(11-13-2012 04:33 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:28 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:20 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  Xavier is looking pretty good right now, playing with a lot of emotion.

I think XU's demise has been greatly exaggerated. They still have a solid talent level and should be a good team. A10 coaches picking them 9th is wishful thinking.

Butler went to the CBI last season. So I don't know if they decent this year or not?

Xavier will probably be around where they were last year, a bubble team but likely headed to the NIT.

(11-13-2012 04:34 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:33 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:28 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:20 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  Xavier is looking pretty good right now, playing with a lot of emotion.

I think XU's demise has been greatly exaggerated. They still have a solid talent level and should be a good team. A10 coaches picking them 9th is wishful thinking.

Butler went to the CBI last season. So I don't know if they decent this year or not?

Xavier will probably be around where they were last year, a bubble team but likely headed to the NIT.

They are going to play well at home and play solid defense, but this group isn't going to continue to shoot 60% or better every game. I think they'll really struggle to score on the road.

(11-13-2012 04:33 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:28 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:20 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  Xavier is looking pretty good right now, playing with a lot of emotion.

I think XU's demise has been greatly exaggerated. They still have a solid talent level and should be a good team. A10 coaches picking them 9th is wishful thinking.

Butler went to the CBI last season. So I don't know if they decent this year or not?

Yeah Butler was a good defensive team last year but a terrible offensive team. Not sure how much different they will be this year. They don't seem to have any on the ball play making ability. They did at Clarke who is a good shooter though.

Regardless of opponent, Xavier has been pretty impressive in 3 halfs so far.

(11-13-2012 04:28 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(11-13-2012 04:20 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  Xavier is looking pretty good right now, playing with a lot of emotion.

I think XU's demise has been greatly exaggerated. They still have a solid talent level and should be a good team. A10 coaches picking them 9th is wishful thinking.

Was going to post something very similar. They may be a bunch of no-names right now, but good D can go along way. Dakich was absolutely in love with X's performance on defense especially on ball screens.

Hell of a play by Appling to finish off the Jayhawks. If Garry Harris continues scoring like that I could see yet another Final 4 for Izzo.

This is the only time I'm a huge Duke fan. I hope Plumlee dominates and shuts up the most obnoxious fan base in sports.

(11-13-2012 09:21 PM)Bearcat04 Wrote:  Hell of a play by Appling to finish off the Jayhawks. If Garry Harris continues scoring like that I could see yet another Final 4 for Izzo.

This is the only time I'm a huge Duke fan. I hope Plumlee dominates and shuts up the most obnoxious fan base in sports.

I agree. As much as it pains me...go Duke...

Like Raftery kept me watching an otherwise meaningless game, Dukie V is making it hard for me to watch this UK-Duke game.

Apparently the season is over, Xavier's monster win over an average Butler team netted them a mention on the front page of the Enquirer, almost the entire front page of the Sports section with a half page picture and two articles, while the Bearcats (Ranked 24th no less) get a sliver of page 3 with the rest of page 3 going to Xavier. I'll admit they looked better than I thought they would thus far, but Butler is not the usual Butler and from my understanding is in a little of a rebuild themselves. Even though UC was playing a nobody, fan polls have spoken that UC is the much favored option in the city, yet XU gets the media coverage.

Butler has zero athletes. It's really easy to play defense when the offense can't attack the basket. Let's see what happens when Xavier has to guard Wright, Parker, Rubles and Kilpatrick in one on one situations. Yes, Xavier played great position defense yesterday but I think what that really exposed was Butler's lack of ability to beat ANYONE off the bounce.

(11-14-2012 09:30 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  Apparently the season is over, Xavier's monster win over an average Butler team netted them a mention on the front page of the Enquirer, almost the entire front page of the Sports section with a half page picture and two articles, while the Bearcats (Ranked 24th no less) get a sliver of page 3 with the rest of page 3 going to Xavier. I'll admit they looked better than I thought they would thus far, but Butler is not the usual Butler and from my understanding is in a little of a rebuild themselves. Even though UC was playing a nobody, fan polls have spoken that UC is the much favored option in the city, yet XU gets the media coverage.

