Thursday's stuff..

[Katidy]

For Thursday...

CLE.....78....74....74....75
GEO.T..73....75....70....73
Performance value CLE....6

UCONN...75....73....75....74
PROV.....71....75....66....71
Per. UCONN...11

DEP....70....67....68....68
CIN....71....71....72....71
Per..CIN....18

G.W.....66....63....67....65
CHA.....69....75....68....71
Per...CHA...3

MI.St...67....61....64....64
ILL......63....66....61....63
Per...MI.St....5

XAV....72....66....69....69
St.J....68....69.....66....68
Per..XAV...11

AZ.St.....70....66....67....68
ORE.......70....75....68....71
Per...ORE....9

U.St.....74....71....73....73
BOI.St..75....77....71....74
Per...BOI....1

ARZ.......71....68....73....71
ORE.St...64....64....62....63
Per...ARZ....33

CAL....70....68....67....68
USC....71....71....74....72
Per....USC...18

STAN....65....62....63....63
UCLA....66....70....69....68
Per...UCLA....1

GL all...

My plays...Clemson -1.5....Xavier -1.5...Arizona -13....UCLA -8.5...

[Nigel Tufnel]

GL, Katidy. Just a little food for thought on the X/SJU game tonight....some factors that the numbers may not take into consideration.

1. Lavender is not near 100%. He sprained his ankle a few weeks ago...has continued to play (albeit not very minutes each game), and has been ineffective when he has been in the game. Lavender's biggest asset is his quickness and ability to drive and either go to the hoop or dish it off to for an open 3. With his ankle being sore, he has lost a step and it is very, very obvious.

2. St. Joe is playing for their NCAA tourney lives. They need to win out and hope to get to the A10 finals to get a look from the committee. X is a lock for the tourney and at this point is playing for a 2 seed if they win out. Motivation factor favors St. Joe.

3. St. Joe played X very close at Xavier a few weeks ago. X won by 4, I believe, but trailed most of the 2nd half. St. Joe's players KNOW that this is a very winnable game...especially with Lavender not being 100%.

4. Probably most importantly, tonight is St. Joe's final regular season home game (home NIT game still a possibility) at the Fieldhouse. St. Joe's will be playing at the Palestra next year while the Fieldhouse is completely renovated. The old Fieldhouse has a lot of tradition. St. Joe will not want to close her out with a loss. Tons, Tons of motiviation to close out the Fieldhouse with a win.

Truth be told....all things considered....I'd be very surprised to see Xavier leave the Fieldhouse tonight with a win.

GL!!

[joepa66]

Clemmie, UConn, MichSt, O.....like all them and I am going against X tonight. GL Katidy and hello Nigel!

[Katidy]

Thanks for the heads up Nigel....Yeah X only won by 4 @ home so that does bode well for St. Joes... Also as you mention big home incentive....

Guess I'll have to revisit my take on that game...

GL to you & jp...

[wsox08]

GL tonight Katidy and thanks for the info Nigel

[Katidy]

hey wsox tough times for you man...

I'd be instead of

Great sense of humor bro'...



GL on ALL your plays....

[CuseFan10]

GL Katidy!

Nigel - All fine points. I want to play St Joes because of the Lavender ineffectiveness and the last game at Hawk Hill as that place will be insane. Problem is, everybody and their mother is on St Joes so I don't know if I'm gonna play it.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Cuse, wagerline and sportsinsights both have Xavier at 70% as of right now. Wasn't sure if you were referring to "everyone" being the public or "everyone" being everyone on this board.

Here is an excerpt from X's beat writer who blogs live before, during and after the games....

XU-Saint Joseph's pregame

Most of you probably haven't been to Saint Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. I say with confidence because the place seats only 3,200.

That's too bad for you because it's one of the most authentic gyms (and it truly is a gym) in the country and a flat-out fantastic place to watch a basketball game.

Tonight's game is the last regular-season game in the Fieldhouse until as early as 2010. It's undergoing a renovation after the season. So I'm kind of sad I won't be coming back here at least until then. The good news (for me, anyway) is that Saint Joseph's is playing its home games the Palestra next season. And I've never been there.

Xavier players and coaches will not be sad, however, to avoid coming here next season. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times how much they hate the small locker room and dingy accomodations. To me, that just adds to the atmosphere.

***By the way, I just talked to Joe Lunardi who reassured me that Xavier is headed to DC for the first round. Astute readers will know that I've already purchased a plane ticket for DC, so that makes me feel good. (I should point out that Lunardi is looking dapper in a tuxedo tonight).

****By the way, it's 7:20 p.m., and this place is half-full and hour and 40 minutes before tipoff. Now, as I said before, the place only holds 3,200. But it's already hopping.

*****It's getting crowded in here now. They've got a pre-game ceremony going on, announcing some of the most important people in SJU hoops history. Jack Ramsey just walked out to a standing ovation....Word is Jameer Nelson is back there somewhere.


******Jameer emerges. He's at the microphone at center court, and said the four years he spent at Saint Joseph's were the greatest four years of his life so far. He also had this line: "If this isn't the greatest university in the country, it's definitely the greatest university in Philadelphia."



Sounds like it will be a great atmosphere on ESPN tonight...as an X fan, I'm fearful that X gets on national tv with their No. 8 ranking and gets beaten up tonight.

X has survived "white outs" at Charlotte, "pink outs" at URI, "red scares" at UD...seems like every road game the past few weeks, X has had to deal with some big to do...and they've passed every test. Hopefully they will...but I'm just not feelin' it tonight.

Finally, I have to guarantee, for just a little extra incentive, that Martelli is going to remind his guys that the last time St. Joe had a high ranking...and that would be No. 1 in 2004, that Xavier beat the undefeated Hawks by 20 points in the A10 Quarterfinals. St. Joe has never had the opportunity to get their revenge for that game....I'm wondering if tonight is the night.

Either way...should be entertaining...GL to all! (sorry to hijack the thread Katidy)

[CuseFan10]

Nice Nigel. I meant everyone in here I saw. I don't look at overall public numbers that often. I don't really care about the "last game" nonsense. St Joe's offense has been horrendous lately.

Can't wait tot watch ttat one though.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Best of luck, Cuse and everyone else....off to crack a brew, hunker down and be miserable for the next couple of hours. (I get so insanely nervous for big X games...its stupid...I know its just a game....but hey, what can I say?)

[CuseFan10]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tufnel

Best of luck, Cuse and everyone else....off to crack a brew, hunker down and be miserable for the next couple of hours. (I get so insanely nervous for big X games...its stupid...I know its just a game....but hey, what can I say?)

go X

[JohnnyMapleLeaf]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tufnel

Best of luck, Cuse and everyone else....off to crack a brew, hunker down and be miserable for the next couple of hours. (I get so insanely nervous for big X games...its stupid...I know its just a game....but hey, what can I say?)

It's called being a sports fan...I love it! Good on ya, Nigel

"I get so insanely nervous for big (Insert fav team here) games...its stupid...I know its just a game....but hey, what can I say?"
That's a world wide feeling, encompassing thousands of teams...