Xavier Fan Survey- From Shannon R in The Athletic

[Masterofreality]

Interesting.

Shannon Russell, who is an awesome writer and was at the Enquirer before they decided to "restructure" now writes XU Ball for The Athletic. The fact that she went over to them was a major reason for me to subscribe and drop the overpriced pap that Musketeer Report was putting out there.

Shannon put a fan survey out with numerous questions to Xavier fans as to the state of the Musketeer program. 46% of the respondents are XU Season Ticket holders and 54% not, but the reason why they weren't was because of distance from Cincinnati. Over 90% of the reader respondents said they would have seasons if they lived close to Cincy. Point being, anyone who answered this survey watched XU basketball....closely.

Some results of pertinent questions:
-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?

-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".

-Is Xavier recruiting well enough to reach a National Championship?
Answer: 54.7% said No.

-What school do you consider Xavier's biggest Conference rival?
Answer: 75.3% said Butler. (Duhhhhhhhh)

-Which Big East Coach do you find yourself rooting for in non Xavier Games?
Answer: 35.9% said Ed Cooley, 33.9% said Jay Wright
Note: Wojo by far was the coach that fans rooted against. More than double any other mentioned coach.

The fans also said that they thought that Dwon Odom would be the newcomer with the biggest impact and KyKy would make the biggest improvement over any returning player-4 times over Free.

Have at it.

[xavierj]

Interesting.

Shannon Russell, who is an awesome writer and was at the Enquirer before they decided to "restructure" now writes XU Ball for The Athletic. The fact that she went over to them was a major reason for me to subscribe and drop the overpriced pap that Musketeer Report was putting out there.

Shannon put a fan survey out with numerous questions to Xavier fans as to the state of the Musketeer program. 46% of the respondents are XU Season Ticket holders and 54% not, but the reason why they weren't was because of distance from Cincinnati. Over 90% of the reader respondents said they would have seasons if they lived close to Cincy. Point being, anyone who answered this survey watched XU basketball....closely.

Some results of pertinent questions:
-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?

-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".

-Is Xavier recruiting well enough to reach a National Championship?
Answer: 54.7% said No.

-What school do you consider Xavier's biggest Conference rival?
Answer: 75.3% said Butler. (Duhhhhhhhh)

-Which Big East Coach do you find yourself rooting for in non Xavier Games?
Answer: 35.9% said Ed Cooley, 33.9% said Jay Wright
Note: Wojo by far was the coach that fans rooted against. More than double any other mentioned coach.

The fans also said that they thought that Dwon Odom would be the newcomer with the biggest impact and KyKy would make the biggest improvement over any returning player-4 times over Free.

Have at it.

My only question is, was fair to poor one selection? Like great or fair to poor? Or was fair an option and poor an option? I think his performance has been fair with what he had and the fact that this is his first job. Definitely not great and not terrible. Room for improvement for sure. He would probably tell you the same thing.

I think after next year you will see how well he has adjusted to being a coach with his guys on the floor and that doesn't mean wins or losses. He could lose more games but still show improvement as a coach based off what he has. I think though next year many will be surprised by the teams performance in a good way. If nothing else, the team will shoot the ball much better just by having more capable shooters at every position. Defense and rebounding adjustments or lack there of, could take them either to the NIT or a team wearing white in the first NCAA game. The talent will defiantly be there to be very solid if the young guys mesh and the coach pushes the right buttons.

[xavierj]

I can’t read the whole thing but saw Shannon notes that over 56% of respondents want to renew the Dayton rivalry? I therefore question the validity of this based off that result. No way you schedule Dayton, unless Dayton wants to come to Cintas every year and I don’t care what they did this year. It could benefit Dayton but I don’t see how it can benefit Xavier at all.

[JTG]

Survey was interesting until I got to the Dayton results. Wtf, I have no desire to play Dayton, even if it would be at Cintas. There are 300+ other schools to schedule besides Dayton.

[SM#24]

Really MOR, excellent job of trying to twist the numbers to fit a narrative.
The scale was 1 (Poor), 2 (Below Average), 3 (Fair), 4 (Good), 5 (Excellent)

-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?
The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 2.7%
2 (Below Average) = 14.8%
3 (Fair) = 50.1%
4 (Good) = 30.2%
5 (Excellent) = 2.2%
So you emphasized a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 67.6% is correct but the other direction shows that 82.5% give him a Fair to Excellent rating.


-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 4.2%
2 (Below Average) = 17.7%
3 (Fair) = 52.9%
4 (Good) = 23.3%
5 (Excellent) = 1.9%
Again, you emphasize a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 74.8% is correct but again, the other direction shows higher at 78.1% giving him a Fair to Excellent rating.

Maybe for these two categories we should say his rating is Fair which to me seems about right. But in both cases, more people gave him a Good or Excellent rating than gave him a Below Average or Poor rating.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".
With Excellent the top choice at 49.3%

[XUGRAD80]

Never let facts get in the way of forming an opinion...or has been said before, “figures lie, and liars figure”.


