Yardbarker: Xavier Musketeers

2010 College Hoops Previews: The Other Guys

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:22:00 -0500

Below is our attempt to catch the non-power conference teams that appear headed toward relevance in March. The standard numbers we look at can be found here; I only got Randy on board for this one, so all the discussion and ratings are from the two of us. Also note that the order below is completely meaningless. The Big East preview will be posted Monday morning, and look for various other preview content later in the week.

Memphis

RM: The addition of Elliot Williams from Duke may have saved this team from a complete meltdown. He only averaged four points in 16 minutes for the Devils, but his late addition to the starting lineup last year made Duke much more athletic and effective defensively. If he can handle that role for Memphis, and I think he can, we'll get to see just how deep John Calipari's last couple of teams actually were (Witherspoon, Mack, Sallie, Kemp).

VW: I think the Tigers may have a down year at some point because of Calipari's departure, but I'd guess that will be next year, when Mack, Kemp, and Henderson-Niles graduate. For now they still have all the talent he brought in, so they should be okay, although it'll obviously be quite a drop from the last two years.

Final rating: .855

Gonzaga

RM: Can you believe that last year's Zags were the nation's #1 defensive team against twos? Seems impossible. Though not as hyped as some of his teammates, Bouldin was actually the second most efficient player they had last year, with a 54%/42% split from 2/3. There will have to be a dropoff at a national level, but they'll still probably win the WCC.

VW: It's kind of surprising that they don't have a stronger recruiting class to balance out the graduations of Pargo, Heytvelt, and Downs, but both Bouldin and Gray (58% from two) were extremely efficient last year, so they should be able to pick up some of the slack of last year's seniors and Mr. Tough.

Final rating: .855

Xavier

RM: Another team with some big losses, including head coach Sean Miller. Lebron-dunker Jordan Crawford will help things, but the sophomore class of Terrell Holloway, Kenny Frease and Brad Redford will have to seriously step up if XU expects to win 25+ games and the A-10 again.

VW: Jason Love and Frease could be an excellent combo on the boards in increased minutes for both of them. Redford shot 47% from three last year; his outside shooting could be huge in replacing the offensive production of Raymond and Brown.

Final rating: .865

BYU

RM: Despite the loss of Lee Cummard this should be a really good team, with Jonathan Tavernari and Jimmer Fredette returning. If the Cougars can get improved boardwork from Chris Miles (6'11) and James Anderson (6'10), this team could finally win a first round NCAA game (last time: 1993).

VW: I'm not quite as high on these guys as Randy; I don't think they were as good as their final KenPom rating last year (.919), and replacing Cummard's production (122.3 ORtg) will be tough. Fredette and Emery were both very good as sophomores last year though, so they're probably the MWC favorites.

Final rating: .880

Butler

RM: The Bulldogs are media darlings this year, but deservedly so. The multi-dimensional Gordon Hayward would star for anyone in the country, and Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack are no joke either. Everyone else returns, as this was basically a team of freshmen/sophomores last year. Butler is a Sweet 16 team without question based on their talent level.

VW: This is the best team outside the big six conferences, and it doesn't appear to be particularly close. It's hard to project them both because they literally return everybody, and they were surprisingly good last year despite losing a ton from their strong '08 team. Hayward was ridiculously good as a freshman (52% from two, 45% from three), and should be an even bigger part of the offense this season.

Final rating: .922

Dayton

RM: I'm not sold on media selection of UD as the best team in the A10, even though they return nearly everyone including super-dunker Chris Wright. The Flyers really need to really improve their offensive execution (#250 from two; #231 from three) to realize their talent level, and 65% from the line (#298) won't help much either. Their defense saves them most of the time, but that offense must improve.

VW: I'm not huge on the Flyers myself; they were fifth in the country in "Luck" last year, and thus pretty overrated. They only lost Little and Thomas though, who weren't particularly good; they should improve, especially if Wright can return his ORtg to his '08 level (110).

Final rating: .840

Siena

RM: Hasbrouck is a key loss, but he didn't shoot it as well as Ubiles, Rossiter and Franklin, who all return. They're undersized as a group, but make up for it on defense by forcing turnovers (#48 in the nation last season) and not fouling much (#5).

