A Katz explains why he picked X 9th in Conference

[94GRAD]

https://twitter.com/John_Fanta/status/1027939289466728448

[GoMuskies]

https://twitter.com/John_Fanta/status/1027939289466728448

Who asked that dumb ass question anyway? :)

[94GRAD]

Who asked that dumb ass question anyway? :)

Ha, some idiot!

[paulxu]

You gave him a great opportunity to put on his dancing shoes. Nice.

[Olsingledigit]

Blah, blah, blah.

[xu82]

I loved how they talk about all we lost, as they show highlights from all the guys coming back.

I am not a betting kind of guy, but I’d go all in that we are not #9.

[scoscox]

well, he seems pretty unsure of his own opinion, which is fair because predicting the Big East is virtually impossible this year

[Xuperman]

National pundits are struggling to make any sense ranking the BE. This seems reasonable-
PC
SJU
VU
XU
GU
MU
BU
CU
DU
SHU
With 4 of the 10 at 9-9 and 12-6 could win it......we are in for some real wars sport fans!

[outsideobserver11]

This upcoming Big East season will be a lot of fun to watch from an "outsideobserver"'s standpoint. :whiteflag:

There is so much parity in the conference this year, and it will truly feel like anybody can beat anybody every night which makes for exciting games to watch!

[Muskie]

If you take out the "Andy Katz" factor, the prospect of a new coach and basically three new starters (who weren't on the team last year) it's not a stretch for me to say it could be rough season. But a 9th place finish season? I'd be surprised.

[drudy23]

Rest assured, Nova will be near the top again.

We will likely be middle of the pack and on the bubble. Hopefully, the good side. Any upside to that is gravy in my eyes (for this year).

[UCGRAD4X]

If you take out the "Andy Katz" factor, the prospect of a new coach and basically three new starters (who weren't on the team last year) it's not a stretch for me to say it could be rough season. But a 9th place finish season? I'd be surprised.

In a league with a lot of very good teams and players and a great deal of parity, choosing a team with the type of turnover Xavier has had, along with the many 'unknown' elements and questions about depth, scoring and how the transfers will fit into the system coming from lesser competition, a serious college basketball pundit/expert would be crazy to pick Xavier to finish high this year.

As optimistic as I want to be (Xavier is going undefeated every year and win NC after NC) - this is 'crap-shoot' year.

Do I want them to go undefeated in OOC, win the BE - regular season and tournament - and cruise through the NCAA to a NC? Yes!

But I am, admittedly, unreasonable, biased and generally unrealistically ignorant about NCAAMBB (and many other things as well).

I can definitely see how more reasonable, unbiased, realistic and infinitely more knowledgeable in all things basketball (I won't speak to their general intelligence in other aspects) would have serious question about Xavier, especially as it pertaining to their standing in the Big East.

......still.... we know better... am I right!

[BigMoeMusketeer]

There is certainly a good chance that everything goes right, from Steele's maturation as a Head Coach, to Q and Paul's ability to make open 3's, to the new guys gelling and playing with some cohesiveness. If all of that goes right, I think we are in the 3-5 range in the Big East.

I think there is also a slim (very slim?) chance that all of the above goes the other direction, Travis struggles a little to get his sea legs under him, we can't make an open 3 (with the exception of Welage, who I'm not convinced can guard me), and the ship-in's play more like Travis Taylor (his 1st year), struggling to find their way, versus bonding and playing off one another. In that extreme example, I think 7-9 in the league standings, with a bad break or two along the way, is possible.

However, I think something between best case (above) and worst case (below) is most likely, and we end up in that 5-7 area. I truly don't feel like we are going to be great, and I think we are absolutely going to have some nights / halves that are borderline unwatchable, but I also think you'll see some flashes. As long as we are better (markedly) on March 1st than we are on December 1st, we should all be okay with that. This roster, to be honest, isn't ideal. If we are all being real with each other.

[XU 87]

I think XU will be good but not great this year. There's a good core coming back- Goodin, Tyrique, Naji and Scruggs. That's two starters and arguably a third starter from last year (Tyrique started at least some of the games earlier in the season; Naji later in the season). Having an experienced point guard helps. After that, it's a guess as to how good the others are and how they will fit in.

[Xuperman]

Where is the Big East team with a better 4 RETURNING players than our core 4? I guess an arguement could be made for SJU, but they really only have that big 3. Hard to get to 4 guys off their roster from last year. Yes, there is A LOT of new talent coming in the league this year including some impact transfers but X is pretty solid there as well. We will be over .500 again in conference.

