Indiana -26
- Thread starter Cavanagh
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I’m starting to think a guy could potentially make a decent living waiting for a Cav prediction and going opposite. This year’s favorite is X and he honestly might be the worst pure point guard I’ve ever seen. 6 years in and he’s still shoot first, pass only when necessary.
Good points about roster balance and makeup. This team has a good PG, a promising freshman PG, and an average 2 guard and that's it for guard play. None of the guards on the bench have proven they are worthy of PT. The miss on guys like Dalton Knecht in the portal was much bigger than landing Mgbako. This team is starving for guards in a game dominated by good guard play. In hindsight, Woody should've done everything possible to keep Bates, but I bet he thought he'd land a top portal upperclassmen guard.
Please tell me that last sentence is a joke. And are you really saying X is a “good pg”? Wow.
He's the least of our concern if we're being honest.
I agree it appears we are not balanced. Plenty of bigs but no shooters.
I can’t comment about chemistry, I am not at practices or in the locker room. But It is hugely disappointing if that is the case.
Howdy Hoss! And a fine day to you'ins. Shall we do the same bet this year: straight up - who goes further Boilers or Hoosiers
Buford!!! Probably. But I’m not that dumb. Give me a few months. Still can’t believe you chickened out last year. But, obviously, was a smart move!! 😘
Our front court is the least of concerns. Having X as our best guard is a concern, having him as a leader on the team is another.
Plenty of front court issues. MM/Reneau/Ware are unplayable together and Reneau and MM are absolutely lost on defense.
MM is a small concern, he is a freshman playing like one. Reneau is playing out of position most of the time because Ware is the rim protector. These are things that can be ironed out and/or covered with scheme/coaching.
There is nothing that can change X being our best guard, and that's a problem.
You realize X is averaging 4.9 assists per game for his career right? That is better than Yogi 4.6 and Bailey 3.6.
X is not going to be the reason we have a bad year, if in fact we do.
Xavier's play through 2 games is FAR less concerning than MM and Reneau's. If you don't see that I don't know what else to tell you.
I'm not entirely sure how any coach could see it that way. The offense has totally sucked these first 2 games. A real point guard gets guys in the right sets and runs the show. X is way too concerned about getting his. Can he fix it? Sure he can. And I really hope he does. The entire season depends on him running a clean offense.
I'm not talking about dishing the ball to TJD. I'm talking only about this year. X has the ball on every single possession and is averaging 3 assists AND 2 TURNOVERS per game while running the most ragged offense (if that's even what it is) I've ever seen. He's not a PURE pg. He's much more of a scoring guard who can't really shoot.
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Good grief. They run maybe 2 Zoom sets a game. X is doing what he’s supposed to do. The bigs aren’t passing out of the double. Especially Malik.
I agree about Malik. Same with MM. But my concerns with X's playmaking remain.
Why do you consistently name call? Seriously, are you really an IU grad? I'd like to think educated people can discuss topics in a much more mature manner.
All aboard boy, and moron are both name calling. A real IU grad would know that. I don't discuss things with you because I don't respect your opinion. You reiterate why, almost every time you post. It's nonsense that deserves no time and effort.
First off X spent 4 years on 2 different teams to get 4.9 assists per game. Second, you are making a snap judgement on 2 games in which our offense was pretty bad.
He's played off the ball for stretches in both games, for what its worth.
Also, he's currently our best perimeter scorer, I'd like for him to be even more aggressive with the ball.
Also, he's one of our best perimeter defenders.
He's a damn good B10 level guard, whatever position you want to put him at.
Good point. In both games X spent about 1/3 of his minutes as the 2 with Cupps running point. I didn’t think about that but certainly also impacting his assist numbers.
Stonehill College who thumped Army, is down to Saint Joseph 60-21 in the second half!
Not denying any of that. He absolutely is a “damn good B10 level guard.” My only concern is he’s not a great pg. This team needs one desperately. JHS was that last year and we did ok. Unless X (or Cupps) develops those skills, Woody’s offense is probably gonna look a whole lot like it has. Our bigs aren’t going to suddenly become point forwards. I’ll keep hoping to see more.
I think X is every bit as good a "PG" as JHS was, if not better.
Better on the ball defender.
Better passer.
JHS was a better scorer, and overall, probably a better shooter. Though the numbers don't bear out that he's a better shooter.
JHS has an NBA body, and had the ability to take over games and score in bunches. I wish they had played together for a full year...we'd have been a lot better, and I wonder if JHS would still be here if he hadn't been forced to play PG once X went down.
Truth is, I’m not sure either is a legit point guard. Both seem to be off guards to me. But to your point, X is clearly a better defender and passer.
I don't think we are arguing the same topic. X has been better so far this year, yes. But MM and MR I expect to get better as the year goes on, maybe some slight changes to our defensive scheme will help MR. Also playing a team like UCONN will help us (odd to think but yes) as they won't basically be playing 4 guards at the same time.
Xavier isn't going to get better, he may have a couple games where he plays better than against Army, maybe, but overall he won't really get better. And that's a problem.
First two games, yes, front court is a big issue. But I expect that to end up working better for us as the season goes on. I am also expecting we will need better guard play at some point and where does that come from?
XJ's best is already enough....that's the point being made, he isn't the problem. If XJ averages 14-15 ppg with a decent A/TO ratio he'll find himself on an all-conference team. Who else is going to step up and play at an all-conference level? Remains to be seen but X's ceiling (if you want to call it that) isn't the problem right now.
I don't trust Xavier to do that for a whole season, do you? 2 years ago he averaged 12 and 5, and I figure that's about where he ends up this year. He might get stats similar to his Pitt days I suppose, but those teams didn't win anything. Is being the best guard on a team that doesn't have guards and is likely a mid-pack conference team make him an all-conference player?
He averaged 12 and 5 because TJD was an ultra-efficient, high usage player down on the block. Why wouldn't you play through him in that scenario every time down? There's no TJD on this team this year. His usage will go up as will his production.
I mean Jalen Pickett was 1st team all-B10 last year on a team that was a 10 seed in the B10 tournament.
I agree. It looks like Ware and X are going to carry this team offensively with the occasional good games from Galloway and Reneau. I believe X will probably be around 15-16 ppg this year.
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