Banners On The Parkway - Xavier v. ButlerYour only remaining free source for Xavier Musketeers newshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47177/banners-fave.png2014-01-06T11:43:35-05:00http://www.bannersontheparkway.com/rss/stream/50372752014-01-06T11:43:35-05:002014-01-06T11:43:35-05:00Xavier 79-68 Butler: Recap
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<img alt="Want to win games? Have your star player hit the floor for loose balls." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N5D8Y41kBErMurmqjGB_-Evsk28=/0x305:4000x2972/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/26357245/20140104_pjc_sv4_161.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Want to win games? Have your star player hit the floor for loose balls. | Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Xavier went to 2-0 in the Big East with a tremendous second half defensive effort and a great performance from star sophomore Semaj Christon.</p> <p>To say Xavier is hot right now is understating things just a little bit. Since the disaster in the Bahamas, the team has knocked off (in order) 209, 218, 21, 69, 75, 71, and 61 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings of all things division one basketball. KenPom currently ranks Xavier as the 29th best team in the land, and ESPN ranks them just behind that in 30th. It should be noted that, in attaining those lofty ranks, Xavier has played the 13th toughest schedule in the nation and currently sits 12-3 and 2-0 in the third best conference in the land. So, yes, Xavier basketball is absolutely on fire.</p>
<p>The latest team to discover that Xavier has unequivocally jumped into the upper tier is a program trying to make that jump alongside them. The Butler Bulldogs came into the Cintas on Saturday fresh off having taken Villanove to overtime and looking to get to 1-1 in the conference rather than already being in a two game hole. In a game between two teams becoming rivals almost as quickly as their fanbases can trade insults on Twitter, it was likely going to come down to which star could impose himself on the game.</p>
<p>Butler has long been known for having the kind of everyman star player that Indiana fans can relate to. Gordon Hayward was gawky, looked awkward, and had the public persona of someone you'd be desperate for your daughter to date. Matt Howard was somehow even gawkier and also seemed good date material, if only because it took only one look for you to know there would be no extra curricular activity. Last year the Bulldogs had Rotnei Clarke, a stout gunner who lived outside the three point line quite contentedly. Into that gap this year steps Kellen Dunham and, while the hype machine just keeps rolling, Dunham is actually a volume scorer who shoots almost as much as Jordan Crawford did.</p>
<p>Dunham tried to come out quickly for the Bulldogs but, dubious fouls on Dee Davis aside, he simply couldn't get untracked. Xavier's star man Semaj Christon (20/2/8), on the other hand, didn't force his offense but took his time to settle into the game. Halfway through the first period the Musketeers led by one (22-21) and this looked like it was gearing up to be another 40 minute, give or take, classic between the two Big East teams. Christon poured in ten points in the remainder of the half as the Musketeers struggled just to stay close to a Butler team they simply could not stop from scoring. When the teams headed to the tunnel at halftime, Butler led 42-37 and was shooting a blistering 61% from the floor.</p>
<p>From that point on the game did indeed become a battle of which team's leading man could exert more influence over the game. Last year, that would have meant Semaj Christon taking 20 shots in order to haul his team back into it. Maybe earlier this year it would have meant the same thing, but the sophomore guard has learned to defer to his teammates (both Matt Stainbrook and James Farr shoot more when on the floor) and facilitate the offense. That's led to an assist rate of 27.1% and a team rate as high as it's has been since 2008. With 16 points already at the half, the first few possessions would tell the story of which Christon was on display.</p>
<p>To start the second half, Xavier had assists on their first three buckets as they quickly got back into the game. Semaj chipped in one of those assists, one of the six he distributed in the second half as the Butler defense began to collapse on him whenever he touched the ball. The first assist went to Dee Davis (12/0/1) who had missed most of the first half with two fouls but opened the second with five quick points. The Musketeers opened the half on a 9-0 run to take the lead, but Butler fought back quickly and the game went back and forth, with neither team able to pull away.</p>
