xavier newsletter #26

8/7/2019 Xavier Newsletter #26

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/xavier-newsletter-26 1/16



The most basic fundamental of Pack Line defense is our defenders ability to recover from the PACK LIN

to a ball handler with a controlled CLOSE OUT. With our positioning in GAPS on defense this is a skillthat every player must possess and must be committed to getting right every time. This is an effectiveskill to have regardless of your defensive scheme.

Key Elements to a great close out:

1) Move on the Air Time of the ball: a great defender moves from position to position while the ball is inthe air

2) Start with sprint end with a chop: the first two steps are a dead sprint while the ball is in the air andends with feet chopping as they approach the offense player

3) High Hands/Low Shoulders: as the feet are chopping, the hips/butt go down as the hands go high. Thlow hips/butt defend against the drive and the high hands take away vision for pass or shot.

The ability of each offense player effects each defenders close out. If we are closing out to a player whocan stroke the 3 but can’t score off the bounce, we will close out a little tighter. If the opposite is true, thehands will still be high to take away a quick post pass but the close out with shorter to take away catchand go drives.

“High Hands” are two words you will hearconstantly during Xavier practices andgames. We insist on great effort when

closing out and having hands is just asimporant as the speed to which you closeout.



It's a crying shame Kansas didn't want it sooner

By Gregg Doyel

CBSSports.com National Columnist

March 20, 2010 Tell Gregg your opinion!

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Better late than never, Kansas wanted this game. Time had run out, sadly.Ninth-seeded Northern Iowa had just beaten the No. 1 seed Jayhawks -- the No. 1 overall seedJayhawks -- in the second round, a 69-67 upset Saturday night that will rank among the biggestshockers in NCAA tournament history.

And Kansas wanted it. Finally.

The clock hit zero, the buzzer sounded, the Northern Iowa and Kansas State fans in attendance atthe Ford Center went bonkers, and right then and there, it occurred to the Jayhawks that they reallywanted to win this game.

Senior guard Sherron Collins walked toward theKansas bench to be near someone, anyone,who might feel his pain, and finding nobody tohug, he simply collapsed in a heap in front ofcoach Bill Self's empty chair. Sophomore

forward Marcus Morris was on his hands andknees. So was his twin brother, Markieff Morris.

Fifteen minutes later, when the Kansas lockerroom opened its doors to the media, theJayhawks were still crying. Literally, bawling. Alof them. I've never seen anything like it, andI've seen devastated college locker rooms --after losses in the Final Four, the nationalchampionship game -- every year since 1998.

The Morris twins were crying into towels. Sowere Tyshawn Taylor and Xavier Henry. Brady Morningstar was bawling loudly, completely broken bythis loss. It was a shocking sight for two reasons.

One, like I said, I've never seen a locker room this distraught.

Two, Kansas didn't play like the game had mattered this much. Not until it was late. Not until it wastoo late, obviously.

Marcus and Markieff Morris are among the inconsolable Jayhawks. (AP)



I'll tell you when it kicked in for Kansas, the desire to win, the realization that losing might actually,you know, hurt: With less than three minutes left, when Self stopped yelling and started coaching, andhad his players cover the entire court as if their season depended on it. Which it did. From thatmoment on, it was obvious which team was the No. 1 overall Goliath, and which team was the ninth-

seeded David from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Honestly, it was uncomfortable to watch the final three minutes. Uncomfortable because it wasn't fair,Kansas being so much bigger, stronger and quicker than Northern Iowa. It was like watching a ninth-grader beat up a second-grader. It was that much of a physical mismatch.

And it was uncomfortable because, as those final three minutes unfolded, it crystallized Kansas'apathy over the previous 37 minutes.

Kansas had wanted to win from the opening tap, sure. Sort of like, when it's dinner time, you want toeat. Are you hungry? Maybe, maybe not. But it's 6 p.m., and you eat at 6, so you head for the table.

Same with Kansas for those first 37 minutes. This was a game, and athletes prefer winning to losing,so Kansas wanted to win.

But the Jayhawks didn't need to win until they trailed 59-54 with 2 minutes, 58 seconds left. Theyweren't starving until those final three minutes. Northern Iowa, meanwhile, chased down this gamefrom the opening tap like it was the Panthers' first meal in weeks. I'm not talking about shots goinginto the basket, though Northern Iowa had plenty of those. Ali Farokhmanesh made a trio of 3-pointers in the first half, no surprise considering he was the final-second hero of the Panthers'opening-round victory against UNLV. Center Jordan Eglseder made two 3-pointers in the first half, ashock considering he had made just one 3-pointer all season.

It was more than made shots. It was rebounds. Both teams had 16 in the first half, and again, you hadto watch those last three minutes to realize just how much smaller, slower and weaker Northern Iowawas. In the second half Kansas outrebounded the Panthers by eight, but by then the Jayhawks trailedby 12 points.

Kansas' low point might have come with 14 minutes left when a Northern Iowa 3-pointer was tappedall the way into the backcourt, and Markieff Morris literally stopped chasing the ball. He figured it wasa backcourt violation, never mind that Northern Iowa was still playing. Chasing everyone else wouldhave required desire, and Morris wasn't about to show that, and so the Panthers played the rest ofthat possession like a power play in hockey, five on four -- and scored two points.

Final margin of victory? Two points.

But it was more than made shots or rebounds or even hustle at halfcourt. It was grit. The Pantherschased Kansas around the floor like Kansas had taken their lunch money. Kansas was bigger,stronger and faster, as I've said, but Northern Iowa was pissed. It wanted that money back. Kansaswas nonchalant, aloof. If this was a baseball game, through 37 minutes every Northern Iowa playerwould have had dirt on his chest and knees. Kansas' uniforms would have been immaculate.



Am I being clear here? Kansas forced just four turnovers in the first half, and that's not eventechnically true. Northern Iowa had four turnovers in the half. That much is true. But Kansas forcedonly one of them. The others were offensive fouls or unforced, sloppy UNI mistakes.

That's how the second half unfolded, too. Kansas forced two turnovers in the first 17 minutes of thesecond half. Do the math there: In 37 minutes, Northern Iowa committed just six turnovers. That'salmost impossible to do, especially against a team with more size, speed and strength. But anything'spossible when that bigger, stronger, faster team doesn't have the heart. And Kansas, until threeminutes were left, didn't have it. Just wasn't Kansas' day in the ol' ticker department.

In those final three minutes, though, Kansas made like the Grinch. Its heart grew two sizes after Selfcalled for the full-court press, and Kansas just about chased Northern Iowa into oblivion. ThePanthers probably would have folded all the way under the pressure were it not for Farokhmanesh,who's as gutty as any player in the field. He had missed six straight 3-pointers when he found himselfalone on the 3-point arc with 35 seconds left and a 63-62 lead.

It was early in the shot clock, so the smart basketball play would have been to pull the ball out, run offsome more clock and shoot with about 10 seconds left in the game -- but screw it. Where's the fun inthat? Farokhmanesh didn't punt. He went for it. He fired up the 3-pointer, and it went down, and thisgame was basically over.

When it was finished, Northern Iowa had scored more points off turnovers than Kansas. NorthernIowa had scored more points off the offensive glass. More points in transition. More points not just onthe scoreboard, but more points in every way that measures effort.

Kansas led just once. It was 2-0. Other than the opening score of 0-0, this game was never even tied.

And you're going to cry after the game, Kansas? Don't bother. Too late. Nobody wants to hear thatnow.

For more from Gregg Doyel, check him out on Twitter: @greggdoyelcbs

xavier newsletter #26

Documents