The hardest guy to replace

[muskieman]

Kyzrex Another good point. What I should have stated is If Boum was playing on another good team ( say top 35 ) he would have been benched for playing that kind of defense. However Xavier did not have the depth to do that. On Duke, Carolina, Texas, Houston, Alabama , and any other good program he would have benched for that kind of defense in two possessions. Yes he could score and closed a lot of games but that kind of defense would find him on the bench on all good teams.

and those teams would lose the FT game at the end of the game!

I read a stat recently that Souley was 87% for the season(who was the last X player to do that?), but since the semi-finals of the BE tournament, he had shot 92% Name an X player to do that in the last 20 years? He was dead on his feet at the end of the Creighton game, but his 23 points and 100% from the line were essential in that win, which is probably why he was so poor against Marquette the next night. Kenn St was beaten by 5, and Souley was 6-6 from the line. With 18 seconds left in the game, Colby jones made 1 of two from the line putting X up by 1 point, and it was Souley going 4-4 down the end, along with a rebound to seal the game in.

[connecticut72]

Muskieman why don't you spend some of your Holy Communion money and pay Free, Jones and Nunge some NIL money so we don't have to have this discussion. Open up your pocket book start a collective and let's get it done. Then we do not have to replace any of these guys. I would throw in a few shekels. That is what is happening in the rest of the College game we need to participate if we wan to win.. By the way why do we need this kid from Az? I f he cannot defend and shoots worse than Kunkel? Can't we do better? Co'mon Muskieman put some up $$$$ and let's get it done. LOL. Go X. Great year it has been fun on this chatboard. Love you all. Go UCONN. How about Andre jackson!!!

[muskieman]

This thread had skidded of the rails

well, to get it back on track, WHo do you think is the hardest to replace?

Watching Texas and Miami, I think X needs the strongest guards, not just in physical strength but strong in handling the rock and having the ability to distribute to get assists.

[Anti-Homer]

I think Souley. Yeah, he had some bad games, and his D was suspect at times(although not as bad as some think). Kerr Kriisa is not a replacement. Trey Green maybe, but he will be a freshman. I don't know if there is a Souley replacement out there or one that is close.

Adam leadership, passing, and oh those threes.

Nunge might be back, but if not, I think there are guys out there that may be comparable.

Freemantle again some here think his D is so bad that his O stats are deceiving

Colby, I just hope he stays because I am selfish

So let's here it from you guys?

Jones, followed by Souley, Kunkel (close 2nd), Nunge, then Free. Souley was an admirable PG, but wasn't strong with the ball, nor explosive. His horrendous defense is what keeps him from being number one, as he was a really good scorer. He would have been even better if we had someone like Tu to play point. He's the standard.

[Anti-Homer]

Colby Jones is by far the the hardest guy to replace and it's not even close. I think he is Xavier's best player in the last 10 years. I would take Jones over any two of the guys leaving. I would rank them Jones #1, Freemantle #2, Nunge #3, Kunkel #4 and Boum #5. Boum was money on late foul shots but his defense was horrible. He caused all kinds of problems with his matador defense. Getting the bigs in foul trouble. Jones had a all round team game. Defense, rebounding, passing and scoring. When we got into the later part of the season and tournament Boum was really bad. He had a lot of invisible first half's. He was over matched badly . Other teams went right at him regularly. It was obvious. Kind of shocked you didn't think his defense wasn't that bad.

Free 2nd? His defense reminds me of what Bob Huggins said about Ruben Patterson's D at a Shootout Luncheon: his idea of defense was outscoring the other guy. That applies to Boum as well.

Huggins may have been a felonious, multiple, drunk driving offender, who led the most corrupt program for a decade with players who didn't graduate and also considered the Justice Center a "home away from home," but he was actually kind of funny.

[Kevin Reilly]

Both Texas and Miami had outstanding guards. MiaMI had Wong and Miller as the stars but started 4 guards. Texas had Hunter , Carr and Rice as the guards. The trend seems to be playing up to 4 guards at one time. I say get as many guards who can handle the ball as possible .Maybe Swain and Ducharme can play guard.

[Anti-Homer]

Colby Jones is by far the the hardest guy to replace and it's not even close. I think he is Xavier's best player in the last 10 years. I would take Jones over any two of the guys leaving. I would rank them Jones #1, Freemantle #2, Nunge #3, Kunkel #4 and Boum #5. Boum was money on late foul shots but his defense was horrible. He caused all kinds of problems with his matador defense. Getting the bigs in foul trouble. Jones had a all round team game. Defense, rebounding, passing and scoring. When we got into the later part of the season and tournament Boum was really bad. He had a lot of invisible first half's. He was over matched badly . Other teams went right at him regularly. It was obvious. Kind of shocked you didn't think his defense wasn't that bad.

