2012-2013- Back to team basketball

[kyzrex]

Sometimes, even if a players knows the offense, and runs the offense, they are still not able to execute the offense because of lack of physical talent. They are not able to move quickly enough, cut percisely enough, throw the pass needed, have the physical strength needed to set the pick that is needed, jump high enough to get the shot off, or just can't shoot well enough, even when open. When that happens the offense fails, even if it is a good system. IMO, Xavier has some players that fall into the category of just not enough raw physical talent to succeed against top flight opposition. Fortunately most of those players are young and they can, and hopefully will, improve in those areas. Part of coaching is to set up the facilities and opportunities for this to happen. Of course, the players have to understand the need for this to happen and have the desire for this to happen as well. It is not enough for a player to want to be great, he has to have the desire to do the work to become great, as well.

Some examples from Indiana Basketball....

Delay Brooks.....HS all american, considered the best HS guard in the country his senior year. Everyone's top recruit.
Hard worker, team player, maybe the nicest kid to ever play at IU according to all the coaches. FAILED at IU because he had SLOW FEET and couldn't play man on man defense....transferred to Providence, a team running ZONE. May have been great at a school like Syacuse.

Bobby Knight......seems to be one of the favorite coaches of the people here. I understand why. Can anyone say that he did not, and does not, understand the game of basketball as well, if not better, than anyone else? He SEES what is happening on the floor all the time, not just in one area, but all areas. However, as a PLAYER at OSU, he was a benchwarmer, rarely playing for them during their national championship runs in the early 60's. Why? He was a great shooter, but TOO SLOW to play good defense. He lacked the physical talent to be more than a hacker and got into foul trouble to often to be effective.

I also very much enjoy TEAM basketball, as many of the past XU teams have shown. It could be that it broke down last year because of the lack of physical talent some of the players displayed. IMO not having a strong forward presence really hurt that team. Hopefully, the young players returning or coming in will be able to provide that. If not, then I think we will see more of the same thing we saw last year.

[Thor in 204]

I tend to mostly agree with Mr. Neutral in this bit of debate, but I do often wonder if our coaches fail to develop the range of talent possessed by some of our players. Do we really know if Travis Taylor can put the ball on the floor and hit a medium range jumper? I've often wondered how he scored so much at Monmouth. To me it appears he has a good shooting stroke. One might guess that he was constrained by the offensive set and his prescribed role, or that he never achieved enough confidence to take the shot in games. I never thought Andre Walker's frustrations were due to lack of talent. He ran the floor and handled the ball very well, and made big plays at times on defense or on offense and with rebounding. For some reason he had no confidence in his shot. Kenny, sadly for most of his career, was a head case until happily he woke up at the end of the season and showed more of what was in him.
I have no way of knowing what happens in practice and player meetings etc., and I give the benefit of doubt to the coaches, but I have often wondered if players get stuck into roles, and then when called upon to step up into an opening in the line-up or changing game conditions do not have the confidence to be as complete a player as their talents could support.

[Mr. Neutral]

It's possible that Taylor and Walker had more offensive talent than they showed, but I can only go by what we saw when they were on the floor last year. And what I saw was 2 guys who could barely make a layup. Walker seemed to have an OK midrange shot, technically, but didn't make any of them. And can anyone recall a single midrange jumper that Taylor made last year???

And in traffic underneath, both were generally helpless in terms of getting a good shot off. You have to admit, a one-on-one between Taylor and Walker has the potential to be really friggin' funny to watch. It would be like watching two of us play, pretty much.

[Theology73]

I could be wrong .

You are.

[thewoodslives]

Xavier will have perhaps GREAT chemistry BUT will that mean a sweet 16 or NCAA bball appearance??
That is the bottom line!

Is that REALLY The Bottom Line? Or does having an ethical athletic program which advances the ideals stated in the University Mission Statement at all enter into the picture? If not, why not become a version of UNLV with a Midwestern Catholic twist? Surely some donor dollars could seduce a young, ambitious Calipari-like clone to help us sell our soul to the devil for the glory a NCAA Championship run.

Isn't that what's going on? Most people on this site only care about winning, where have you been all year?

[Mr. Neutral]

Most people on this site only cares about winning,

That's because some posters are such big Charlie Sheen fans. I mean, who isn't? He's such a talent!

[hoosiermark]

The car crash post got me thinking about what could be our return to team first basketball. I agree with Madness31 when he stated that if we return to team basketball it will be a pleasure to watch. With Dez Wells already tweeting that "he can't wait to take the new recruits under his wing" makes me believe that we will return to the all for one and one for all mantra. Nothing is for sure but I just have a good feeling that next year will be a good season. Every year we all look at what we lost in the way of players and by March we are always where we want to be - in the tournament. Remember only Duke, Kansas and Xavier have been rated in the top 25 for the last five years after the NCAA tournament. Let's keep it going. Go Xavier!

I hope that Dez never picked up the bad habits of Tu and Mark. Those two were something else in their arrogance and were dribbling way too much instead of passing the ball quicker to open people. This team will do nothing but get better with the better chemistry of the team.

[kyzrex]

Xavier will have perhaps GREAT chemistry BUT will that mean a sweet 16 or NCAA bball appearance??
That is the bottom line!

Is that REALLY The Bottom Line? Or does having an ethical athletic program which advances the ideals stated in the University Mission Statement at all enter into the picture? If not, why not become a version of UNLV with a Midwestern Catholic twist? Surely some donor dollars could seduce a young, ambitious Calipari-like clone to help us sell our soul to the devil for the glory a NCAA Championship run.

Isn't that what's going on? Most people on this site only care about winning, where have you been all year?

Really? Don't you think that MOST people on this site just believe that you CAN have both....a talented national caliber team, WITH high quality individuals? Think a team made up of West, Hill, Larkin, Burnell, etc. There have been several players in the past that have been very talented and great representatives of the school. I, for one, am not willing to accept that it must be one or the other.

[Thor in 204]

It's possible that Taylor and Walker had more offensive talent than they showed, but I can only go by what we saw when they were on the floor last year. And what I saw was 2 guys who could barely make a layup. Walker seemed to have an OK midrange shot, technically, but didn't make any of them. And can anyone recall a single midrange jumper that Taylor made last year???

And in traffic underneath, both were generally helpless in terms of getting a good shot off. You have to admit, a one-on-one between Taylor and Walker has the potential to be really friggin' funny to watch. It would be like watching two of us play, pretty much.

I have to agree that I saw the same thing, and it was painful when I would think they ought to be able to do better in those instances. I'm reminded of Josh Duncan who was a weak inside player until into his senior year when he played very strongly. He changed something of his attitude inside, and had the size to back it up. Travis Taylor will never have Josh's size and strength, and I feel it's likely futile to keep putting him in position to try to play as if he does. Can coaching remedy the situation by putting him in better position to show talent that was not displayed on the floor last year because of the role he had in the offense? We, of course, don't know, but I'd like to find out.

[olsingledigit]

204 my observation from last year was that Taylor had plenty of times being in a great position and could not finish. CM said several times he was pushing too hard in the games. Maybe he needs a sports psychologist.