IMO, Xavier has been extremely fortunate that for many years the head coaches that they have brought in have been successful almost from the beginning of their tenure. I doubt very seriously that many (any?) other programs that have gone through the number of coaching changes that X has, can say that. I for one expected there to be some growing pains this time around. While I am disappointed with how the team performed last year, I think that much of that was because of unrealistic expectations prior to the season starting. I had expected that some of the returning players would have improved more than they did and would have better years than they did. I also expected Steele to get the team playing better as a group than the did. So, I’d give him the “fair” rating too. I’d say that last year’s disappointment was about equally the fault of the players AND the coach.

[XU88]

Looks like the survey results are behind a pay wall (I see that the Athletic is offering a 90 day free trial, but they want your sign up information first), so I’m pretty sure Shannon and the Athletic are super thrilled that you have posted them here....NOT.

[xukeith]

There are lies, damn lies, and then statistics.

[XUPete]

Come on MoR, you twisted the numbers to make it look like people agree with your opinion. Simply, the majority do not agree with you, as SM#24 demonstrates nicely. I’m not sure if I had any opinions about your integrity before this posting, but your Trumpian twisting of the numbers above makes me wonder. Be better than this. We all see your multitude of posts daily, and we’d like to be able to think the words written and opinions expressed are from a straight shooter.

[XU_Lou]

Really MOR, excellent job of trying to twist the numbers to fit a narrative.
The scale was 1 (Poor), 2 (Below Average), 3 (Fair), 4 (Good), 5 (Excellent)

-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?
The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 2.7%
2 (Below Average) = 14.8%
3 (Fair) = 50.1%
4 (Good) = 30.2%
5 (Excellent) = 2.2%
So you emphasized a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 67.6% is correct but the other direction shows that 82.5% give him a Fair to Excellent rating.


-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 4.2%
2 (Below Average) = 17.7%
3 (Fair) = 52.9%
4 (Good) = 23.3%
5 (Excellent) = 1.9%
Again, you emphasize a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 74.8% is correct but again, the other direction shows higher at 78.1% giving him a Fair to Excellent rating.

Maybe for these two categories we should say his rating is Fair which to me seems about right. But in both cases, more people gave him a Good or Excellent rating than gave him a Below Average or Poor rating.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".
With Excellent the top choice at 49.3%

I said it once, I'll say it again: MOaR is the resident toothless UK fan of this board. Additionally, he's now a proven LIAR.

[xu82]

Really MOR, excellent job of trying to twist the numbers to fit a narrative.
The scale was 1 (Poor), 2 (Below Average), 3 (Fair), 4 (Good), 5 (Excellent)

-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?
The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 2.7%
2 (Below Average) = 14.8%
3 (Fair) = 50.1%
4 (Good) = 30.2%
5 (Excellent) = 2.2%
So you emphasized a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 67.6% is correct but the other direction shows that 82.5% give him a Fair to Excellent rating.


-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 4.2%
2 (Below Average) = 17.7%
3 (Fair) = 52.9%
4 (Good) = 23.3%
5 (Excellent) = 1.9%
Again, you emphasize a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 74.8% is correct but again, the other direction shows higher at 78.1% giving him a Fair to Excellent rating.

Maybe for these two categories we should say his rating is Fair which to me seems about right. But in both cases, more people gave him a Good or Excellent rating than gave him a Below Average or Poor rating.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".
With Excellent the top choice at 49.3%


Thanks, a little balance is worth repeating. It’s not all great, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Recruiting cures a lot of other ills while they grow into the program they can become.

[Masterofreality]

Not changing anything to fit a narrative.

Did anybody sign up here for a Xavier program to be “Fair to Poor”?
“Fair” means Mediocre, Tepid, Lukewarm. In fact here’s a dictionary definition:
average, fair, mediocre, middling(adj)
lacking exceptional quality or ability

You guys are apparently now Ok with Mediocre.
Is that what you guys now expect? Or should it be Good to Excellent?
Welp. Over 67% of thought Steele was “Fair to Poor”. In other words that is Mediocre to Lousy. I’m not satisfied with that.

That dovetails perfectly with a direct Mediocre to Lousy rating of Steele’s on court coaching moves.
Again, Glad you guys are satisfied with Mediocre to Lousy. I’m sure that if an employee of yours performed at that level, you’d be totally satisfied, Right?

Couch it as you want, but I’m kinda more in the camp that I want Good to Excellent employees. Same goes for coaches.
But that’s just me.

Mediocre gets you NIT’s. Good gets you NCAA’s. Excellent gets you potential National Championships.
So go ahead and be happy with Mediocrity.

And, by the way. Shannon Russell and The Athletic are anything but Mediocre.
I would highly encourage anyone who is not, to become a subscriber.
“Pay The Gal”.

