Larry Austin

[jerry92]

Would we have rather had Larry Austin this season or Malcolm Bernard?

[commish118]

First, we did not choose Bernard over Austin. Austin left. We picked up Bernard. Austin plays point. Bernard plays 2 guard. The two have nothing to do with each other.

If Myles and Ed were here and playing, as anticipated, Austin would be buried on the bench behind the other three PGs. And, if Myles and Ed were here and playing, as anticipated, Bernard would be the veteran bench player he was recruited to be, not a starter.

If we want to go down this path, we could start looking at why we didn't recruit more point guards in the last three classes, just in case our top two aren't playing, one transfers, and we only had a true freshmen. Makes sense to have 13 scholarship players and 5-6 of them to be PG... just in case.

[skyhops]

LAJ for sure. This team is a mess and won't be easy when Tre leaves next year

[jerry92]

Myles is really not a true PG - he is more of a 2 - we started the season with 2 PGs - Ed and and a freshman - maybe the staff could have worked a bit harder to keep Austin

[commish118]

So you are Larry Austin. You just completed your second season at Xavier. You averaged 4 minutes as a Freshman, You just completed your sophomore season when you played 10 minutes a game on a team that went 28-6 and was a 2nd round seed in the NCAA. And ALL of the guards in front of you are returning next season: JP. Ed, Tre, and Myles, AND a highly ranked guard recruit is coming in. What can Chris Mack say to you to get you to stay? "We may lose 1 guard for the entire season, another for the second half of the season, and a third for several games down the stretch. Why don't you stay, just in case that happens"? Or "We don't see you playing more minutes next season, but maybe your senior season you will get more minutes, and maybe have a chance to start"? There was nothing Chris Mack could say to get him to stay.

And let up on Malcolm! This is a kid who was never highly recruited coming out of high school. He played at a mid to low level D1 program. He was going to be a 5th year senior. Chris says to him"You are a smart player, a hard worker, and a good kid. Why not come to Xavier, a pre-season Top 10 team, and possibly experience an NCAA tournament on a team many think can go deep. There are no promises of any minutes. We are loaded at guard, but we will give you a chance to earn minutes off the bench." So he comes here and is thrust into the line-up. He is a great kid, a smart player, and a hard worker. But he is on the court playing against kids with a lot more talent, and against teams that never recruited him. He is doing his best. He was not brought here to play a ton of minutes. And before you say we should have looked at other transfers, read above why Austin left and tell me: if you were a highly rated 5th year Senior, why would you come to a top program loaded at the guard position?

[ChitownSteve]

Please, please, please, stop pining for Larry Austin.

As others have pointed out, LA was not scheduled to play many minutes this year. Understandably, he transferred on his own volition. Moreover, when he played last year, did you not get tired of swatted away lay-up efforts?

LA was not, and is not, the answer to any X question. Those who continue to even bring up his name, when the facts are clear, only detract from other valuable commentary they make on this Board.

[lionelchalmers0]

It's moot. LAJ is simply not a big east player. He seemed like a good kid and had good fundamentals but he reminded me of the kind of guys we'd have in the A-10 that could have success against lesser talent but once running with the big boys couldn't get it done. The guy got his damn shot blocked every time he went to the rim.

[brockman231]

It's moot. LAJ is simply not a big east player. He seemed like a good kid and had good fundamentals but he reminded me of the kind of guys we'd have in the A-10 that could have success against lesser talent but once running with the big boys couldn't get it done. The guy got his damn shot blocked every time he went to the rim.

I think every thing you said here applies to Xavier the last 3 games.

[olsingledigit]

Not necessarily disagreeing Lionel, but if he is not a BE player why did a big five Team (Vanderbilt) take him as a transfer? Having said that, he did get a lot of shots blocked, but so do our other players. Seems to be a malady with this team. And he was a late signee, so he was not as highly recruited as others.