Nova still on Top?

[scoscox]

I think the odds are decent of at least one coming back. Xavier will be a much more balanced team if at least one of them come back.

yea, one coming back wouldn't surprise me. hoping it happens, but don't know what to expect

[GumbyDamnit!]

as a Nova fan I am MUCH more worried about SHU taking our crown this year than X. X and Nova both lost 3 of their top 7 rotational players. SHU lost only one and bring back the best player in the league.

Hmmm...In this case I really do hate it that I saw it coming.

There were some really bad takes in this thread. One common theme was that Colin Gillespie was just a so-so player who some predicted was going to be a key reason why we wouldn't be competing for a league title. He's one of the only reasons we are anywhere near the top half of the league.

[Xuperman]

Will be tough to remain "still on top" but certainly has had enough to make it interesting. This team is so well coached and thoroughly marinated in a winning culture that this thread will remain relevant until Jay leaves. There is just no situation, other than some unthinkable scandal, that would prevent them from being in the conversation every year.

As far as Xavier goes, they simply haven't played anywhere near most fans expectations highlighted by Paul Scruggs failing to take his game to the next level and of course the "curious case of Quentin Goodin". X simply doesn't have enough horses to win consistently at the TOP of the league, without these 2 playing at an All BE level.

That was on full display yesterday vs Nova. We were able to effectively shut down CG and JRE but in doing so, there was not nearly enough athleticism to deal with Bey and Samuels. Not to mention Tandy is not ready defensively to guard Moore.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Will be tough to remain "still on top" but certainly has had enough to make it interesting. This team is so well coached and thoroughly marinated in a winning culture that this thread will remain relevant until Jay leaves. There is just no situation, other than some unthinkable scandal, that would prevent them from being in the conversation every year.

As far as Xavier goes, they simply haven't played anywhere near most fans expectations highlighted by Paul Scruggs failing to take his game to the next level and of course the "curious case of Quentin Goodin". X simply doesn't have enough horses to win consistently at the TOP of the league, without these 2 playing at an All BE level.

That was on full display yesterday vs Nova. We were able to effectively shut down CG and JRE but in doing so, there was not nearly enough athleticism to deal with Bey and Samuels. Not to mention Tandy is not ready defensively to guard Moore.

Moore has had a really solid year and you can see him figuring things out. JRE gets most of the attention as the crown jewel of that class but Moore is already a big part of what we do.
I really don’t mean this as a shot but Injust don’t get this X team. Talent wise they’ve got players. But with the exception of Jones, who is a monster, I’m not sure anyone else really improved from last year. I thought Scruggs was going to be All BE this year. Thought Naji and Q would improve their shooting. I think the biggest difference in culture occurs off the court. Bey l, Gillespie, Samuels have all improved their games and taken that step forward. This is the part of the Jay W culture that differentiates IMO. Every year 2-3 guys take big steps and take over the reigns and the train keeps rolling. It’s another reason that if/when we do lose Bey this off season, we’ll still be fine next year.

[Django]

Nova and Creighton have limited to no senior production to replace next year.

[fellahmuskie]

Even though Xavier has underperformed, I'm glad Seton Hall and Creighton are stepping up. I really want to see a couple big east teams go deep this season.

Maybe Xavier can redeem its early optimism with a BET title. As I've learned on this board, that's the only thing that really matters )

[scoscox]

I think we could win a few games in the ncaa tournament if we get in, we just have to get in. We're playing really great defense, but just cant put anything together on offense. basically the inverse of mack's years. it's refreshing to see tough defense and frustrating to watch us run offense. we have providence-itis.

i have this pipe dream where things click down the stretch and we put everything together and put a hurting on some teams.

nova is definitely rounding into form. we have our problems offensively already, but nova stepped up on defense in the paint. i give them a lot of credit for how physical they were against us. we weren't prepared for it in the first half at all. tyrique started 0-6, carter and freemantle were completely ineffective all game and scruggs was kept in check (although he can do that to himself at times). tyrique finally turned it on in the second and almost fouled out the entire nova frontcourt by himself, but the damage was done.

i was impressed with the offensive adjustments as well. i thought we played great defense on the perimeter, but nova ended up shooting a decent percentage from the field due to a lot of good action around the post. samuels and earl killed us on the midrange jumpers from ten feet away. seemed like they hit every one. it was basically the only consistent offense for either team and, in my opinion, the difference in the game.

[Xudash]

Will be tough to remain "still on top" but certainly has had enough to make it interesting. This team is so well coached and thoroughly marinated in a winning culture that this thread will remain relevant until Jay leaves. There is just no situation, other than some unthinkable scandal, that would prevent them from being in the conversation every year.

As far as Xavier goes, they simply haven't played anywhere near most fans expectations highlighted by Paul Scruggs failing to take his game to the next level and of course the "curious case of Quentin Goodin". X simply doesn't have enough horses to win consistently at the TOP of the league, without these 2 playing at an All BE level.

That was on full display yesterday vs Nova. We were able to effectively shut down CG and JRE but in doing so, there was not nearly enough athleticism to deal with Bey and Samuels. Not to mention Tandy is not ready defensively to guard Moore.

Moore has had a really solid year and you can see him figuring things out. JRE gets most of the attention as the crown jewel of that class but Moore is already a big part of what we do.
I really don’t mean this as a shot but Injust don’t get this X team. Talent wise they’ve got players. But with the exception of Jones, who is a monster, I’m not sure anyone else really improved from last year. I thought Scruggs was going to be All BE this year. Thought Naji and Q would improve their shooting. I think the biggest difference in culture occurs off the court. Bey l, Gillespie, Samuels have all improved their games and taken that step forward. This is the part of the Jay W culture that differentiates IMO. Every year 2-3 guys take big steps and take over the reigns and the train keeps rolling. It’s another reason that if/when we do lose Bey this off season, we’ll still be fine next year.

We have been discussing your culture on the Xavier message board. The bottom line is we are very impressed with it.

It came up as a result of one of our fans arriving early at Cintas to witness how efficient and serious you guys conduct your pregame warm-up drills. It’s just not all about pregame warm-ups, as I take those simply to be evidence of a larger, very successful approach to focus, intensity and game preparation.

Jay has developed a very successful formula. He recruits on the basis of plugging the right guys into it. And I will be damned if a lot of it, frankly, isn’t common sense when it comes to the college game.

[GumbyDamnit!]

I will say that if Nova can figure out a way to win/share the BE regular season and / or BET titles, it will be hard earned. The Jays and Pirates are both tough, tough outs.