[Final4]

Well it looks like MOR is going to be taken through the meat grinder once again. I wonder how long before he posts something to the effect of, I'm done with this thread or this is my last post on this topic, like he's done on a few other threads recently.

[XUGRAD80]

Did I miss something? Was there a question asking if the people doing the survey were HAPPY with the coaching? No, there wasn’t. Those were questions to rate the performance of a coach, not the happiness of the fans with that performance. It didn’t ask if people are OK with that level of performance.

Let’s talk about “employees”, since you brought it up....do you fire someone when they are an “average” employee? Or do you, with training and time, hope to make them into a good to excellent employee?

[SteveSpivery]

I would have liked another question. "How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach if the next three years is similar to the first two?" Considering he is young and a new coach I give him a "fair" after two years. On the other hand, if it is the same after 5 years, it is a poor.

[Xavier]

Tough look here, MOR.

Pretty sure both Mack and Miller after 2-3 years would get similar results. (Though Mack did have the most talent to start with so people calling for his head may have been a little further in his career).

Also- I do like the idea of playing Dayton again. I think one of the issues the 1/2 seed team had was the schedule. Playing the numbers game with the schedule is fine- but misleading. The tougher competition, more hostile crowds, closer games the better (for strong teams that can make a deep run...like those two teams).

[xuinmd]

Tough look here, MOR.

Pretty sure both Mack and Miller after 2-3 years would get similar results. (Though Mack did have the most talent to start with so people calling for his head may have been a little further in his career).

Also- I do like the idea of playing Dayton again. I think one of the issues the 1/2 seed team had was the schedule. Playing the numbers game with the schedule is fine- but misleading. The tougher competition, more hostile crowds, closer games the better (for strong teams that can make a deep run...like those two teams).

It is mostly about the $s. We compete with ud for students as well as basketball players. Us adding an a-10 team and ud adding a big east is to whose advantage?

[SM#24]

Not changing anything to fit a narrative.

Did anybody sign up here for a Xavier program to be “Fair to Poor”?
“Fair” means Mediocre, Tepid, Lukewarm. In fact here’s a dictionary definition:
average, fair, mediocre, middling(adj)
lacking exceptional quality or ability

You guys are apparently now Ok with Mediocre.
Is that what you guys now expect? Or should it be Good to Excellent?
Welp. Over 67% of thought Steele was “Fair to Poor”. In other words that is Mediocre to Lousy. I’m not satisfied with that.

That dovetails perfectly with a direct Mediocre to Lousy rating of Steele’s on court coaching moves.
Again, Glad you guys are satisfied with Mediocre to Lousy. I’m sure that if an employee of yours performed at that level, you’d be totally satisfied, Right?

Couch it as you want, but I’m kinda more in the camp that I want Good to Excellent employees. Same goes for coaches.
But that’s just me.

Mediocre gets you NIT’s. Good gets you NCAA’s. Excellent gets you potential National Championships.
So go ahead and be happy with Mediocrity.

And, by the way. Shannon Russell and The Athletic are anything but Mediocre.
I would highly encourage anyone who is not, to become a subscriber.
“Pay The Gal”.

I think we are all in agreement with you in that we want Good-->Excellent coaches, players and performance.
I also highly recommend the Athletic for all sports including Shannon's coverage of Xavier.

[GoMuskies]

It is mostly about the $s. We compete with ud for students as well as basketball players. Us adding an a-10 team and ud adding a big east is to whose advantage?

Whoever wins the game. There are reasons not to play Dayton, but A-10 and Big East isn't one of them.

[SM#24]

I agree with every reason for us to not play Dayton. That said, I wish we played then every year like we do UC. Now in our current scheduling environment, we do not have room for them unless they want to be a buy game. But if we did have room, I'd say play them and beat them.
Right now, we claim this superiority to them, but it's nothing but talk. I'd rather play and beat them like we do with UC.

[xuinmd]

Whoever wins the game. There are reasons not to play Dayton, but A-10 and Big East isn't one of them.

So you are suggesting that a home and home with an a-10 team would be a good thing for X.

[GoMuskies]

So you are suggesting that a home and home with an a-10 team would be a good thing for X.

Could be. The A-10 is a better league than the West Coast Conference most years, and I can definitely think of a West Coast Conference team that it would be good to have a home and home with. A home game against a top 5 Dayton team last year probably would have been a good thing (aside from the high possibility of losing the Jimmy Carter streak).

[nuts4xu]

You guys are apparently now Ok with Mediocre.
Is that what you guys now expect? Or should it be Good to Excellent?
Welp. Over 67% of thought Steele was “Fair to Poor”. In other words that is Mediocre to Lousy. I’m not satisfied with that.



Who said they are happy with mediocre? Who is satisfied with the past 2 years?

The survey is based on opinions of the current stat of the program. If you can provide one post, quote, or article from any platform - stating Xavier fans are happy with mediocre...I will buy you a 12 pack of Smithwicks.

