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

[skyhops]

Any reason why Nunge didn't play? He is going to be a key player this year, so he is going to need to stay healthy. We shot 32 threes? Doesn't sound like we passed the heck out of the ball.

[thecoach]

From below he's had at least two injuries to the same knee which is never good, but i'm guessing they are taking it very slow given he's basically been rehabbing now for going on two years. However, you have to be in bball shape which if you can't play in organized games is awful tough. We'll see, but having Miles in there without a veteran around him is a concern. Guys are typically overly aggressive in first extended minutes which can be tough to keep them on the court.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... nee-injury

[Anti-Homer]

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.

Good observation. Wonder why X has failed to make the tourney three years with this same formula, despite being a staple in terms of appearances and Sweet 16s the previous two decades (almost) before he took over? Do you have a stat on how many buckets and runouts the opposition made after a long, bad three? Has it diminished the number of opposing players who picked up fouls because they actually had to defend off the dribble, fight through screens, or challenge at the rim?

Two huge differences: Nova's highest volume shooters took the lion's share of the threes. In fact, last year for example. Moore, Gillespie, Daniels, and Swider took the most threes, shooting 162/439 for 37%.

Last year, X shot 112/ 322 35%. Comparable, right? However, context matters. Take Johnson out of the mix (42/93) and they shot 70/229 31%. Swider was Nova's best shooter by far from three point land, but the others were still all 35%+ shooters. And they had another successful season.

In 2019-20, X shot 148/460, or 32% from three point land. The 1b worst 3 point shooter on the team took the most three point shots by far (36 more than Scruggs): Marshall. In order, the most shots were taken by Marshall (29%), Scruggs (37%), Goodin (28%) and Tandy (35%). An asterisk needs to be put next to Tandy's name, because many of his were desperation ones in the last five minutes of the game when Steele brought him in to rescue them. Interesting the savior couldn't merit minutes before then.

After this searing analysis, I was too depressed to go further. However, even if you flipped X and Nova's metrics, it wouldn't matter, because Wright wins in March, and Steele's teams stop winning in February. Context matters.

[skyhops]

Glad this was only a scrimmage because my sources were not impressed and they pretty much played like they did late last year. Settling for too many threes and getting pushed around inside. Steele's desire to play like Nova without their talent might be his downfall.

[AirJordan]

Glad this was only a scrimmage because my sources were not impressed and they pretty much played like they did late last year. Settling for too many threes and getting pushed around inside. Steele's desire to play like Nova without their talent might be his downfall.

Please stop. My high expectations for this season simply cannot withstand crushing under-performance. And, that's probably true for most others on this board as well.

Nunge sitting out a scrimmage this close to the season opener isn't good news but it doesn't have to be horrible. We all agree that a huge upgrade in post play is required for us to challenge in the B.E. We need Nunge. Especially without Freemantle. But, thinking about it, I don't believe that Nunge sitting out is related to his previous knee injuries. If he has not recovered sufficiently from those after rehabbing for a year, then he will not be ready in a week (or even a few weeks). Recall that one of those injuries was a cartilage tear and for those of us that have suffered them, they don't require a long rehab. So, I choose to believe that the absence of Nunge from the scrimmage likely reflects some new condition. Like, maybe he had the flu, twisted his ankle or was seen fraternizing with KyKy. Without Freemantle and Nunge, we probably are going to see to be more reliant on guard play and that could mean more chucking from outside the arc----although it doesn't have to mean that. Especially if we pass the heck out of the ball.

[muskieman]

Hope they held him out as a precaution because of Free's injury. Wouldn't want two guys to go down with one reinjured in a scrimmage.