Monday Musings

It's Monday afternoon again. The loss against Richmond wasn't as damaging as I thought. We dropped to #19 in both polls and finished the regular season with an RPI of #15. X is solidly in the five seed range right now for the NCAA tournament. A run in the A10 tournament and they could move to a four. Again I love my team but I am realistic about their postseason chances. We need to improve point guard play, shoot free throws at 75%, and bring rivalry game type defenisive intensity to play outside the first weekend in the big dance. If we get the right matchups we could make it to the round of 16. We are a good shooting team that could become a great shooting team on any night. Now again I am going to root like hell that happens but I will take the success the season has already bourne:

- A 24-6 record.
- Winning the PR tournament.
- A10 regular season champs.
- 3-1 record in miami valley rivalry games.
- 3 seniors on pace to graduate.

Those are good measurables. It says a lot about changing expectations when you see that and know most of the die hard fans expect more from this team THIS season. I honestly thought 21-22 wins and an appearance in the NCAA's would be lofty goals for X coming off an elite 8.

I have a good solid 4.5 hours of basketball to watch tonight. Four automatic bids to be awarded tonight. 'Championship Week' is the best to me. Now all I have to do is find a way to free up two hours on Thursday at noon to watch our first round A10 tournament game.

A 10 Tournament Set

The A10 tournament is set to begin Wednesday March 11th in Atlantic City, NJ. The site for the games is once again Boardwalk Hall. I will list the games in the order they are played with a predicted winner for each:

Wed March 11th-

#8 LaSalle -v- #9 St. Louis (St. Louis)
#5 St. Joseph's -v- #12 Charlotte (St. Joseph's)

#7 Duquesne -v- #10 UMASS (Duquesne)
#6 Richmond -v- #11 St. Bona (Richmond)

Thu March 12th-

#1 Xavier -v- #9 St. Louis (Xavier)
#4 Temple -v- #5 St. Joseph's (Temple)

#2 Rhode Island -v- #7 Duquesne (Rhode Island)
#6 Richmond -v- #3 Dayton (Richmond)

Fri March 13th-
#1 Xavier -v- #4 Temple (Temple)
#2 Rhode Island -v- #6 Richmond (Rhode Island)

Sat March 14th-
#2 Rhode Island -v- #4 Temple (Temple)

Of course my preseason predictions were awful and most likely these will turn to be way off base when the actual tournament plays out. In the scenario I laid out it could mean that 4 A10 teams make the tournament. That is very highly unlikely to come to fruition.

For X, it is the Billikens or the Explorers. Both teams are capable of better than their in season showings against us. I think the Muskies rebound off the loss at Richmond to win this one. Next round if were facing Temple I think the Owls get the return matchup. If we end up across St. Joes we advance to the championship on Saturday and most likely win. After the A10 tournament I will put up my version of the A10 postseason accolades.

A10 Champs - Again

You knew this one was going to be intense. The Cryers even broke out snazzy new black uniforms which was very appropriate since they got buried 76-59. I was there an hour before tipoff and got to witness the little halfcourt exchange between the teams. I would assume it started while X was doing their normal routine of jogging from under the basket to midcourt and turning back around. I have seen us do that all year. Clearly some 'woofing' was going on and UD took exception. London Warren and Stephen Thomas are little girls. Warren stood behind everybody on his team and then Thomas thought he should take his aggression out on X fans in the stands. The little chump bumped his gums hard but had little to say once the ball went up. I was proud of Dante' because the UD fan base I communicate with have stated over and over he is a bust. Yeah he busted all right. How about the first 11 points of the game and he probably would have done more damage if not for two quick fouls. Dante' is a class act and he told Byron and Joe afterwards he wanted to keep the seniors 'legacy' in tact. To me that is a clear indication of a winning program.

Jackson finished the game with 14 points and a career high 8 rebounds. UD hasn't won here since the Jimmy Carter administration. That is 24 occassions for those keeping score at home. We hit 9 threes and I have stated previously if we hit 8 or more we can play with anybody. 13-17 from the free throw line was huge too. Derrick Brown finished with 11 points and 12 boards and did not participate in senior night ceremonies even though he is graduating this year. I think he is back unless he tears it up in the A10 and NCAA tournaments. BJ Raymond picked up his 1000th point and set the new gold standard for wins by a player. You couldn't have asked for a better 'senior night' for him. Burrell and Duncan shared it with 99 but last night marked the 100th win BJ has had in a X uniform.