No one is happy with mediocre, nor will most fans say they have enjoyed these past 2 seasons. The jury is still out on Travis Steele. Just like it was on Sean Miller when he was deep into his second season. No one in Xavier Nation I speak to on a regular basis is pleased with mediocrity and to paint the fan base with your broad brush is premature.

[nuts4xu]

I can’t read the whole thing but saw Shannon notes that over 56% of respondents want to renew the Dayton rivalry? I therefore question the validity of this based off that result. No way you schedule Dayton, unless Dayton wants to come to Cintas every year and I don’t care what they did this year. It could benefit Dayton but I don’t see how it can benefit Xavier at all.

This was the most surprising result of the survey for me. It was a Yes/No question asking if Xavier should resume a home-and-home with Dayton. Putting this game on the schedule will not benefit Xavier at all. Ask Greg Christopher about the prospects of playing ud. He will tell you the same thing. There is very little upside to playing this game. I can list 50 other programs I would prefer to start a home-and-home before ud. Most seasons it would be an abject blow out, much like the last time we played them in Orlando.

[Muskie in dayton]

I would have liked another question. "How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach if the next three years is similar to the first two?" Considering he is young and a new coach I give him a "fair" after two years. On the other hand, if it is the same after 5 years, it is a poor.
If the next 3 years look like the last 2, Steele will have ruined the Xavier brand built over the last 30 years.

[xuinmd]

So we should schedule ud because every 20 years or so they are a top 5 team? We should not schedule ud for the same reasons ud does not schedule wright state.

[GoMuskies]

I'm not pro-home and home with Dayton. I just think citing the fact that Dayton is in the A-10 is a really stupid reason not to schedule them.

[Masterofreality]

I really have nothing else to add to this thread. Keep taking all the potshots you want at me, but I didn't create the questions and I didn't lie about the responses. They are what they are. "Fair" is middling, and I'm not happy with a middling program fighting for NIT's. But to think that I'm the only one with issues as to this staff, is just wrong. There are a lot of concerns, by a lot of people.

To me the biggest question/response that indicated deep dissatisfaction was this one:
How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Again, "fair to poor" by definition is "mediocre to lousy"- with 75% saying that. It does not exactly indicate confidence in Coach's game management. This is after 10 years on the bench under two of the best coaches in College Basketball. His player and roster management is up for debate as well.

Steele will be back next year, but as I've said many times, I hope he's putting this down time to good review and learning use. Survey respondents think that Steele's recruiting as HC is pretty good, and for now, I'd have to agree, although I have reservations about these transfers. Other than Hanky they have been underwhelming, very possibly due to improper usage/scheme.

This overall program needs to change for the better.....and fast.

And NO. No udump. Ever again.

[xuinmd]

I'm not pro-home and home with Dayton. I just think citing the fact that Dayton is in the A-10 is a really stupid reason not to schedule them.

So what other a-10 do you think we should consider for a home and home. The fact and I repeat fact that they are in a much lower conference is a damn good reason not to have a home and home.

[Masterofreality]

Who said they are happy with mediocre? Who is satisfied with the past 2 years?

The survey is based on opinions of the current stat of the program. If you can provide one post, quote, or article from any platform - stating Xavier fans are happy with mediocre...I will buy you a 12 pack of Smithwicks.

No one is happy with mediocre, nor will most fans say they have enjoyed these past 2 seasons. The jury is still out on Travis Steele. Just like it was on Sean Miller when he was deep into his second season. No one in Xavier Nation I speak to on a regular basis is pleased with mediocrity and to paint the fan base with your broad brush is premature.


Nuts, I'll take your Smithwicks!!! Gladly.

But I'm not "Painting" anything. That was the survey responses, and I was responding to those on this thread who were trying to couch an answer of "Fair" as a positive on Steele, when by definition it is not. As I've clearly stated. "Fair" is mediocre, and mediocre gets you NIT's.

When this lockdown is over, the first Smithwicks is on me though Brother!

[nuts4xu]

To me the biggest question/response that indicated deep dissatisfaction was this one:
How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?

Answer: 76.4% said Fair to Good .

Fixed it for you...

You can look at statistics in many ways, usually to fit your opinion.

[GoMuskies]

So what other a-10 do you think we should consider for a home and home. The fact and I repeat fact that they are in a much lower conference is a damn good reason not to have a home and home.

And Gonzaga?

UC is also in a much lower conference.

[Smails]

Who said they are happy with mediocre? Who is satisfied with the past 2 years?

The survey is based on opinions of the current stat of the program. If you can provide one post, quote, or article from any platform - stating Xavier fans are happy with mediocre...I will buy you a 12 pack of Smithwicks.

No one is happy with mediocre, nor will most fans say they have enjoyed these past 2 seasons. The jury is still out on Travis Steele. Just like it was on Sean Miller when he was deep into his second season. No one in Xavier Nation I speak to on a regular basis is pleased with mediocrity and to paint the fan base with your broad brush is premature.

