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  1. #21
    Supporting Member paulxu's Avatar
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    Well put Dash.

    (Nice to get FUK in the mix!)
    ...he went up late, and I was already up there.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Final4 View Post
    Maybe, but you can bet that the administration will also keep a watchful eye on new student applications. They believe there is a direct correlation between how well the basketball team does and applications.
    That is a fact!!!

  3. #23
    Senior Moderator American X's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by X-band '01 View Post
    People also forget that Sean Miller dismissed Dedrick Finn from the team just prior to the end of the season. I'm not saying that something similar will happen this year, but that did provide an outlet for the team to close ranks just prior to the A-10 Tournament that season.
    It is just a matter of time until the 2019 version of pugnapping.
    "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by JTG View Post
    2021?
    I'm not liking watching a whole other year of this crap, before getting to decent basketball.
    5 frosh are not the fab 5.

    It will take a grad transfer post man next year and hopefully better shooting Marshall and Goodin.
    Can't put all weight on the KyKY shoulders r Bishop bandwagon.
    It takes freshmen at least 6 months to prepare.

    I say 2021 is definite tourney time. 5 sophomores, Scruggs and Naji lead as seniors.

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by xukeith View Post
    5 frosh are not the fab 5.

    It will take a grad transfer post man next year and hopefully better shooting Marshall and Goodin.
    Can't put all weight on the KyKY shoulders r Bishop bandwagon.
    It takes freshmen at least 6 months to prepare.

    I say 2021 is definite tourney time. 5 sophomores, Scruggs and Naji lead as seniors.
    I don't know Paul personally but in my opinion, I'd put the chance of Paul being here his senior year at about 10%. He has too much talent, great measurements for his position, and he is older....if not for the league, then perhaps a good situation in Europe.

  6. #26
    As to grad transfers, did Mack take any committed X grad transfers with him to Louisville? If so, how are the performing?
    Pray the Rosary daily

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by vee4xu View Post
    As to grad transfers, did Mack take any committed X grad transfers with him to Louisville? If so, how are the performing?
    No he didnt but his grad transfers are one of the main reasons his team has performed so well. Cunningham the pg came from samford and he is one helluva player, fore is a defensive stopper that came from richmond. Without these two, louisville is a 500 team. Louisville will probably not be as good next year as they are this year even though the recruiting class coming in is impressive. That's due to the play of cunningham and fore...although it probably doesnt matter because most likely next year they arent going to be eligible for the tourney anyways.

    In other news regarding mack, he had to apologize because he gave a halftime interviewer a one word answer to a stupid question, which was after a question about the officials which was clearly a baiting question. Now, I'm not a fan of mack but in this case, its flipping ridiculous he had to apologize. If a reporter is going to ask an entrapment question, a coach has every right to throw it back and be annoyed.
    Last edited by Xville; 02-05-2019 at 07:41 PM.

  8. #28
    Supporting Member D-West & PO-Z's Avatar
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    The one transfer with lost, Evan Boudreaux, hasn't done much at all at Purdue. I think he has been battling some injuries though too. He will was the rare 2 years left immediately eligible transfers thought, so e has one more year there.
    "I’m willing to sacrifice everything for this team. I’m going to dive for every loose ball, close out harder on every shot, block out for every rebound. I’m going to play harder than I’ve ever played. And I need you all to follow me." -MB '17

  9. #29
    Supporting Member Xpectations's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muskie View Post
    Hopefully, the program will properly frame expectations next year. That's been my biggest gripe. You don't lose the second all-time leading scorer in school history and not take a step back. At this point, I just want to see progress. I for one am seeing progress, but my expectations were very low, to begin with.
    I agree with this.

    Additional random thoughts...

    • Our 4 top returning players should make us better - To those saying on these threads that Steele inherited 4 talented, highly-rated players who should be be good enough to win more games (and some of these folks I consider among my best XU hoops friends outside the forum) - I agree regarding the degree of talent. I disagree that the talent is a good mix, given how sparse the other talent is. More on that later. But Steele is somewhat limited here. I do think it's fair to ask why Q, and to a lesser degree, Naji, haven't grown as much as many expected.

    • What the heck is up with the D?!? - I think this has been the biggest disappointment. The good news is that most of the D issues haven't been effort. Sure there have been occasional examples of that, but the bigger issue by far hasbeen related to "scheme mistakes". The scheme mistakes (hedging too soon, hedging too long, improper help rotations, etc.) have largely come from newcomers. I have to say, I'm surprised that improvement here has been so slow. The velocity of opposing coaches being able to see and exploit those mistakes has certainly exceeded X's ability to resolve them. Secondarily, Welage is just not quick enough or long enough (yes, I know he's 6'-10", but I probably have longer arms) to be a great defender. I think his effort is there. I think it's fair to hold Steele more accountable for the lack of defensive improvement.

    • What's up with Q?!? - He is clearly not the same player. I don't know if it's an off-the-court issue, an in-the-locker-room issue, or he's just "off" and can't find his way. This has been the second biggest disappointment. I'm still very much a Q fan though and believe he'll find his way. He's not the first guy who has mysteriously and unexpected slumped. But without Q near the top of his game, this team will struggle. Not sure how much Steele can do here. He can advise, guide, reward, punish, etc., but seemingly every XU coach has had this sort of issue that wasn't readily resolved (Mack couldn't get guys "back" after The Brawl until the postseason, Miller had Finn, Matta had David Young, etc.).

