Bluejay Banter Big East preview: Xavier

[bmorex]

The guard minutes are going to be ridiculously competitive. Dee and Remy are starting. That's a given. After that, whoever rises to the occasion is going to get the spot. You've got the guys who underperformed a bit last year in Brandon Randolph (a combo guard) and Myles Davis (3 pointers). After that, you have the three freshmen in Larry Austin (a guy who is said to be a defensive-minded pure PG), Edmund Sumner (a very skilled, long combo guard) and even JP Macura, who could play the 2 or 3.

[BEX]

JP is the wildest of the wild cards. The kid is a gymrat and thinks it's the coolest thing ever that he can go there and shoot whenever he wants. If he comes out and starts draining three's like we know he can, the 'Tas will go nuts. But then we thought Myles was gonna do that. We gotta get a hot shooting 3 pt. guy out of these recruits. We recruited a bunch of shooters. Hopefully, one or two can actually shoot or it will be a long season.

[Chalmers0]

JP is the wildest of the wild cards. The kid is a gymrat and thinks it's the coolest thing ever that he can go there and shoot whenever he wants. If he comes out and starts draining three's like we know he can, the 'Tas will go nuts. But then we thought Myles was gonna do that. We gotta get a hot shooting 3 pt. guy out of these recruits. We recruited a bunch of shooters. Hopefully, one or two can actually shoot or it will be a long season.

The more I hear about JP, the more I think of Stauskas*. Lanky/Athletic wing who is best known for his shooting but also has a mean streak/super competitive attitude and also attacks the rim a lot more than you would expect him to. If he's half as good as what I've heard and seen briefly, he will be a fan favorite for sure.

*No I'm not predicting JP being a lottery pick at any point in time, let alone after his sophomore season, just saying I see some similarities in their scouting reports/game.

[DudeAnon]

Jon Rothstein visited X today so he had a series of interesting tweets. He will probably be at Butler soon.

Greetings from the Cintas Center! Here for Xavier practice. Musketeers look like a Big East sleeper in 14-15.

Chris Mack said Xavier's Jalen Reynolds is at least 10 pounds heavier since the end of last season. Now 230 plus. Breakout year ahead.

A hard thing for Xavier next season? Setting a rotation. Musketeers have 11 capable players. Finding the right mix is going to take time.

Early prediction on Xavier starting five --- Dee Davis, Remy Abell, Trevon Blueitt, Jalen Reynolds, Matt Stainbrook....

For a freshman perimeter player, Trevon Blueitt is as physically imposing as I've seen. Going to play some PF when Xavier goes small. 6-6.

Palpable buzz at Xavier surrounding freshman PG Larry Austin Jr. 6-2 and mature beyond his years. Could be a "table setting" floor general.

Very curious to see what Edmond Sumner looks like in 2 years. 6-4 SG oozes potential. The unsung presence in Xavier's 2014 recruiting class.

Would put Xavier in the next tier of BE teams behind Villanova. Musketeers in mix at top of league with Georgetown + St. John's.

[XtoDC]

My view, with some slight reasoning and shoddy math:

Dee Davis - 30+ minutes per game
Remy Abell - 30+ minutes per game
Trevon Bluiett - 25 minutes per game
Jalen Reynolds - 25 minutes per game (I'm predicting foul trouble and inconsistency preventing him from getting more minutes)
Big Stain - 25+ minutes per game

James Farr - 20 minutes per game
JP Macura/Myles Davis - 15/5 minutes per game spread between the SG and SF spots (whichever one is actually knocking down shots and earns Mack's confidence will get the 15 minutes)
Edmond Sumner - 10 minutes per game
Brandon Randolph/Larry Austin < 5 minutes per game (backup PG scraps, hopefully one of them shows he can play enough so Dee doesn't get worn down)
Makinde London/Sean O'Mara < 5 minutes per game (backup big scraps, pretty much only way I see either of them getting big playing time as freshman is a blowout or foul trouble)

At the beginning of the year I expect these minutes to be a lot different, with a lot more rest for the veterans. However, once Big East play starts and the bench tightens up, I expect it to look a lot like this. Without having seen over half of these guys play, and limited or unimpressive viewings of most of the others, I can say with certainty that Xavier will finish the season somewhere on the bubble (35th - 60th). I expect Stain to compete for 1st team honors, Dee or Jalen to make 3rd team, and Trevon to find a spot on the rookie squad.

[HoosierPal]

I haven't seen Remy play since he left Bloomington, but I am curious as to why he is penciled in as a starter. He only averaged 4 ppg at IU as a soph. He was a decent defender but not a game changer. Something has obviously changed. Anyone know?

[xavierfano8]

I haven't seen Remy play since he left Bloomington, but I am curious as to why he is penciled in as a starter. He only averaged 4 ppg at IU as a soph. He was a decent defender but not a game changer. Something has obviously changed. Anyone know?

He played behind some pretty good players at IU. Hulls, Oladipo, Yogi played most of the guard minutes on what was a pretty short bench from what I remember. Pretty sure he shot around 45% from three when he did see minutes. From everything I've seen/heard he's going to start.


Also, XtoDC did a spot on job on how the minutes should go IMO. I really think Macura could be special though I would like to see him get a chance early in the year.

[Frambo]

Makinde London/Sean O'Mara < 5 minutes per game (backup big scraps, pretty much only way I see either of them getting big playing time as freshman is a blowout or foul trouble)

I got to watch practice for the Brazil trip on Wednesday. I wouldn't be surprised if O'Mara got decent minutes this year...bigger than I expected, good feet/hands, tough edge to him and he seemed like he was in the right spot consistantly.

[XtoDC]

Makinde London/Sean O'Mara < 5 minutes per game (backup big scraps, pretty much only way I see either of them getting big playing time as freshman is a blowout or foul trouble)

I got to watch practice for the Brazil trip on Wednesday. I wouldn't be surprised if O'Mara got decent minutes this year...bigger than I expected, good feet/hands, tough edge to him and he seemed like he was in the right spot consistantly.

Based on what some of the people who have watched practice have said, it does seem like he is holding his own. The problem though is that his minutes have to come from somewhere, and there are only 80 between the PF and C positions. Stainbrook, Reynolds, and Farr are going to gobble up nearly all of them, and none of them are versatile enough to play SF in bigger lineups to open up some minutes that way.

The way I see it playing out is actually that Bluiett steals some minutes at PF in small ball lineups, and O'Mara plays the occasional 10 minutes for a game at the beginning of the season against bad competition just to get some reps. This should free the staff to redshirt Makinde London, as he seems like one of those guys with huge potential but isn't close to being able to be on the court when it counts.