Musketeer Madness 2019

[IM4X]

Would appreciate any info shared about the event?

Is it steaming live?

Would love to hear thoughts from those attending too?

[bobbiemcgee]

https://twitter.com/slrussell

[IM4X]

https://twitter.com/slrussell

Thank you for the link Bobbiemcgee!

Nice clips Shannon included.

I really thought more people would be posting about the event today- especially this evening.

[fellahmuskie]

I had a great time at Cintas tonight. Jason Carter was the only one who didn't play. Perhaps others can offer more insight on how the team looked, but it was just good to see the team and know it's less than two weeks until we see them in action against an opponent.

[Xuperman]

Girls out shot the guys, again, it the 3 point contest. The girl with red hair scorched the nets making 19 of 25, so it was real uncomfortable watching the guys clang one after a other. I think all 3 (Moore, James, Scruggs) only made just 9 but Moore was slow getting thru the racks and he had 4 balls left as time expired.

The return of the slam dunk contest also had it's cringe-worthy moments with multiple unsuccessful attempts and Hanson won the dang thing.

In the scrimmage everything went as expected. The core 4 are very impressive with Naji looking better than ever in ALL FACETS. We will have no concerns with Paul's game and Q looks 100% like the 2017 version. Jones is in unbelievable condition and all 4 exude mass confidence.

Now the freshman. Neither Tandy or Bishop showed much offensively but both look really good handling the ball. The Bigs on the other hand were very active AND productive. Ramsey didn't get many minutes but moved well and is already far ahead of the other 2 physically but both Zach and Dieonte play with raw natural ability\instincts. Zach needs to bulk up asap but that won't keep him from being a major contributor. Miles is a rail but what he brings defensively seems too valuable for any redshirt IMO.

[X-Expert]

I had a great time at Cintas tonight. Jason Carter was the only one who didn't play. Perhaps others can offer more insight on how the team looked, but it was just good to see the team and know it's less than two weeks until we see them in action against an opponent.
Never easy to evaluate talent considering these players know each other so well, not to mention the plays. That being said. some things that did come to mind. The team will still likely struggle shooting from 3 especially if Marshall continues to shoot the most 3s. Other than Freemantle, tough for freshmen to make an impact. Marshall and Goodin guarded Bishop and Tandy and thats tough for anyone-elite defenders. Freemantle was smoothe.Moore seems to have a decent stroke but not great. Both he and Scruggs did ok in 3 point contest. Scruggs missed his final 11 shots and more made about 20%. As for the scrimmage, Marshall unfortunately was the player we saw during the season except the last stretch. He made one 3 but took the most. His shot selection is just awful. He continues to take shots as if there is one second on the shot clock. He was one of the worse offensive players in the BE last year (based on efficiency) but he still feels he must shoot for X to win. Steele needs to reign him in now or X will have challenges. Tandy was clearly upset with him especially one play where he was wide open for a 3. Lets hope that this was just an anomaly but after last year, this looked eerily similar to me. Just an opinion

[IM4X]

I had a great time at Cintas tonight. Jason Carter was the only one who didn't play. Perhaps others can offer more insight on how the team looked, but it was just good to see the team and know it's less than two weeks until we see them in action against an opponent.

Is Carter recovering from an injury? Maybe they are just being extra careful.

[IM4X]

Girls out shot the guys, again, it the 3 point contest. The girl with red hair scorched the nets making 19 of 25, so it was real uncomfortable watching the guys clang one after a other. I think all 3 (Moore, James, Scruggs) only made just 9 but Moore was slow getting thru the racks and he had 4 balls left as time expired.

The return of the slam dunk contest also had it's cringe-worthy moments with multiple unsuccessful attempts and Hanson won the dang thing.

In the scrimmage everything went as expected. The core 4 are very impressive with Naji looking better than ever in ALL FACETS. We will have no concerns with Paul's game and Q looks 100% like the 2017 version. Jones is in unbelievable condition and all 4 exude mass confidence.

Now the freshman. Neither Tandy or Bishop showed much offensively but both look really good handling the ball. The Bigs on the other hand were very active AND productive. Ramsey didn't get many minutes but moved well and is already far ahead of the other 2 physically but both Zach and Dieonte play with raw natural ability\instincts. Zach needs to bulk up asap but that won't keep him from being a major contributor. Miles is a rail but what he brings defensively seems too valuable for any redshirt IMO.

Good stuff. Thanks for posting about the event. Appreciate the insight on the core 4 and the new guys.

