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Xavier shows toughness in early-season games

By Fran Fraschilla

Monday, November 24, 2008

Winning early-season games against quality competition is as much a function of a team's toughness as anything else. After five weeks of practice, most teams are still fiddling with lineups, role definition and how they will incorporate new players into their system. Offensive and defensive execution are often sloppy early in the year, as well. Most teams are operating at about 70 percent efficiency and will improve over the course of the season. A coach's hope is that he can win games while st ...

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