This

I don't recall a single person on this board ever saying they are happy with XU being average. That's such a strange narrative to push forward. The majority of people think that Steele is recruiting and building the roster at a high level. It seems like you're so 'dug in' on your anti-Steele narrative that can't see any of the really good things happening with the program..and that's unfortunate.

[Masterofreality]

Fixed it for you...

52.9% Mediocre. 1.9% Excellent. NIT level.

[SM#24]

To me the biggest question/response that indicated deep dissatisfaction was this one:
How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 78.1% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Excellent.


Fixed it for you...

Fixed it for you

[Masterofreality]

This

I don't recall a single person on this board ever saying they are happy with XU being average. That's such a strange narrative to push forward. The majority of people think that Steele is recruiting and building the roster at a high level. It seems like you're so 'dug in' on your anti-Steele narrative that can't see any of the really good things happening with the program..and that's unfortunate.

Again. I reported the survey results. They are what they are, but some on this board want to continually paint a rosy picture vs the reality and facts, plus vs what a fan survey clearly indicates is an opinion of mediocrity, but go ahead and keep reading what you want to thinking it's only me.

Middling and mediocrity is not rosy. It's a formula for disappointment and failure.

[Masterofreality]

Fixed it for you


See post 34.

[nuts4xu]

52.9% Mediocre.

If you would have left it here, it is a fair stat to fit your argument. Lump in the other %'s, and you are now forming a narrative to make a point.

[nuts4xu]

Again. I reported the survey results.


True, but you also framed them to fit your narrative. The picture of our program certainly ain't rosy right now, but the picture we are looking at isn't doom and gloom.

[Masterofreality]

If you would have left it here, it is a fair stat to fit your argument. Lump in the other %'s, and you are now forming a narrative to make a point.

Even at 52.9% that's still a majority of mediocrity. Again, I'm not alone.
And I'm allowed to have my opinion that the school and it's basketball program that I love is currently being badly served.

[xuinmd]

You may not know this but uc is in the same city as X and was in a higher level conference than X until recently. X would welcome a home and home with Gonzaga which has consistently had a high level of success. Are you putting putting ud in a class with gonzaga.

[xavierj]

I really have nothing else to add to this thread. Keep taking all the potshots you want at me, but I didn't create the questions and I didn't lie about the responses. They are what they are. "Fair" is middling, and I'm not happy with a middling program fighting for NIT's. But to think that I'm the only one with issues as to this staff, is just wrong. There are a lot of concerns, by a lot of people.

To me the biggest question/response that indicated deep dissatisfaction was this one:
How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Again, "fair to poor" by definition is "mediocre to lousy"- with 75% saying that. It does not exactly indicate confidence in Coach's game management. This is after 10 years on the bench under two of the best coaches in College Basketball. His player and roster management is up for debate as well.

Steele will be back next year, but as I've said many times, I hope he's putting this down time to good review and learning use. Survey respondents think that Steele's recruiting as HC is pretty good, and for now, I'd have to agree, although I have reservations about these transfers. Other than Hanky they have been underwhelming, very possibly due to improper usage/scheme.

This overall program needs to change for the better.....and fast.

And NO. No udump. Ever again.

I don't think you really get what was going on the last two years but the program is in very good hands. You will be singing his praises in the next couple of years.

I subscribed to the Xavier pay site and they did a half hour zoom interview with Travis. Very good stuff on everything related to what they are doing in the current situation and how invested Travis is. He gets it. Has some good players coming in and some smart cats. Some interesting comments about Paul Scruggs, Colby Jones, Dwon Odom, Wilcher, Dieonte Miles and the incoming grad transfers and What they currently are doing as a team every day. Also touches on the freshman to be ACT/SAT stuff that a lot of current 2020 seniors have to still get to be eligible for next year with the Coronavirus. Could be a problem for a lot of programs. Well worth a listen.

[SM#24]

See post 34.

See post #5
Good, Excellent 25.2% > Below Average, Poor 21.9%.
As stated in post 5 and re-iterated by Nuts above; let's call it Fair.

[Masterofreality]

See post #5
Good, Excellent 25.2% > Below Average, Poor 21.9%.
As stated in post 5 and re-iterated by Nuts above; let's call it Fair.

And for the umpteenth time. Fair is mediocre, which no one should ever settle for.

[GoMuskies]

Are you putting putting ud in a class with gonzaga.

Of course not. It just illustrates the point that it's the program that matters, not the conference.

And there have been times where it would have made sense to do a home and home with VCU. I can definitely foresee a time when a home and home with SLU would make sense. Frankly, I'd probably prefer a home and home against Dayton (even though I'm not in favor) to the one we have with Wake Forest.

[SM#24]

Even at 52.9% that's still a majority of mediocrity. Again, I'm not alone.
And I'm allowed to have my opinion that the school and it's basketball program that I love is currently being badly served.