I know UC's schedule is better this season, but I feel like UC misses out on some national press (and evidently local, too) by not playing bigger name schools earlier. I agree that Butler is not the team they have been in the recent past, but it 'looks' better than Mississipi Valley State, Campbell, Tenn-Martin, and NC A & T.

I think Cronin has established a scheduling scenario each season where he likes the team to attempt to gel by playing cupcakes the first several games. But throwing in a real school or two wouldn't hurt in my opinion. Sure, you might lose, but you might get a better idea of what kind of a team you really have.

The good news is there are only two more of these and then we will see some tougher competition.

(11-14-2012 09:33 AM)JFlight21 Wrote:  Butler has zero athletes. It's really easy to play defense when the offense can't attack the basket. Let's see what happens when Xavier has to guard Wright, Parker, Rubles and Kilpatrick in one on one situations. Yes, Xavier played great position defense yesterday but I think what that really exposed was Butler's lack of ability to beat ANYONE off the bounce.

That kind of stuck out to me also. I hope X comes out guards so we can blow right past them and finish in the paint. Butler could not shoot straight either.
I think Valpo and Detriot will be the best in the Horizon this year.

(11-14-2012 09:50 AM)bearcatfan Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:30 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  Apparently the season is over, Xavier's monster win over an average Butler team netted them a mention on the front page of the Enquirer, almost the entire front page of the Sports section with a half page picture and two articles, while the Bearcats (Ranked 24th no less) get a sliver of page 3 with the rest of page 3 going to Xavier. I'll admit they looked better than I thought they would thus far, but Butler is not the usual Butler and from my understanding is in a little of a rebuild themselves. Even though UC was playing a nobody, fan polls have spoken that UC is the much favored option in the city, yet XU gets the media coverage.

I know UC's schedule is better this season, but I feel like UC misses out on some national press (and evidently local, too) by not playing bigger name schools earlier. I agree that Butler is not the team they have been in the recent past, but it 'looks' better than Mississipi Valley State, Campbell, Tenn-Martin, and NC A & T.

I think Cronin has established a scheduling scenario each season where he likes the team to attempt to gel by playing cupcakes the first several games. But throwing in a real school or two wouldn't hurt in my opinion. Sure, you might lose, but you might get a better idea of what kind of a team you really have.

The good news is there are only two more of these and then we will see some tougher competition.

Agreed, but from what I hear it is not for lack of trying. None of the local schools (O$U, UK, IU) are interested in playing us and the majority of these early season matchups are made by the networks, which for some reason still are not interested in scheduling UC. Though I do feel after a great season this year, that next season we will get some big times games because we will be in demand.

(11-14-2012 09:54 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:33 AM)JFlight21 Wrote:  Butler has zero athletes. It's really easy to play defense when the offense can't attack the basket. Let's see what happens when Xavier has to guard Wright, Parker, Rubles and Kilpatrick in one on one situations. Yes, Xavier played great position defense yesterday but I think what that really exposed was Butler's lack of ability to beat ANYONE off the bounce.

That kind of stuck out to me also. I hope X comes out guards so we can blow right past them and finish in the paint. Butler could not shoot straight either.
I think Valpo and Detriot will be the best in the Horizon this year.

Butler is in the A-10 this season, but oddly this game against Xavier didn't count in the conference standings.

(11-14-2012 09:57 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:50 AM)bearcatfan Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:30 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  Apparently the season is over, Xavier's monster win over an average Butler team netted them a mention on the front page of the Enquirer, almost the entire front page of the Sports section with a half page picture and two articles, while the Bearcats (Ranked 24th no less) get a sliver of page 3 with the rest of page 3 going to Xavier. I'll admit they looked better than I thought they would thus far, but Butler is not the usual Butler and from my understanding is in a little of a rebuild themselves. Even though UC was playing a nobody, fan polls have spoken that UC is the much favored option in the city, yet XU gets the media coverage.

