SB Nation - Anthony Myles

Xavier as an Unknown Quantity

Joel D — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:12:11 -0000

The upcoming season for Xavier will be a unique one in the recent history of the program, owing largely to the departure of Tu Holloway. With his leaving - as well as Kenny Frease's graduation and Mark Lyons' defection to Arizona - Xavier will be left with a vacuum at the top the likes of which they have not recently faced. Since the turn of the century, the Muskies have seen more than one great player come and go, but none have left the program in the lurch quite like Holloway's graduation has done this year.

David West obviously jumps out as perhaps the best - and certainly the most successful at the next level - of the recent departures. He was the Player of the Year while he was at Xavier, and the team's hopes had been largely pinned on his abilities his senior season. Despite the stratospheric numbers that he put up, though, he didn't leave a gaping hole in the team. Anthony Myles stepped into the middle of the floor and filled in admirably, if not as effectively as West had. Meanwhile, seniors Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato were ready to step up and carry the team, which ultimately made it as far as any recent Musketeer squad has in the NCAA tournament.

Chalmers and Sato both had brief looks at the league before heading overseas, and they gave way to the brilliant ensemble casts of the middle of the decade. Justin Doellman, Justin Cage, Josh Duncan, Drew Lavender, Stanley Burrell, BJ Raymond, CJ Anderson, and Brandon Cole (with a smattering of role players besides) distinguished themselves as one of the greatest groups to come through Xavier. They were responsible for some legendary moments - BJ Raymond's tournament three, Burrell throwing the X - while not being reliant on one transcendent player.

The next NBA talent to come through the squad was Derrick Brown. He was an efficient, above-the-rim scoring machine as a freshman who evolved into a complete offensive player by his junior year. Leaving behind a team that would have been potentially dominant, he chose to forego his senior season for a chance to be drafted in the second round. Fortunately for Xavier, Jordan Crawford was coming off his transfer year and ready to step in. The Muskies have had better players come through the program, but none of them have been born to get buckets quite like Crawford. His emergence eased the pain of Brown's departure.

Of course, Crawford left after a single season, bringing us full circle. For two years, Musketeers fans could count on steady performances from Holloway with the odd mind-blowing crunch time performance thrown in for good measure. Now the team is left without four of last year's starting five, leaving the program surrounded by more questions than perhaps any other year beginning with "20".

This is not a dire situation, though. Semaj Christon may step up as a big-time player from the word go. Isaiah Philmore might dominate the paint, or Travis Taylor might be who we thought he was going to be last year. Dee Davis may run the court better than anyone since Drew Lavender, or one of the other freshman may show up on campus ready to do more than just contribute. Any number of amazing things might come out of this season, but for now, it's as unknown as it has been in a long time.

Pitt Basketball: Game 2 Preview Vs. Rider Broncs

oaklandzoo12 — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:00:08 -0000

After Friday night's 89-56 win over Albany, the Panthers play again Sunday at 6 pm at the Pete against the Rider Broncs out of the Metro Atlantic. Sunday's game will be Alumni Day. Head on over to the Pete to see some Panther greats like Don Hennon, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Brandin Knight, Billy Knight, and perhaps the greatest of them all...Ryan Tiesi.

Team: Rider Broncs (0-0 MAAC, 0-1)

Good Wins: N/A

Bad Losses: @Robert Morris?

The Broncs finished last season 23-11 and 13-5 in the MAAC with a berth to the CIT Tournament. Rider was effective on offense, scoring 73 points per game while averaging just under 47% shooting. However, they lose three starters from last season's team, including two of their top scorers in Justin Robinson and Mike Ringgold. But they do return the second leading scorer from a year ago in Novar Gadson, who averaged around 13 points a game.

The backcourt will be led by Gadson and Jeff Jones, a transfer from Virginia. Jones, the 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year from Pennsylvania, averaged six points a game. Rider coach Tommy Dempsey thinks Jones will come in and be one of the top guards in the MAAC. Joining Gadson and Jones in the backcourt will be Anthony Myles, who led the Broncs in scoring in their game against Robert Morris with 20 points.

The frontcourt will feature Brandon Penn and MAAC Rookie of the Year Danny Stewart. Stewart got to spend last season playing and practicing with Ringgold and Dempsey really thinks that that experience will allow Stewart to accept more responsibility and more playing time this season. Penn improved his play greatly a year ago, averaging just under ten points a game and shot 42% from three-point distance.