[whopper]

I believe he rolled an ankle and no need to rush back from that. Sounds like fun and I went last year as visiting daughters from Connecticut. I cherish my t- shirt

[fellahmuskie]

I loved the dunk contest, fwiw. The team was really into it and Tandy capped it with a between the legs dunk. You could see his confidence and competitiveness. I think tht freshmen as a whole will bring an edge to the team that's reminiscent of trevon and j.p. it will be good to have that balance instead of guys like Q and Naji trying to do everything.

[Xuperman]

I certainly had a different take on the slam dunk contest. It featured mostly the freshman and was kinda of a flop because Hanson won it with a pretty standard jam and ZFree’s had a degree of difficulty of about a 1. However the LOUDEST moment of the evening was when KyKY finally completed his 3rd ENCORE attempt. NOW, the team as a whole more than made up for it in the pre-scrimmage warm up. Was very entertaining watching the guys fly to the rim and throw down a wide variety of circus jams. What the frosh showed here put the SD contest to shame.

A couple side notes- Nice crowd. Lower level was mostly full with several hundred up top. Energy in the building was pretty good but of course there was some uncomfortable moments of near silence in spots.

Also was announced that the nights featured DJ will be on hand for ALL home games this year! The guy is pretty damn good!

[WCWIII]

Girls out shot the guys, again, it the 3 point contest. The girl with red hair scorched the nets making 19 of 25, ....

Last year as a freshman, Lauren Wasylson, was a real bright spot on the team and lead them in 3 point shooting.

[Frambo]

Is Carter recovering from an injury? Maybe they are just being extra careful.

Spoke with him in autograph line with my grandson.....he said it’s good (ankle) and shouldn’t hold him out much longer

[xukeith]

Positive points about last night: The attendees were loud and plentiful. Lower bowl was 90% filled and 100's in upper section. Crowd was into it and standing often.
Core 4 are light years ahead of the freshman. They will definitely lead. Frosh were nervous and over excited. I will give the frosh until January to see who breaks through. Freemantle was the most impressive frosh in scrimmage. Miles was 2nd most impressive frosh in scrimmage. Grad transfer Moore was very vocal and knew what to do in running plays and defending/ plus making a good 3. I can't believe I am saying this but the dance team really is a lot better. Good choreography and good dance moves.

Negative: Frosh were frosh and looked very energetic but couldn't show very bright plays as they were not experienced. The announcement that The CC is having a full time DJ to play hype music in the game was silly as I could play music during the game. The music was the same as other years. Cheerleaders and band showed tons of energy but they need originality in their chants.

[Xuperman]

Really though, after seeing Team 98 live for the first time, I can’t stop thinking that we had better do something SPECIAL this year or Team 99 may be severely challenged....especially in the BE.

Granted, if Paul and/or Naj return no worries BUT if not, we need to hope that a couple of our “Fab 5” emerge as ALL BE Freshman candidates. Otherwise Coach will have to hit a grand slam in the transfer portal with Carter being the lone Senior. He should be able to produce at this level as a stretch 4 but standing next to him yesterday, I don’t see how he could be effective starting at the 5 in this league. The 2018-19 recruiting class seems to be a lost one unfortunately.
That is why a redshirt for Miles seems unlikely at this point...developing ALL 5 frosh asap seems paramount. Yes, High quality reinforcements are on the way as Dwon and CJ look ready for prime time but who knows.

Sorry to be looking too far ahead (not to mention any hint of negativity) because this should be one of the best teams we’ve ever had and I’m sure the players and coaches realize the time is now. So let’s grab some hardware...hang some banners and make Champions out of these Freshman.

[xukeith]

Really though, after seeing Team 98 live for the first time, I can’t stop thinking that we had better do something SPECIAL this year or Team 99 may be severely challenged....especially in the BE.

Granted, if Paul and/or Naj return no worries BUT if not, we need to hope that a couple of our “Fab 5” emerge as ALL BE Freshman candidates. Otherwise Coach will have to hit a grand slam in the transfer portal with Carter being the lone Senior. He should be able to produce at this level as a stretch 4 but standing next to him yesterday, I don’t see how he could be effective starting at the 5 in this league. The 2018-19 recruiting class seems to be a lost one at this point.
That is why a redshirt for Miles seems unlikely at this point...developing ALL 5 frosh asap seems paramount. Yes, High quality reinforcements are on the way as Dwon and CJ look ready for prime time but who knows.

