DeeWildcatTailgater
Active member
TNT prime time game on Friday night. What an excellent draw. This team is beatable and would be a 3 or 4 seed most years. I will be driving to St. Louis. Does anyone know the best way to get tickets?
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Xavier Musketeers
- Thread starter DeeWildcatTailgater
- Start date
STGWildcat
Active member
The rare time when Weber State's opponent in the NCAA Tournament isn't the only team wondering where their opponent's school is located.
Mind you, I recall watching Cincinnati and Xavier going at it head-to-head in cross-town match-ups in past years, but I had to remind myself with a Google search.
Mind you, I recall watching Cincinnati and Xavier going at it head-to-head in cross-town match-ups in past years, but I had to remind myself with a Google search.
Congrats to winning your conference tourney. So what are some of your strengths and weaknesses? I know nothing about your team except you shoot a high FG % and get to the line. That's a sign of a good team. Xavier has been the same type of team in recent years. Obviously I'm a little partial to X but this team is loaded with talent. X is 2-3 deep at every position and the skill level doesn't drop off. I think we avg about 25pts a game from our bench. You will hear a lot about our 1-3-1 zone defense. It is extremely tough and not played like most teams. At most, we play it 50% of the time depending on the situation. I honestly think the only way X loses is if they go cold shooting the ball which has happened a few times this year. Our frosh point guard Sumner is tall and one of the fastest in the game. He can get to the hoop anytime he wants no matter who we are playing. But he doesn't try and do too much. Bluiett is an amazing scorer. Our bigs are super talented. X's only weakness is sometimes our defense is not as good as it should be.
xavierfan said:
Thanks and welcome X-fan. I am excited to be playing a new school. Joel Bolomboy is our senior stud center/PF, he's a double-double machine. He's projected to be an NBA draft pick this year. The off-guard is Jeremy Senglin and the team goes as he does. If he's hitting his shots and staying in control on his drives he reminds me of Damian Lillard. Weber has a long tradition of great guard play and Jeremy is the next in line.
One interesting stat involves our SF Ryan Richardson, basically if he makes his first shot he's money all game, if he misses, it's not pretty. Here's the article on the numbers if you're interested:
http://www.standard.net/Weber-State/2016/03/11/Ryan-Richardson-Weber-State-big-sky-tournament.html
We don't have the depth of a power 5 conference so we don't go 10 deep but we have some players and I think this game is going to be a fun one to watch.
weberwildcat
Active member
I'm excited for this game. I went to our last three tourneys but don't think there is any chance this yr. Reno is over!!! On to the dance!
weberwildcat
Active member
Weber vs Big East
3-6 overall
Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, Providence, Xavier: 0-0
Georgetown 0-1
DePaul 0-3
Creighton 1-0
Butler 2-0
I believe the above is accurate.
Didn't we play St Johns in a tourney recently?
3-6 overall
Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, Providence, Xavier: 0-0
Georgetown 0-1
DePaul 0-3
Creighton 1-0
Butler 2-0
I believe the above is accurate.
Didn't we play St Johns in a tourney recently?
oldrunner
Active member
All teams are beatable. This isn't any different from what we have just been through. You prepare a game plan, You prepare the team to execute that plan, and then you play the game. I don't see these so called upset games, as upsets. At this point in the season, all of the teams are good or they wouldn't be there. You play the game like any other game. There are distractions, but all of the teams have those same distractions.
Our Wildcats are already champions. They don't have anything to prove. They are playing to respect themselves, they are playing to respect the other team, and they are playing to respect the game. Everybody wants to win. That is what is great about the competition.
Let's get it on. :nod: :nod:
Our Wildcats are already champions. They don't have anything to prove. They are playing to respect themselves, they are playing to respect the other team, and they are playing to respect the game. Everybody wants to win. That is what is great about the competition.
Let's get it on. :nod: :nod:
I will begin this post by saying "I HOPE I AM TOTALLY WRONG"... Go Wildcats!
