very inconsistent referees, although this is related): Gtown sets an illegal screen every damn time down the court. They constantly walk through their screens. Give them credit, because they are very good at it, but wow. Lubick does it every time. He seems like he could have fouled out in the first 5 minutes of the game.

Yup. Mack was livid about this the entire game.

[Westbrook36]

After a disappointing it's probably a good idea to cool down first before posting, if you don't it just looks like sour grapes. Even if there's some aspects of your post that are valid.

From a neutral's standpoint, Georgetown got a big lead by getting hot from three, not their specialty. But then again, did Xavier do their homework? Georgetown without Smith will go as Stark's & DSR goes and X was giving them wide open 3's for the first 25 min. X then picked up the Defensive intensity and went to a different line-up and presto, 44-14 run to end the game. Georgetown's lack of depth and scoring was readily apparent during the last 15 min. Xavier is the better team, but not as much better as they looked in the final 15min.

[xu1990]

From a neutral's standpoint, Georgetown got a big lead by getting hot from three, not their specialty. But then again, did Xavier do their homework? Georgetown without Smith will go as Stark's & DSR goes and X was giving them wide open 3's for the first 25 min. X then picked up the Defensive intensity and went to a different line-up and presto, 44-14 run to end the game. Georgetown's lack of depth and scoring was readily apparent during the last 15 min. Xavier is the better team, but not as much better as they looked in the final 15min.

No X is not the 44-14 run better than Georgetown for certain. That being said, as good as DSR and Stark are, and they are excellent scorers, the mean is the mean for a reason. Numbers don't lie. Over time the shooting numbers will vary from game to game, but teams are very rarely going to stay anything close to that hot for an entire game. A little tweak defensively, giving a little more help when hedging the screens, finding the shooters faster in transition, and the game changes. Add in that the guys at the 3-4 positions who are 20-30% shooters keep shooting, and you get a turnaround like we saw last night.

I really try to avoid discussing the refereeing because you hear about it every single game, mostly from the losing team. Both coaches were displeased all game last night. I think over 40 minutes it tends to even out. Georgetown didn't go to the line as often because they have next to no inside presence.

X has more talented players than Georgetown. Period. They have 5 starters who can all score. They bring Farr and Myles Davis off the bench who can score. Right now, Georgetown has great play on the perimeter and not a whole lot inside.

Lastly, year in and year out, game in and game out...........The Cintas Center is a difficult place to get a win.

[Westbrook36]

Xavier is the better team, X has the most talented player, but they're not leagues ahead of Georgetown talent wise. Especially with Georgetown missing Smith and Trawick. Cintas sure is an extremely tough place to play, but X is going to soon find out, there are no easy places to play on the road in the BE.

[BillikensWin]

Nice win by Xavier. Things coming along quite well in Cincy.

[Chalmers0]

Dee Davis was the absolute difference in this game. His numbers were great, but outside of that he played GREAT defense on DSR. I watched a bit of the game on DVR last night after getting home and the few times DSR scored on him were really tough shots that you can't really defend. DSR got his open looks against Brandon Randolph (who he absolute abused) and Semaj.

Also can't say enough about James Farr who played solid defense as well as hit some key shots and made some huge hustle plays on missed free throws.

[kc4x]

Biggest frustration for me in this game (besides the very inconsistent referees, although this is related): Gtown sets an illegal screen every damn time down the court. They constantly walk through their screens. Give them credit, because they are very good at it, but wow. Lubick does it every time. He seems like he could have fouled out in the first 5 minutes of the game.

Oh, do you mean the body slams he committed any time he wanted to clear some space? It was frustrating when the X players acted incredulous, though, instead of playing on. Of course, it's a little tougher to play on from the floor.

[GumbyDamnit!]

I think Xavier is one of the better teams in conf for sure but when comparing them and SJU for example, had their schedules been reversed we might be looking at each differently. XU has played 4 of its 5 games at home so far. The XU fans talk often about how great XU is at Cintas. That certainly seems true, and so far they have taken advantage of that. SJU on the other hand has had 1 home game, vs. perhaps the league's best team. The DePaul game was the only one they lost in which it was a toss up or they were a slight favorite. And DePaul is looking better and better each game.

I worry about XU's last stretch of conf games: 5 away games and CU and Nova (arguably the 2 best BE teams) at home. They need to pick up the wins during this first half, as the 2nd half might bring them back down towards the pack a bit. Hope I am proved wrong b/c as of now they seem be the most solid 3rd tourney team in conf. But if they start to stumble down the stretch...