Xavier power rankings, week three

Not a lot went right over the weekend for Xavier (as I'm sure you noticed), to the point that I was tempted to list everyone as 13th and just move on. That's the kind of garbage that gets a guy kicked out of his mom's basement for sure though, so instead I'll live up to the high journalistic standards expected of bloggers and do my best to make heads or tails of the mess we just endured.

13. Makinde London (Last week: 13, change: 0)
By virtue of simply not being a negative, Makinde almost jumped several places in the rankings. Rules are rules, though, and he remains parked here for the foreseeable future.

12. Larry Austin, Jr. (11, -1)
Terrence Howard once sang that it's hard out here for a pimp. It's also hard out here for the fourth-string point guard on a team that is currently ranked 31st in the nation in TO%. If someone gets hurt and Austin fills in effectively, he can move up. As things stand right now, he's going to have trouble making that much more of an impact than Makinde London.

11. Sean O'Mara (10, -1)
O'Mara has seen limited action so far. In the time he has been in, he has impressed with his aggressiveness on the offensive boards and his 4-5 mark from the floor, but not much else. O'Mara was never assumed to be a guy who was going to jump into the mix right away, and he's lived up to that billing so far.

10. Edmond Sumner (12, +2)
Sumner is the first real riser we run into this week. He has finally gotten off the bench and into the action, and the early returns have been promising. The production isn't there just yet (ORtg 75.8, TO% 24.7%), but he is a 6'5" point guard who is beyond explosive in the open court. I'm excited to see where he goes when he really gets his legs under him.

9. JP Macura (8, -1)
As impressed as I was with JP last week, I'm that chagrined this week. It's okay to just be a scorer, but when you're just a scorer, you need to score all the time. Macura looked flat on offense in California; while he was far from the only player who fit that description, his reliance on his offensive game to provide value lands him here.

8. James Farr (9, +1)
I want to putt Farr higher up; I really do. He is an absolute monster on the boards, ranking 152nd in OReb% and 12th in DReb%. Even among his board-happy frontcourt mates, that stands out. The problem is his offensive production, which is miserable. He's 4-15 from deep and 17-44 from the floor. He has only shot two free throws; how does that happen for a man of his size. Until Farr starts scoring, he's devaluing his own good work on the glass.

7. Brandon Randolph (7, -3)
Randolph had 5 assists to 4 turnovers at the Wooden Legacy and shot 3-9/1-2/1-4. He was okay without being good against San Diego and significantly less influential in the two losses that followed. Xavier doesn't need him to play like a cut-rate Dee Davis - especially when Dee Davis is playing like a cut-rate Dee Davis; fewer turnovers, better distribution, and fewer shots will send Randolph back up the charts.

6. Dee Davis (6, -2)
Statistically speaking, Dee Davis was only a tick below his usual self in California. He averaged 7.7/1.0/4.3 on .391/.222/1.000 shooting. Only that three-point number is that far off his career numbers. From watching, though, his game just felt a hair out of sorts. His defense could graciously be described as not great, and his decisions on when to look for his shot and where to move the ball were uncharacteristically mediocre.

5. Myles Davis (7, +2)
If it weren't for the relative paucity of offensively effective big men currently on the roster, Myles probably would have climbed a little higher still. Despite a bad off-court decision that led him to merely spectate the first game, he came back blazing in the next two. He has stayed hot from behind the arc while everyone else but Trevon Bluiett has cooled off. Just as importantly, he was the one huddling Xavier's players up like a latter day Dante Jackson out on the court. I loved the leadership I saw from him... you know, other than getting himself suspended for a game.

4. Jalen Reynolds (6, +2)
Jalen somehow got only one board in the first game, but then he followed with 12 rebounds in 38 minutes over the next two. He's also, outside of Matt Stainbrook, the only big man on Xavier to pose a consistent scoring threat. The fouling thing is still an issue, though, as he came within a hair's breadth of fouling out in two of the three games.

3. Remy Abell (3, 0)
Quick, tell me which Muskie has the highest shooting percentage from inside the arc? Leaving aside for the moment that Larry Austin is 1-1, you've probably guessed by virtue of whose entry this is that it's Remy Abell. He's a startling 21-26 (80.8%) on two-point attempts this year, and he's jarred his last five FTs after starting 0-5 from the line. If he could only get that 3P% up, we'd be onto something. Beyond that, he never turns the ball over and never fouls. Good stuff.

2. Trevon Bluiett (2, 0)
Trevon cooled off a bit in California, with his 5-11 mark from deep dragging he season 3P% all the way down to 50%. I know he has his troubles on defense to work through yet, but he's a very good offensive rebounder, avoids turnovers, and can flat-out score the basketball. Oh, and he's also playing more minutes than anyone else.

1. Matt Stainbrook (1, 0)
It could be this way for a while. Despite the team's disappointing performance over the long weekend, Stainbrook keeps rolling along. His rebounding percentages are both in the top 150 in the nation. His EFG% of 73.4% is 18th. He blocks shots, he doesn't turn the ball over, he's third on the team in assist rate, and he's easy on the eyes. What more could you ask from him at this point? Probably not much.