Xavier-Georgetown 1/15/2014 X History Game

[bmorex]

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...

Yup. After the Seton Hall home game on Feb 1, the rest of the schedule is practically murderer's row.

[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...

Yup. After the Seton Hall home game on Feb 1, the rest of the schedule is practically murderer's row.

It really is. 8 of last 10 games:
@ Nova
@ Marq
@ Butler
@ SJU
@ Gtwn
@ Hall
Vs. CU
Vs. Nova

Ouch.

[XBand15]

It is a very tough stretch but that's why its important we are getting wins early. Also, how well we played at Creighton made me feel very good about this teams chances on the road. Obviously it is going to be very difficult having to play at Marquette, Nova, Georgetown, Butler, and SJU but I feel like we should have a chance in all of those games. I am by no means saying we should win them all because if we did that it would be nothing short of a miracle, but I like I said we will have a chance in all of them. Going to be really interesting to see how this team finishes down the stretch.

[XUFan09]

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.

This is the game right here. Plus/minus stats are suspect in small sample sizes (especially in the college game), but his are just ridiculous: +29 in 28 minutes of play. Two quick fouls in the first half limited him to 8 minutes, and Randolph was getting burned defensively in his absence. He came back in the second half and completely controlled the game. Dee is one of the more unheralded players in the conference. The gap between what he brings to this team and how much that gets mentioned is just enormous.

[MakScratcher3]

One thing I wanted to mention, that I am not sure if anyone has pointed out, is that D'vauntes Smith-Rivera was committed to X for about 3 months back in 2010 - fall/winter of his junior year of HS. He then decommitted and ultimately chose Georgetown, due to the better conference competition/spotlight.

It felt really good to beat him and Georgetown, after getting spurned by him. He's a helluva player though -- X definitely missed out on a GREAT one.

[xu155]

One thing I wanted to mention, that I am not sure if anyone has pointed out, is that D'vauntes Smith-Rivera was committed to X for about 3 months back in 2010 - fall/winter of his junior year of HS. He then decommitted and ultimately chose Georgetown, due to the better conference competition/spotlight.

It felt really good to beat him and Georgetown, after getting spurned by him. He's a helluva player though -- X definitely missed out on a GREAT one.

But then we reeled in Semaj with that scholly. Yeah....I'll take Semaj (and DSR is a great player).

[XUFan09]

One thing I wanted to mention, that I am not sure if anyone has pointed out, is that D'vauntes Smith-Rivera was committed to X for about 3 months back in 2010 - fall/winter of his junior year of HS. He then decommitted and ultimately chose Georgetown, due to the better conference competition/spotlight.

It felt really good to beat him and Georgetown, after getting spurned by him. He's a helluva player though -- X definitely missed out on a GREAT one.

But then we reeled in Semaj with that scholly. Yeah....I'll take Semaj (and DSR is a great player).

They were still seriously recruiting him and he was still seriously considering Xavier after the commit by Semaj (and Myles Davis), so it wasn't an either-or situation. I'm pretty sure Georgetown was also recruiting Semaj, which makes it interesting, as the two schools each got one of them. A decent number of Xavier recruits are now playing for conference foes: Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins, Rysheed Jordan, and JaKarr Sampson, off the top of my head. Of course, Seton Hall was going after Myles Davis, Butler was going after Trevon Bluiett, and both Butler and Creighton were going after J.P. Macura, so it swings both ways