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Where do we go from here?

January 7, 2013
Where do we go from here? With a 7-6 record and a 4-game losing streak, things are looking quite grim for Xavier fans these days. I think we all know that we lost all 5 starters last year and have endured some bad luck to say the least. Other than Senior Travis Taylor, no one is playing well consistently right now. Most of our key players are young this year which is very uncommon for Xavier teams over the years. Semaj Christon is a freshman and Dee Davis and Justin Martin are sophomores. Remeber that there are 6 players (or maybe more) that will be playing next year that aren't this year:
Matt Stainbrook (transfer), Chris Cantino, Jalen Reynolds and Myles Davis (ineligible this yr), Brandon Randolph and Kamall Richards (incoming freshmen)

We Xavier fans have not endured a rough season in a long time. The last 3 weeks make it look like it could be just that. I hope it doesn't turn out that way but it's not looking good. We need to remember that although the season looks bleak, the future is bright for Xavier. We have multiple 4-star players joining the team next year. Sometime this year, we are likely to be invited to join a higher-revenue conference where basketball is the main focus. The rough times at Xavier should be brief.
Let's take the rest of this year to watch our young players develop and who knows, maybe something good can still come of this. Yes, our non-conference games went horribly but the A-10 season has yet to begin. So, technically, we are in a 16-way tie for 1st place in the conference right now. The A10 has some very good teams in it. Butler is playing much, much better than when we beat them back in November and VCU and Temple look like tourney teams right now. Few, if any, conference games will be easy so these next couple weeks should make this young team stronger and more experienced down the road. Let's hope that experience pays off sooner rather than later.
The A10 season kicks off Thursday night at home vs Temple. Let's go Muskies!!!
 

Muskies lose 4th in a row

January 3, 2013
Our 4th lost in a row came to Wake Forest last night, giving us our longest losing streak since the 1999-2000 season. As we've seen in the every game since our win at Purdue, the Muskies had long stretches of no offense.

Travis Taylor scored 18 points on 9 of 10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. But 16 of those points were in the first half, the Muskies couldn't get Taylor the ball in the 2nd half. Everyone else struggled to score. Jeff Robinson did get 10 pts and 6 rebs after not playing at all last week. As was the case against Tennessee, XU won the rebounding battle but the offensive struggles were the difference. 

Three big things that hurt Xavier last night:
20 Turnovers!
43% shooting (take out Taylor and the rest of the team made 12 of 39 shots!)
62% FT shooting

Another hard one to watch. This young team is taking their lumps; hope that benefits them down the road.

Next up: A-10 opener against Temple at home - Thurs, Jan 10th at 7:00
 

A Tale of Two Losers?

January 2, 2013
A Tale of Two Losers?
Okay, I know that's too strong. But the Muskies are trying to avoid their 4th loss in a row tonight while Wake Forest is trying to avoid falling to a .500 record. Wake Forest is 4-2 at home but they have 0 decent wins. Here's how they've fared against "decent" teams...
 
@UConn - lost by 6
Iona (neutral) - lost by 26
Neb - lost by 16
@Richmond - lost by 2
Seton Hall - lost by 4

That's their 5 losses; their 6 wins were against some not-so-great teams to say the least....UNCG, Furman, High Pt, W&M, Mercer, and Radford.

So we know this game is winnable. It's a matter of which Xavier team shows up. C'mon Muskies! Let's make something happen tonight! We need a win!
 

2nd half collapse dooms Muskies to 3rd loss in a row

December 31, 2012
This is just getting too hard to watch. The Muskies finally make some free throws and go hard to the glass to dominate in rebounding but go on to blow a big 2nd half lead again! 

Other than Travis Taylor and Erik Stenger, I don't think anyone for Xavier can be counted on right now. Taylor had 12 pts and 7 rebs in 22 minutes of play due to foul trouble and Stenger had 6 pts and 8 rebs in just 20 minutes. We had 19 turnovers! Some of those were due to good defense by the Vols but many of those were unforced errors. Semaj Christon had 6 turnovers and just 1 assist. Jeff Robinson did not play at all as I'm guessing all confidence has been lost him in at this time. Everything is in shambles at this point.

Let's see what Mack can do with these guys. Not much time to reflect, the Muskies play at Wake Forest on Wednesday at 7:00.
 

Xavier plays at Tennessee, hoping to end losing skid

December 29, 2012
Xavier plays at Tennessee, hoping to end losing skid
The Muskies have depressed us to new levels in the last couple games. I forgot what it's like to lose. I don't like it!

XU plays at Tennessee at 6:00 today on ESPNU. Tenn is a 6 point favorite as they probably should be. They are 6-0 at home this year. One of the largest concerns in this one has to be rebounding yet again. While the Muskies have struggled on the boards, Tenn is out-rebounding their opponents by 7.4 rebs/gm. Neither team is an offensive powerhouse and both are good defensively. XU allows 40% FG%, Tenn allows 39% FG%. So I'm expecting a lower-scoring game.

Let's see what the men can do! GO MUSKIES! Save Christmas!
 

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