If Steele can't get these guys playing at least at a tournament level after 3 years, then we've got bigger problems. No more excuses, he's had more than his share of the learning curve. 3 years in a row not making the tourney in the modern era is unheard of.
And there are plenty of guys to make Big East first, second or rookie teams (Scruggs, Free, Tandy, Odom, Wilcher, Stanley). To imply we're young and bare just isn't true anymore. No more excuses.
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Thread: Andy Katz 2021 NCAA Field of 68
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10-05-2020, 08:44 PM #41
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Last edited by drudy23; 10-05-2020 at 08:47 PM.
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10-06-2020, 05:09 AM #42
Or perhaps the prior administration left the program with bigger problems and less of a talent pool, than we realized? Steele really wasn’t left with much in the way of overall talent, and it certainly doesn’t help when freshman don’t stay, upperclassman leave before their senior year, and transfers don’t perform as well as you’d hope they would.
His 3rd year or not, that doesn’t change the fact that X will be most likely starting one senior 4-year starter, a 2nd year transfer that by all accounts didn’t live up to hype last year, 2 sophomores and ?. Backed up by transfers that have never played at this level and freshman who haven’t either. Combined that is 1 player with 4 years experience in the BE, 3 players with 1 year of BE experience each, and a host of other players with 0 years of experience in the BE. Tell me again that they aren’t young and inexperienced. I can tell you from personal experience that there is a heck of a difference between competing at a small college or HS level and competition at the upper levels of college sports. It’s a huge step up in terms of how hard it is. A pretty decent athlete can do really well at the lower levels just based on their athletic talents, but when they start competing with other players that are just as strong, just as quick, and just at athletically talented, it can be a whole new ball game. Some players can make that adjustment, some can’t. The jury is still out on the transfers and freshman. I’m not confident that the 4 returning players can carry this team by themselves. I think they are going to need help from some of the newcomers. Let’s see how those newcomers do against BE competition before we start counting on X playing in the post season. There’s plenty of “guys”, but are there plenty of “talented players”? Only time will tell.
Not to mention that there might not even be any post season for anyone!
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10-06-2020, 09:31 AM #43
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Still doesn’t change the fact that it’s Steele’s job to get this program back to the tournament on an annual basis. There’s plenty of talent to make it happen.
There’s also a valid argument that both teams the past two years were on the verge of the dance, and head scratching personnel and coaching decisions derailed their chances. And frankly, they weren’t very good the last 2 years and still had a chance to go.
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10-06-2020, 10:09 AM #44
We're #2 in street names:
https://thebrokenanchor.com/big-east...-street-names/2023 Sweet 16
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10-06-2020, 11:10 AM #45
Nobody disputes the first sentence, but it's going to be asking a lot to rely on a team that will be largely underclassmen. Especially in a guard-heavy conference where the returning guys were among the worst outside shooters in the conference. The notion that some of our fans have that other teams will pee their pants at the name of Xavier and recruiting class simply is not going to happen.
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10-06-2020, 01:27 PM #46
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Apparently the name on the front of our jerseys says Marquette. I don't like the low expectations vibes in this thread.
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10-06-2020, 03:41 PM #47
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I just think it is difficult this year because there are a ton of unknowns....I've pointed to next season for a while when we can "get back to nornal" it could happen a year early but my expectations are tempered. Frankly, mack left the program with a lot of rebuilding to be done which has been repeated ad nauseam here.
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10-06-2020, 07:30 PM #48
It’s not that I’m pessimistic about the future of Xavier Basketball, it’s just that I don’t think that 2020-2021 is going to be the year that is super successful record wise. I’m just a believer that they are still a year away. I sincerely wish that wasn’t the case, but I fear it is. Yes, they have some talent returning, and they have some talent coming in. But just how much the talent returning has developed and just how fast the talent coming in will develop, is impossible to say. The last couple of years I bought into the idea that the retuning talent would shoot better than they had in the past, and that the incoming talent would contribute a lot. Neither of those things happened. So I’m not willing to be sucked into being over optimistic about this next season until I actually SEE that they have legitimate and consistent outside shooters and inside rebounders. If the last couple of years have shown anything, they have shown that just having one player that can score and one player that can rebound, at high levels, is not enough to be a top level BE team. You need several players that can do either of those things and I’m not sure at this time that Xavier has them....yet. But I’m optimistic that Xavier WILL have them by the end of this season or by next season. I’m confident that the last 2 recruiting classes will develop several players that can rebound and score. I’m optimistic that better days are ahead. I’m just not sure how soon they arrive.
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10-06-2020, 08:57 PM #49
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While I don't think the last 2 teams were very good, I do think both of those teams make the tourney with a more experienced coach. Definitely last year.
At some point, the coach has to elevate too.
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10-07-2020, 04:38 AM #50
I don’t think anyone disagrees about that. But like many of the players, how well the coaching staff will perform is an unknown at this point. Optimism says that they will be better and that game management will be better. Skepticism would say, show me first.
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