Change the rotation

[muskieman]

Xavier's Stanley Burrell finished with four points and four assists for the Muskies Saturday. BTW this was the play under the basket which netted X three points.

Which means Stan was good for 8-12 more points. With the D he played sound like a great game.

[joetitan]

maybe the thread lost its way onto an SB bash, but I did not read that as the point of the original post. SB has performed both recently and over the 3.5 years as an admirable contributor to the team. I thought the post was more directed to generate discussion of a more subtle issue, viz. overall offensive team balance in game situations or match-ups. SB past performance as featured scorer should be incorporated to today's need for perimeter offense, especially when BJ is not on the floor.

Moreover (no pun intended MOR) what other players can faithfully fill such a role. It does seem DBrown is working toward a trusty outside shot like the couple he hit against Temple and Graves and Jackson too are not so reticent to jack one up. With zone defenses being fashionable against XU, all we are asking is, if SB is not shooting, who takes the shots or is primary option. To me the concern is valid. Just cannot run pick-n-pops or Drew clear-outs all the time.

[LA Muskie]

OK, I'll bite. If that's the point of the thread, then I would submit that in addition to BJ, Stan, Drew, and Josh can each hit from the outside with regularity. I just don't see outside shooting as our issue -- we shoot PLENTY from the outside (and pretty well). If anything, it's getting the ball down low that we need to concentrate on. I believe Sean and the staff have been harping on that, and perhaps Stan is taking that emphasis a bit too far. But I like and appreciate the fact that when he passes up a jumper, it's nearly always to get the ball in closer to the basket.

[muskieman]

I think some take too simplistic an approach to the game. They see points scored and that makes the good players versus the mediocre. I ask how a player makes the team play better. It is easy to see it in Drew but I bet players like Josh and Stan play big parts in making the team play better. I bet that when Stan is in the game as the point that X is still to the positive side of the ledger. I also bet when Josh is on the floor his ability to stretch the opponent makes the team score easier and at a higher rate than everyone but maybe Drew and I bet it is close between those two.