Basketball's Most Balanced Commentator Ranks X

[AlabamaMuskie]

Not sure if this was a previous post, but I just saw it today.

I am sure Dickie V. put a lot of time into researching X before he ranked them.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/dickvita ... id=3544438

[Mr. Neutral]

Given our losses, and the newcomers who will be asked to play key roles, I don't think starting off the season at #40 is too off-base. I'd hope that we finish higher than that.

[AlabamaMuskie]

Neither do I. So do I.

Besides, this is familiar territory for Xavier and its fans. If we were highly ranked, it would be tough to maintain with such a young team.

I do wonder though... when (if ever) was the last time that Mr. Vitale ranked us in the top 25 in his preseason rankings?

[muskieman]

Sean Miller's team lost a lot of talent, but the newcomers will make a difference.


What about the returning stars? They are not chopped liver. 3 of the 6 top scorers are still on this team!

[danx]

I do wonder though... when (if ever) was the last time that Mr. Vitale ranked us in the top 25 in his preseason rankings?

He had us at #39 in his pre-season list, last year:

http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/070828preseasontop40.html

I don't get the "newcomers will make a difference" line, either. X's returning players started 96 games, last year - - 2.6 returning starters. 3 guys who averaged 10-11 points a game and a handful of rebounds each. The new guys will have an impact, but seems like folks are discounting who we have back...

[Mr. Neutral]

<<but seems like folks are discounting who we have back...>>

I'd say it's just being realistic.

We lost our starting center, shooting guard and point guard, who were also our #1, 3 & 6 scorers. Our starting backcourt had 152 and 140 assists, respectively. The next guy had 63.

We lost Duncan, who averaged playing in 32 games a year for 4 years, Burrell, who averaged playing in 34 games a year for 4 years, and Lavender, who started 69 of 70 games for X. And college b-ball is nothing if not a guard's game.

So, while we return quite a bit, and have high hopes for the newcomers, we will have likely have a PG who has never dribbled a ball in a Div. I game, a new shooting guard, and a new center. We've lost our defensive stopper, far and away our best ballhandler, and the guy who pretty much became our go-to scorer down the stretch. That's a lot of important spots to fill.

I think the overall talent is there for another good season, but it wouldn't be a surprise if X struggled early on.

[muskieman]

<<but seems like folks are discounting who we have back...>>

I'd say it's just being realistic.

We lost our starting center, shooting guard and point guard, who were also our #1, 3 & 6 scorers. Our starting backcourt had 152 and 140 assists, respectively. The next guy had 63.

We lost Duncan, who averaged playing in 32 games a year for 4 years, Burrell, who averaged playing in 34 games a year for 4 years, and Lavender, who started 69 of 70 games for X. And college b-ball is nothing if not a guard's game.

So, while we return quite a bit, and have high hopes for the newcomers, we will have likely have a PG who has never dribbled a ball in a Div. I game, a new shooting guard, and a new center. We've lost our defensive stopper, far and away our best ballhandler, and the guy who pretty much became our go-to scorer down the stretch. That's a lot of important spots to fill.

I think the overall talent is there for another good season, but it wouldn't be a surprise if X struggled early on.

But that leaves us the 2-4-5 scorers. We didn't lose our starting center but if you are talking about our backup center I think the guy coming in to back up will work out fine. The guard position is where you are dead on but what we had is being made up with quantity from which X hopes to find adequate quality. I would worry about defnse if Sean was not the coach but he has proven he will make his teams good on the defensive end of the ball.

BTW there is a time in every guards life when they say he has never dribbled the ball in a D-1 game including that guard you picked up for the Chicago bulls. What year was he in at Memphis last year? There are always new faces but if the experts(or are they pundits/) are right "this time" then the most talent will be coming to this team this year then ever before.

[Mr. Neutral]

<<We didn't lose our starting center but if you are talking about our backup center >>

Hmm, I would think that the box scores showing Josh as the starter in all 4 of our NCAA games, along with his clearly logging the majority of the C minutes down the stretch, would qualify him as a "starter".

[muskieman]

So starting more games than Duncan last year makes Love the backup? I'd say then that neither Love or Duncan were starters but shared the starters role...Josh started in 16 games and Love in 21.