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  1. #11
    All-Conference
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    Rest assured, Nova will be near the top again.

    We will likely be middle of the pack and on the bubble. Hopefully, the good side. Any upside to that is gravy in my eyes (for this year).

  2. #12
    Junior UCGRAD4X's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muskie View Post
    If you take out the "Andy Katz" factor, the prospect of a new coach and basically three new starters (who weren't on the team last year) it's not a stretch for me to say it could be rough season. But a 9th place finish season? I'd be surprised.
    In a league with a lot of very good teams and players and a great deal of parity, choosing a team with the type of turnover Xavier has had, along with the many 'unknown' elements and questions about depth, scoring and how the transfers will fit into the system coming from lesser competition, a serious college basketball pundit/expert would be crazy to pick Xavier to finish high this year.

    As optimistic as I want to be (Xavier is going undefeated every year and win NC after NC) - this is 'crap-shoot' year.

    Do I want them to go undefeated in OOC, win the BE - regular season and tournament - and cruise through the NCAA to a NC? Yes!

    But I am, admittedly, unreasonable, biased and generally unrealistically ignorant about NCAAMBB (and many other things as well).

    I can definitely see how more reasonable, unbiased, realistic and infinitely more knowledgeable in all things basketball (I won't speak to their general intelligence in other aspects) would have serious question about Xavier, especially as it pertaining to their standing in the Big East.

    ......still.... we know better... am I right!
    I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I drink 2XS.

  3. #13
    Sophomore
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    There is certainly a good chance that everything goes right, from Steele's maturation as a Head Coach, to Q and Paul's ability to make open 3's, to the new guys gelling and playing with some cohesiveness. If all of that goes right, I think we are in the 3-5 range in the Big East.

    I think there is also a slim (very slim?) chance that all of the above goes the other direction, Travis struggles a little to get his sea legs under him, we can't make an open 3 (with the exception of Welage, who I'm not convinced can guard me), and the ship-in's play more like Travis Taylor (his 1st year), struggling to find their way, versus bonding and playing off one another. In that extreme example, I think 7-9 in the league standings, with a bad break or two along the way, is possible.

    However, I think something between best case (above) and worst case (below) is most likely, and we end up in that 5-7 area. I truly don't feel like we are going to be great, and I think we are absolutely going to have some nights / halves that are borderline unwatchable, but I also think you'll see some flashes. As long as we are better (markedly) on March 1st than we are on December 1st, we should all be okay with that. This roster, to be honest, isn't ideal. If we are all being real with each other.

  4. #14
    All-Conference XU 87's Avatar
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    I think XU will be good but not great this year. There's a good core coming back- Goodin, Tyrique, Naji and Scruggs. That's two starters and arguably a third starter from last year (Tyrique started at least some of the games earlier in the season; Naji later in the season). Having an experienced point guard helps. After that, it's a guess as to how good the others are and how they will fit in.

  5. #15
    Where is the Big East team with a better 4 RETURNING players than our core 4? I guess an arguement could be made for SJU, but they really only have that big 3. Hard to get to 4 guys off their roster from last year. Yes, there is A LOT of new talent coming in the league this year including some impact transfers but X is pretty solid there as well. We will be over .500 again in conference.
    Last edited by Xuperman; 08-28-2018 at 02:14 AM.
    President of the Eddie Johnson Fan Club

  6. #16
    Supporting Member bleedXblue's Avatar
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    Yeah , a lot can happen.........I like the fact that we have 2 key guards returning and Naji played a ton last year too. I like our transfers and think by Big East play, they will be well integrated into our lineup. I am really curious to see what Elias Harden is going to bring this year. I dont have any major expectation, but if he could just be a solid contributor off the bench, play some good D and knock down some 3's, that would be HUGE for us.

  7. #17
    Maybe Andy gave us too much credit with his 9th place prediction

  8. #18
    Senior X Factor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xuperman View Post
    Where is the Big East team with a better 4 RETURNING players than our core 4? I guess an arguement could be made for SJU, but they really only have that big 3. Hard to get to 4 guys off their roster from last year. Yes, there is A LOT of new talent coming in the league this year including some impact transfers but X is pretty solid there as well. We will be over .500 again in conference.

  9. #19
    Sophomore mid major's Avatar
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    I can't find anything positive about this team. I would think ,with our personnel, we should probably slow the game down. We have no discipline or focus. We do the same mistakes over and over again. This team doesn't gel and our basketball IQ is probably around the mid teens. A lot of our turnovers are unforced and they come at an alarming rate. Sorry guys, this loss took the wind out of me.

  10. #20
    Senior X Factor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mid major View Post
    I would think ,with our personnel, we should probably slow the game down.
    Xavier is playing at very slow pace this year. Almost 300th in the nation in adjusted tempo. However, the defense is so bad it doesn't matter.

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