X is going to be tough

[TallTitan34]

Well done.

[Goose]

Muggs

X has a lot of firepower, and their guards can fill up a box score. The guy that has stood out to me offensively has been Boum. He has been a scorer for a half decade in college ball and his tough player. The big kid in the middle will likely be a challenge and think they have better shot at shutting down a couple of guards vs. the big kid.

MU is a strange team, in a good way, and think they cause more challenges to the opponent. Having 8-9 guys that can play minutes, plus score is a tough ask for an opponent to stop. I am amazed at how many points they can score, and my guess is first team to 80 probably will win.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Score 100 before they do. Gonna be one of those 102 to 99 type games. Only mildly exaggerating.

Their weak point is turnovers. They don't force them and they give them up too much. Miller has shortened the rotation to 7 and is maxing minutes for his starting 5. Since Big East play started, here's what their bench has been doing:

Jerome Hunter: 6 appearances, 16.7mpg
Desmond Claude: 6 appearances, 16.5 mpg
KyKy Tandy: 3 appearances, 2.7 mpg
Cesare Edwards: 3 appearances, 2mpg
Kam Craft: 1 appearance, 2 mpg
Dieonte Miles: 0 appearances

Run em, force turnovers, capitalize on the other end.

[DoctorV]

Age/experience is also vastly different in this one

Boum, Nunge, Kunkel are all 5th year seniors.
Freemantle, Hunter, Tandy are 4th year guys.
Jones is a 3rd year guy.
Claude is their only frosh at 18mpg.

That's a whole lotta 22+ year olds on the same team. Miller is going to really have to reload in the next two years when those guys skip town.

Shaka is in a better position for the next few years, but as we all know Miller can really recruit.
"I made a G today, but I made it in a sleazy way" might be a good mantra of his recruiting tactics

[Scoop Snoop]

Goose,  I'm hoping our gut wrenching loss to Providence will give us the confidence that we can beat XU or anyone else in their building.  They will be a difficult challenge but I think we absolutely have the roster to take them out.  I don't think they're a particularly good defensive team but they are very capable of going off from multiple spots on the offensive end.  Can we turn these guys over and win the transition game in Cincy?  Who would you target Goose as a guy we need to eliminate/limit?  I would think Sunday will be a high scoring game.

I went to school with some Mafiosos' kids. If they stayed in the family business, I'm sure I can have it arranged. PM me with a name.

[BLWarrior91]

We lost four games by a total of 15 points all to teams that have ranked at some point this season.  One in OT, one in double OT.  Average margin in those four games is 3.75 points.

We shouldn't fear anyone. 

[BCHoopster]

Kolby Jones!  MU has a mismatch there

[brewcity77]

I think X actually plays into what we want to do.

On defense, turn up the pace and pressure, especially when Boum isn't out there. That will let us take advantage of a turnover prone team. They also play fast, so it shouldn't take much to bait them into running with us. In the half-court, Xavier is a great shooting team, but they don't like taking threes. Despite being 3rd in 3PFG%, they are 292nd in the percent of points earned beyond the arc. Chase them off the line and they'll drive into our active hands defense.

After last night, the offensive end should seem easy. Nunge is no Clingan and I just don't think they have the players to be a great defensive team. Too slow-footed inside. The key is to be patient and get the good shot when we don't have the fast break.

All that said, I was pessimistic last night and it went well, so maybe my optimism is misplaced.

[Uncle Rico]

I think X actually plays into what we want to do.

On defense, turn up the pace and pressure, especially when Boum isn't out there. That will let us take advantage of a turnover prone team. They also play fast, so it shouldn't take much to bait them into running with us. In the half-court, Xavier is a great shooting team, but they don't like taking threes. Despite being 3rd in 3PFG%, they are 292nd in the percent of points earned beyond the arc. Chase them off the line and they'll drive into our active hands defense.

After last night, the offensive end should seem easy. Nunge is no Clingan and I just don't think they have the players to be a great defensive team. Too slow-footed inside. The key is to be patient and get the good shot when we don't have the fast break.

All that said, I was pessimistic last night and it went well, so maybe my optimism is misplaced.

Maybe you don't know ball

[cheebs09]

I think X actually plays into what we want to do.

On defense, turn up the pace and pressure, especially when Boum isn't out there. That will let us take advantage of a turnover prone team. They also play fast, so it shouldn't take much to bait them into running with us. In the half-court, Xavier is a great shooting team, but they don't like taking threes. Despite being 3rd in 3PFG%, they are 292nd in the percent of points earned beyond the arc. Chase them off the line and they'll drive into our active hands defense.

After last night, the offensive end should seem easy. Nunge is no Clingan and I just don't think they have the players to be a great defensive team. Too slow-footed inside. The key is to be patient and get the good shot when we don't have the fast break.

All that said, I was pessimistic last night and it went well, so maybe my optimism is misplaced.