Xavier is ranked #5 in the nation with only 5 losses and 27 victories against big time competition.
Xavier played 12 preseason games, going 12-0. They played three of those games (Alabama, USC & Dayton) on a neutral court, two games (Wake Forest & Michigan) away and 7 games at home. In preseason they had 4 games where they completely outclassed the competition. In those 4 games (Wright State, Western Kentucky, Auburn & Dayton) their average victory margin was 30 points.
In Conference play they went 15-5. Against Villanova & Seton Hall (two best teams in their conference) they were 2-3. Against Villanova they won at home by 7 & lost on the road by 31. They lost on the road by 6, won at home by 9 and lost by 4 in their tourney to Seton Hall. They also lost once to Georgetown on the road by 9 and to Creighton on the road by 14. They won both of those games at home by ave margin of 9.
This is a legitimate Top 10 team with a legitimate shot at making a big run in the NCAA tournament. They are long and athletic with 6'10" post and a very quick PG who is 6"6". Their shooting is ok but somewhat erratic. If they are hot they are unstoppable, and if not they can lose to far lesser teams.
As for Weber's chances I give them slim and none. For Weber to win this game they would have to shoot "lights-out" for the whole game and Weber's defense would have to play its best game of the season. In addition, I think Xavier would have to be off their game. I don't see Weber's defense as being that good against these hyper long and athletic players. I am concerned as to whether Senglin or Richardson can even get their 3-pointers off to the degree they would need to to keep Weber in the game. I don't see Joel scoring big against their inside guys. I can see Weber losing this game by 20+ on a worst case basis and by less than 10 on a best case basis. I do not foresee a victory for the "Cats"... baring a miracle. I am just hoping that Weber doesn't embarrass themselves.
LET'S HOPE FOR A MIRACLE!!!!!!! And for those of you who have any pull upstairs with the man, its time to spend your chit.
Xavier is ranked #5 in the nation with only 5 losses and 27 victories against big time competition.
Xavier played 12 preseason games, going 12-0. They played three of those games (Alabama, USC & Dayton) on a neutral court, two games (Wake Forest & Michigan) away and 7 games at home. In preseason they had 4 games where they completely outclassed the competition. In those 4 games (Wright State, Western Kentucky, Auburn & Dayton) their average victory margin was 30 points.
In Conference play they went 15-5. Against Villanova & Seton Hall (two best teams in their conference) they were 2-3. Against Villanova they won at home by 7 & lost on the road by 31. They lost on the road by 6, won at home by 9 and lost by 4 in their tourney to Seton Hall. They also lost once to Georgetown on the road by 9 and to Creighton on the road by 14. They won both of those games at home by ave margin of 9.
This is a legitimate Top 10 team with a legitimate shot at making a big run in the NCAA tournament. They are long and athletic with 6'10" post and a very quick PG who is 6"6". Their shooting is ok but somewhat erratic. If they are hot they are unstoppable, and if not they can lose to far lesser teams.
As for Weber's chances I give them slim and none. For Weber to win this game they would have to shoot "lights-out" for the whole game and Weber's defense would have to play its best game of the season. In addition, I think Xavier would have to be off their game. I don't see Weber's defense as being that good against these hyper long and athletic players. I am concerned as to whether Senglin or Richardson can even get their 3-pointers off to the degree they would need to to keep Weber in the game. I don't see Joel scoring big against their inside guys. I can see Weber losing this game by 20+ on a worst case basis and by less than 10 on a best case basis. I do not foresee a victory for the "Cats"... baring a miracle. I am just hoping that Weber doesn't embarrass themselves.
LET'S HOPE FOR A MIRACLE!!!!!!! And for those of you who have any pull upstairs with the man, its time to spend your chit.
