Xavier 2015 Season Review: Remy Abell Report Card

Thanks to everyone who participated in our inaugural Banners on the Parkway postseason player report cards. We'll be breaking down each player's grades for the rest of this week and on into next week, where we'll reveal the top three finishers according to the community. We'll also be assigning and explaining our own grades of each player. We'll start with the player who got the lowest community ranking and work our way up to the MVP. If you've missed any of the previous players, check them out in our Season in Review section.

Remy garnered 4 fewer B votes than Trevon Bluiett, but was buoyed by a stronger showing in A votes, bringing in a respectable 14% haul. Remy was most likely greatly aided by excelling where Xavier was weakest, in on ball defending. Only 31 total voters did not see Remy as a B or above and the fact that both he and Trevon had a solitary F vote may indicate the presence of unfriendly, or at the very least impossible to please voters.

Offense: B

While Remy was not a focal point of Xavier's attack- shooting on only 16.2% of the possesions when he was on the floor- there is really no denying he was effective when called upon. His 8.3 ppg came on .489/.411/.713 shooting, with his three point mark leading qualifiers for X. Abell excelled in two areas on offense, driving to the rim- most out of transition- and catch and shoot three pointers. The five threes he rained at Cintas on Marquette served as a notice the he was dangerous when left alone on the perimeter, and his 63% conversion rate at the rim was behind only Matt Stainbrook and Jalen Reynolds out of Musketeers who attempted more than a shot a game there. Joining those two with the fact that his turnover rate of 13.9 was the best on the team (and 390th in the nation) and you come out with the second best player on the team in O Rating, Effective Field Goal %, and True Shooting %, all behind only Matt Stainbrook. Make no mistake, Remy is not the finished product on offense and could use to be more asseritve so as not to get lost for such long stretches, but someone who takes so few possessions up spending 15 games in double figures is a luxury few teams have.

Defense: A

Abell came billed as a major asset on the defensive end who may score on occasion. While his offense was a pleasant surprise to most X fans, he came as advertised on the other side of the ball. Abell's best work was done in his three meetings with D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera formerly and now once again presently of Georgetown. In the first conference game of the season, DSR had 18 on 5-9 shooting, kept quiet until the second half when X was pulling away and Jalen was getting his customary T. Next time out, Abell smothered him into 13 points on just 5-14 shooting in DC before keeping the preseason Big East POY to 11 points on 3-9 shooting in the Big East Semifinal at MSG. Perhaps just as important as his ability to stay in front of and frustrate some of the top guards in the conference was Abell's ability to stay on the floor while doing so, only committing 1.8 fouls per 40 minutes in the process. In the 1-3-1 Abell was no longer stranded on the opponent's best perimeter scorer, but did show a valuable ability to make plays at both the wing and point spots, meaning that he could operate effective both alongside and in lieu of JP Macura.

Overall Grade: A

I think the numbers back up Abell being one of the most important players on Xavier's team this year, especially in light of his ability to defend a man on the ball outside, something no one else on the team was adept at. On offense, he would flit in an out of the game a bit too much to be seen as a go-to scorer, but his efficiency and ability to handle the ball without turning it over made him an excellent secondary or tertiary option in attack. His speed and strength at the rim in transition got him some quick baskets as well, freeing Xavier from the doldrums they sometimes experienced in the half court set.

Do you think the community got it right initially, or was Remy underrated by his own fans? Are there numbers I missed that show a different story for the rising Senior? As always pop into the comments and let us know how you voted and what you thought of Remy's first season as a Muskie.