Xavier Basketball 2021-22

[MHettel]

That author put a lot of weight behind a returning Stanley. I seriously don't think he will be ready until January. Same hype with Kunkel and Tandy. I don't see KyKy or Adam gaining many minutes at all with Scruggs, Johnson, Odom and Jones gobbling up minutes with SF IU transfer added too.

wow. It's occuring to me that the depth on this roster is AGAIN perfectly suited for a super high tempo pressing style that will just wear down teams and caause fatigue turnovers and easy transition buckets.

Scruggs, Odom, Johnson, Free and Nudge.

Jones, Tandy, Kunkle, Stanley, Miles, IU Transfer, and 2 freshmen.

We already know that 10 of those guys can play at this level. And then Miles and the 2 freshmen could be ready as well.

RUN and GUN! If Steele F's this up......

[JTG]

wow. It's occuring to me that the depth on this roster is AGAIN perfectly suited for a super high tempo pressing style that will just wear down teams and caause fatigue turnovers and easy transition buckets.

Scruggs, Odom, Johnson, Free and Nudge.

Jones, Tandy, Kunkle, Stanley, Miles, IU Transfer, and 2 freshmen.

We already know that 10 of those guys can play at this level. And then Miles and the 2 freshmen could be ready as well.

RUN and GUN! If Steele F's this up......

The style you're talking about, if properly implemented will cause games to be over 10 minutes into the second half. Teams won't even want to bring the ball up the floor. It also leads to a lot of easy offense off the defense. Let's just hope Steele realizes the opportunity he has.

[IM4X]

Got to earn it in the end. I hope this team leadership understands that and will have their team so prepared and and anal about perfecting the details before the season so they can play hard and smart for 40 full minutes.

Gonna have some very capable 3 point shooters returning, but please Travis, don’t let this turn into another season of “Let’s see how many quick threes we can launch in a game.” Let’s hope he can finally toughen up our bigs inside. Being soft in the paint has been a serious Achilles heel for the team.

Gotta see more guard penetration too. Aside from Odom late in the season, our guards too often just took low percentage jumpers when they could have just as easily dribbled in the paint, made contact and gotten to the line. We need to be that type of X team again that is known for making it to the free throw line so frequently that we make more buckets there than the opponent is even attempting.

Do these things well, stay injury free and win the battle of the boards and everything else should fall into place.

[xukeith]

Got to earn it in the end. I hope this team leadership understands that and will have their team so prepared and and anal about perfecting the details before the season so they can play hard and smart for 40 full minutes.

Gonna have some very capable 3 point shooters returning, but please Travis, don’t let this turn into another season of “Let’s see how many quick threes we can launch in a game.” Let’s hope he can finally toughen up our bigs inside. Being soft in the paint has been a serious Achilles heel for the team.

Gotta see more guard penetration too. Aside from Odom late in the season, our guards too often just took low percentage jumpers when they could have just as easily dribbled in the paint, made contact and gotten to the line. We need to be that type of X team again that is known for making it to the free throw line so frequently that we make more buckets there than the opponent is even attempting.

Do these things well, stay injury free and win the battle of the boards and everything else should fall into place.

I don’t trust Kunkel or Tandy making sound basketball decisions. I don’t think running and pressing is this team’s strength. It’s my small 2 cents

[drudy23]

Got to earn it in the end. I hope this team leadership understands that and will have their team so prepared and and anal about perfecting the details before the season so they can play hard and smart for 40 full minutes.

Gonna have some very capable 3 point shooters returning, but please Travis, don’t let this turn into another season of “Let’s see how many quick threes we can launch in a game.” Let’s hope he can finally toughen up our bigs inside. Being soft in the paint has been a serious Achilles heel for the team.

Gotta see more guard penetration too. Aside from Odom late in the season, our guards too often just took low percentage jumpers when they could have just as easily dribbled in the paint, made contact and gotten to the line. We need to be that type of X team again that is known for making it to the free throw line so frequently that we make more buckets there than the opponent is even attempting.

Do these things well, stay injury free and win the battle of the boards and everything else should fall into place.

I agree, but that's simply not how Steele is engineering his teams on the offensive end.

I would love to see an up-tempo pressing style at times, but I won't hold my breath. He loves the Villanova style too much. He's gone all-in on it and continues to recruit for it.

[noteggs]

I think Kunkel will show improvements this year. He’s got a year to be with the program and get stronger. As for Kyky, that’s going to be a mystery. Think he learned some things about himself in the portal and takes the next step like we thought he would last year.

[SC in DC]

Kunkel not making sound decisions?? Other then shot selection at times, I don't think we were watching the same player Keith.

[bobbiemcgee]

I see his role as a "quick hitter" off the bench. Set him up for some good looks. Kunk is obviously a liability on the defensive end. Come in and hit 36-40% from 3. Pull quickly when he's cold. Call a timeout and re-group, unlike the BU fiasco.

[hoopster68]

Some of my best memories of XU b-ball come from the years when the team had one or two players that lead and laid it all out on the court. Names like Thomas, Larkin, West, Posey and Bluiett come to mind; others can add their own. Typically, but not always, these players had physical and mental toughness, a bit of swagger, and they were coachable. Does this year's team have such a leader(s)? Do teams still need these types of players? Does X recruit this type of talent?

[Xavier]

How many DI teams still run a full press all game? I honestly don't follow too much outside of Xavier, a few major games, and the tournament. I don't recall recent success of a full press team in the tournament.