Jamel McLean deserves mention as he went baseline and flushed three times around Luke 'Flagpole' Fabrizius who had no business being on the floor. McLean finished with 10 point and five rebounds in a very productive 14 minutes. UD fans also like to bang on Kenny Frease and the big fella responded with 8 points and 7 boards.

Finally for my man Swampy: Redford finished with 9 points in 16 minutes. Your boy Paul Williams was 0fer in 12 minutes. Once again the fine people in the state of Michigan got it right last year. And Swamp you can call him anything you want just make sure you include the word 'champion' when you talk about him.

Up next is a road game at Richmond this Saturday. We are guaranteed the #1 seed but a win against the Spiders gives us sole possession of the regular season championship. If we lose and Rhody wins they will also be 12-4.

Monday Notes

The Associated Press and ESPN USA Today coaches polls have been updated. X lands at #17 in the AP and #18 in ESPN's version. Both represent a climb over last week. Realtime RPI has us sitting at #11. If we can beat UD and Richmond to close the season out at 25-5 I think we can re-enter the discussion for a 4 seed. Truth is there is a logjam of teams fighting for that 3-6 spot on the line. Teams in that category are not making it easier on the selection committee.

Other things noticed:

-My favorite internet 'journalist' is back at it on UD Pride. The old 'swampster' still thinks Paul Williams is the better player over Brad 'Opie' Redford. Opie is swampy's nickname for Brad. I remember this guy telling me Brad would never put up decent numbers in college and Paul Williams was more highly sought after and thus going to be the better player in college. Let's compare stats of both players and you guys tell me who you would rather have RIGHT NOW:

Redford: 28 GP/12.8 MPG .476 FG% .490 3P% 5.8 PPG 21 Assists/19 TO/19 Rebounds

Williams: 26 GP/10.8 MPG .345 FG% .269 3P% 2.0 PPG 8 Assists/13 TO/43 Rebounds

If you like your two guards to rebound then Paul is your man. If you like them to score the ball go with Brad. Notice how Paul averages about two minutes less per game but doesn't score or shoot nearly as well as Brad. I hope we punch you in the mouth Thursday night.

-Kyryl Natyazkho visited the OU Bobcats last Thursday night for their game against the Miami Redhawks. Why is a top 100 four star recruit visiting a MAC school? John Groce is the answer. Groce shouldn't be at OU long. Apparently though the students went all out for Kyryl bringing Ukrainian flags to the game, making sure three lovely volleyball players chatted him up, chanting his name and so forth. The posters on their message boards aren't giving themselves much a chance at landing him but I wouldn't count OU out. Paul Biancardi from ESPN indicates X, Florida State, and Arizona State are the big fella's top three. Something tells me he will take all five of his allotted visits before we have a decision.

-Less than two weeks away from 'Selection Sunday'. ESPN's 'Championship Week' is my favorite television programming besides the 'Big Dance'. I'll probably move up one waist size before March is over. And I couldn't care any less.

Huggy I decided I don't hate you(not that you care)

Leading up to last Wednesday's game there were several things in the local media that I found interesting. All the talk of finally getting over the exit of Huggins and all the questions of how Mick has done since he took over - as if comparing him to Huggins could show us something we didn't already know. For the record Mick hasn't been here long enough to be stacking his numbers next to Bobs. 

Of all the talk one thing stood out to me and it was Huggins' answer when asked to address the UC fans who have stopped coming to games or following UC at all since his departure. He told a local Radio host that he "couldn't tell people what to do." He said "that's not who I am." 

WHAT? Are you freaking kidding me? You spent 16 years here telling people how they should perceive the Bearcats! I found myself getting more angry by the minute. I had planned on writing a really pissed off post about the whole thing. How dare he not say the "correct" thing.

Something like - I'm happy, Mick's great, Go support him. - Ya, something like that. The headline in the paper said - Huggs To 'Feel Something'.  All I wanted him to feel was the agony of defeat. Then I saw the tears and I fell for it. I fell for it because they were genuine. Or at least appeared to be. I was happy to see him in the Shoe looking at all the banners that wouldn't be there if not for him. Looking at Mick who wouldn't be here if not for him.

That's when I realized WHY he couldn't answer the question differently. 

You ever have a girlfriend who was the greatest thing ever until she dumped you? From that point on she was the biggest bitch walking and that's what you told anybody who asked. It didn't matter that you got dumped for some stupid shit YOU did - only that you got dumped. 

Huggins' situation is the same. UC basketball was his life and it rejected him. What would you do? Wait a few years and talk about how great it was or still be Bitter?

p.s. Hey, Jennifer from 9th grade. I still don't like you.