I didn't want to come on your board and be arrogant but I agree 100% with the comments from baller. Georgetown actually beat X at Xavier by shredding the 1-3-1 zone and hitting 3's from the corner. It was Gtowns best game of the season. At Chreighton, Xavier went 1 for 21 from 3 and still almost beat them. The next game xavier made 13 triples. The 30pt Nova loss was when Sumner was carried off on a stretcher 2 minutes into the game. he was unconscious and actually looked paralyzed. After that happend it was obvious the players were not interested in playing. Plus Nova went crazy making shot after shot.
How to beat X- foul trouble wont hurt X. They are too deep. But Reynolds will foul a lot and has like 20 technical fouls this season. Off the bench comes Farr. He is better. I forget which opposing coach said this but he said Farr would be starting for Duke if he was on that team. The only weak spot of the zone is in the corners but the passes have to be crisp and move the ball fast. Over load one side and switch it quickly and you'll have an open shot. Of course that is easier said than done. you can penetrate to the free throw line and then kick it to the corner but again...Likely the only way you will have success on offense is to hit 25ft shots. I do not think your 2 guard will hurt us. Remy Abell will guard him and he is a shut down defender. I'm sure he'll get his points but he's not going to go for 30+. I suspect the game plan will be to pound it down low and try to get your big guy in foul trouble. Defensively Weber will need to deny the interior and force X to take long jump shots and hope they go ice cold. It has happened before so who knows. And be ready on every inbound play under the basket. X has a lot of good inbound plays. Of course all of this doesn't mean jack because the players still have to play the game. anything could happen. I admit I have never seen Weber play but I've read quite a bit in the last 24hrs. It does seem like X would have to play their worst game of the season and Weber would have to play their best. good luck but not too much luck.
SWeberCat02
Active member
So X plays a good zone defense. Oh Oh! Could be in for a beat down. Hope I'm wrong. Go Cats!
UtahPirate
Active member
Nice to get a Xavier fan to give us a little scouting report. And we all know that the best we were going to do was a 15 seed, which is tough. I had some hope of a 14 with all the conference upsets, but the whole conference has to do better to garner more respect and a little more bump in seeding come tournament time. The big upsets come through the 12 and 13 seeds.
Xavierfan, our biggest weakness is turnovers. If we can hold on to the ball better than normal we are by far the most athletic team in our conference. Then if we can get hot from 3's, which has happened, we could make the game interesting. Traditionally zones kill us. But few teams have zoned us this year as this current team has had better ball movement than in the past.
Sumner is going to cause us huge match up problems. We've had trouble with quick guards all year -- and we never, I mean never, zone (which other posters will laugh at me bringing up because I complain about that all the time). But at this point we are pretty proud to have won the regular season and then won our tournament as well. This has been a fun group to watch. We are excited to hang another championship banner! Our coach is a feisty little guy who's teams always play hard -- from tip off to the final bell.
Xavierfan, our biggest weakness is turnovers. If we can hold on to the ball better than normal we are by far the most athletic team in our conference. Then if we can get hot from 3's, which has happened, we could make the game interesting. Traditionally zones kill us. But few teams have zoned us this year as this current team has had better ball movement than in the past.
Sumner is going to cause us huge match up problems. We've had trouble with quick guards all year -- and we never, I mean never, zone (which other posters will laugh at me bringing up because I complain about that all the time). But at this point we are pretty proud to have won the regular season and then won our tournament as well. This has been a fun group to watch. We are excited to hang another championship banner! Our coach is a feisty little guy who's teams always play hard -- from tip off to the final bell.
