Xavier Game Thread

[WBR Tom]

Ashworth's emergence since halftime of the UConn game has been something else. His defense is so, so much better, obviously, but this little Grant Gibbs ornery streak he's showing is new too. Different player than he was six weeks ago. The quote is getting cropped weird so I'll paste it in -- here's what Mac said on the postgame radio show:

“Six weeks ago he wasn't ready to guard these guys. But his change of mindset and belief in himself and our belief in his ability to do it, and by doing it every day in practice -- now all of a sudden he's gone from someone that many probably were thinking was a defensive liability to someone that we have a hard time being without on the defensive end of the floor. And 15 assists and one turnover in two Big East games? I mean come on.” -Greg McDermott on 1620AM postgame show

Also, file this under tweets most of us never would have expected an opposing team's site to write -- and yet here we are.

[mel ott]

Ashworth's emergence since halftime of the UConn game has been something else. His defense is so, so much better, obviously, but this little Grant Gibbs ornery streak he's showing is new too. Different player than he was six weeks ago. The quote is getting cropped weird so I'll paste it in -- here's what Mac said on the postgame radio show:

“Six weeks ago he wasn't ready to guard these guys. But his change of mindset and belief in himself and our belief in his ability to do it, and by doing it every day in practice -- now all of a sudden he's gone from someone that many probably were thinking was a defensive liability to someone that we have a hard time being without on the defensive end of the floor. And 15 assists and one turnover in two Big East games? I mean come on.” -Greg McDermott on 1620AM postgame show

Also, file this under tweets most of us never would have expected an opposing team's site to write -- and yet here we are.

He has been the biggest change on this team and gives me hope they can be the team we thought they could be. He has changed his game completely- improved defense, low turnovers, timely shooting and great free throw shooting. Tough as nails.

[SonofFrankTomera]

Baylor has played 95 minutes the last 2 games, without time off the floor. I hope he is getting paid well!

[TrueBlueJay]

Baylor has played 95 minutes the last 2 games, without time off the floor. I hope he is getting paid well!

I think Baylor is having the best time of his life and is enjoying every minute. After this year for BD, basketball will never be as fun as it is now.

[wildjays]

The Bluejay Beat postgame podcast is live for our Patreon subscribers.

Matt and Jacob break down the win over Xavier.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bluejay-b ... =join_link

[OKBluejay]

That’s one good 10-9 team but it’s all iso stuff. Not real pretty.

That's not normally the way they play. Xavier is actually top 20 in the country in assist rate, and normally assist on a higher % of their baskets than the Jays do. The Jays are #4 in the country in lowest opponent assist rate, so they are very good at using drop coverage to force a lot of iso ball. To their credit, Xavier did pretty well despite basically taking the shots that the Jays wanted them to.

[DC_JAY]

Good, gritty comeback. The Jays of late rarely win when trailing at half. St John's, Seton Hall, and now Xavier were all in doubt in the final minutes, and the Jays gutted out solid victories. I hope this means the team is toughening up, similar to last year's squad.

Ideally the DePaul game doesn't require 38-40 minute games from the starters. Then rest up for a week.

[LJay]

It will be interesting to see how DePaul responds to the turmoil in their game tonight. Having watched some of their games they don’t seem to enjoy themselves much so I would expect that the firing will make them even less inspired but who knows, they may get a burr under their saddle and play inspired ball for their interim coach.

[Savannah Jay]

Baylor has played 95 minutes the last 2 games, without time off the floor. I hope he is getting paid well!

They flashed a stat last night on the broadcast than Baylor only sat for 42 seconds in the last 4 games (at UCONN). So he's played 174:18 of a possible 175 minutes of those games.

[go_jays]

That’s one good 10-9 team but it’s all iso stuff. Not real pretty.

That's not normally the way they play. Xavier is actually top 20 in the country in assist rate, and normally assist on a higher % of their baskets than the Jays do. The Jays are #4 in the country in lowest opponent assist rate, so they are very good at using drop coverage to force a lot of iso ball. To their credit, Xavier did pretty well despite basically taking the shots that the Jays wanted them to.

The Jays defensive approach (Drop Coverage) is predicated on the fact that the 12 to 18 footer is the least efficient shot in basketball. It's the nexus of the lowest "percentage rate made" and the lowest "reward" for making it. They get it by never running under a pick (which denies the 3 pt shot) and relying on Kalkbrenner to erase anything inside of 12 feet.

It's purely a percentage play. And can also cover for a team that is deficient in 1v1 (iso) defending. Which is also why teams are the most effective against us when they have a 5 that can make a 15 to 19 footer to draw Kalbrenner away from his "zone"... which allows other teams to go purely iso (1v1 with a clear-out).