Report: C7 breaking away now

[FriarJ]

There is another reason to break away now. They are going to be guaranteed of having some fantastic teams next year including a favorite for the NC. They should do whatever they can to make sure a potentially great eye opening 1st year of the conference takes place.

[BillEsq]

There is another reason to break away now. They are going to be guaranteed of having some fantastic teams next year including a favorite for the NC. They should do whatever they can to make sure a potentially great eye opening 1st year of the conference takes place.

I think your right

GT will be good
Marquette will be good
St. Johns will be better
Villinova will be better
Providence could and should be better
I admit i don't know much about Seton-
Depaul will still be in Chicago

X is a year older and better
B is a year older and better
SLU returns most of their team
R- Older and Better
D- Older and Better
(and i don't think C or VCU would be bad next year either.... Sell high... buy low (if we wait the exit fees will be increased in both the A-ten and the Valley) ....

[yorost]

I am a little worried about Xavier under Chris Mack. Each year since he's been there the team has gotten worse. His first and second seasons look close, but they took a huge dip in computer numbers between those two seasons. Hope it's just a fluke of only being there a few years and not the sign of any inability to run a program. The computer number trend is reminiscent of Wainwright's numbers while at Richmond and DePaul. At least, Xavier started at a higher level, so it's not like he's tanked it that bad.

[BillEsq]

I am a little worried about Xavier under Chris Mack. Each year since he's been there the team has gotten worse. His first and second seasons look close, but they took a huge dip in computer numbers between those two seasons. Hope it's just a fluke of only being there a few years and not the sign of any inability to run a program. The computer number trend is reminiscent of Wainwright's numbers while at Richmond and DePaul. At least, Xavier started at a higher level, so it's not like he's tanked it that bad.

DePaul's problems are almost purely Athletic Director Related i don't think you can relate DePaul to any other school right now. Mack is a good coach, he has a young team in a rebuild year and is still at the top of a very good A-10. Last year was a sweet 16. Heck just beat Memphis, has already beaten Butler, and was trouncing VCU until his point guard went out with a concussion. Heck if Xavier wasn't forced to put a fresh pg against the press they prolly would have beaten VCU and with the Memphis win would have votes in the polls right now. People would be talking about the upcoming SLU X game as the big game. In short Mack and X are good. nothing to worry about there.

[yorost]

I said worried about Mack, not that I think he is bad or is taking them to DePaul levels. He has not posted a season of improvement, yet, that is worrisome. Every program has down years, Villanova had been going through a similar downward trend until this season, it happens. Am I writing Mack off? No, but if it goes another season or two like this I will be.

[XU85]

I am a little worried about Xavier under Chris Mack. Each year since he's been there the team has gotten worse. His first and second seasons look close, but they took a huge dip in computer numbers between those two seasons. Hope it's just a fluke of only being there a few years and not the sign of any inability to run a program. The computer number trend is reminiscent of Wainwright's numbers while at Richmond and DePaul. At least, Xavier started at a higher level, so it's not like he's tanked it that bad.

With all due respect, you may have too much time on your hands. Xavier will be fine. If you need to worry about something, I suggest you worry about Xavier and Butler (and hopefully Creighton) clipping the wings of your golden eagles on a regular basis, as a result of the benefits in recruiting that result by associating with a higher profile league.

[yorost]

Ok.

You say one not entirely negative thing about a school's coach and you get jumped on. I hope Xavier is competing for the conference title, as well as anyone else that joins.

[xu95]

I am a little worried about Xavier under Chris Mack. Each year since he's been there the team has gotten worse. His first and second seasons look close, but they took a huge dip in computer numbers between those two seasons. Hope it's just a fluke of only being there a few years and not the sign of any inability to run a program. The computer number trend is reminiscent of Wainwright's numbers while at Richmond and DePaul. At least, Xavier started at a higher level, so it's not like he's tanked it that bad.

Really? We lost over 80% of our offense from last year and are still in competition for the top spot in the A10 which is a stronger league than it was last year. You are starting to sound an awful like like some Dayton fans over on the A10 board.

A lot of bad juju happened at Xavier last year but Chris Mack showed he is one of the best coaches in the country. Nothing that happened over the summer can be blamed on him. He took lemons and made lemonade.

[yorost]

A LITTLE

Sheesh.

[pki1998]

Ok.

You say one not entirely negative thing about a school's coach and you get jumped on. I hope Xavier is competing for the conference title, as well as anyone else that joins.

Yorost,

I'm a Xavier fan and have the same fears about Chris Mack. The Xavier fan base seems to be divided into two camps, the first camp believes Chris Mack is a top 10 coach (if not better), and the other camp believes that Mack is the worst thing since New Coke. Both sides seem to be unreasonable in their position. It seems like you are getting some crap from the camp that believes Mack is the second coming.

As for myself I am in the middle as the jury is still out on him. I believe Mack is a good game coach. He is not on the level of Miller or Matta (in my opinion they are both top 20 coaches, so that isn't an insult). But he is getting better at in game adjustments. This is his first head coaching gig, so that is probably to be expected. My big concerns are as follows:

Discipline – I don’t think Mack has control of his team. He does appear to be running a tighter ship this year than in years past. So maybe he learned his lesson from last year. The big examples are a player ripping down of a Butler drinking fountain after a tough loss, the fight at UC last year, and the comments made afterwards. Those things wouldn’t happen if the coach had control of his team

Recruiting – Mack’s recruiting hasn’t been the greatest. So far he has recruited two impact freshman (Semaj and Wells), and a couple of solid transfers (Walker, Taylor, and Philmore). He had problem recruiting eligible players. This year alone three recruits are ineligible. A large number of his recruits have transferred out of the program, and his biggest failures recruiting was not being able to convince D. Brown to stay for his senior year (Mack’s first) and having Lyons leave this year.

Free Throws – This year’s team can hit a free throw to save their life! Historically X has been a great FT team, and now we are losing games because we can’t knock them down. The Xavier message boards are divided on this one. The Mack is god camp keep saying coaches can’t affect FT percentage, like it’s a genetic trait. I don’t believe that is true, but if it is then why aren’t we recruiting guys that can hit free throws. Also if a coach can’t help players perform better at a fundamental aspect of the game, why do we pay them so much?

Those are my concerns, but this year has me hopeful for a strong future. This is weird because for the first time in a long time X is destined to go to the NIT. Unlike prior years X is generally not the most talented team on the court, and their lack of depth is insane. But they still have a decent record, and have won against some pretty good teams (in fairness we have lost to some pretty bad teams). If Mack gets the recruiting under control, and continues to improve as a game coach, he could one day be a great coach. But for now I say he is just a good coach, with potential to be better.