I agree Clyde. They never push it up court and get easy shots. Walk it up and play half court offense. Then there is no movement. They work the perimeter, kick it inside and then watch the inside guys try to make a shot. Freese played like a 6' guard inside tonight rushing shots like he was afraid of it getting blocked. He needs to play like he is 7' and be more physical taking it to the rim. Their three perimeter guys all look like they are afraid to take a 3 point shot. Jackson is just standing outside waiting for a wide open look. He was a non-entity in this game. Holloway needs to step it up earlier in games. It seems to me like he is content to just sit back and wait till the second half before pressing the action. He needs to come out strong early and establish something on the offensive end. He is their best player and their best offensive threat. Their offense is at its best when he and Lyons do the dribble drive type action and take it to basket. Do that more and kick it back out instead of forcing shots against the bigs. Then they will get the defense moving more and get some open looks. The X defense looks great if they can get something going on offense.

 

Give the UC defense a little credit though. When the guards did drive and get in the lane, UC played great help defense which stopped the penetration.

 

I do think that X really hurt themselves by keeping Frease out top much of the game to simply screen for the guards. Run some pick and roll and that becomes a lot more successful. Frease simply stood out top all night and set screens. When he was down low however, he didn't have an easy task having to go against not only Gates, but also Thomas who did a great job helping on the blocks.

Give the UC defense a little credit though. When the guards did drive and get in the lane, UC played great help defense which stopped the penetration.

 

I do think that X really hurt themselves by keeping Frease out top much of the game to simply screen for the guards. Run some pick and roll and that becomes a lot more successful. Frease simply stood out top all night and set screens. When he was down low however, he didn't have an easy task having to go against not only Gates, but also Thomas who did a great job helping on the blocks.

 

Frease is not a pick-n-roll guy.

 

Frease would have been more successful if he caught the ball in the lane vs on the block.

 

UC's D certainly contributed to X's woes but X's history this year says it's more on them than the D.

Great and dominant win for the Bearcats. Seeing some of the teams that Xavier had lost to prior to tonight, their weaknesses were even more exposed. I figured UC would win by at least ten, but that was doubled. Regardless of the rest of the non-conference schedule that UC has played, they have been impressive. I also believe that they are going to do a lot better in conference play than some have been thinking. Congratulations to the Cats on the win.

UC's D certainly contributed to X's woes but X's history this year says it's more on them than the D.

 

Lowest point total in 7 years for X. Was simply a bad O going against a very good D...

Frease is not a pick-n-roll guy.

 

Frease would have been more successful if he caught the ball in the lane vs on the block.

 

UC's D certainly contributed to X's woes but X's history this year says it's more on them than the D.

 

I think Frease and the entire X contingent got their confidence down after UC went on the 22-5 run to take a 26-15 lead.

 

Early on X was aggressive and got the ball down low but once UC responded and took the lead, it seemed like they (X) just wanted to settle for jumpers.

 

If not for several possessions where UC used very bad shot selection (TWO Thomas 3's come to mind), this game could've possibly been worse.

Lowest point total in 7 years for X. Was simply a bad O going against a very good D...

 

Agreed. Too quick and too athletic plus long.

 

Painful to watch from my seat.

I think Frease and the entire X contingent got their confidence down after UC went on the 22-5 run to take a 26-15 lead.

 

Early on X was aggressive and got the ball down low but once UC responded and took the lead, it seemed like they just wanted to settle for jumpers.

 

As someone pointed out earlier Kenny rushed shots instead of being a man and going to the rim.

 

Tu found out early that the officials were not calling cheap fouls on UC's big men (correctly by the way) and it changed his game.

X needs a really strong conference run or it'll be the NIT for the first time in quite a while.

It was so bad for X tonight that Jay Canty got whistled for a foul while in street clothes. At least that's what the PA guy tried to tell us.

First time seeing UC play. My only concern would be their lack of a strong to-the-rim game by their bigs. If you want to count on Yancey hitting 17 feet fades that might get dicey. He just didn't seem like he had any inclination to go hard to the rim with a big on him.

 

Nice depth. Love Bishop's game but I can't figure out how his drawers stay up.

 

If I'm an opponent I'd have to nail Larry Davis at least once during the game. He just comes across poorly during pre-games.

X needs a really strong conference run or it'll be the NIT for the first time in quite a while.

 

It is definitely starting to appear that way.

If I'm an opponent I'd have to nail Larry Davis at least once during the game. He just comes across poorly during pre-games.

 

Larry is just a goofy dude. I can see where it can rub an opponent wrong but that's just who he is...

Was that the best game of Gates career? He was just off the hook tonight, hitting fallaway jumpers with a hand in his face. Unreal game by him.

Was that the best game of Gates career? He was just off the hook tonight, hitting fallaway jumpers with a hand in his face. Unreal game by him.

 

Only other one that comes to mind that good was against WVU his freshman year...

Only other one that comes to mind that good was against WVU his freshman year...

 

I was excited when he first started shooting the fades because it meant Frease would stay out of foul trouble.

 

Then they started going in.