2023-2024 Starting Lineup

[D-West & PO-Z]

This team certainly appears to be one that’ll have a much deeper bench than last year. It’s not far fetched to think any of the scholarship players on this roster could potentially play significant minutes this coming season. That certainly couldn’t have been said about last season’s roster. Still, the level of competition X faced in the Bahamas was no where near what it will be in the Big East.

More quality players could mean Sean will givie more significant minutes to the 3rd and 4th and 5th player off the bench. Last year, all 5 starters averaged over 28 minutes a game (Boum averaged over 35). I wouldn’t be surprised if only 1 starter this season averaged more than 28 minutes a game.

If all players are healthy at the start of the season, I can’t imagine the starting five to be anything other than Free, McNight, Olivari, Claude and Hunter with the next 5 off the bench all potentially getting significant minutes.

Yes much deeper.

As far as starting lineup, I can't see Free and Hunter being effective on the floor together for long stretches defensively. I could be wrong, but I think this team will be much better if Free can play the 4 and not have to defend the likes of Donovan Clingan.

Obviously Hunter and Free will be out there together for times, but if we could have another 5 step up, slide Free to the 4, and have Hunter as 6th man off the bench, I think that is best case scenario.

[XUMIOH12]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nzeh start. He was the best big man in the Bahamas and it wasn’t that close. Double double in the last game (10 and 15) and he can shoot and guard the 3 to the 5. He is going to be the next Xavier great big man. Grabs every rebound and rebounds out of his area. He is Sean’s guy as Sean was the one who found him. I think it’s also possible Lazar starts if he is as good as scouts are saying.

I like Nzeh, but I would be surprised to see Nzeh start at the beginning of the season unless there are injuries. He needs to get stronger, I don't see him holding his own defensively in the paint against actual teams yet. He was very active and seems to have good rebounding ability, but you absolutely can't take anything from that second game in the bahamas lol (don't forget the 2 points in 24 minutes in the first game against a somewhat more realistic opponent). Not sold on his shooting ability quite yet either. He made 1 15 footer and the other he attempted was an absolute brick.

I am not hating on him, I think he can contribute some this year, just don't see him being a starting quality player right now. Like him far more than Duncomb right now, he looked bad! Assuming that Djokovic will be ahead of Nzeh. Lots of wildcards on this team though in the frontcourt so who knows.

[XUMIOH12]

Yes much deeper.

As far as starting lineup, I can't see Free and Hunter being effective on the floor together for long stretches defensively. I could be wrong, but I think this team will be much better if Free can play the 4 and not have to defend the likes of Donovan Clingan.

Obviously Hunter and Free will be out there together for times, but if we could have another 5 step up, slide Free to the 4, and have Hunter as 6th man off the bench, I think that is best case scenario.

Agree on the Hunter/Freemantle combo. Can really only work defensively if the other team does not have a legit big.

Nice to have a handful of options in the frontcourt but going to be interesting to see how it shakes out. I'm sure Miller will figure out the best combos.

[UCGRAD4X]

I agree that Nzeh will need to bulk up. The biggest difference in BE from, esp. non - P5 conferences - is the physical nature of the players in the front court. Speed and general athletic ability all around, but if you can't score, defend and rebound near the basket, your team needs to be able to shoot lights out from the arc. If teams don't need to defend near the basket as much, that makes this also more unlikely. That has been a major issue with Xavier in the recent past is no bulk and/or p**sies at the 4/5.

[xavierj]

I like Nzeh, but I would be surprised to see Nzeh start at the beginning of the season unless there are injuries. He needs to get stronger, I don't see him holding his own defensively in the paint against actual teams yet. He was very active and seems to have good rebounding ability, but you absolutely can't take anything from that second game in the bahamas lol (don't forget the 2 points in 24 minutes in the first game against a somewhat more realistic opponent). Not sold on his shooting ability quite yet either. He made 1 15 footer and the other he attempted was an absolute brick.

I am not hating on him, I think he can contribute some this year, just don't see him being a starting quality player right now. Like him far more than Duncomb right now, he looked bad! Assuming that Djokovic will be ahead of Nzeh. Lots of wildcards on this team though in the frontcourt so who knows.

I agree on Nzeh but he showed a ton of promise. Went 7-9 from the floor in 2 games and had 21 rebounds and went 3-3 from the line. I think the more concerning thing was a 4th player brought in to play the 5 went 5-13 from the field against really weak competition. For this year the 5 spot is a major concern. Will be interesting to see if Sean elects to play more small ball. They can create matchup problems going small as the big centers in the Big East will struggle to defend Xavier. So for example if Lazar is as good as some think, he would create real problems with some 7 foot center having to guard him away from the basket. He can pick and pop and also he has a great first step to take someone off the dribble. I trust Sean will have a plan and Xavier will be a good team. They will be much deeper so they can play a lot of different types of lineups.

[IM4X]

I can't see Free and Hunter being effective on the floor together for long stretches defensively. I could be wrong, but I think this team will be much better if Free can play the 4 and not have to defend the likes of Donovan Clingan.

Obviously the Hunter and Free will be out there together for times, but if we could have another 5 step up, slide Free to the 4, and have Hunter as 6th man off the bench, I think that is best case scenario.

We desperately need to see improvement in the paint on defense. Free has continued to struggle in that area. Hunter was improved last season. Let’s hope some of these new bigs are able to defend well and even block some shots. Crossing my fingers Zach has worked on and improved that part of his game at least a bit. We already know how good he can be on the offensive end.

[XUGRAD80]

We desperately need to see improvement in the paint on defense. Free has continued to struggle in that area. Hunter was improved last season. Let’s hope some of these new bigs are able to defend well and even block some shots. Crossing my fingers Zach has worked on and improved that part of his game at least a bit. We already know how good he can be on the offensive end.

I don’t know how much work he has been able to put in this summer, what with him having to stay off his foot for so long. But I certainly agree that is an area that he needs to improve upon.

[IM4X]

I don’t know how much work he has been able to put in this summer, what with him having to stay off his foot for so long. But I certainly agree that is an area that he needs to improve upon.

I’m sure Zach is being extra careful with his foot, but it’s hard to believe he’s not working on his game in some sort of capacity. He’s probably not banging around in the paint with other bigs, but it’s reasonable to think he been able to work a bit on defensive drills without any contact or jumping.

[xukeith]

Free improved this past season with Miller.
He wasn't 1st BE team all defense but he wasn't horrible vs prior seasons..

[MHettel]

Free improved this past season with Miller.
He wasn't 1st BE team all defense but he wasn't horrible vs prior seasons..

Maybe I was watching games from prior seasons last year.

Teams went right at Zach. He couldn’t hold position, and posed no threat to defend the post move or block a shot. Foul trouble on him would only further reinforce the opposing strategy to take advantage of him on D, or get him out of the game. I firmly believe Ousmann was added as an interior help guy so we can limit how much Free is exploited in D.

On offense, in the interior, free is as good a scorer as we’ve had since Mr.West. He’s efficient and proficient. I see Ousmann and free spending ALOT of time together on the floor.