Records: Temple (10-3, 3-1 away) / Xavier (7-6, 4-3 home)
Game time: 7PM EST
TV: Time Warner Cable Sportschannel
Radio: 1210 AM WPHT / 700 AM WLW
Website: TempleXavier
Line:
I can't see Temple really going anywhere this year. We're way to limited on offense. Granted, it's not exactly like we've ever been lights out under Dunphy. Lee is out of position, Randall and Hollis-Jefferson are nice players but you can't rely on them on offense, Pepper and O'Brien are average...
Not compared to Kansas, Syracuse especially this year with their record being what it was. Not taking anything away from Xavier and they aren't a horrible team by any means but this was a game Temple should have won.
Scootie Randall sucks. I say that in earnest. He's not the same guy he was before the injury. He's still a good defender, but he just spots up for 3s now. He used to show some ability to get to the rim and finish. Anthony Lee is our second best player behind Wyatt, and we can't work any offense for him because we don't have any other post players who can score.
Fair enough, I guess. But it's impossible for me to get my head around ANY A-10 team coming into the Cintas Center flat (other than some teams in the past who have basically accepted defeat before the game started). Just as I wouldn't expect anyone to EVER take a road trip to Temple lightly. It makes zero sense, even if your last opponent was the Heat.
Oh trust me I respect Xavier as much as you can respect a team but it's just how I am viewing this Temple season. They just look like 2 different teams depending on how good their opponent is. Xavier had lost 4 in a row and I am sure they were aware of that. They probably thought they would just cruise on in because of how well they played Kansas. Always a chance I am wrong and they did give their all and just sucked but I just can't believe they could suck that bad while giving their all.
I forgot to congratulate X on the win, I don't want to take anything away from them they are a young team who has a good core to build on but I think even X fans would say even they didn't play at a great level.
This could go south really quickly for Temple with SLU coming in, hopefully we rebound and erase some of the sting of tonight because a loss there and NIT becomes a much more likely option than NCAA.
Congrats to Xavier. I thought prior to this season that Temple had the potential to be a more consistent shooting team than last year's team. Looks like I'm going to be proven wrong. Didn't see the game so I'm not sure how much of TU's shooting woes were the result of poor shooting rather than good XU defense. Sounds like it was a bit of both.
Not sure if you were being sarcastic, but there isn't a thing about this Xavier team that should be called "superb."
Oh, and what about Jeff Robinson's 3 attempt when X was up 4 with about 1:30 left and 20ish secs on the shot clock??? He is in an alternate universe when he's on the floor.
I couldn't agree with you more. If the A10 experience has taught us anything, it is that Temple and X should keep it going. I have a great deal of respect for Temple.
I think what impressed me the most was Xavier circling the wagons when Dee Davis went down. They were playing significant stretches with Redford running the point, and Amos and Stenger (2 walk ons) in at the same time. Temple missed some easy looks for sure, and could have easily won this game. The one thing I noticed was how hurried Temple looked on offense. I haven't seen much of them this year, so i don't know if that was the result of pressure by Xavier, or if Temple just has no confidence on offense. Either way, Xavier can't look at this win as a "we are back" moment. They need to use this as a springboard and run off a good chunk of wins on the road.
Didn't see it. I am surprised X won - but it sounds like Temple didn't play too well. A season is a long time. Still don't have confidence that X can put a run together this year, but it would sure be nice!
I'll be in attendance this evening and hope that Scootie Randall and Pepper both see less minutes for a combination of DeCosey/Dingle.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Professional and College Basketball Forums
8M posts
37.4K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Competitive Basketball players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the NBA to college basketball to even everything but basketball. It's all here!