How long to gel?

[XUGRAD80]

I think that this is a team that could win any of the games this year, but it’s also a team that could lose any of the games this year.

I said prior to the season that I thought they would finish 12-8 in the conference and I’m going to stick with that. But I ain’t bettin’ the farm on it! :)

[bleedXblue]

Here is how I see it happening:

1-1 this week.
Butler
Gtown
St. John's
@Depaul
Nova
Creighton
@Seton Hall
Providence
Depaul
@Gtown
Marquette

Will it happen? I don't know, but I don't think that what I listed above is out of the realm of possibility. I think it's this team's ceiling, but I think it can happen and its what i have said all along so im sticking to it :)

yeah, i like the optimism but it certainly isn't realistic with this group and what we've seen

hoping for the best and preparing for 8-9 wins

[GoMuskies]

Just starting off with the 1-1 this week is pretty damned optimistic.

[XUBison]

There is also the possibility that this team never “gels” this year. That it continues to improve, but really never comes together into a finished product. I trust a Miller, and when he says that this will be a good team before the end of the season, I believe him. But it may actually be a year or longer before this group of players actually becomes a great team. Or it may be never. There are some holes that need to be filled and I’m not totally convinced that X has ALL the players it needs yet.

I’ll be the devil’s advocate on two fronts: first, how much can building for the future be relied upon in the current climate? Sean had to work with what he had this year, fine, but I’m not sure building for the long game is a real strategy anymore.

Second, no one did more messageboard meditation to will Sean back to X than I. I have implicit trust in him, so much so that I don’t care the team sucks; I’m thrilled he’s our coach. But of course he’s going to present with optimism. What else is he supposed to say— that this shit-show is a raging dumpster fire with no hope of being extinguished?

[Xville]

I’ll be the devil’s advocate on two fronts: first, how much can building for the future be relied upon in the current climate? Sean had to work with what he had this year, fine, but I’m not sure building for the long game is a real strategy anymore.

Second, no one did more messageboard meditation to will Sean back to X than I. I have implicit trust in him, so much so that I don’t care the team sucks; I’m thrilled he’s our coach. But of course he’s going to present with optimism. What else is he supposed to say— that this shit-show is a raging dumpster fire with no hope of being extinguished?

Your first question is a very interesting one, and not one I, nor anyone, has the answer to right now. I'd like to think that programs such as X can hold onto the talent that they want to stay, but we shall see. I get excited in the short term for next year though.

[XUGRAD80]

I’ll be the devil’s advocate on two fronts: first, how much can building for the future be relied upon in the current climate? Sean had to work with what he had this year, fine, but I’m not sure building for the long game is a real strategy anymore.

Second, no one did more messageboard meditation to will Sean back to X than I. I have implicit trust in him, so much so that I don’t care the team sucks; I’m thrilled he’s our coach. But of course he’s going to present with optimism. What else is he supposed to say— that this shit-show is a raging dumpster fire with no hope of being extinguished?

Of course nobody can know for sure what the future holds. Who will go, who will stay, and who may come in. But unlike what I am seeing in college football, there doesn’t seem to be as much movement by starters in college basketball. The starters that we do see moving seem to be ones moving from a lower level to upper level team, or leaving after a coaching change. I think that as long as Miller remains that X won’t have many starters leaving via transfer. If they are able to keep the starting players that won’t graduate, and add back in Free and Hunter along with any transfer they might bring in, I am excited for next year. I think that is a very realistic scenario, even in today’s transfer portal atmosphere.

[xavierj]

Your first question is a very interesting one, and not one I, nor anyone, has the answer to right now. I'd like to think that programs such as X can hold onto the talent that they want to stay, but we shall see. I get excited in the short term for next year though.

Xavier has not lost a player to a better program in the NIL era, and two of those years were with Steele. Xavier will take care of their own and the guys Sean wants here will be here.

[MHettel]

Garbage. This team is not any better now than it was 90 days ago.

If anything, we rely more on the guys that were good early.

No development whatsoever. Team and individual.

Like I called it. An excuse for being bad early is that somehow we’d be good late.

Terrible

[GoMuskies]

Longer

[Xville]

Garbage. This team is not any better now than it was 90 days ago.

If anything, we rely more on the guys that were good early.

No development whatsoever. Team and individual.

Like I called it. An excuse for being bad early is that somehow we’d be good late.

Terrible

Team overall I can agree. Individual there has been a lot of development from q, dayvion, swain. However the frontcourt is so bad that their development couldn’t overcome that non development of the frontcourt