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Observations from Saturday's Exhibition
11/3/2012
After Xavier's very easy 74-53 exhibition win over the Division II Kentucky State Thoroughbreds, here are some very general positive and negative observations about the Musketeers (although everything has to be taken with a grain of salt, because it was an exhibition):
Positives
* The offense looked smoother than it did last year, even without veteran guards Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons, and the ultra-talented Dez Wells. There are more backdoor cuts and screens, a lot more movement on the baseline. Perhaps that's due to the absence of Kenny Frease. There are a lot less screens up top to free up drives to the hoop.
* Xavier running an actual offense is two-fold: the absence of the aforementioned players and their egos, and that these kids are listening to Chris Mack. Everyone will find out quickly, however, whether or not Mack can gameplan an offense without veteran guards.
* Semaj Christon is the real deal. Think Holloway with more size. His ability to get to the rim will be a game changer. He had a nice dish to Stenger on one drive, and pulled up on another for a turnaround fade away. Christon finished with 12 points and 5 assists.
* Erik Stenger, who got the start over Justin Martin, looked like a nice option for this team. He scored 12 points, pulled down 9 rebounds and had 4 blocks. His athleticism really showed and could be an asset for the team if he stays out of foul trouble. How the NKU transfer/walk on does against Division I competition will be discovered soon enough.
* Jeff Robinson and Justin Martin both looked like they are ready to step up their game. Robinson scored 12 points and pulled down 5 rebounds, while jamming home a couple of nice dunks. Martin scored 10 and had 7 rebounds, while also making the team's only three.
* Dee Davis will be a nice point guard for the Musketeers. He's a lot like Drew Lavender, though a little quicker but without the scoring capabilities, yet. Davis also does a really good job putting pressure on the other team's primary ball handler.
Negatives
* Isaiah Philmore is slow. There's no way around this. He could be a liability on offense, particularly getting up and down the court. The long, athletic forwards didn't flow together as well when he was in the game. He might be an asset on defense, but he's got a long way to go on offense.
* Travis Taylor doesn't look any better than he did last year. That's a big problem. He did manage to score 10 points, but his three fouls limited him to 21 minutes. I expected him to play as many minutes as Robinson (29). As someone who has long been touted as a difference maker, Xavier fans have seen little from Taylor.
* Robinson is still tentative, at times. There were definite moments when Robinson made an effort at being aggressive, but those were far and few between. If he had Stenger's motor and intensity, Xavier would have a real find down low.
* Three-point shooting. The Musketeers shot 47.3% for the game, but just 1 out of 16 from three. That has to be better, starting with Martin and Davis. If Davis is going to shoot five times from three, he better make a couple, or stop shooting. Martin will be the team's best option from deep and they're going to need him to make a couple every game.
* Turnovers. This is a young, inexperienced team. There's going to be a lot of mistakes over the course of the year, especially against the better teams. The Musketeers turned it over 15 times to just 12 assists. That has to get better if they want any chance. The defense did force 24 turnovers, however.
*Free throw shooting. 21-33 isn't going to cut it for a team that will probably get to the line a lot. Erik Stenger (2-6) was a primary culprit.
Overall, I'm not sure fans learned too much they didn't already know about their Musketeers. They probably won't know much after Friday's opener, either. Next Tuesday against Butler, however, could be an eye-opener for everyone.
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