George Herron
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pacmanxu
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XU Blows past BGSU.
Posted by George Herron on November 18, 2009
It was a great game, dunk you very much.
If you are a Xavier fan, then this was perhaps one of the best games you have seen in a while. Fast breaks? Got it. Big dunks? Got it. Balanced scoring? Got it. Domination? Definitely got it. A cheerleader driving my new guy, Ray, nuts all night? Got it.
It was a great night down at the ‘ol Cintas Center last night as the wife and I joined her client, Ben, and his friend Ray. Again let me take this opportunity to thank you again Ben, it was super nice of you to take us. I doubt I will be blogging about every single XU game, but if I go to the game you bet I will!
The Good:
- Jordan Crawford. I take back a lot of the negative things I said about him in my last post. He was nothing short of spectacular last night. 24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 turnovers, and 2 steals. He had a monster put back dunk, oh and he was only 4-6 from behind the three-point arc. Sounds like someone had their Wheaties! Thank you Indiana for falling from grace so hard that he transferred here!
- Kenny Frease impressed me. He really has grown up from last year and it isn’t like he is really tall and really skinny like most college big men. Remember Obi Harris? He was 7″ and like 200 pounds soaking wet. Not Kenny, he is listed at 7″ 265. He is a big boy and I think he will get better as the year goes on and he might be ready to dominate the low post next year. His post moves need some work and he is bad if he has to put the ball on the floor, but again he is just a sophomore. I really think all the playing time he got last year was extremely helpful.
- The guard play. The guards were sensational. The starting three dished out 12 assists and only had 2 turnovers and then had two steals. It looks like this is going to be a smaller quicker team since they almost have to start three guards because that is where Xavier’s talent really is this year.
- The three-point shooting. Um, 63%, are you freaking kidding me? They straight TORCHED the nylon from deep. It was crazy, especially considering that almost all of Redford’s shots where well behind the NBA three-line. I just hope that they don’t fall in love with it, because you know the saying, live by the three, die by the three.
- Xavier’s depth. When they are able to rotate in players like Mark Lyons, Kenny Frease, Brad Redford and Jeff Robinson, well you are in good shape. They don’t really seem to miss a beat with those guys mixed in. Of course it helps that Frease and Redford saw significant minutes last year as freshmen.
I would leave him alone Boggs, or he is going to snap!
The Bad:
- About halfway through the first half BG was still in the game, actually is was kind of close. BG discovered that the boys from X didn’t know how to defend the back door screen. They abused us with that back door so much that I thought it was a prison movie. Luckily X clamped down and went all Andy Dufresne on BG and it was never close again. But that is troubling that it took an entire quarter of the game to see what was going on and stop it.
- The girls that had clearly traveled from BG to watch the game were holding up the banner that read “Will the real Jordan Crawford please stand up.” You mean the one that totally dominated BG and almost single-handedly beat them? Oh, no you meant the Jordan Crawford that plays for BG didn’t you? The one that shot 1-5 from the field and had two points? Ouch, I’m sorry. Just know that the two hours it took to glitter and bedazzle that sign that he never even saw are two hours of your life you will never get back. You are girls in college, shouldn’t you be drinking until you puke, experimenting with drugs and making out with other girls at parties?
- Transition defense. Anytime Love and Frease were on the floor together they were of course SUPER slow. Like running backwards slow. But even with just one of them out there X seemed slow to get back on defense. By the way, has anyone ever seen Dante Jackson run? He looks like he has something shoved up his ass. Seriously next time you get a chance check it out, you will laugh, I promise.
The Ugly:
- Kenny Frease’s three-point attempt. Seriously, why?
- Ray’s horrible excuse as to why he didn’t get a phone number of a Xavier Cheerleader in Mount Adams. Something about getting distracted and then letting her just walk away. Man up Ray! If you want something, you got to go get it! Now all you have is a story about the girl who got away. Wouldn’t it have felt great to walk up to Ben and ask him if he liked apples? Remember that next time.
- Our big men’s defense. Of the 57 points that BG managed to put up, 34 came from their forwards and center. Mostly on those back door screens. McLean, Frease, and Love are all going to have to step up defensively.
- The BGSU uniforms. Seriously, poop brown and burnt orange? Now that TV’s are in color and all, it might be time to make a switch. For the sake of everyone’s eyesight, I am begging you to make a change!
It was an excellent night and it was nice to meet Ben and Ray. Good guys, even though we all decided that Ray looked like he had just come from bible study.
Sorry Ray, you just gave me too much material!
pacmanxu said
I like the way they push the ball up the floor. they will score a lot of points. It takes me back to the Skip Prosser days. However, Crawford, Lyons, and Holloway are still young and can get reckless. Even though they didn’t have a lot of turnovers, they took some terrible shots in transition. Lyons is the best player on this team. He can shoot, has the best handles since Lionel Chalmers or Drew Lavender, can finish in the paint, and WON THE MIDNIGHT MADNESS DUNK CONTEST. Crawford has a little too much street in him right now.
grhii said
I will agree with all of that. I know you remember Mo McAfee. That is who Lyons reminds me of right now. He goes 100 mph and is a little reckless with the ball. The good news is, he is young and will learn. If I remember correctly Chalmers was very similar when he got here. But I do LOVE to watch Lyons, he is so fast and he has great explosion. And no you bunch of sickos I don’t mean like facial explosion.
My only concern about Crawford is that he tends to want to shoot ALL the time. Maybe I would feel better if he was a little more seasoned? But I will give him credit for an outstanding game. When he is on he has the ability to take over a game like West used to.
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