VW: Even moreso than Hasbrouck, Rossiter was the key last year, shooting 63% from the field. It actually looks like Hasbrouck, their biggest name and (not coincidentally) highest usage guy, was quite overrated, with an ORtg of just 97.8. They could be pretty good on offense if Rossiter starts getting more touches.

Final rating: .835

Tulsa

RM: Jerome Jordan will be an NBA center, and Ben Uzoh is a good enough to set up the offense and keep defenses honest. If Memphis falters like many expect in CUSA, Tulsa will be there to pick up the crown.

VW: Jordan is really, really good, which makes it funny that the strength of their defense last year was actually guarding the three (27.8% 3P% against, lowest in the nation). That will inevitably regress, but the offense should be better with Jordan and Ben Uzoh back for their senior years. We actually have them tied with mighty Memphis, so that should be an interesting race in C-USA.

Final rating: .855

Northern Iowa

RM: UNI returns all five starters from a balanced team. 7'1 Jordan Eglseder only played 19 minutes/game last year and still put up 10/6; if he can stay on the floor another 5-10 mpg, he could average a double-double. Nobody else in the Valley has anyone quite like that.

VW: Both Eglseder and Lucas O'Rear (65% from two) were excellent inside last year; both also played less than half the time, so there is some room for improvement there if those two can stay on the court. If sophomore Johnny Moran can improve on last year's 33% from three, they could have quite an offense.

Final rating: .825

Creighton

RM: There's a lot returning here even though star Booker Woodfox is gone. Stat of the year: Kaleb Korver shot NINE times as many threes than twos last season (87 vs. 9). How do you only shoot nine twos in over 500 minutes of court time?

VW: Woodfox was really good (123.4 ORtg), and also high usage, so that production will be extremely difficult to replace. They are going to need Korver to keep up his efficient shooting (45% from three) though, as treys from him and Woodfox were the strength of their offense last year.

Final rating: .805

Utah St.

RM: Gary Wilkinson was really good, but he wasn't the whole team here. Tai Wesley and Jared Quayle are also very efficient players, and if this team could just get its defense marginally better, then they would be the prohibitive favorite (as it stands, they barely edged out Nevada in both the coaches and media polls).

VW: I'm not too worried about them being better than Nevada, since the Pack finished last year with a KenPom rating of just .685 and are only returning 67% of last season's minutes. As Randy mentioned, they should be able to survive the loss of Wilkinson, since they have a variety of weapons on offense. Wilkinson also doesn't appear to have been a big factor on D (beyond rebounding), which is the area that they really need to improve.

Final rating: .830

VCU

RM: Eric Maynor is gone, but the rebounding/shot-blocking machine known as Larry Sanders returns to become the focal point for new coach Shaka Smart. Wake Forest transfer Jamie Skeen could also add athletic depth not typically seen at the CAA level in the frontcourt, but I'm worried about their backcourt with Maynor leaving.

VW: Finally, we arrive at my hometown team (tickets to the 11/21 game vs. OU still available!). Losing Maynor obviously hurts, but they do return every other significant contributor from a team that almost took down UCLA in the first round last year. This is the year that Sanders needs to show some polish on the offensive end; he should really be able to hit more than 51% of his twos. Bradford Burgess had an impressive 58% eFG% as a freshman, so he should be able to fill some of the scoring void left by Maynor, but I can't see anyone duplicating the departed guard's ridiculous Assist Rate of 41%.

Final rating: .835

Lindy's college basketball

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:53:52 -0500

I picked up the new Lindy’s college basketball issue and was happy to see Xavier’s Brad Redford on the cover. I know that they use different covers...

Good Publicity For Mark Lyons

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:26:37 -0500

---Quote--- 7. Mark Lyons, 6-1, 195, G, Fr., Xavier: Though fellow freshman guard Jordan Crawford has received far more ink, Lyons will make a huge...

Video of Jordan Crawford Dunking on LeBron

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:55:34 -0500

Courtesy of several tweets, links, and hat tips, The ODC has (finally) found video of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James. This is the video that was allegedly confiscated by Nike after it was caught on tape at the LeBron James Skills Academy. Crawford, a 6′4″ guard at Xavier, drops a two-hander on the King. Here [...]

Witnesses at last: Video of LeBron James getting dunked on

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:40:00 -0500

TMZ posted a cell phone video of Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron today, but, well, their footage was as disappointing as baked beans and water for Christmas dinner. In fact, it looked like a water painting I did in Ms. Dodd's art class — blurry and undefined.Thankfully, the crew at eBaum Nation came through in the clutch with a higher quality version of the dunk, which occurs about 30 seconds into the above clip. It...