<p>When Xavier finally did take the lead for good, it was their backcourt doing the work. A Christon steal and layup made it 64-62 with six and a half to play, and Christon found a cutting Dee Davis 30 seconds later to make the lead 66-64. From that point, the Musketeers went into Zip Em Up mode. Butler scored a grand total of four points in the last 6:13 of the game as Christon and Matt Stainbrook (17/7/4) chipped in blocks, Justin Martin (13/7/1) came up with a steal, and the team came up with five possession ending defensive rebounds.</p>
<p>While Semaj filled literally every line on the statsheet except for turnovers, Kellen Dunham was conspicuously absent from the decisive period of the game. With Dee Davis relentlessly chasing him off the ball and crippled by his own ability to get at the rim, Dunham went 1-6 from the floor in the second half and turned the ball over twice. It's an oversimplification to say that the game boiled completely down to two players, Xavier's team effort was excellent, but Semaj Christon posted an astronomical one game offensive efficiency rating of 138 while Kellen Dunham managed a team worst 72. Sometimes the oversimplified story seems to say it all. Dunham generates more content for his ESPN news feed, but Xavier's star sophomore did what was needed to win the game.</p>
<p><b><u>Three answers:</u></b></p>
<p><b>- What gives? </b>Butler defends the offensive glass well, and Xavier attacks it well. As this is a zero sum game, someone had to change course. Once again, it was the Musketeers who forced their will on another team. A 27.5% offensive rebound rate is higher than the Bulldogs usually allow, and Xavier grabbed four in the decisive final 6:13 of the game.</p>
<p><b>- Can Xavier shoot against this defense? </b>.509/.333/.833 adds up to to an effective field goal percentage of 53.6%, well above what Butler usually allows. Xavier was patient on offense even when Butler was racking up points in the first half, and ended the game with 16 assists on their 28 made field goals.</p>
<p><b>- Will Semaj go off? </b>As <a href="http://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2014/1/5/5277728/sunday-conversation-1-5-xavier-basketball-big-east-semaj-christon" target="_blank">I mentioned in the Conversation</a> (despite asking Joel not to run it) I feel like I called this one a bit. Dunham was far too slow for Christon, and Barlow was far too short. After Semaj spent the first half destroying them to the tune of 16 points, Butler ran multiple defenders at Xavier's point man for the entire second half. Christon responded to that by finding the open man and racking up six assists to go with four more points. In all, it was a great game for him.</p>
<p><b><u>Xavier SI infographic:</u></b></p>
<p><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/iwybCZGwWX/embed/" width="512" height="610" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p>
<p><b><u>Tweet of the game:</u></b></p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/RobDauster">@RobDauster</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BannersParkway">@BannersParkway</a> Great job by Semaj, but Dee Davis guarded Dunham mostly. Semaj guarded Brown mostly. DDavis was in Dunham's jock</p>
— MasterOfReality (@MOR_XU) <a href="https://twitter.com/MOR_XU/statuses/419831005927579649">January 5, 2014</a>
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<p>A credit where credit is due correction of Rob Dauster by the Master of Reality
<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2014/1/6/5278908/xavier-79-68-butler-recap-big-eastBrad D2014-01-04T16:52:56-05:002014-01-04T16:52:56-05:00Boxscore Breakdown/Highlights
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<img alt="Semaj Christon scored almost at will at times against Butler today." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mT1Sw2PK_o1KvhgwEeCRv2AWCL0=/0x244:4000x2911/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/26268453/20140104_pjc_sv4_159.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Semaj Christon scored almost at will at times against Butler today. | Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After starting out slowly on defense, Xavier rounded into form in the second half and slowly choked Butler out of the game.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400504516">What happened: Xavier 79 - Butler 68</a></p>
<p>After the first half, Xavier was trailing 42-37 and playing fairly porous defense. In the second half, the Musketeers rose to the challenge and slowly choked the life out of Butler. The Bulldogs shot 14-23/4-7/10-15 in the first half, but X held them to 9-29/2-10/6-9 with 6 turnovers the rest of the way. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174583/kellen-dunham">Kellen Dunham</a> in particular wanted nothing to do with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146538/dee-davis">Dee Davis</a> in the second half. Dunham drew a couple of early fouls on Dee and was able to put up 9 points in the first. With Dee back on the floor, Dunham was good for exactly 2 second-half points and simply didn't have it in him to get buckets when Butler needed them.</p>