Per the survey results, it's not being badly served. It's also not being goodly, or excellently served. It's being Fairly served.

But again, these are all opinions. The past two seasons we were a top 60 program. That's actually well above average in the context of the full 350 and certainly above average if you look at the top 150.

[D-West & PO-Z]

And for the umpteenth time. Fair is mediocre, which no one should ever settle for.

I guess I am confused. It is fair now after Steele's first two years. With some bad roster construction that he is trying to fix. With some highly rated recruits coming in. So most of us see it as fair but trending up with some good players and more balanced roster coming in. So because we see it that way we are settling for mediocrity?

How do you see it? What is it that you want? Do you want Steele fired right now? If the answer is no, does that mean you are settling for mediocrity? I wouldnt think so but it seems you think that. So maybe you do want him fired right now?

[SM#24]

And for the umpteenth time. Fair is mediocre, which no one should ever settle for.

No one is settling or happy with Fair. If that was your argument, that we're doing Fair and that's not good enough, no one would be arguing with you. It's as whoever pointed it out, the Trumpian spin of continually bringing in words like Poor that people are objecting to.

[X-man]

Really MOR, excellent job of trying to twist the numbers to fit a narrative.
The scale was 1 (Poor), 2 (Below Average), 3 (Fair), 4 (Good), 5 (Excellent)

-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?
The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 2.7%
2 (Below Average) = 14.8%
3 (Fair) = 50.1%
4 (Good) = 30.2%
5 (Excellent) = 2.2%
So you emphasized a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 67.6% is correct but the other direction shows that 82.5% give him a Fair to Excellent rating.


-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

The actual results were:
1 (Poor) = 4.2%
2 (Below Average) = 17.7%
3 (Fair) = 52.9%
4 (Good) = 23.3%
5 (Excellent) = 1.9%
Again, you emphasize a Fair to Poor rating. Yes, your % of 74.8% is correct but again, the other direction shows higher at 78.1% giving him a Fair to Excellent rating.

Maybe for these two categories we should say his rating is Fair which to me seems about right. But in both cases, more people gave him a Good or Excellent rating than gave him a Below Average or Poor rating.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".
With Excellent the top choice at 49.3%

Because "Fair" in this survey means "average", Steele comes in with about a C+ grade for coaching given the numbers of responses above and below "average". Should we be satisfied with a C+ coach? I am guessing the answer for most of us would be "no". But now that Naji is gone and Steele has his own players, this is the year to see what his coaching really looks like. Naji was very talented, but it is clear that he was either unwilling or unable to be a part of a TEAM. Perhaps Steele should have benched him this last season, but he didn't. Maybe Steele needed more time to assert himself, and to do it starting with a team that he recruited.

[xavierj]

And for the umpteenth time. Fair is mediocre, which no one should ever settle for.

Is any one settling for that? Maybe people just understand the process and maybe people understand the program needed to get better from where it was. Chris Mack wasn't even close to getting the program to a final 4 if you really dig deep into his tenure at X. The one time he got to the Elite 8, he got throttled. Everything needed to improve. Sometimes you have to move back to get better and more consistent, clean out the issues and build your program the right way. I mean I have been a Xavier fan since the late 70's. The program has come a long way but to not make a final 4 a couple of times with the potential of the program, tells me something was missing. It's time to take the next steps.

[Smails]

Again. I reported the survey results. They are what they are, but some on this board want to continually paint a rosy picture vs the reality and facts, plus vs what a fan survey clearly indicates is an opinion of mediocrity, but go ahead and keep reading what you want to thinking it's only me.

Middling and mediocrity is not rosy. It's a formula for disappointment and failure.

Who is saying that you are alone? Do you feel alone in your thoughts? I sit with a whole section of XU fans who complain the whole time and think Steele is awful. They are just a lovely bunch.

Do you understand that just because people disagree with you doesn't mean that they are happy with being average...or that they think everything is rosy? You don't seem to be able to make that connection. You continually make these absurd reaches that just because someone is happy with a certain recruit or transfer that they somehow are 100% on board with last season's results. EVERYBODY wants to see improvement, that's not up for debate. I just happen to be in the camp that's not gonna crucify the current staff based on a small data set. That's not the equivalency of being happy with average.

Also- The content on the XU 247 site is really....really good right now.

[xuinmd]

There were times when a home and home with miami of ohio made sense. Looking at the present it makes no more sense to have a home and home with ud than to consider supporting admitting them to the big east.

[GoMuskies]

There were times when a home and home with miami of ohio made sense. Looking at the present it makes no more sense to have a home and home with ud than to consider supporting admitting them to the big east.

Ha, now that's just crazy talk. I'd do a lot worse than play them home and home to keep them out of the Big East! :)

[xuinmd]

Ha, now that's just crazy talk. I'd do a lot worse than play them home and home to keep them out of the Big East! :)
I enjoyed the discussion. Go X

[Xavier]

Chris Mack wasn't even close to getting the program to a final 4 if you really dig deep into his tenure at X. The one time he got to the Elite 8, he got throttled..

