Shootaround

Have you been outside not enjoying the record heat in the Upper Midwest? Maybe the grandeur and majesty pointless stupidity of the baseball home run derby and All-Star Game soaked up some of your time? Maybe you're just engaged in pointless musing as to why it seems like you can't even catch a break from your own grandmother. Whether it be just one, or possibly all, of those things, here is what you may have missed.

- Tu Holloway has found a temporary home. The Toronto Raptors have reportedly taken a flyer on the former Xavier PG to slot in as a member of their summer league team. The Raptors finished 23-43 last year and are, by all accounts, not very good. Their best player may be their current point guard, Jose Calderon, whose numbers in the NBA look a lot like Tu's at Xavier last year.

- Matt Stainbrook, who arrived in May at a borderline colossal 305 pounds, has already trimmed down to 270. Yes, you read that correctly, he's lost 35 pounds in the span of two months. A lack of stamina was really all that kept Stainbrook from being a monster at Western Michigan, if dropping weight keeps him on the court longer, he could be an absolute revelation next year. As usual, all credit goes to Coach Mack and his staff.

- It's been a reunion week of sorts at Xavier, as BJ Raymond, Brandon Cole, and Stanley Burrell have all visited the Cintas to get some time in. Stanley has yet to tweet about how his new car handled the drive but rest assured, he will.

- Over behind the pay wall at ESPN, Doug Gottlieb is naming the breakout players of 2012-13. No Xavier players appear, but Gottlieb does mention Missouri guard Phil Pressey and Nate Wolters of North Dakota State. Pressey averaged 6.4 assists as a freshman and Wolters put up 21/5/6. How these guys could possibly break out is beyond me. As far as Xavier goes, we expect Travis Taylor to make the biggest jump from last year to this year. If he doesn't, a lot of his time will disappear to Jalen Reynolds and Isaiah Philmore.

- Jay Bilas gives Butler and Xavier credit for not abandoning their non-conference game following Butler's abrupt jump to the Atlantic 10 this year. That's nice on the surface, but it somewhat misses the point. Butler and Xavier desired to be in the same conference so they would each have SOS and RPI boosting games guaranteed. Skipping a game that will still technically be a non-conference matchup would defeat the purpose of the switch in the first place.

- Last summer will filled the down time by catching up with players from years gone by that hadn't made it. We also spent a good deal of time catching up with those who are still somewhere around the globe, living the dream. This summer we'd like to know what you would like us to focus on. Either drop us a line in the comments here or send a suggestion to our Twitter, @bannersparkway. If you don't, you are just leaving us to our own devices.