<p>Speaking of Dee Davis, he was good for all 12 of his points in the game in the second half. His only field goal attempt of the first half was a missed three, but he rallied to end the game with 12/0/1 on 4-6/2-3/2-2 shooting with a steal and a turnover. It wasn't his most dynamic game as a distributor, but he was stuck to Kellen Dunham wherever he went when Butler was on offense, and Dee's efforts on both ends were a big part of the second-half turnaround for Xavier.</p>
<p>Brad mentioned in the preview that he felt Semaj was primed for a big game today, and he was absolutely correct. With the team sputterring in the first half, Semaj sprung to life to the tune of 16 points on 5-9 shooting. Even though it seemed clear at that point that nobody on Butler's roster could stay in front of him on offense, Christon was more deferential to his teammates in the second half, but he was still the best player on the floor, ending with 20/2/8, 3 steals, and a block on 7-14/0-2/6-7 shooting. Also, he had no turnovers to go with his eight dimes for the second straight game.</p>
<p>It's a familiar refrain, but Stainbrook was once again comfortable in his role as option 1B for X today. He played 35 minutes and posted 17/7/4 with 2 blocks on 7-12/0-0/3-4 shooting. It has been a long time since Xavier had a primary post player who could kick out this well, but Stainbrook is making nothing but great decisions with the basketball right now. What a pickup he was for this program.</p>
<p>Both Justin Martin and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100305/isaiah-philmore">Isaiah Philmore</a> came on strong in the second half for the Muskies. Good JMart was in the house today, and he finished the game with 13/7/1 with a steal on 4-9/1-2/4-5 shooting (and a technical foul). Philmore was the odd man out for a while, but he was nails down the stretch and came up with 9/6/1 on 3-3/0-0/3-4 shooting, including a dunk with 1.8 seconds left on the clock after Butler was unable to catch up to the ball to foul a Muskie. A Butler fan on Twitter told me that the Bulldogs will remember that when Xavier visits Hinkle, but I basically don't care. Butler couldn't hang, and Philmore wanted them to know that.</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, it was all about zipping them up. With 8:02 on the clock, Butler tied the game at 62. From that point forward, Xavier held them to 6 points on 2-11/1-5/1-3 shooting with 3 turnovers. After an uncharateristicly poor defensive showing, Xavier simply got tougher and tougher at that end of the floor as the game progressed. By the time Isaiah Philmore was adding the exclamation point via dunk with 1.8 seconds left, the arena crew was already lining up behind the Butler bench with body bags.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wbpSwi6h-BM" height="480" width="853"></iframe></p>
<p><b><u>Odds and ends:</u></b><br>-Xavier's bench scored 8 points today, which is not spectacular for a team with good depth.</p>
<p>-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146540/erik-stenger">Erik Stenger</a> was back, which was nice to see.</p>
<p>-The Musketeers were 20-24 from the free throw line; remember how bad they were at the start of the year?</p>
<p>-Kellen Dunham ended the game with 11 on 3-10/2-5/3-6 shooting and also had 5 TO.</p>
<p><b><u>Dad's take:</u></b><br>-"Going to a memorial service, so I'll join the game at halftime."<br>-"Just starting the second half; is Butler good this year?"<br>-"JMart for the lead?! All Big-East!"<br>-"Love that Dee Davis, what a baller!" (<i>ed. note: glad my dad missed Dee's two first half fouls, because he would have had a stroke</i>)<br>-"Dime from Semaj to JMart. Semaj seems much more comfortable not having to shoulder every possession."<br>-"Nice reverse from Stain; needed to get to his left hand. Dee with a sweet reverse; I think he can use both hands."<br>-"Sweet Music does seem a touch slow on defense."<br>-"62 all."<br>-"Sweet dime from Semaj to Davis. He seems very composed today."<br>-"JMart is calling for the ball. Stay calm, son."<br>-"Stain is just the man."<br>-"Nice of Phil to gorilla dunk with 1.8 to go! A little payback for that debacle in Indy with the clock."<br>-"What I saw, they really looked good today. That was fun to watch."</p>
<p>That's it from me. We'll be back tomorrow with the Sunday Conversation and Brad's recap. Still undefeated in Big East play, in 2014, and on the mainland. So long for now.</p>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2014/1/4/5274430/xavier-v-butler-breakdown-recap-final-score-big-eastJoel D2014-01-04T10:45:01-05:002014-01-04T10:45:01-05:00Xavier v. Butler: Preview
