Is Nate Johnson the Key to Xavier's Season

[XU_Lou]

You also have zero clue as to what I do or do not know surrounding the program nor the access I or others in my circle have around the program.

Never said that lyin Lou. It’s no surprise you would struggle though, it’s clear you have a comprehension problem.

Okay, "Mr. Insider"....

[muskiefan82]

Anyone else want to pitch in to get a room for a couple posters?

Halftime boxing/ufc match?

[xu82]

Halftime boxing/ufc match?

That could be a PPV BONANZA!

[XUBison]

Halftime boxing/ufc match?

is that boxing kangaroo still around? Seems it could somehow fit into this equation.

[xu82]

is that boxing kangaroo still around? Seems it could somehow fit into this equation.

That would be right up there with frisbee dogs!

[drudy23]

Assuming guard play this year is consistent with guard play last year (which doesn't seem like a huge leap), I think our record comes down to Bigs (Nunge, Miles, ZFree) and Steele. It will not take much to upgrade our inside play. I expect to see an immediate noticeable improvement.

The potential wild card, as you correctly identified, I think, is our coach. I'm having trouble defining exactly what I want to see from Steele this year but I think it is adopting a style of play that aligns with his (seemingly) abundance of talent along with his game management + bench leadership. Observing Steele over the last couple of years, his decisions sometimes seemed robotic + mechanical. I want to see decisions consistent with the flow of the game. I'm no coach and my expertise is only that I'm a long time hoops and X fan. But, I should (I think) feel like I understand most of his coaching decisions. They should make sense to me. I should be able to recognize the why behind his actions. Maybe not always but most of the time. Sometimes in the past, I haven't. Perhaps that's on me but others on this board have expressed the same thoughts.

Today, heading into the season, I really do expect to see improvement in both play on the court and coaching decisions. I'm optimistic that Steele will show growth in his now fourth season. Like you, I want Steele to make believers out of all of us. Still, I'm a little nervous.

Post contribution has been the key to success the past few years, and it really hasn't been there, mostly because of the confusing offensive structure we've employed the last 3 years. We haven't really utilized a true big man with Steele. That's not his thing - he's has tried to mimic Villanova without the talent and roster make-up as Villanova.

The offense the last 3 years has been - shoot threes.

There was a limited time last year in the early season where this team shared the ball and utilized an inside out approach to offense, and it worked. Once conference play started, our bigs were not good enough to compete with other true Big East bigs and we were exploited because other teams knew we had no offensive or defensive post presence. And it killed us - and we went back to chucking 3s and hoping to get hot to beat teams.

The roster construction of this team has to put SOME emphasis on solid post play. It doesn't have to run through the post, but it's the obvious void that is holding this core back under Steele. He has to be willing to change some of his philosophy around his "new age" Villanova approach as Xavier simply doesn't have that type of roster construction or wing talent to do that.

[xukeith]

Post contribution has been the key to success the past few years, and it really hasn't been there, mostly because of the confusing offensive structure we've employed the last 3 years. We haven't really utilized a true big man with Steele. That's not his thing - he's has tried to mimic Villanova without the talent and roster make-up as Villanova.

The offense the last 3 years has been - shoot threes.

There was a limited time last year in the early season where this team shared the ball and utilized an inside out approach to offense, and it worked. Once conference play started, our bigs were not good enough to compete with other true Big East bigs and we were exploited because other teams knew we had no offensive or defensive post presence. And it killed us - and we went back to chucking 3s and hoping to get hot to beat teams.

The roster construction of this team has to put SOME emphasis on solid post play. It doesn't have to run through the post, but it's the obvious void that is holding this core back under Steele. He has to be willing to change some of his philosophy around his "new age" Villanova approach as Xavier simply doesn't have that type of roster construction or wing talent to do that.

Didn't Steele get Nunge as a post player to fill a void? How does Freemantle do well in BE rebounding by shooting too many threes?

[drudy23]

Didn't Steele get Nunge as a post player to fill a void? How does Freemantle do well in BE rebounding by shooting too many threes?

Only if Nunge is actually used. Scrimmage today against Vandy we go 11-32 from 3 - that’s simply too many 3s for this team to be effective. Yes I know the scrimmage means nothing, but also why go out and lose doing the exact same thing? I’d love to see the box score - if these guys just go out and chuck up 30 3s a game for a 4th year in a row, I will continue to bad mouth it here.

It’s a losing formula for the construction of this roster.