    • Lack of talent balance - If you didn't see this coming, you don't follow basketball. You need shooters to space the floor in today's game. You also need athletes. We have the second, but largely not the first. Mid-range shots are not the way to win games today. You'll be trading nearly-just-as-difficult shots with your opponents, except they're going to get 3 points when they're successful with their shots, to your 2. And, we've got guys who can break their opponent down and get to the rim off the dribble, but the lane is stacked with at least 4 opponents because we don't have enough shooters. Steele inherited this more than caused it.

    • What about the future, as in recruiting? - While you never know who will and won't pan out, it sure seems like Steele should get an A here--albeit "incomplete."

      So what's the verdict? It's a mistake IMO to overreact to this season. There are some puzzling issues and some disappointments--but I think that often happens with teams and with X over the years. But previous teams had the balanced talent to overcome them, so the issues didn't necessarily result in losses.

      I think it's nuts to take this year's results and extrapolate that into infinity. The roster will get better, more balanced and deeper. Steele will improve as a coach (Xs & Os, managing players, etc.). Believing otherwise requires a much greater leap.

      Will those improvements in roster, talent, depth and coaching be enough? Only time will tell, but I think it will.

      I can say this, I felt much, much worse about XU's future after the 2012 season. Mack had largely lost the team most of the season and the team seemed to be undisciplined. We lost a lot of senior talent. Lyons bolted for Arizona. X botched the Dez Wells situation, causing us to unnecessarily lose all 5 starters, including a future (and known) star. The net impact was clearly harmful to our program's present situation, but also harmful to our future on the recruiting trail. Yet we survived and thrived afterward.
    Last edited by Xpectations; 02-06-2019 at 04:28 PM.
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  10. #30
    Supporting Member xudash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xpectations View Post
    I agree with this.

    Additional random thoughts...

    • Our 4 top returning players should make us better - To those saying on these threads that Steele inherited 4 talented, highly-rated players who should be be good enough to win more games (and some of these folks I consider among my best XU hoops friends outside the forum) - I agree regarding the degree of talent. I disagree that the talent is a good mix, given how sparse the other talent is. More on that later. But Steele is somewhat limited here. I do think it's fair to ask why Q, and to a lesser degree, Naji, haven't grown as much as many expected.

    • What the heck is up with the D?!? - I think this has been the biggest disappointment. The good news is that most of the D issues haven't been effort. Sure there have been occasional examples of that, but the bigger issue by far have been related to "scheme mistakes". The scheme mistakes (hedging too soon, hedging too long, improper help rotations, etc.) have largely come from newcomers. I have to say, I'm surprised that improvement here has been so slow. The velocity of opposing coaches being able to see and exploit those mistakes has certainly exceeded X's ability to resolve them. Secondarily, Welage is just not quick enough or long enough (yes, I know he's 6'-10", but I probably have longer arms) to be a great defender. I think his effort is there. I think it's fair to hold Steele more accountable for the lack of defensive improvement.

    • What's up with Q?!? - He is clearly not the same player. I don't know if it's an off-the-court issue, an in-the-locker-room issue, or he's just "off" and can't find his way. This has been the second biggest disappointment. I'm still very much a Q fan though and believe he'll find his way. He's not the first guy who has mysteriously and unexpected slumped. But without Q near the top of his game, this team will struggle. Not sure how much Steele can do here. He can advise, guide, reward, punish, etc., but seemingly every XU coach has had this sort of issue that wasn't readily resolved (Mack couldn't get guys "back" after The Brawl until the postseason, Miller had Finn, Matta had David Young, etc.).

    • Lack of talent balance - If you didn't see this coming, you don't follow basketball. You need shooters to space the floor in today's game. You also need athletes. We have the second, but largely not the first. Mid-range shots are not the way to win games today. You'll be trading nearly just-as-difficult shots with your opponents, except they're going to get 3 points when they're successful with their shots, to your 2. And, you got guys who can break their opponent down and get to the rim off the dribble, but the lane is stacked with at least 4 opponents because we don't have enough shooters. Steele inherited this more than caused it.

    • What about the future, as in recruiting? - While you never know who will and won't pan out, it sure seems like Steele should get an A here--albeit it "incomplete."

      So what's the verdict? It's a mistake IMO to overreact to this season. There are some puzzling issues and some disappointments, but I think that often happens but Xavier has the balanced talent to overcome them, so the issues don't necessarily result in losses.

      I think it's nut to take this year's results and extrapolate that into infinity. The roster will get better, more balanced and deeper. Steele will improve as a coach (Xs & Os, managing players, etc.). Believing otherwise requires a much greater leap.

      Will those improvements in roster, talent, depth and coaching be enough? Only time will tell, but I think it will.

      I can say this, I felt much, much worse about XU's future after the 2012 season. We had largely lost the team and seem to be undisciplined during most of that season. We lost a lot of senior talent. Lyons bolted for Arizona. X botched the Dez Wells situation, causing us to unnecessarily lose all 5 starters. The net impact was clear harm to our present situation, but also possible harm to our future recruiting success.
    Fabulous post.
    X A V I E R

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