[bleedXblue]

Yeah , a lot can happen.........I like the fact that we have 2 key guards returning and Naji played a ton last year too. I like our transfers and think by Big East play, they will be well integrated into our lineup. I am really curious to see what Elias Harden is going to bring this year. I dont have any major expectation, but if he could just be a solid contributor off the bench, play some good D and knock down some 3's, that would be HUGE for us.

[mistabeecee41]

Maybe Andy gave us too much credit with his 9th place prediction

[X Factor]

Where is the Big East team with a better 4 RETURNING players than our core 4? I guess an arguement could be made for SJU, but they really only have that big 3. Hard to get to 4 guys off their roster from last year. Yes, there is A LOT of new talent coming in the league this year including some impact transfers but X is pretty solid there as well. We will be over .500 again in conference.

:facepalm:

[mid major]

I can't find anything positive about this team. I would think ,with our personnel, we should probably slow the game down. We have no discipline or focus. We do the same mistakes over and over again. This team doesn't gel and our basketball IQ is probably around the mid teens. A lot of our turnovers are unforced and they come at an alarming rate. Sorry guys, this loss took the wind out of me.

[X Factor]

I would think ,with our personnel, we should probably slow the game down.

Xavier is playing at very slow pace this year. Almost 300th in the nation in adjusted tempo. However, the defense is so bad it doesn't matter.

[XUGRAD80]

Selfish players, and apparently a lack of leadership and maturity.

The first step in correcting a problem is to admit that there is a problem....Steele did just that in the after game radio show. The 2nd step is figuring out how to fix that problem.....I won’t be surprised by ANY transfers after this year because either the players need to change how they do things or the program needs to change who the players are.

[xukeith]

Selfish players, and apparently a lack of leadership and maturity.

The first step in correcting a problem is to admit that there is a problem....Steele did just that in the after game radio show. The 2nd step is figuring out how to fix that problem.....I won’t be surprised by ANY transfers after this year because either the players need to change how they do things or the program needs to change who the players are.

Q, Paul, Naji, Tyrique, and 5 frosh are all coming to play for X. I seriously doubt Kennedy or James will transfer.

MAYBE Harden. MAYNE.

[GoMuskies]

Why would you expect Kennedy or James to hang around? Or Harden for that matter? If they want to play much basketball, it's not likely to happen at Xavier.

[Xville]

Why would you expect Kennedy or James to hang around? Or Harden for that matter? If they want to play much basketball, it's not likely to happen at Xavier.

Agreed...if they cant crack the lineup with this craptatlstic roster, they arent going to crack it next year when the roster gets a dramatic influx of talent. Kyky is getting a lot of run next year either as a starter or bench player...freemantle, bishop and Ramsey are all probably getting minutes next year.

[UCGRAD4X]

I hate the speculation of who will stay and who will go, but this year's play has brought me to new depths.

If the young players mentioned are going to live through this year, not only the in game 'craptastic' as 'Ville so eloquently mentioned, but also the off-court angst and attitudes that many seem to believe is taking place (and who would blame them - going from 1 seed to last place is the most mediocre BE rota in recent memory), I would be surprised if any of them would not be discouraged at the prospect of being a part of a program they may feel even less a part of next year.

[bleedXblue]

bump

[D-West & PO-Z]

Suck it Andy!

(hopefully still)

[Lloyd Braun]

Back in his good graces (https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2019-03-04/college-basketball-rankings-tennessee-andy-katz-power-36?amp&__twitter_impression=true)

[xu koop scoop]

Back in his good graces (https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2019-03-04/college-basketball-rankings-tennessee-andy-katz-power-36?amp&__twitter_impression=true)
Article shows Marquette at 18. XU at 35 out of super 36. Villanova is missing as are any other BE Teams. Not putting any stock in his BS

[scoscox]

I didn't put any stock in his opinion when he had us 9th and I'm not about to now.

[UCGRAD4X]

"Don’t be dismayed by the conference standings where both are behind Xavier and Georgetown, but St. John’s and the Hall must not give the committee more reasons to keep them out by losing this week."

We certainty wouldn't want Johnny or Hall fans to dismayed now would we?.

[Muskie]

Color me impressed by my general restraint coming into this season in terms of my expectations.

[X-band '01]

There's only two games separating the top from the bottom of the Crappy Eight - so far, there's not much difference between 3-10 in terms of quality of the teams, but it makes a huge difference in not having to a) play a first-round game next Wednesday and b) not having to play a rested Villanova or Marquette team the following day.