Long Live the King: Putting An End to the Nonsense Surrounding LeBron James

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:30:00 -0500

Ever since LeBron James and Nike confiscated the ever popular "dunk tape," in which Xavier college player Jordan Crawford posterized the rising superstar, people have gone as far as saying that LeBron James' recent actions were "childish," and that he was acting like a baby.Those that were already angry with James because of his decision not to attend his postgame press conference after game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Magic became furious when heari...

The Shine is Coming off LeBron James

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:38:52 -0500

Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford has become a household name, not for one of the usual reasons - getting embroiled in an academic scandal, say - but for something completely weird and awesome and apparently unprecedented in the history of the world: dunking on LeBron James. It happened at a skills academy sponsored by Nike and hosted [...]

GREATEST PHOTOSHOP EVER

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:03:00 -0500

The big story of the day is Lebron not allowing Nike to show footage of him getting dunked on by Jordan Crawford of XavierOn Monday, Jordan Crawford, a sophomore at Xavier (by way of Indiana), reportedly dunked on LeBron during a pick-up game at the LeBron James Skills Academy. Garry Parrish of CBSSports.com wrote that one high school player said, "it was bad". (We can only assume he meant "bad" in the Michael Jackson sort of way.)LeBron must have agreed, because he had Ni...

A Jordan Crawford Dunk LeBron Hasn't Yet Put Into Witness Protection

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:00:00 -0500

by Ray HollomanFiled under: Indiana, XavierUnless you live under the last rock that didn't come with Tweetdeck pre-installed, you've certainly heard about Jordan Crawford's alleged dunk over LeBron James, which ended up with Nike confiscating the tapes in the shoe giant's corporate version of Witness Protection. Fortunately, Crawford's midnight madness dunk at Indiana (where he played for a season before transferring to Xavier last year), is available on YouTube. Watch Cra...

No Video: LeBron James Dunked on by Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, Nike Hides Tape

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:17:15 -0500

By now you’ve all heard the news. Nike, the sneaker snazis, have confiscated all videos of LeBron James being dunked on by college student Jordan Crawford. The slam took place at the LeBron James Skills Academy where I can only assume Xavier’s Crawford scored high marks for dunking. Gary Parrish broke the story on CBS Sports, [...] Related posts:LeBron James Unveils The Nike Zoom VI LeBron JVideo: LeBron James-Michael Jackson Shout Out at BET Awards LeBron JamVideo: LeBron Jam...

Dramatization: Jordan Crawford Dunks on LeBron James at Summer Camp

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:31:32 -0500

How did you spend your summers at camps as a kid? I bet you didn't spend it the way Xavier's Jordan Crawford did. That is to say, dunking on LeBron James. This, however, is something you won't ever get a chance to see if you weren't one of the people in attendance at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron thanks to Nike: Freelance photographer Ryan Miller was one of the cameramen shooting the game. He told CBSSports.com that Nike Basketball Senior Director Lynn Merritt ...

LeBron Gets Dunked On; None Of Us Are Witnesses

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:00:36 -0500

Word out of the LeBron James Skills Academy is that Xavier's Jordan Crawford turned the camp's host into his own personal Fred Weis, the sort of moment for which God created YouTube. Then along came Nike to confiscate the evidence. CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish has the story: Turns out, there were at least two cameras rolling Monday night when Crawford dunked on James during a pick-up game here at the LeBron James Skills Academy. It was a two-handed jam, the kind that would've...

Xavier Musketeers Basketball Quiz

Tue, 05 May 2009 09:19:05 -0500

Why Is Cincinnati Hating On Sean Miller?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:56:32 -0500

Here in Cincinnati, all the sports talk has been about former Xavier head coach Sean Miller. Miller is leaving the Muskies for the Arizona gig which reportedly will pay him $2M a season.

Most of the sports talk guys and the callers to their shows are ripping Miller. How could he leave Xavier? Doesn't he know that this team will be really good next year? Some have even called him a liar.

Excuse me, but you do know you are Xavier ... right?

I know people hate feeling like they've been used. It happens in sports ... especially college sports ... that a coach will bolt a program that he has put back on the map for a cherry job at an elite school or one in an elite conference. It is a right of passage at this time of year. For Xavier to forget who they were is sad.

