Xavier no. 3 BE and top 35...?? lol

[skyhops]

This is BE basketball. Talent trumps everything, but then again Steele continued to play Carter who has MAC talent at best. People that have played the game can understand.

[Anti-Homer]

This is BE basketball. Talent trumps everything, but then again Steele continued to play Carter who has MAC talent at best. People that have played the game can understand.

I think your point is validated. Other's who made the All Frosh Team along with Tandy:

Robinson Earl
Champagnie
Moore
Weems
Freemantle

Only guy on this list that hasn't panned out is the last guy. As my mentor would say," Dripping." It is the same argument when people say rankings mean nothing with players, though irrocially, the NBA is littered with guys in the Top 100. Sub 150....Not so much.

[Anti-Homer]

Being named to the BE all-FRESHMAN team is a very much OVERrated honor. There were SIX players named to that team when KyKy made it. Basically any freshman that played a bunch of minutes for their team had a good chance of making it because they would obviously show more production than those that may have been better players, but didn’t get the opportunity to play much on a team with more upperclassman depth and talent. Xavier that year was very thin and had to rely on freshman to play more than most other BE teams had to do. On a better Xavier team, one that had a deeper roster, he might not have played much at all. In fact, that might be just the situation now. Compare the rosters for Xavier of KyKy’s freshman year with the rosters for the last 2 years. Are they better, deeper, more experienced, and more talented rosters? I would say that yes they are. A couple of his all-freshman teammates have already left college and moved on to the pros. I sincerely hope that KyKy CAN be a valuable member of the team this year, but I’m afraid that ship may have already sailed.

Ky you make too much sense for some of the "jock sniffing Kyky" sycophants. I wish Kyky would dedicate himself to the team because he would be a great addition but that means playing within the team concept. The coaches cannot ignore his attitude and his parental interference-misguidance because they can become cancer to the team.

Parental interference? Really? That's 90% of CBB players. You don't think Free's dad got into Steele's ear? Rumor had it Free had a foot out the door after his freshman year, probably due to the AAU culture and the "shoot it like its hot" policy had for every player on the time, regardless of score, time, or place. Or maybe Coach just happened upon Free's town when he meant to take a left on Victory Pkwy, but accidentally took the wrong way 12 hours east in his Electric blue Hummer with the booster seat. I think the extra long rope Free got last year was 1/3 promise, 1/3 talent, and 1/3 lack of post depth, shaken and stirred in a dirty glass.

Will year four end this monumental slide of X's program? Will Steele feel confident enough to finally give his Associate HC shirt of the Gauchos to Goodwill? Will dad in law continue to invite former Bowling Green AD Christopher over to his house for movie night the 3rd Saturday of every month? Enquiring minds want to know.

[XavierBob]

Anti,
I don’t think it matters if Steele does any of the things you mentioned. It’s obvious that both you and Sky don’t think he is competent or ever will be. You guys might be right I agree that improvement is necessary. I won’t write him off before the season is finished. Never heard the rumor on Freemantle from anyone I know near the program. Can’t wait for season to start and let’s analyze what’s going on. I’m sure some would find fault with a national championship. And no I’m not suggesting this team is going to win it all. I’m in the camp of it’s time to produce or a hard decision will have to be made. Conversely I don’t have a persona vendetta against our coach.

[Anti-Homer]

Anti,
I don’t think it matters if Steele does any of the things you mentioned. It’s obvious that both you and Sky don’t think he is competent or ever will be. You guys might be right I agree that improvement is necessary. I won’t write him off before the season is finished. Never heard the rumor on Freemantle from anyone I know near the program. Can’t wait for season to start and let’s analyze what’s going on. I’m sure some would find fault with a national championship. And no I’m not suggesting this team is going to win it all. I’m in the camp of it’s time to produce or a hard decision will have to be made. Conversely I don’t have a persona vendetta against our coach.

XB,

Thank you for your perspective. I'm usually a glass 3/4 full poster, but have been a smidge cynical and critical of Steele. I don't think he is a good coach, think he plays favorites like an AAU coach, think he in insulated by friends-relatives in high places, and that he has wasted two years when they had the goods to go much further than they did. However, I too would also accept a fantasy job for a seven figure (as Mman does as lead Moderator of the Board) position I wasn't qualified for. Not saying that applies to Steele. Just a completely, random thought. I don't think a little over the top, good natured ribbing from an astute, powerful moderator is a high price to pay to do something hundreds of thousands of moms and dads do for free.
Especially when in my humble opinion, he has made things personal with passive aggressive comments about young men like Ramsey and Kyky.

That being said, no one but maybe edgecliff is a bigger fan than me. I'll never say anything personal about Steele, because I never do, and think he is generally a good man, who I assume has 10,000 four leaf clovers in is backyard. No one will be happier if Coach Steele becomes a successful coach, because Lord knows the university needs it.

Thanks again for your thoughtful comments. I sincerely mean that.

[XavierBob]

Never questioning you fandom and never will. We agree that this is a put up or shut up season. Saw a scrimmage stat I don’t like, X was 11-32 from three. That’s my biggest beef with Travis, too many threes, I know we agree on that front. I’m honing to reserve judgement till seasons end and hopefully keep my blood pressure in check. I hope all X fans are happy come March.

[Anti-Homer]

Never questioning you fandom and never will. We agree that this is a put up or shut up season. Saw a scrimmage stat I don’t like, X was 11-32 from three. That’s my biggest beef with Travis, too many threes, I know we agree on that front. I’m honing to reserve judgement till seasons end and hopefully keep my blood pressure in check. I hope all X fans are happy come March.

Please tell me this is a joke. We have exactly one guy who should shoot more than four threes a game (actually two, but we won't go there), so I have to assume the players did not follow Steele's game plan of working the offense first, and selectively shooting threes. Then again, if that's the case, they've disobeyed him for the first three years of his tenure b/c that has been the offense.

Happy we can agree on this. Here's hoping this was just an anomaly, unless the NCAA instituted an exception and Bluiett, Gates, Macura, & Duncan are now on the roster.

[XavierBob]

Unfortunately not a joke, I’m hoping today was an experiment, changing lineups etc. I do know Nunge didn’t play either but 32 threes I still shake my head. Hoping I see different on Fri. And beyond.

[thecoach]

Unfortunately not a joke, I’m hoping today was an experiment, changing lineups etc. I do know Nunge didn’t play either but 32 threes I still shake my head. Hoping I see different on Fri. And beyond.

Without Freemantle and Nunge, this team will have to shoot a lot of perimeter shots. I just really question if Nunge can't play in a scrimmage this close to the start of the season how much they can really expect from a guy who has played very little bball.

[Lead Guitar]

Haven’t seen any reports on the scrimmage and it was just a scrimmage, but 11-32 3’s would be 33pts. 16-32 50% 2’s would be 32.

I’d take a team average of 33-36% on 3’s. 50-55% on 2’s and 75-80% on FT’s. That would win a lot of games. Take what the defense gives.

I would bet that with a faster pace game and more dunks/layups our percentages on both 2’s and 3’s will be higher. There’s nothing wrong with 3’s if you can get the percentage to 35. Villanova has been relying on the 3 from all five positions for years. Let’s see what develops.