I listen to Sean, who is not afraid to say someone needs to work on D, but he has a number of times said Soley didn't play that bad of defense. Remember, Souley was screened multiple times, and no one stepped into the space to slow the driver down. Was Souley weaker on D than Paul Scrugg, yes, but how many times have we read that Kunkle didn't deserve to be on the floor because he was beaten by the guy driving the ball?

Colby is a good to great defender, but against Texas, he was beaten a lot of times on drives, and you know that he disappears in some very important games, unlike the NIT. That fact he didn't put his stamp on the Texas game until it was decided just shows you how Souley and Colby are the engines that runs the Xavier

AS Souley and Colby go, so goes Xavier's success. As for Colby, I hope he stays, as I said, but if he goes, my replacement is Dailyn Swain unless he outgrows his position. 6'8" and handles the ball like a smaller player, and plays very good defense. As I said, an athletic defender who is long and agile, also can handle the ball and slash to the basket. Described as elusive and has quickness with good length and hops.

I think Souley because he filled up the basket most of the season, something a good defender in Scruggs didn't do, and Kriisa, who skyhops says will be at X, and I will not deny the talk, is not reported to be a good defender and only likes to shoot threes when he is challenged in games. He is 7-8 points on average less than Souley. Just go to the Zona boards and look back over the year and see how the fans talk about his lack of D and jis proclivity to settle for threes(turn back the clock to last year's team).

Sean ain't Mick. He doesn't throw players under the bus to deflect from his own pathetic record.

[Anti-Homer]

Muskieman you make some solid points about Jones the last couple of games and his foul shooting was poor at the end of games. I think the same thing you said about Boum applies to Jones. He was worn down at the end of the season. Heck they all were tired. As far as Kriisa I think he is a step down from Kunkel. He shot 227 threes. Field goal % was .37%. My daughter went to Arizona and lives in Tuscon. The Arizona people think he is average at best. Not much of a defender or rebounder .I think Miller was being diplomatic when talking about Boum's defense. We all no he was terrible on defense. He was our best scorer but he gave up a lot on defense. I think Boum is very replaceable. Hard to go far with that kind of defense in a guard driven college game.

Kriisa ranks top 15 in two transfer portal rankings, and does distribute well, but makes very few two-point shots, and shoots above average at 36% from 3. That tells me he doesn't get into the lane to score, so I'm surprised that he does have good assist numbers. Of the games I've seen over the last two years, he would be a deficit on D. He is definitely Kunkel lite-lite. I'd take him, but not as my starting PG.

[Anti-Homer]

Kyzrex Another good point. What I should have stated is If Boum was playing on another good team ( say top 35 ) he would have been benched for playing that kind of defense. However Xavier did not have the depth to do that. On Duke, Carolina, Texas, Houston, Alabama , and any other good program he would have benched for that kind of defense in two possessions. Yes he could score and closed a lot of games but that kind of defense would find him on the bench on all good teams.

and those teams would lose the FT game at the end of the game!

I read a stat recently that Souley was 87% for the season(who was the last X player to do that?), but since the semi-finals of the BE tournament, he had shot 92% Name an X player to do that in the last 20 years? He was dead on his feet at the end of the Creighton game, but his 23 points and 100% from the line were essential in that win, which is probably why he was so poor against Marquette the next night. Kenn St was beaten by 5, and Souley was 6-6 from the line. With 18 seconds left in the game, Colby jones made 1 of two from the line putting X up by 1 point, and it was Souley going 4-4 down the end, along with a rebound to seal the game in.

If FT shooting was the only metric used, Souley would be a lottery pick. He shows up on no draft boards despite his great offensive skillset, because he can't guard anyone. He definitely is a much better FT shooter than Jones. However, improving your FT shot is much easier than learning how to defend. Jones' form is very good. It's in his head.

[Anti-Homer]

Muskieman why don't you spend some of your Holy Communion money and pay Free, Jones and Nunge some NIL money so we don't have to have this discussion. Open up your pocket book start a collective and let's get it done. Then we do not have to replace any of these guys. I would throw in a few shekels. That is what is happening in the rest of the College game we need to participate if we wan to win.. By the way why do we need this kid from Az? I f he cannot defend and shoots worse than Kunkel? Can't we do better? Co'mon Muskieman put some up $$$$ and let's get it done. LOL. Go X. Great year it has been fun on this chatboard. Love you all. Go UCONN. How about Andre jackson!!!

There ain't enough money in X's coffers to keep Free. It goes way beyond wanting to win an NC. It will come out. I'd love to be wrong about that because his depth would have been invaluable in the tourney. And with Miller warming up to zone, X would have an easier time hiding his defense, or lack thereof. I'm not nearly as disappointed as I would have been six weeks ago, seeing that X didn't miss a beat w/Hunter, and in fact improved the overall KP defensive rankings of the team fairly significnatly. Hunter also had the highest OTRG in the tourney. Unbelievable, considering Kunkel's offensive performances.