The Underclassman Bench

[XUFan09]

Just put this (http://fromstaaktomack.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/the-underclassman-bench/) together to give some stats on our bench that doesn't seem to be producing much lately (save Jalen, who's actually starting right now).

[UCGRAD4X]

In some ways it makes sense that the ones that don't produce go to the bench…they should.

[boozehound]

Our bench is either very young, or limited in talent, so it's not really a surprise. Myles was contributing early on but seems to have fallen into a shooting slump. He's not very quick for a guard so if he's not making shots he's not contributing. Farr is similar in that he is limited defensively. He provides a nice option to stretch the defense if he is hitting shot, but he hasn't been lately. Randolph is a bit of an enigma. I expected a little bit more from him than we have gotten, but he is still very young.

[Masterofreality]

Farr played OK defense against Villanova. He is not making shots now however. Myles has just stopped making shots totally. Brandin Randolph has regressed big time. I don't know where the kid's confidence has gone, but is sure is no where near the player we saw confidently taking and making a huge three against the Borecats.

Since January 1 in conference play, Myles Davis is 13-50 from 3 point range. That is 26% folks and not good. In the same period, James Farr is 5-22- 23%- and hasn't made a 3 point shot since the Villanova game there on February 3...that's over a month, folks.

With that kind of shooting, I'm almost amazed that XU has done as well as it has. Our bench is giving us nothing at all, other than Jalen Reynolds. Maybe all the shots will fall in MSG. It would be a good time for percentages to even out.

[boozehound]

I'm not necessarily down on any of these kids - They are all still young.

Myles Davis in particular is a Freshman who didn't play organized ball last year, or even practice with the team. Next year is the year that I expect for him to contribute if he is going to make it at Xavier over the long haul.

There should be some serious competition for playing time next year with some of the guys we have coming in, particularly in the event that Semaj stays.

[bleedXblue]

Pretty disappointing if you ask me.

I know all 3 are very young, but each is going in the wrong direction this year.

Both Farr and Davis are rushing their shots in many situations and missing badly from 3. Shooting is a lot about confidence and I dont think either has much right now.

Randolph still looks timid to me. Thats not unusual for a frosh though. I expect him to be a different player next year.

[boozehound]

I agree that they are trending the wrong way. I think we have to be careful about looking too deeply at trends (particularly among Freshmen) for the following reasons:

1. The earlier games are often home games and often against teams that aren't all that good. I'll throw the UC game out as that was something of an anomaly. They show flashes against poor competition at home and we expect it to extend to better competition on the road.

2. Many Freshman seem to hit a wall about 2/3 of the way through the season their first year of playing ball. They aren't used to the rigorous schedule.

Myles and Brandon in particular are going to have some serious competition next year. I don't think Farr is going to have quite a much competition for PT next year at his position, but he still has work to do.

[SpectorJersey]

Stop with the excuses. We dont need any of them to hit 10-15 a game. If just one would step up it would be a huge difference. If between Myles, Farr, Randolph each could chip in a few buckets a game it would help immensely. It is really holding us back that we cant put those guys in with confidence that there isnt a huge drop off in production. I am sure Mack isnt sitting there making excuses (well usually 2/3rds into the year my young scholarship players dont produce anything.)

[UCGRAD4X]

Stop with the excuses. We dont need any of them to hit 10-15 a game. If just one would step up it would be a huge difference. If between Myles, Farr, Randolph each could chip in a few buckets a game it would help immensely. It is really holding us back that we cant put those guys in with confidence that there isnt a huge drop off in production. I am sure Mack isnt sitting there making excuses (well usually 2/3rds into the year my young scholarship players dont produce anything.)

No, he's making excuses about the schedule.

I think it interesting how, with some freshmen, this part of the season means "You aren't (or shouldn't be) a freshman anymore" while others "hit the wall" - which I think is a legitimate concern. I just think, unfortunately, we happen to have more of the latter than the former.

[GoMuskies]

Watching the young guys struggle doesn't give me warm fuzzies thinking about next year if Semaj is gone. We'll have talented guys coming in, but we cannot count on them TOO much.

[SpectorJersey]

No, he's making excuses about the schedule.

I think it interesting how, with some freshmen, this part of the season means "You aren't (or shouldn't be) a freshman anymore" while others "hit the wall" - which I think is a legitimate concern. I just think, unfortunately, we happen to have more of the latter than the former.

The schedule, the rigors....whatever. No one is asking them to be stars. The lack of production is holding us back. If Myles and Randolph could have chipped in 9 points between the 2 of them vs Nova its a totally different ball game. This is big time college athletics. I am sure the players arent making excuses and neither should the fans. I can take a few bad games here and there, thats normal, but the string of total non production is getting tiresome.

[XUFan09]

Farr played OK defense against Villanova. He is not making shots now however. Myles has just stopped making shots totally. Brandin Randolph has regressed big time. I don't know where the kid's confidence has gone, but is sure is no where near the player we saw confidently taking and making a huge three against the Borecats.

Since January 1 in conference play, Myles Davis is 13-50 from 3 point range. That is 26% folks and not good. In the same period, James Farr is 5-22- 23%- and hasn't made a 3 point shot since the Villanova game there on February 3...that's over a month, folks.

With that kind of shooting, I'm almost amazed that XU has done as well as it has. Our bench is giving us nothing at all, other than Jalen Reynolds. Maybe all the shots will fall in MSG. It would be a good time for percentages to even out.

It's best to break up Farr's shooting into two segments, as I did. Whereas Myles has been in a steady shooting slump throughout the conference season, Farr was actually a respectable 37.5% for half the conference schedule. He has fallen to 23% in conference because he's missed his last 9 straight, not because he's been steadily shooting at around that percentage.

[XUFan09]

1. The earlier games are often home games and often against teams that aren't all that good. I'll throw the UC game out as that was something of an anomaly. They show flashes against poor competition at home and we expect it to extend to better competition on the road.


I already covered this in the post. It's not an issue of competition. And the first Tennessee game is the only home game in the group. Excluding the Cincinnati game, the Iowa and second Tennessee game were both on neutral courts, and the Alabama game was on the road (and besides being in the top 100 now, Alabama was actually decent back then). Plus, the home/road dichotomy doesn't really work, because it's not like these guys lit it up versus Big East teams at home, even the weaker ones.

Tennessee, Iowa, and Cincinnati are actually better than most of the conference teams we've faced, falling behind only Villanova and Creighton. And these guys produced against them. Alabama was playing on a similar level back then to how the Big East bubble teams are playing now, and these guys showed up against them in Tuscaloosa.

I could see the suggestion of a "freshman wall," which you also mentioned, but it is not an issue of competition, nor is it an issue of venue.