Xavier power rankings, week five

spend a lot more time looking at the tempo-free stats for Xavier than I do the traditional ones, so occasionally surfing the season box score yields a surprise or two for me. Did you know Xavier has seven guys averaging 7.3 or more points per game? That we've hit 74 threes in just ten games? That we're pretty much incredible on offense? That production is the result of many components coming together to form one cohesive whole. Join me as I break that back down into parts and rank them.

13. Makinde London
I think it's cool that Makinde still gets to travel with the team. His bench guy celebration game was on point at Missouri.

12. Larry Austin, Jr.
I hate that it's becoming almost rote to put Larry here. He managed to pick up two fouls and a turnover in 5 minutes against IUPUI and then had a two minute trillion against Missouri. Sigh...

11. Edmond Sumner
Sumner didn't feature against Missouri, but he did get some minutes against IUPUI and managed to grab three assists (and three fouls) in eleven minutes. Ed always feels like a guy I'd like to see more of in the thick of the game; his TO% of 30.2% is what I suspect gives Coach Mack pause.

10. Sean O'Mara
O'Mara accounted for all four of Xavier's missed free throws against Missouri; the rest of the team was 18-18. He's still crushing the offensive boards and drawing fouls like a fiend. He also fouls more often than anyone on the team except Jalen Reynolds and is really struggling from the free throw line. Still, the foundation for a good player is clearly there.

9. James Farr
I'm frustrated with James, largely because he is shooting like he expects it to go in despite the fact that almost no recent evidence would lead a reasonable person to that conclusion. His shooting line on the week was 4-14/2-7/3-4; throw in five turnovers and you're looking at a significantly subpar offensive performer. I'm probably underrating the other things he does well a little bit here, but he's on the naughty step for now.

8. Jalen Reynolds
Not a good week for big men. Reynolds was plagued by foul trouble and ineffectiveness in both games, which is really not an encouraging development. The big breakout many were predicting for him has been slow to develop; forward productivity will be something to keep an eye on heading into the Big East season for Xavier.

7. JP Macura
Nobody on the team makes things happen more than JP Macura. Despite being 9th on the team in minutes, he is tied for third in three pointers made, third in turnovers, and second in steals. If tempo-free is your thing, consider that he leads the team in usage rate, shots%, and steal%, is second in fouls drawn per 40 minutes and third in fouls committed per 40 minutes. All this in just 12 minutes per game. When JP Macura checks in, anticipate lots of basketball happening before he checks back out.

6. Brandon Randolph
This team goes legitimately nine deep; Randolph stays ahead of Macura by virtue of actually outshooting JP on the week. Aside from his cameo as a dead-eye shooter during the Missouri game, Randolph has done a reasonable job filling in at both guard positions without being responsible for a big drop-off in quality.

5. Myles Davis
Myles wasn't exceptionally productive over the past week, but he hit some big threes against Missouri and his body of work speaks for itself. He and Matt Stainbrook are tied for the team lead in three point percentage. Myles doesn't offer a lot of production beyond his scoring, but it's not really his job to do so.

4. Dee Davis
Dee's numbers this year continue the steady march of improvement he has had going on since he first started getting meaningful minutes. He put up 8/1/6 and then 17/4/4 this week, leads the team in assists by a wide margin, and has brought his shooting line up to a very respectable .432/.345/.810. He still has a penchant for the occasional silly turnover, but he is by and large what you would hope for from a senior point guard.

3. Trevon Bluiett
On the one hand, he's still the team's leading scorer. On the other hand, he scored 14 points all week. He's not a great defender and has gone a little cold from the floor, and he has had trouble with fouls lately. Back to that first hand, though: he's still the team's leading scorer.

2. Remy Abell
Abell scored 19 points on 8 shot attempts this week. He had two turnovers and five assists. He is (I'll grant almost by default) the team's best option for shutting down an opposing scoring guard. Despite operating with the efficiency of a Swiss watch, he has a lower usage rate than everyone except Larry Austin, Jr. I don't know what to say about Abell; he's quietly amazing.

1. Matt Stainbrook
The antagonistic reader might point out that Stainbrook had 12 points and 10 boards total on the week, but he was faced with two defenses whose game plans were keyed on making life uncomfortable for him. His ball security wasn't as good as it usually is, but he disrupted the flow of the opponents' interior game and was able to avoid becoming a negative contributor despite being targeted. Combine this with the struggles of Farr and Reynolds and Matt Stainbrook is still the most irreplaceable player on the Xavier roster.