The season either starts or ends November 20th. -- XAVIER MENS BASKETBALL

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 13:21:20 10/16/02 Wed
Author: BP
Subject: The season either starts or ends November 20th.

Our season was dealt what could become the biggest blow or the biggest boost of the year in the last week. With the NIT's decision that Stanford will host the XU-Stanford game assuming both teams advance past their first round opponents, X's road to the final four becomes significantly more challenging.

That game will be the single biggest game in the history of Xavier basketball. Win this game, and go into MSG with a decent road win already under our belts, and 2 more games gauranteed, most likely against solid opponents. Even 2 losses in NY would not be as devastating as losing the Stanford game. Moreover, we will arrive in NY on a high note, with added confidence. I don't think this team could do any worse than 3rd if they get to NY, and I honestly believe that if they get there, it's 50/50 that they win the whole thing.

Let's take a look at where we might be if we win the NIT, assuming we go through Florida and Kansas to get there. 5-0, 3-0 away from home, 2 wins against preseason top 10 teams (TSN), including toppling #1 Kansas. If the wins are convincing, you'll see some #1 votes for X.

Even if we lose to Kansas, we could stay top 10, learn from our mistakes, and move on to Purdue, UC, Miami, and back to MSG for the game with Miss St. Run those 4 even with a 2nd place finish in the PNIT, and I think we're still top 5, with some serious quality wins. 8-1 with the only loss to the preseason #1.

On the other hand. The Stanford home crowd is riled up for the #5 Muskies. Early season jitters, a good Stanford game, a little jet lag, and Stanford's one OOC loss at home in the last five year are too much to overcome. X heads home. No NY, no MSG, no 1st or 2nd or 3rd or 4th place. Just home with one bad win and a mediocre road loss. 2-1 and a long break to think about the Stanford game, going into Purdue at home, at UC, Miami at home, then Miss St., with our only real test so far being a failure. Squeak one out against Purdue, UC's dominant home court is too much for us to take them down a 3rd time (only one non CUSA team has won twice at the shoe). Rebound against Miami, but road weary, drop the Miss St. game.

Losses at Stanford, UC, and neutral Miss St. None of those would be bad losses. Stanford and UC never lose at home, and we have to go into both places now. We're 4-3, and regarded as a disappointment already.

It's Puerto Rico all over again, gents. This is a better team, but a single early season stumble will significantly change the complexion of the season.

I would have rather had the Stanford game at home. The 2 game reward is worth the risk of losing whatever mysterious adjustment the committee makes for 'road wins'.

However, when we win the PNIT, it will just be that much sweeter. Frankly, it wouldn't bother me a bit if we got to go through BU in the Gardens to get to MSG. I just want to get there. From there, we're in control.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Clearly, the PNIT is huge and the Stanford game is the most crucial game of the bunch. I for one willbegin to doubt our whole season if we can't beat Stanford. On paper, we are significantly better than the Cardinal. If we can't beat teams like this on the road, how can we seriously entertain thoughts of a long post season run? They have one guy back who averaged more than 10 points. Hell, they very well may lose to BU and moot the whole issue. The bottom line is, we need to get to NYC and preferably win the whole damn thing. -- Homeskillet, 14:57:17 10/16/02 Wed

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> 3-1 with no worse than a third place finish would still give us a huge RPI boost moving into the rest of our OOC schedule. It would also set us up with experience at MSG prior to playing Miss. St. there and confidence overall for the likes of UC and Purdue. If we win the whole damn thing, I'm getting on ebay and looking for Final Four tickets, because that would be one helluva an omen. -- Homeskillet, 14:58:52 10/16/02 Wed

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> At Stanford is no easy win, but we might not even play them. Stanford is ripe for the taking. They have key losses, and we are a veteran team. We have all the ingredients to be successfull right off the bat. If we can make noise in the PNIT, it would go a long way towards making a statement. Then again, Syracuse won the PNIT last year, and ended up in the post season NIT. If we lose to Stanford, the PNIT will probably hurt our SOS. If we win that game, our SOS numbers will go up. That is probably the biggest impact. We are a better team than Stanford on paper. -- The House Of Humbodt, 22:47:05 10/18/02 Fri

THE STANFORD CARDINAL
Are they a singular bird, or a member of the Catholic aristocracy? Their mascot is a freaking tree. How stupid is all that for a school that likes to think they are smarter than everyone else.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]