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<figcaption>Kellen Dunham, in actual physical pain because he isn't shooting. | Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Xavier's newest rival ventures to the Cintas for the first Big East meeting between the two. Unlike in recent years, it's the defense carrying the Bulldogs now.</p> <p>It's probably not lost on you that Butler is rapidly rising into the ranks of Xavier's fiercest rivals. After the Clock Game and with Dayton fading from the schedule for at least (and hopefully not more than) a year, the Bulldogs are fast becoming one of the teams that Xavier fans love to hate. Home games in a barn, away games in a swirl of hype, and a mystique generated mostly by a movie that they played literally no part in, Butler joined Xavier to the Atlantic 10 last year and then followed their way along to the Big East.</p>
<p>After years of having a basketball savant at the helm, the Bulldogs turned to <a href="#" class="sbn-auto-link">Brandon Miller</a> to take over when Brad Stevens headed to the NBA. The offense has, predictably, taken a downturn with the departure of Stevens. The offensive issues haven't really damaged Butler yet, as they enter this game with a 10-3 record. All three lossess have come to teams (Ok. St, LSU, and Villanova) that sport higher KenPom ratings than Butler. All but two of the ten wins have come against teams ranked 100 or lower, with five of those wins coming against sub 250 teams, one which was the D3 Manchester Spartans.</p>
<p><b><u>Team fingerprint:</u></b></p>
<p>Offensively, Butler isn't the team that they once were. While the losses of Stevens and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145139/roosevelt-jones" class="sbn-auto-link">Roosevelt Jones</a> (out for the year with a wrist injury) go a long way toward explaining that, it isn't as if the new guys are stepping up in any great way. An effective field goal percentage as a team of 48.9% is barely above 200th in the nation and comes because the team is bad from deep, worse from close, and almost as bad as Xavier at the line. Butler still manages an offensive efficiency rating of 107.4 because they turn the ball over on only 15% of their possessions, 34th best in the country.</p>
<p>Defensively, the Bulldogs are 35th in the nation mainly because they shut down the offensive glass. Only six teams nationwide allow a lower percentage of missed shots to be turned into second chances than Butler. The Bulldogs also get out to the three point line and neither allow, nor allow a very high conversion rate (30.8%) on three pointers. The solid positioning that leads to good exterior defense and few offensive rebounds doesn't lend itself to causing turnovers or blocking shots, so Butler just generally doesn't do those things. They also foul on very few opponent field goal attempts, so trips to the line tend to be limited.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs are very nearly average in effective height and aren't very deep at all, getting only 25% of their minutes from the bench. That lack of depth is in some way mitigated by having started the same five for every game so far.</p>
<p><b><u>The Starters:</u></b></p>
<p><b>The player: </b>6-6, 185 sophomore guard <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174583/kellen-dunham" class="sbn-auto-link">Kellen Dunham</a>.<br><b>The numbers: </b>18.4/3.9/1.9 on .417/.425/.813 shooting.<br><b>More numbers: </b>86.3% minutes played, 112.7 ORtg<br><b>The words: </b>Kellen Dunham will get a lot of, deserved, praise for his outside shot, but that's hardly the story with him. Half of his shots (48%) come from deep, but he's a pure volume scorer. His field goal percentage isn't pretty but that won't keep him from taking 27.2% of his team's shots when he's on the floor. Dunham's ability to get to the line inflates his points per game, but he fails to completely capitalize by only getting to the rim with 17% of his field goal attempts.</p>
<p><b>The player: </b>5-11, 187 junior guard <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145137/alex-barlow" class="sbn-auto-link">Alex Barlow</a>.<br><b>The numbers: </b>6.5/3.9/3.3 on .408/.419/.765 shooting.<br><b>More numbers: </b>20.1% assist rate, 4.7% steal rate.<br><b>The words: </b>Barlow is a defensive specialist who also distributes the ball fairly well. Much like his backcourt mate Dunham, his weak overall shooting percentage is bolstered by a strong number from deep. Barlow also manages a 112 ORtg, but only takes 13.2% of Butler's shots when he is on the floor. Mostly a facilitator and a ball mover, Barlow will only hurt teams offensively if they give him yards of space. Defensively, he'll hurt teams no matter what.</p>