Memphis played for a national title last year. But John Calipari bolted for the luxury of Kentucky. How can you fault Miller leaving a program that has never sniffed the Final Four for one that currently owns the longest active streak of NCAA Tournament appearances?

It's not like Xavier hasn't seen this before. Pete Gillen left for Providence (and then Virginia). Skip Prosser who then leave for Wake Forest. Thad Matta left for Ohio State. Now Miller is leaving for Arizona.

Those honks around the Nati can't believe it.

No offense at all to Xavier. This is a great school that plays in the best basketball arena in the city. The fact that Xavier has had so many sought after coaches shows the kind of program they have built there. There are a lot of schools that would trade with Xavier right now.

But how can these people complain on the radio and TV about Miller leaving? Despite their success, Xavier is a second class citizen in this town. During the season, there were probably ten times the discussion on the University of Cincinnati than there was on Xavier. Heck, Ohio State and Kentucky got more run than the Muskies.

The local FOX station will move around primetime programming in order to show Cincinnati basketball. You'd be hard pressed to see Xavier anywhere on the tube. I live here and I only remember seeing two of their games this season: the Crosstown Shootout against Cincinnati and their terrible loss to Duke.

The point is that the city doesn't give Xavier the respect it deserves. Now when the coach leaves, they wonder why he'd want to go to a place where the program is the top dog.

Hey, Cincinnati. Xavier is your only good team. The Reds have enjoyed eight straight losing seasons. The Bengals continue to be a punchline. The Bearcats haven't recovered from the Bob Huggins firing. If you want somebody to stick around town, you may want to think about showing him some love.

Pat Riley to Kentucky? Maybe Sean Miller?

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:54:12 -0500

Here in the KY, there is tons of speculation about who will be the next head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite the fact that Billy Donovan has said he isn't leaving Florida, people here still have hopes that he's on his way. But a new name has gotten some buzz: Pat Riley.

Riley is currently the team president of the Miami Heat and is in his first year of his latest retirement. Buzz is that some folks in Lexington have seen Riles around town in the last couple of days. He was a star guard for the Wildcats during the mid-1960s and was on that team that lost to Texas Western in the 1966 NCAA Championship game.

Here is the only problems. Riley turned 64 last week and it is unclear how long he would want to coach. He's been burned out before and the grind of recruiting and all of that could wear on him. Also, he's an NBA guy that hasn't dealt with the college game (except for scouting) since leaving Kentucky as a player in 1967.

I don't see this happening, despite any rumors going around. I can see Kentucky going up I-75 and checking on Xavier's Sean Miller. Miller took over a budding program and as actually elevated it. The guy Miller took over for, Thad Matta, is currently leading Ohio State into greener pastures (by the way, Matta is a guy Kentucky fans like, too). Miller is a great coach and seems to be cool enough to deal with the pressures that the Kentucky job brings.

Eric Gordon Says Drugs Caused Problems at IU Under Kelvin Sampson

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:11:45 -0500

According to an article in the IndyStar, former Hoosier Eric Gordon made comments that drugs caused problems on the IU team in 2007 under former coach Kelvin Sampson. Former IU player Armon Bassett transferred to UAB, and is now ineligible. Thank goodness we have Tom Crean now to help us move away from the Kelvin Sampson debacle.

Xavier PG Lavender arrested

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:00:21 -0500

What a difference a week makes. Last weekend, Xavier PG Drew Lavender was leading his team in an Elite 8 game vs. UCLA. This past Sunday morning, he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and marijuana possession.

DAY CINCO: THE MADNESS CONTINUED

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:58:25 -0500

However tough it was, it was well worth the wait. Pitino rolls, Carolina embarrases the boys from the apple state, UCLA survives . . . AGAIN, and of course Xavier battles West Virginia and I'm left with this: I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU and did I say I TOLD YOU? The Xavier Musketeers are in the elite 8 and your go-to for the tourney called it.

The Future of Sports Broadcasting is Alternate Audio

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:23:37 -0500

We are all tired of fake storylines in our sports broadcasts, so what is going to have to happen to make it better?

Officials lack guts to call intentional foul on Oden!!

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 20:38:12 -0500

Ohio State's Greg Oden clearly committed an intentional foul with 10 second left in the game, but the officials lacked the guts to make the call which cost Xavier the game!