I know UC's schedule is better this season, but I feel like UC misses out on some national press (and evidently local, too) by not playing bigger name schools earlier. I agree that Butler is not the team they have been in the recent past, but it 'looks' better than Mississipi Valley State, Campbell, Tenn-Martin, and NC A & T.

I think Cronin has established a scheduling scenario each season where he likes the team to attempt to gel by playing cupcakes the first several games. But throwing in a real school or two wouldn't hurt in my opinion. Sure, you might lose, but you might get a better idea of what kind of a team you really have.

The good news is there are only two more of these and then we will see some tougher competition.

Agreed, but from what I hear it is not for lack of trying. None of the local schools (O$U, UK, IU) are interested in playing us and the majority of these early season matchups are made by the networks, which for some reason still are not interested in scheduling UC. Though I do feel after a great season this year, that next season we will get some big times games because we will be in demand.

Yes, as the program returns to prominence those inter-conference matchups will be created by TV for TV, such as this year's BE/SEC Challenge game with 'Bama. X may have been today's headline in the dying local paper but it was UC's score (since we're ranked) that was rolling nationwide all night at the bottom of the screen on the ESPN channels. Staying nationally ranked is so important for visibility.

(11-14-2012 10:20 AM)indycat Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:57 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:50 AM)bearcatfan Wrote:  

(11-14-2012 09:30 AM)BigDawg Wrote:  Apparently the season is over, Xavier's monster win over an average Butler team netted them a mention on the front page of the Enquirer, almost the entire front page of the Sports section with a half page picture and two articles, while the Bearcats (Ranked 24th no less) get a sliver of page 3 with the rest of page 3 going to Xavier. I'll admit they looked better than I thought they would thus far, but Butler is not the usual Butler and from my understanding is in a little of a rebuild themselves. Even though UC was playing a nobody, fan polls have spoken that UC is the much favored option in the city, yet XU gets the media coverage.

I know UC's schedule is better this season, but I feel like UC misses out on some national press (and evidently local, too) by not playing bigger name schools earlier. I agree that Butler is not the team they have been in the recent past, but it 'looks' better than Mississipi Valley State, Campbell, Tenn-Martin, and NC A & T.

I think Cronin has established a scheduling scenario each season where he likes the team to attempt to gel by playing cupcakes the first several games. But throwing in a real school or two wouldn't hurt in my opinion. Sure, you might lose, but you might get a better idea of what kind of a team you really have.

The good news is there are only two more of these and then we will see some tougher competition.

Agreed, but from what I hear it is not for lack of trying. None of the local schools (O$U, UK, IU) are interested in playing us and the majority of these early season matchups are made by the networks, which for some reason still are not interested in scheduling UC. Though I do feel after a great season this year, that next season we will get some big times games because we will be in demand.

Yes, as the program returns to prominence those inter-conference matchups will be created by TV for TV, such as this year's BE/SEC Challenge game with 'Bama. X may have been today's headline in the dying local paper but it was UC's score (since we're ranked) that was rolling nationwide all night at the bottom of the screen on the ESPN channels. Staying nationally ranked is so important for visibility.

Can't say I'm surprised by the Enquirer. BigDawg - I would tell to write the sport's editor, however seems UC fan's feedback falls on deaf ears.

I also noticed UC's name/score scrolling in the national broadcast. Also, was top of the NCAA scores bar on the 4 letter's website. This exposure is much needed.

One positive to take away from Egg's decent play, so far, is we should receive more credit when we blow them out by 100.

Butler didn't even make the NIT last year. They probably won't again this year.

Butler was a one year wonder, just like VCU.

I wrote a blistering e-mail to Washburn this morning about sports page, still have NOT heard back, imagine that.

(11-14-2012 12:20 PM)CincyBro Wrote:  Butler was a one year wonder, just like VCU.

Butler made the NCAA Final 4 (2010, 2011). They are not a one year wonder.

There were, what, a couple thousand people at the UC game last night? About 10,000 showed up to the XU game at 4:00 pm on a Tuesday. It was on national TV, part of ESPN's all day college basketballgasm. Hard to blame the Enquirer for covering it more than UC's blowout.