Sorry to be looking too far ahead (not to mention any hint of negativity) because this should be one of the best teams we’ve ever had and I’m sure the players and coaches realize the time is now. So let’s grab some hardware...hang some banners and make Champions out of these Freshman.
If the past 25 years of watching Xavier frosh learn X basketball tells me anything, the frosh will probably produce 2 freshmen with a role playing style. The team knows the core 4 are the strength and the core 4 will lead immensely. The frosh will probable combine in January 12-15 points. The grad transfers and core 4 will carry everyone to a NCAA appearance. I hope the frosh bust out and shock everyone but time and experience is essential.

When Bluiett and Macura were frosh, they played and scored some. But did those frosh experience a Sweet 16 or success with Myles Davis and Jalen Reynolds?

[Xavier]

Sorry to be looking too far ahead (not to mention any hint of negativity) because this should be one of the best teams we’ve ever had and I’m sure the players and coaches realize the time is now. So let’s grab some hardware...hang some banners and make Champions out of these Freshman.

I agree with the overall post. The core4 have shown flashes, if they put everything together I can see a really good run and a protected seed. Defense and rebounding will be most important, I don't think the shooting will get much better than it was last year. But beyond that, the recruiting seems like it is getting better...so we will need to be patient. Its safe to say the core4 is gone after this year, lets make it a good one.

[IM4X]

Thank you to everyone who responded above, helping to paint a better picture for me and all of those who could not attend.

i was really crossing my fingers that Kyky, Bishop and Moore would show they can be counted on as solid scorers (especially from the 3). While it doesn’t sound overly promising right now from what I have read, I am still holding onto hope that they struggled because of nerves and maybe not having enough time in such a short scrimmage to get into rhythm. It would be a bit disappointing though, if this team shoots as poorly from 3 collectively as the did last year.

I too think Miles SHOUlD be a lock for playing this year. Even if he doesn’t score much, he will be valuable (similar to Hankins) when it comes to disrupting shots in the paint.

I am also hoping that Naji and the rest of the core 4 can show a little more trust in the new players this year. We have seen them talking about their great chemistry and commitment to unselfish play but according to at least one or two of you, there was a little bit of shot hogging by Naji. If that is the case, I’m hoping it’s just Naji thinking this is his last MM event and wanting to put on a show for the crowd.

[XUGRAD80]

We really should place no importance to a 10 minute scrimmage, absolutely none. We’ve all seen situations where the team ( or just certain players.I’m looking at you Jeff Robinson) looked great in the scrimmage or early season games, but all but fell apart or disappeared later. These scrimmages mean even less than spring training baseball games or preseason NFL games.

Every season we go through this where certain people expect (or want) the team to be perfect from the first day, and then get better as the season goes on. Every year they need to be reminded that A) the season is a marathon, not a sprint, B) that it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish that is important, and C) that these are in essence kids and not experienced adults. Mistakes are going to happen, and they are going to happen often. It’s a shame that some people can’t just enjoy the journey and seem only to be fixated on the destination. Relax and just enjoy the show is my advice.

[bleedXblue]

Let us all remember, Dontarius James really impressed last year in MM and basically did nothing in 2018. You can take very, very little from a 10 minute scrimmage.........especially with the new guys.

I did like and was impressed with how athletic all the new guys are. I thought Dionte Miles ran the floor really well and showed me more than I was expecting. I think red shirting him is going to be hard.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Let us all remember, Dontarius James really impressed last year in MM and basically did nothing in 2018. You can take very, very little from a 10 minute scrimmage.........especially with the new guys.

I did like and was impressed with how athletic all the new guys are. I thought Dionte Miles ran the floor really well and showed me more than I was expecting. I think red shirting him is going to be hard.

I understand your point about flushing the MM scrimmage and it makes sense. So, I don't want to over-react to comments about lack of improvement in shooting. But, I expect the Core Four to shoot better this year, including Q. While it isn't easy to improve one's shooting, it certainly is not impossible. It takes time and discipline but not much else. A couple of hours each day in the gym, over the summer. Virtually all the upper classmen over the last few years, improved as they matured. So, I'm going to take your advice and not get worked up about the shooting. I expect improvement---especially over the course of the season.

I also expect solid team play. They have to remember how tough the first half of last season was when they didn't mesh well together.

And, speaking of James, I'm hoping to see Dontarius get some playing time this year. He got zero (or close to zero) minutes last year and hung around anyway. That's better than Harden and Kennedy. I wish Harden had stayed. His shooting did improve and I thought he was getting his confidence. These guys have no patience and in the end, I think they don't do themselves justice.