I disagree. 2 seed, elite 8, 1 seed. Really a great three year stretch. I still believe Miller is the best coach X has had- but in terms of results Mack had the best results.

[xavierj]

Ha, now that's just crazy talk. I'd do a lot worse than play them home and home to keep them out of the Big East! :)

How many power conference teams play home and homes with lower conference teams? Here are teams I would rather play a home and home with outside the top 5 conferences.

1. Gonzaga
2. Houston (coach cheats and will keep them solid)
3. Wichita St. (for you)
4. San Diego State (San Diego is a great place to visit and they are usually good)
5. UNLV (just because it's Vegas)
6. Can't think of any others

[xudash]

It is mostly about the $s. We compete with ud for students as well as basketball players. Us adding an a-10 team and ud adding a big east is to whose advantage?

This. Well, this, period.

It isn’t happening for a long time, if ever.

[xavierj]

I disagree. 2 seed, elite 8, 1 seed. Really a great three year stretch. I still believe Miller is the best coach X has had- but in terms of results Mack had the best results.

But how close where they to the final 4? Maybe fools gold? Blown out in the Elite 8 (also went 9-9 that year in the Big East), First weekend flame outs with a 1 and 2 seed (blowing both games). First two years with his own recruits and Semaj were really disappointing. No tourney and a horrible first 4 game against NC State. Mack is overrated.

[XUMIOH12]

And for the umpteenth time. Fair is mediocre, which no one should ever settle for.

i dont see many people settling for mediocre. Those results just say that most people think the last 2 seasons have been mediocre. which i think is true.

[XUMIOH12]

Interesting.

Shannon Russell, who is an awesome writer and was at the Enquirer before they decided to "restructure" now writes XU Ball for The Athletic. The fact that she went over to them was a major reason for me to subscribe and drop the overpriced pap that Musketeer Report was putting out there.

Shannon put a fan survey out with numerous questions to Xavier fans as to the state of the Musketeer program. 46% of the respondents are XU Season Ticket holders and 54% not, but the reason why they weren't was because of distance from Cincinnati. Over 90% of the reader respondents said they would have seasons if they lived close to Cincy. Point being, anyone who answered this survey watched XU basketball....closely.

Some results of pertinent questions:
-How would you rate the job done by Travis Steele as XU's Head Coach?
Answer: 67.6% rated Steele's performance "Fair to Poor". Hmmmm. Maybe it's not just me?

-How would you rate Steele's on-court coaching decisions?
Answer: 74.8% rated Steele's decisions Fair to Poor. Hmmmmmm.

-How would you rate Steele as a recruiter?
Answer: 90.9% rated Steele's recruiting "Good to Excellent".

-Is Xavier recruiting well enough to reach a National Championship?
Answer: 54.7% said No.

-What school do you consider Xavier's biggest Conference rival?
Answer: 75.3% said Butler. (Duhhhhhhhh)

-Which Big East Coach do you find yourself rooting for in non Xavier Games?
Answer: 35.9% said Ed Cooley, 33.9% said Jay Wright
Note: Wojo by far was the coach that fans rooted against. More than double any other mentioned coach.

The fans also said that they thought that Dwon Odom would be the newcomer with the biggest impact and KyKy would make the biggest improvement over any returning player-4 times over Free.

Have at it.

I should send this post to an old professor for a part of their stats class about "lying with data" haha.

[GoMuskies]

How many power conference teams play home and homes with lower conference teams? Here are teams I would rather play a home and home with outside the top 5 conferences.

1. Gonzaga
2. Houston (coach cheats and will keep them solid)
3. Wichita St. (for you)
4. San Diego State (San Diego is a great place to visit and they are usually good)
5. UNLV (just because it's Vegas)
6. Can't think of any others

I like your list. I guess we'll keep Cincinnati as well...

Unlike with football, most of these home and homes are scheduled pretty close to the time the games are to actually be played, so you can kind of judge how good teams/programs are going to be when you schedule them. In recent years, I could definitely see home and homes with Nevada, VCU and Memphis (and maybe even Utah State and BYU) making sense. I think all of those programs get at least the occasional (and for some of them regular) visits from power conference opponents. I'd add Temple in as a program who has kind of sucked recently but who might rate in the future. Of course, UConn would have also fit the bill if they weren't coming back into the fold.

[Xavier]

But how close where they to the final 4? Maybe fools gold? Blown out in the Elite 8 (also went 9-9 that year in the Big East), First weekend flame outs with a 1 and 2 seed (blowing both games). First two years with his own recruits and Semaj were really disappointing. No tourney and a horrible first 4 game against NC State. Mack is overrated.

Do you feel the same about Miller? His only elite 8 they got blown out as well.

