Crosstown Shoutout looks at XU '11 targets

[Mr. Neutral]

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/shoutout/20 ... -reynolds/

[jct1941]

I am sure that the coaching staff has a priority list but at this late date they may just take the "first one to commit" and go from there. We have all stated that recruiting can be a crap shoot and it is hard to determine who will rise to the top. I think most of us thought that Walsh would be a contributor and he is of to Akron. For every transfer in it seems we have a transfer out. Go Xavier!

[madness31]

Under a different head coach I suspect Walsh would have been a contributer. Redford likely would be more of a contributer under a different coach too. Mack likes uptempo and flash. Neither Walsh or Redford has this type of game. Redford's off the charts shooting enables him to get minutes while an average shooting Walsh kept him on the bench.

I personally prefer strong fundamentals and few turnovers so I would likely would have played Walsh over Lyons last year. Lyons will likely be a great player but mentally he wasn't ready last year. It is tough to gauge Walsh on his limited minutes and especially because he played many of them with walk-ons in garbage time but he appeared to have a good sense for the game. He seemed capable of puting the ball on the floor as well as passing. Of course if he struggles shooting then you probably can't play him as he likely doesn't add enough of the other things to warrant minutes.

I was down on Holloway his freshman year too for not being mature enough with the ball and he was incredible last season so there is plenty of hope for Lyons. Holloway had to play his freshman year since there wasn't another option. I'm not sure you can say the same for Lyons last year but I'm sure the experience on the court benefits him this year. He definitely has the athleticism to be a major player and potentially even an NBA player. I suspect he will become a good defender as he improves his timing and anticipation. Hopefully he is putting in the work this off season as Holloway did last year. If he studies film and hits the courts he will likely show a huge improvement. Too much forcing the issue last year offensively and defensively. These are easy things to fix and if he improves his J (easier said than done) then he will replace a good chunk of Crawford's scoring.

[muskieman]

we must remember that Lyon has had Tutu as a tutor for over a year now and if Lyons has any sense he has studied Tutu not to be exactly like him but for things that will improve his(lyons) game. If Lyons improve to the level Tutu did last year those two could be a really dynamic duo.

[Shadow]

a really dynamic duo.

Holy hoops, Batman, an awesome pair of dribblers.

[jaxalum]

Lyons is THE key next year supplementing the majority of the scoring that was lost with Crawford. That's going to happen if he is taking 300 treys a day this summer. He has the dribble drive ability but does not scare from long range, hence his defenders sag. If he can improve his 34% (three point average) by three to four percentage points he will become a "complete" threat. God knows no one needs to tell Terrell that he needs to improve his 3 point percentage(32%). The kids a worker and will do what needs to be done. It's imperative to have several deep threats in todays college game.

Some bitched about Jordan, but damn was he fun to have and had the capability to win a game on his own. West was the last player we had like that.

[Mr. Neutral]

DW was fantastic, but X has never had a player like Crawford. He could take and hit shots that no X player before him could do.

[xuhuh!]

I know it' early but.................let's try to remember the team that starts the season at X is not always the team that finishes the season. Don't start pushing the PANIC BUTTON like last season over every mistake.

[madness31]

I'm not sure how many were panicing last year as much as we were frustrated about losing games we should have won. I don't like when the other A-10 teams lose outside of conference and then come in and do well in conference and last years X team did that. It wasn't because they couldn't beat those other teams but that they made too many mistakes or played selfish. Obviously the first year coach and loss of a ton of talent from the prior year was a big part of that but it is still frustrating.

[Getreal]

I'm not sure how many were panicing last year as much as we were frustrated about losing games we should have won. I don't like when the other A-10 teams lose outside of conference and then come in and do well in conference and last years X team did that. It wasn't because they couldn't beat those other teams but that they made too many mistakes or played selfish. Obviously the first year coach and loss of a ton of talent from the prior year was a big part of that but it is still frustrating.

What games SHOULD they have won? Marq,Baylor,KState,Butler, and WF were ALL NCAA tournament teams. They had chances but I'd hardly say they SHOULD have won any of them. It's not like they were dropping games against MAC teams or mid-majors. Sometimes good teams force you into mistakes. I don't think Mack had anything to do with those losses but the I do believe the loss of 3 starters from the previous year had some effect.