<p><b>The player: </b>6-6, 216 senior forward <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123279/khyle-marshall" class="sbn-auto-link">Khyle Marshall</a>.<br><b>The numbers: </b>16/6.4/.7 on .569/.000/.540 shooting<br><b>More numbers: </b>117.7 ORtg, 12.7% OReb rate, 8.5% TO Rate<br><b>The words: </b>If Marshall could shoot free throws, he'd be the unquestioned star of this team. His rebounding rate on the offensive glass is immense and his ability to finish 27.4% of his team's possessions while turning the ball over so infrequently is a great asset in a forward. Marshall isn't blessed with range to the arc, but he will still fill it up.</p>
<p><b>The player: </b>6-8, 223 senior forward <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123277/erik-fromm" class="sbn-auto-link">Erik Fromm</a>.<br><b>The numbers: </b>7.1/3.7/.5 on .360/.273/.720 shooting.<br><b>More numbers: </b>3.7% block rate.<br><b>The words: </b>That Erik Fromm has started every game and played six minutes per contest more than any bench player speaks volumes to how desperate Butler is for every bit of size it can get. Fromm, quite simply, is not very good at basketball. His line is inflated but the minutes he plays, but his rate stats tell a different story. 5-11 guard Barlow is better on the defensive glass, and Fromm sports the turnover rate of a guard. Still, he's tall and he occasionally blocks shots.</p>
<p><b>The player: </b>6-9, 200 junior forward <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145140/kameron-woods" class="sbn-auto-link">Kameron Woods</a>.<br><b>The numbers: </b>9.3/9.5/1.8 on .538/.000/.603 shooting.<br><b>More numbers: </b>79.6% minutes played, 8.7% OReb rate, <u style="font-style: italic;">25.4%</u> defensive rebound rate.<br><b>The words: </b>I hope that the underline italics up there caught your eye, because that is a massive number. Woods grabs a quarter of the defensive rebounds available to him in a game. That, combined with a 4.3% block rate, make him an absolute menace on the defensive end of the floor. Woods' 104.5 ORtg isn't amazing, but it speaks to a player staying fairly well within his limitations. Woods isn't out there to score.</p>
<p><b><u>The reserves:</u></b></p>
<p>Butler isn't a deep squad, and they especially aren't deep in height. The tallest bench man is 6-7 freshman forward Andrew Chrabascz. Chrabascz is an excellent offensive rebounder (14.8%) and free throw shooter (85%) and posts a 2.8/3.2/.4 line in his 13 minutes. 6-4 freshman guard <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/229097/elijah-brown" class="sbn-auto-link">Elijah Brown</a> (7.6/2.7/1.5) is the ostensible sixth man and comes off the bench gunning (25% of his team's shots) despite shooting only 35%. The only other reserve getting double digit minutes is <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145138/jackson-aldridge" class="sbn-auto-link">Jackson Aldridge</a>, a 6-0 guard who is 6-15 from behind the arc and only 4-15 from inside it.</p>
<p><b><u>Three questions:</u></b></p>
<p><b>- What gives? </b>Xavier hammers the offensive glass, Butler defends it extremely well. Both teams can't maintain their current levels, someone has to break. Currently, the Musketeers grab about 12% more offensive rebounds than the Bulldogs are used to allowing.</p>
<p><b>- Can Xavier shoot against this defense? </b>Butler allows teams an effective field goal percentage of just 48.9%. Xavier has shot below that and won three times, but on two of those three occasions, they grabbed had an offensive rebound rate over 39%. If Xavier can't get the outside shot falling they won't be able to count on dominating the offensive glass to make up for it. The Muskies are 8-35 from deep in the last two games. Another 22% effort could spell a long day.</p>
<p><b>- Will Semaj go off? </b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174689/semaj-christon" class="sbn-auto-link">Semaj Christon</a> has scored double digits in each of the last two games, but he's done it quietly, letting his teammates handle the main scoring load. Butler doesn't seem to have a great matchup for him, with Dunham being too slow and Barlow being too small. This might be the game where Christon re-shoulders the load.</p>
<p><b><u>Three keys:</u></b></p>
<p><b>- Maintain momentum: </b>It's been six straight wins since the Bahamas and the Musketeers spent 32 minutes taking apart a good St. John's team in the Big East opener. This is another game, rivalry or not, that Xavier should win. Take it, and take some serious momentum into a killer next three (Marquette, @ Creighton, Georgetown).</p>
<p><b>- Run early: </b>Butler doesn't try to force turnovers (18.5%) and plays an even slower pace than Xavier. St. John's tried to speed the game up late and ended up getting eviscerated for their trouble. Butler can be had in transition if Xavier picks spots and gets out quickly. Once behind, the Bulldogs unimpressive offense will be in trouble.</p>
<p><b>- Be thankful the Cintas isn't a barn: </b>Because seriously, who wants to play basketball in a barn?</p>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2014/1/4/5268210/xavier-v-butler-preview-rivalryBrad D