[GoMuskies]

I was going to say the same. By that standard, the only coach who has had us close to the Final Four was Matta, and that team obviously came pretty close to not even making the NIT that year.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I like your list. I guess we'll keep Cincinnati as well...

Unlike with football, most of these home and homes are scheduled pretty close to the time the games are to actually be played, so you can kind of judge how good teams/programs are going to be when you schedule them. In recent years, I could definitely see home and homes with Nevada, VCU and Memphis (and maybe even Utah State and BYU) making sense. I think all of those programs get at least the occasional (and for some of them regular) visits from power conference opponents. I'd add Temple in as a program who has kind of sucked recently but who might rate in the future. Of course, UConn would have also fit the bill if they weren't coming back into the fold.

SLU has everyone of significance returning next year from a team who was just outside the bubble. I think they have a chance to be pretty decent over the next several years. Travis Ford has done a relatively good job of cleaning up the absolute mess Jim Crews left after Rick Majerus got SLU a top 10 ranking during his time there.

[xavierj]

Do you feel the same about Miller? His only elite 8 they got blown out as well.

No. if Miller would have stayed, Xavier would have made it to the final 4. He learned after the first couple of years how to be a head coach and his recruiting was awesome and picking up. He would have built upon that. Losing him really sucked to be honest. Mack's first three years of success were basically a result of Miller's recruits and then year 4 and 5 under Mack kind of sucked. I am not a Chris Mack fan and I think a lot of Louisville fans are already seeing that. He turns recruits off because his ego is too big (see all the misses he had at X and continues to have). I know all coaches have an ego, but his is really big. He is loved by media guys though because he is good with twitter.

[GoMuskies]

If Miller couldn't get there at Arizona, I'm not sure he'd have ever made it at Xavier.

[xavierj]

If Miller couldn't get there at Arizona, I'm not sure he'd have ever made it at Xavier.

I think it actually might have been easier at X. He was for the most part recruiting 4 year guys similar to Nova. At Arizona he loses guys after a year and a lot of them. He was more built for a program and player builder, than a one and done player coach in my eyes. It seems like the one and done guys have wore him out. I think if he could do it all over again, he would have stayed at Xavier, especially if Xavier would have been known to be moving into the Big East.

[XU 87]

No. if Miller would have stayed, Xavier would have made it to the final 4.

Maybe the following year. The word at the time was that D. Brown would have stayed for his senior year had Miller stayed.

[AviatorX]

I think it actually might have been easier at X. He was for the most part recruiting 4 year guys similar to Nova. At Arizona he loses guys after a year and a lot of them. He was more built for a program and player builder, than a one and done player coach in my eyes. It seems like the one and done guys have wore him out. I think if he could do it all over again, he would have stayed at Xavier, especially if Xavier would have been known to be moving into the Big East.

Yeah, Arizona has been right in that recruiting "sweet" spot of guys good enough to go to the NBA early, but much more based on their measurables than their ability to dominate the college game.

[Xavier]

I don't disagree, I think if Sean knew X was going to the Big East he would've stayed and been very successful. Say all you want about Mack benefiting from Seans recruits but his best years (and Xaviers best three year stretch ever) were his last three. Built by himself. One of those years he beat eventual NC. He won the Big East. You can't take away regular seasons and he was in charge of Xavier best regular seasons.

Much like I had confidence that Sean one day would lead X to the F4, I felt the same with Mack. Two very different styles, though.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I am actually shocked Miller hasn't got there yet. Arizona has had some really good teams and he has been close on a couple occasions but just can't get over the hump.

[GoMuskies]

I am actually shocked Miller hasn't got there yet. Arizona has had some really good teams and he has been close on a couple occasions but just can't get over the hump.

I don't mind if Miller gets there...as long as it's at least a year after we do. Since we haven't made it, I'm pleased that he hasn't either.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I don't mind if Miller gets there...as long as it's at least a year after we do. Since we haven't made it, I'm pleased that he hasn't either.

100% agree

[sirthought]

I just want to know how Smithwicks became the step up reward for mediocrity? Not bad, but sort of average for decent beers.

[xavierj]

I don't disagree, I think if Sean knew X was going to the Big East he would've stayed and been very successful. Say all you want about Mack benefiting from Seans recruits but his best years (and Xaviers best three year stretch ever) were his last three. Built by himself. One of those years he beat eventual NC. He won the Big East. You can't take away regular seasons and he was in charge of Xavier best regular seasons.

Much like I had confidence that Sean one day would lead X to the F4, I felt the same with Mack. Two very different styles, though.

Yes Mack had a good four year run (the elite 8 was unexpected based on the actual season) and then two flame outs with two very good regular seasons. Man how different would his tenure have been had he not had gotten Trevon (or should I say had Travis not gotten him) to change his mind from UCLA to X. I would imagine those three years would have looked like his other years without Miller's guys. As good as JP was and Sumner briefly, he owes a lot to Trevon.