Xavier Basketball

[CoachBombay]

Word on the street is Justin Martin is leaving X for UC. I wonder how much truth there is to this

[Boston Red]

If true, Justin may play a huge role in X beating UC two years in a row.

[CoachBombay]

If true, Justin may play a huge role in X beating UC two years in a row.

you bite your tongue

[Boston Red]

That rumor was mentioned, by the way, on the Xavier message board, though it didn't generate much discussion. Things with Martin really cannot heat up until he finishes his coursework. Until then, he cannot talk to other schools, and other schools cannot contact him.

[mdccclxix]

GAME ON!

[RedTeamGo!]

[Boston Red]

Jimmy Carter.

Enjoy your nut Mr. Blind Squirrel.

[mdccclxix]

That was a pretty good game, but I'll say, I think X fans are getting too happy over it. Just like when they throttled Fairliegh Dickenson 2 years ago and went on to have a terrible year, you can't tell anything - as in NOTHING - from these types of games.

From what I saw, this team lacks speed on the perimeter compared to last year. Semaj was a cheetah, though, so it's hard to match that.

Macura is still a little small and lacks some flexibility. I think 10 minutes a game might be his upper limit this year.

Randolph is still learning his execution as a scoring pg that can also dish. I think Dee will play 38-39 minutes in big games.

Abel and Bluiett are both smaller on TV that I expected, but they are decently fast and should provide at least what Martin did last year.

Keeping Stainbrook healthy will be very crucial. He's likely the leading scorer on this team. Hopefully that comes with 2-3 assists per game as well.

O'Mara will be fighting for minutes all year and I expect a year like Jalen had last year. Some weeks, we won't even see O'Mara, but then he'll emerge for a good game.

For all the depth this team will have later in the year "when freshmen become sophomores", I think early on X will need all they have from their veterans: Dee, Myles, Farr, and Stainbrook. Jalen and Abel will also factor in, but I don't see them as leaders yet.

I'm most interested right now in see what the perimeter defense looks like in the non-conference.

[Boston Red]

Long Beach ain't great, but it will be a much sterner test than last Friday. So we should have a bit better idea after that game.

[mdccclxix]

I still remember them winning handily at the Cintas during the suspensions in 2011. That sucked. This team has 3 seniors, 1 sophomore, and 2 freshmen getting most of the minutes. Hopefully X can exorcise the demons from that loss in 2011 by exploiting their youth and locking down their seniors. I think the rebound edge will strongly favor XU, though. If they can keep the perimeter strong, I think X can win this game comfortably.

[Boston Red]

So....I THINK Xavier is pretty good. Certainly on offense. Looking at the schedule, you have to go a pretty long way down it to find a game that if Xavier wins we'll know for sure that they're good. SFA on Friday SHOULD be the best of the three teams Xavier will have played at that point. And Murray State is probably somewhere between LBSU and SFA. Getting to Anaheim without a loss would be nice.

[Caveat Emperor]

The team is a good balance of young / old -- they've got age at two positions that really benefit from experience: PG and C.

My key players this year are Bluiett and Reynolds. I think Reynolds has the talent and ability to be a 15-10 guy this season so long as he continues to improve his footwork on defense, and Blueitt has the ability to be that inside-outside transition shooter the team has lacked for the past few years.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this team develop.

[Boston Red]

The seventh game is almost in the books, and I'm ready to call it: if the entire NCAA Tournament is played inside the Cintas Center, Xavier is one of the teams to beat.

[reds1869]

The seventh game is almost in the books, and I'm ready to call it: if the entire NCAA Tournament is played inside the Cintas Center, Xavier is one of the teams to beat.

It has certainly been a struggle away from home. Xavier can't miss threes like they have today if they want to win in March.

[mdccclxix]

I know it's early, but a Kenpom defensive ranking of 115 is not going to make for a pretty season. Lot's of wasted offense & watching other teams best player go off for 20+. I could care less if their offensive rating is top 10. It's a Mack staple the last 4-5 years that the team doesn't have a defensive identity to rely on. They take what the other team puts out instead of trying to determine it. Granted, the freshmen are learning and were almost entirely responsible for excess points given up last weekend resulting in 2 losses, but their defensive rating is what it is. It's got to come down. I did hear James Farr say their goal is top 40 in Kenpom defense. That's usually good enough to manage in the NCAA tourney. Really, I'd like to hear the goal is top 10. If they don't reach their higher goal, they will at least get farther along trying to do so. (Stole that idea from Calipari)