On the Scrambled Eggs podcast, our advanced stats rankings were shockingly close going into our games yesterday. Two really similar teams.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

That's the way Ali's teams played, don't show what you've got until the second half, then crush them.

So, rope a dope?

[mu.n8ball]

It took 2 overtimes and friendly home whistle for Providence to beat us in their house. Hoping for a less skewed whistle in Cincinnati, and I like our chances. Force turnovers and convert them into easy points.

[brewcity77]

On the Scrambled Eggs podcast, our advanced stats rankings were shockingly close going into our games yesterday. Two really similar teams.

Raw rankings are, how we get there is a bit different.

[MU82]

That's the way Ali's teams played.

It should be a heavyweight fight Sunday morning in Cincy.

I look forward to some jabs, body blows and a final haymaker to put 'em away.

[Newsdreams]

Maybe you don't know ball

Brew a vegetarian?

[JakeBarnes]

I think X actually plays into what we want to do.

On defense, turn up the pace and pressure, especially when Boum isn't out there. That will let us take advantage of a turnover prone team. They also play fast, so it shouldn't take much to bait them into running with us. In the half-court, Xavier is a great shooting team, but they don't like taking threes. Despite being 3rd in 3PFG%, they are 292nd in the percent of points earned beyond the arc. Chase them off the line and they'll drive into our active hands defense.

After last night, the offensive end should seem easy. Nunge is no Clingan and I just don't think they have the players to be a great defensive team. Too slow-footed inside. The key is to be patient and get the good shot when we don't have the fast break.

All that said, I was pessimistic last night and it went well, so maybe my optimism is misplaced.

Well that was the pep talk I needed. Ready to run through the wall for this one.

[muwarrior69]

Muggs

X has a lot of firepower, and their guards can fill up a box score. The guy that has stood out to me offensively has been Boum. He has been a scorer for a half decade in college ball and his tough player. The big kid in the middle will likely be a challenge and think they have better shot at shutting down a couple of guards vs. the big kid.

MU is a strange team, in a good way, and think they cause more challenges to the opponent. Having 8-9 guys that can play minutes, plus score is a tough ask for an opponent to stop. I am amazed at how many points they can score, and my guess is first team to 80 probably will win.

...with no time on the clock.

[MuggsyB]

Muggs

X has a lot of firepower, and their guards can fill up a box score. The guy that has stood out to me offensively has been Boum. He has been a scorer for a half decade in college ball and his tough player. The big kid in the middle will likely be a challenge and think they have better shot at shutting down a couple of guards vs. the big kid.

MU is a strange team, in a good way, and think they cause more challenges to the opponent. Having 8-9 guys that can play minutes, plus score is a tough ask for an opponent to stop. I am amazed at how many points they can score, and my guess is first team to 80 probably will win.

Good point on our depth Goose.  Maybe we can wear these guys down?  I must say the top guys on X are shooting incredibly high percentages.  Slowing them down is a concern I suppose but I think we'll be ready to go. 

[MuggsyB]

I think X actually plays into what we want to do.

On defense, turn up the pace and pressure, especially when Boum isn't out there. That will let us take advantage of a turnover prone team. They also play fast, so it shouldn't take much to bait them into running with us. In the half-court, Xavier is a great shooting team, but they don't like taking threes. Despite being 3rd in 3PFG%, they are 292nd in the percent of points earned beyond the arc. Chase them off the line and they'll drive into our active hands defense.

After last night, the offensive end should seem easy. Nunge is no Clingan and I just don't think they have the players to be a great defensive team. Too slow-footed inside. The key is to be patient and get the good shot when we don't have the fast break.

All that said, I was pessimistic last night and it went well, so maybe my optimism is misplaced.

Brew, X has shot the ball off the charts.  I'm a little concerned they could go ballistic from distance and put us on our heels. As a side note I can't stand Kunkel. Perhaps there's a wrinkle or two Shaka can come up with for this one?   It seems to me this is one of those games where we need to shoot the triple closer to 40% and keep them off the FT line.  On offense what is our best match-up to exploit?  I was really happy with the way Oso took it to UCONN's bigs despite some early struggles.  Also, I don't think people have given Jones the Elder enough credit for his 2H vs UCONN.  Not to mention his cold blooded triple at 73-70.  This kid can score in bunches Brew, hopefully he has a big game Sunday.

[MU82]

Brew, X has shot the ball off the chsrts.  I'm a little concerned they could go ballistic from distance and put us on our heels. As a side note I can't stand Kunkel. Perhaps there's a wrinkle or two Shake can come up with for this one?   It seems to me this is one of those games where we need to shoot the triple closer to 40% and keep them off the FT line.  On offense what is our best match-up to exploit?  I was really happy with the way Oso took it to UCONN's bigs despite some early struggles.  Also, I don't think people have given Jones the Elder enough credit for his 2H vs UCONN.  Not to mention his cold blooded triple at 73-70.  This kid can score in bunches Brew, hopefully he has a big game Sunday.