Nice to see polite people on a message board. I look forward to reading your opinions on X after the game win or lose. With the success you've had the last couple of years are there any rumors of your coach leaving for a bigger school? Xavier has to deal with that almost every year. About the zone, X only plays it if the other team is beating us man to man. Some games we don't even use it. So if we change to zone, you're doing something right. In our loss to Seton Hall X forced 25 turnovers but shot around 30% and lost by 4.
xavierfan said:
Oh dear!! Weber has two major issues. First, we are turnover prone. The last five or six games have been tough to watch. Yes, We have won 4 of 5, but, even with winning, the Cats have really turned the ball over a ton. In our Big Sky Tourney wins, each should have been a little "easier" but because of turnovers the games we closer than most of us would have liked (barely getting past North Dakota on Friday). Second, we really struggle against the zone. Thankfully, the Cats face the 1-3-1 frequently and so might be a little more prepared. If the Cats do play a zone, which is beyond rare, we will go into a 1-3-1, well at least this season. Coach Rahe usually utilized a 2-3 in the past.
As for Coach leaving...it has been discussed a number of times. He has had quite the career here at Weber State. In 10 seasons he has only had 1 losing season (last year, we finished 8th in the conference), has won 5 Big Sky Titles (lost twice in the conference tourney), is the winningest coach in Weber State and Big Sky history (most good coaches leave fairly quickly), and has a 30 win season under his belt. He has been up for jobs at Wyoming, Boise State, New Mexico, Colorado State, and I believe Air Force. Personally, I don't think he is going to leave, but you never know. I would suspect maybe a Mountain West school or possibly a PAC-12, but nobody is really cleaning house in either conference, that he would be interested in. He has it made at Weber. Great facilities to recruit to, a nice fan base, proud tradition and Damian Lillard. :thumb:
I've always liked watching Xavier. For years, Xavier was the underdog that you wanted and were excited to see advance. Pretty sweet that Weber gets the chance to square off against Xavier. I wish Weber could get a better OOC schedule with teams outside of the West (heavens, we really can't get that many Western teams to play us, might as well head East) and maybe this is a start. No matter, I'm pretty excited with the match up, even if we end up getting killed.
We do have good shooters. Some are really streaky, but we can go off from 3. We also have guys who are pretty good at getting to the rim. Our bigs are really solid and can play for range or with their backs towards the basket. We could be better at rebounding, but we do have a guy named Joel Bolomboy. He is the second best in the nation and the Big Sky all-time leader. Pretty impressive stuff that he has accomplished while at Weber (he is also the top in blocks and dunks for Weber). We do have a strong bench, and at times this season, the bench was the best part about our program. Weber is a fairly young team. Joel Bolomboy is our only senior. We can be surprisingly quick and are extremely tough on the defensive side of the court. We play a stingy man to man that is really good at limiting the 3.
WILDCAT said:
:nod: Unrealistic to expect a WSU Wildcat win, but hope the game is more of a Weber State/Arizona (last NCAA outing where our version of Wildcats showed competitive) than a Weber State/Oklahoma (OOC game a season before where our Wildcats set a BAD stat record) or a Montana/Syracuse (NCAA match up that turned really ugly for the Big Sky rep getting beat 40+ points)!!
Just play competitive to satisfy this Wildcat fan...my worst fear is the later result mentioned...please try not to let it happen!
STGWildcat
Active member
WILDCAT said:
At this stage in Weber's timeline, I agree that making it to the NCAA Tournament is considered a success as long as Weber plays a respectable game (like in 2014 against Arizona and unlike 2007 against UCLA - http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=274000012). On the bright side, this year's roster for Weber looks way more talented than in the box score against UCLA I just posted.
I'm obviously hoping for a win, but I'm also realistic. Hopefully one day they can turn into a mid-major power like Gonzaga, St. Mary's, BYU, Wichita State, etc. where Weber is a household name and is feared by opponents outside of the Big Sky.
Edit: Looks like AlumniWSU basically said the same thing right above me.
Here's the Xavier fan forum:
http://www.xavierhoops.com/forumdisplay.php?54-Men-s-Basketball
DesNews article:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-finally-put-end-to-Grizzly-curse.html?pg=all
http://www.xavierhoops.com/forumdisplay.php?54-Men-s-Basketball
DesNews article:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-finally-put-end-to-Grizzly-curse.html?pg=all
