By Bill Koch and Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

TIPOFF

• Enquirer Tipoff page • Five questions with Jarvis Hayes • Catching up with Ron Mercer • UC-Xavier Q&A

From John: Bob Huggins banishing the Bearcats from the locker room is old. I think Huggs needs to look in the mirror. His constant criticism and yanking of players can do nothing but crush their confidence.

Response: You're not the first to voice that concern about Huggins' penchant for pulling out players who make mistakes. I wouldn't like it as a player, either, but it's the one tool coaches have to send a message to their players. Huggins rarely takes out a player for missing a shot; it's usually for defensive lapses, failure to rebound or committing a turnover.

Q, from Kristy in Tennessee: What does former Xavier great Byron Larkin think about David West possibly being XU's best-ever player?

A: Larkin calls the games on radio for XU, and he has said West is the best all-around player in Xavier history. But West won't be able to break Larkin's all-time scoring record (2,696).

Q, from Craig in New Jersey: Why doesn't Xavier play more zone defense?

A: Xavier is the best defensive team in the Atlantic 10, whether it plays man-to-man or zone. The reason the zone works so well is because Xavier uses it so infrequently, teams don't expect it.

E-mail basketball@enquirer.com with UC questions for Koch and XU questions for Dow.