Kam has gotten plenty of credit. Lots of votes for SOTG, and plenty of runner-up nods.

I think we'll have to not double-down on the post very much, let Oso, O-Max, Gold and Joplin do their best 1-on-1 defending Freemantle and Nunge down there. Because we don't want to leave them wide open for 3 too often. But they will get open 3s, and if they hit 50%+, it will make X all the more difficult to beat. Our perimeter defenders also will need to keep Boum in front of them most of the night; he has been very impressive, as impactful a transfer as there is in the Big East.

It's real easy to see this being a real high-scoring game, so hopefully our guys are hitting 3s and making layups. We might simply have to outscore them ... and we certainly can.

We Are Marquette!

[Scoop Snoop]

Brew, X has shot the ball off the chsrts.  I'm a little concerned they could go ballistic from distance and put us on our heels. As a side note I can't stand Kunkel. Perhaps there's a wrinkle or two Shake can come up with for this one?   It seems to me this is one of those games where we need to shoot the triple closer to 40% and keep them off the FT line.  On offense what is our best match-up to exploit?  I was really happy with the way Oso took it to UCONN's bigs despite some early struggles.  Also, I don't think people have given Jones the Elder enough credit for his 2H vs UCONN.  Not to mention his cold blooded triple at 73-70.  This kid can score in bunches Brew, hopefully he has a big game Sunday.

Shooting near 40%? That would be great, but unlikely. I think the blazing speed of our passing inside the arc before one of our guys put the ball up is what took UCONN's defense out. UCONN could not figure out who was going to shoot and therefore could not position to block, shoving the ball into our shooters' faces like they did in the first half. Perhaps this strategy would work as well for X.

Yeah, Kam was the hero. I admit I had "Deja vu all over again" as Yogi Berra famously said. After the PC game, I cannot relax when we have a 9 point lead late in the game.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Haslam has it 85-82 Xavier, basically the home court advantage. These previews are AI generated but are generally a thorough analysis. The Muskies shoot the trey well. MU scores more in the paint. The clear MU advantage on both O and D are turnovers.

https://haslametrics.com/preview.php?yr=&tid1=561&tid2=5527&neut=0

[MuggsyB]

Shooting near 40%? That would be great, but unlikely. I think the blazing speed of our passing inside the arc before one of our guys put the ball up is what took UCONN's defense out. UCONN could not figure out who was going to shoot and therefore could not position to block, shoving the ball into our shooters' faces like they did in the first half. Perhaps this strategy would work as well for X.

Yeah, Kam was the hero. I admit I had "Deja vu all over again" as Yogi Berra famously said. After the PC game, I cannot relax when we have a 9 point lead late in the game.

That right handed pseudo-bank finger roll by TyKo late was freaking sweet Scoop Snoop.  I think he's worked on that one since last season.  Does X really have a shot blocker?  Can we go medieval Sunday?  Meaning drop 95 or so?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Brew, X has shot the ball off the charts.  I'm a little concerned they could go ballistic from distance and put us on our heels. As a side note I can't stand Kunkel. Perhaps there's a wrinkle or two Shaka can come up with for this one?

Well that's an improvement

[StillWarriors]

Brew, X has shot the ball off the chsrts.  I'm a little concerned they could go ballistic from distance and put us on our heels. As a side note I can't stand Kunkel. Perhaps there's a wrinkle or two Shake can come up with for this one?   It seems to me this is one of those games where we need to shoot the triple closer to 40% and keep them off the FT line.  On offense what is our best match-up to exploit?  I was really happy with the way Oso took it to UCONN's bigs despite some early struggles.  Also, I don't think people have given Jones the Elder enough credit for his 2H vs UCONN.  Not to mention his cold blooded triple at 73-70.  This kid can score in bunches Brew, hopefully he has a big game Sunday.

The biggest difference with X under Sean Miller is that they are much more disciplined in the past about shot selection. Under Steele, X seemed to often under-achieve because guys like Goodin, Scruggs at times, and Freemantle were taking far more threes than they should have. The right guys are taking volume shots this year, and bad/mediocre shooters are taking less than in the past. They also go inside to Freemantle and Nunge a fair amount. As a result of the better shot selection, they're shooting much better. Even Colby Jones has added efficient 3 pt shooting to his game. They are also unselfish and have very high assist numbers. They will score, but we should be able to turn them over a fair amount.

In terms of guarding their bigs inside, they don't pose the same challenges as Sanogo and Clingan in terms of size or style. Freemantle makes a lot of 5-8 footers rather than right at the basket, back you down type post moves. Nunge's inside baskets are often from sealing you off and a lob over the top. They shouldn't out muscle us too much, though Colby Jones has great instincts and has a knack for finding the ball on the boards.

Truly should be a great match-up of similar teams offensively in many respects. Yes, it would help if X is off from 3 so we aren't in a 2s versus 3s situation, but they typically don't just bomb away from outside like they used to and shoot themselves out of games. They run offense and take them when they generate good looks. Can't wait for this game.