Coming off the bench will feature Jonathan Thompson, who started 16 games last season, but missed the postseason after violating team rules. He figures to be back and will play a key role in the backcourt for the Broncs. Thompson led the MAAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3:1). Also coming off the bench will be Junior Fortunat, a freshman, who is projected to be one of the top first-year post players in the MAAC.

Against the Broncs, Pitt will have to keep the perimeter players in check. Rider finished 15th in all of Division I in three-point shooting at 39% (for those wondering, Pitt was 12th at 39.5%). Pitt should be able to control the glass like they did against Albany as Rider was not a good team at rebounding, averaging 1 less rebound a game than their opposition. Against Robert Morris, the Broncs were outrebounded 41-28. Pitt should also look to force turnovers. Rider had 25 turnovers and just 6 assists against RMU.

Bhullar's Departure and Xavier's Future

Joel D — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:08:18 -0000

Sim Bhullar, I'm sure you read with alarm this morning, has taken off to less green pastures. If he had backed out and split for a perennial powerhouse like UNC or UK, or turned tail to join a local rival like UD or UC, the Xavier blogosphere would be awash in bitterness and vitriol. Instead, he left to join New Mexico State - a program that has made the tournament twice since 2003 and finished last season with a record below .500. This is a move that, frankly, inspires little more than distaste and confusion at first glance.

Bhullar's sister has been quoted as saying that this move had more to do with Sim's being a Canadian and some of the "unique clearinghouse issues" that he will have to face to become academically eligible for NCAA competition. Bhullar himself has said that not being the only Canadian on the roster - New Mexico State currently has three players from Ontario and one from Quebec - will make the transition to college life easier for him. New Mexico State Assistant Coach Paul Wear is also a native of Toronto. Bhullar will become the fourth 6'10"+ player on the Aggies' roster.

Closer to home, this impacts the Xavier picture more way than just losing a literally huge recruit. X still has an open scholarship on this year's team; there were rumors that Bhullar would be brought in for a redshirt year to fill that hole, but those are obviously not in play now. It also leaves Xavier within the scholarship limit for next season; Coach Mack and the staff had previously oversigned by one (assuming the rest of the verbal commitments stay faithful). With Semaj Christon having been brought in before word of Bhullar's decommitment surfaced - and no obvious transfer candidates on the roster - one has to wonder if perhaps Coach Mack knew this was on the way.

Most interestingly, this may signal a sea change in the on-court product at Xavier. Stretching back through the David West days and beyond, Xavier has - as most schools do - always had at least one back-to-the-basket interior player on the roster. While some (West, Brian Thornton) were better than others (Anthony Myles, Brandon Cole), the post player has been a staple of Xavier's diet.

We may be getting an indication that Coach Mack doesn't roll that way. While he inherited Jason Love and Big Kenny from Sean Miller, the only wide body he brought in of his own volition spent one year on the pine and then transferred out. In the meantime, Xavier continued to spend more time emphasising offensive sets that pulled the bigs away from the basket and freed the guards up to play with more creativity. While some of this is due to the nature of the roster (have to get Tu and Jordan Crawford their touches), some of it may well have been evidence of Coach Mack's coaching philosophy.

If you look at the projected 2012-2013 roster, there's not a broad, interior player to be found. Mark Lyons and Dee Davis figure to share ball-handling duty, with Semaj Christon pushing for time as a freshman. Brad Redford and Myles Davis are pure shooters. Justin Martin and Dez Wells will provide scoring from the wings. Once you get farther inside, players are either too short (Travis Taylor, Isaiah Philmore), too thin (Jeff Robinson, Jalen Reynolds), or too perimeter-oriented (James Farr, Griffin McKenzie) to fill the traditional five position that Big Kenny does.

As we discussed in an earlier write-up, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Chris Mack plays a pretty open offense, and having athletic, skilled bigs that can keep up isn't the worst thing in the world. The game in general is shifting towards a leaner style of big man and more emphasis on guard play, so it's quite possible that Bhullar's departure is but a footnote to a footnote in Xavier history. That's all idle projection into a very cloudy future, though. For now, all we know is that Sim joins Michael Chandler and DSR as Top 100 players who once thought Xavier would be their college destination before - for whatever reason - pursuing a career elsewhere.