We lost three starters this past year. One NBA caliber guard in Darrun Hillard, who could shoot from anywhere in the gym and create his own jump shot. Not to mention his length bothered alot of great shooter last year. We lose JVP, who could get buckets when shots werent falling, who would get us into the bonus each game with 10-12 minutes left in the half single handily, a guy who would grab on to each rebound like his life depended on it. We lose Dylan Ennis although a very inconsistent offensive player, his defense really bothered shooter as well and on ball he was very good.
We replace these three guys in the rotation with 2 frosh and a sophmore. Dont get me wrong I love all three of these players and in the long run they are going to be very good player but to expect them to come in 10 games out and replace the scoring, defense and rebounding of those three guys is a bit ridiculous. They arent going to come in and blow the doors off 2 top 10 teams that pretty much returned their entire line ups (OK and UVA).
Saying that this team does some things very well. At this point this team is not as good as last years, last years was very good, maybe the best since 2005-2006 (ending sucked but journey was awesome). My opinion is this team is somewhere in between at the end of the season between the 2013-2014 team and the 2014-2015 team. This team doesnt have the 2013-2014 team's size BUT I actually think they have a higher basketball IQ and can do more things on offense.
A couple notes things that need to improve:
-Lots of complaints about our guards lack of penetrating. I think it is how our offense is designed right now. The ball goes through Ochefu probably 50% of the time Ochefu needs to make quicker decisions, I said this after OK game and he did again against UVA by him holding onto the ball for 5-7 seconds is making us rush shots AND he is clogging up the lane for the guards. Saying that he needs to be part of this offense, his recognition time just needs to improve. Make a decision, go strong, pass to a cutter or pass out and clear the lane.
-Jenkins seeing the ball go through the net is huge, very very huge. This could be a turning point for him in the season.
-Brunson still seems uncomfortable out there, again only 10 games in and a ways to go. Needs to find his place in the offense, I am confident he will, especially with a Jedi Master like Arc working with him.
-Tough match up for Hart yesterday. Brogdon is probably one of the better if not best on ball guys in the NCAA, shut him down. Great learning experience for Josh.
-I love how the media is pumping up Xavier (so is this board). This Xavier team reminds of the Nova team in 2013-2014 season thought they were great and got absolutely smoked up in Cuse. Xavier has played no one, maybe one borderline top 50 team in Cinnci at home. They beat Dayton without their best player, they beat Michigan who I think stinks. We are going to smoke these guys, take the over in a big way. Nova wins the Big East this year on the last day of the season, teams are better, we are still the best.
And everyone, enjoy this team, they are going to get better, it will be fun to watch, celebrate all the accomplishments or your just going to miserable all season and miss the ride.
We replace these three guys in the rotation with 2 frosh and a sophmore. Dont get me wrong I love all three of these players and in the long run they are going to be very good player but to expect them to come in 10 games out and replace the scoring, defense and rebounding of those three guys is a bit ridiculous. They arent going to come in and blow the doors off 2 top 10 teams that pretty much returned their entire line ups (OK and UVA).
Saying that this team does some things very well. At this point this team is not as good as last years, last years was very good, maybe the best since 2005-2006 (ending sucked but journey was awesome). My opinion is this team is somewhere in between at the end of the season between the 2013-2014 team and the 2014-2015 team. This team doesnt have the 2013-2014 team's size BUT I actually think they have a higher basketball IQ and can do more things on offense.
A couple notes things that need to improve:
-Lots of complaints about our guards lack of penetrating. I think it is how our offense is designed right now. The ball goes through Ochefu probably 50% of the time Ochefu needs to make quicker decisions, I said this after OK game and he did again against UVA by him holding onto the ball for 5-7 seconds is making us rush shots AND he is clogging up the lane for the guards. Saying that he needs to be part of this offense, his recognition time just needs to improve. Make a decision, go strong, pass to a cutter or pass out and clear the lane.
-Jenkins seeing the ball go through the net is huge, very very huge. This could be a turning point for him in the season.
-Brunson still seems uncomfortable out there, again only 10 games in and a ways to go. Needs to find his place in the offense, I am confident he will, especially with a Jedi Master like Arc working with him.
-Tough match up for Hart yesterday. Brogdon is probably one of the better if not best on ball guys in the NCAA, shut him down. Great learning experience for Josh.
-I love how the media is pumping up Xavier (so is this board). This Xavier team reminds of the Nova team in 2013-2014 season thought they were great and got absolutely smoked up in Cuse. Xavier has played no one, maybe one borderline top 50 team in Cinnci at home. They beat Dayton without their best player, they beat Michigan who I think stinks. We are going to smoke these guys, take the over in a big way. Nova wins the Big East this year on the last day of the season, teams are better, we are still the best.
And everyone, enjoy this team, they are going to get better, it will be fun to watch, celebrate all the accomplishments or your just going to miserable all season and miss the ride.
