Xavier 84 St. Bonaventure 77 (Final Four - NIT)

[B-Ball-fan]

Xavier makes it to the finals of the NIT at Madison Square Gardens with their 84-77 win over St.  Bonaventure.

Adam Kunkel tied with Jack Nunge from Xavier as game high scorers with 18. Dominick Welch dropped in 25 for the Bonnies.

The Musketeers will now play in the championship game on Thursday night against the winner of Texas A&M vs Washington St. currently in progress. 

[B-Ball-fan]

Xavier will face Texas A&M in the NIT Finals on Thursday night as they beat Washington St. 72-56. 

Congratulations to Adam Kunkel for scoring his 1000th college career point in the NIT Final Four game against St. Bonnie's. 

[Voice of Reason]

Xavier playing much better basketball at crunch time. They still made a couple bonehead plays in the last 5 minutes but overall disciplined, did not give away possessions or take bad shots, very good defense, no second shots for St. Bonnie. 

Is Sean Miller involved in this run at all or just watching from a distance?

[9068]

7 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Xavier playing much better basketball at crunch time. They still made a couple bonehead plays in the last 5 minutes but overall disciplined, did not give away possessions or take bad shots, very good defense, no second shots for St. Bonnie. 

Is Sean Miller involved in this run at all or just watching from a distance?

He's there. All returnees are auditioning as are assistants, support staff, etc. He's talking to the interim....not making decisions. The interim has them playing loose....no one has anything to lose but a lot to gain.

[Voice of Reason]

50 minutes ago, 9068 said:

He's there. All returnees are auditioning as are assistants, support staff, etc. He's talking to the interim....not making decisions. The interim has them playing loose....no one has anything to lose but a lot to gain.

Playing loose from a confidence view, but on the court things have tightened up. More disciplined. Better sets. Better shots. Better decisions. Tougher defense. 

[futurecoach]

11 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Xavier playing much better basketball at crunch time. They still made a couple bonehead plays in the last 5 minutes but overall disciplined, did not give away possessions or take bad shots, very good defense, no second shots for St. Bonnie. 

Is Sean Miller involved in this run at all or just watching from a distance?

Didn’t Xavier win two games in the NIT even before Miller was ever hired? He may give a pointer here or there now while probably watching a few practices. However, I doubt he has been involved that much. 

[theguru]

I listened to an interview with Coach Miller on the broadcast last night, he made a very positive impression on me.

[theguru]

11 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Xavier playing much better basketball at crunch time. They still made a couple bonehead plays in the last 5 minutes but overall disciplined, did not give away possessions or take bad shots, very good defense, no second shots for St. Bonnie. 

Is Sean Miller involved in this run at all or just watching from a distance?

 

2 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Playing loose from a confidence view, but on the court things have tightened up. More disciplined. Better sets. Better shots. Better decisions. Tougher defense. 

Sometimes change is good and this is one of those sometimes.

The interim coach changed the starting lineup immediately and then Scruggs went down.  I don't want to be a hater here but I have maintained all season that X would have been better if Scruggs had not come back.

[theguru]

I thought both teams played well last night but St. B couldn't defend X with any consistency.

Xavier is playing their best basketball of the season.

[REALSPORT]

At times it seems like Kunkel is coaching the team on the court, and that's not a bad thing.  The young man has a future if he wants to be a coach.  

[theguru]

14 minutes ago, REALSPORT said:

At times it seems like Kunkel is coaching the team on the court, and that's not a bad thing.  The young man has a future if he wants to be a coach.  

I see that all the time.  And I believe Adam played all 40 minutes last night.

[9068]

6 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Playing loose from a confidence view, but on the court things have tightened up. More disciplined. Better sets. Better shots. Better decisions. Tougher defense. 

I saw a couple really bad passes by Johnson (?), the guy playing for Scruggs. Maybe Scruggs hurt the chemistry??

[theguru]

1 minute ago, 9068 said:

I saw a couple really bad passes by Johnson (?), the guy playing for Scruggs. Maybe Scruggs hurt the chemistry??

I think not having Scruggs helps the chemistry and Johnson isn't Scruggs' replacement but like all the guards he has to play more.  Dwon Odom is probably more what I would call Scruggs' replacement.