Matching last season: scoring from behind the arc

Xavier started off last season hotter than a barrel of fire from deep before cooling down considerably through the middle part of the year. Success from behind the arc was a pretty good indicator of how likely Xavier was to win any given game; as long as they could hit enough to keep defenses honest, the rest usually took care of itself.

What did we lose?

Obviously Matt Stainbrook was not the biggest cog in the Xavier machine in terms of shooting from long range; he ended the year 1-5 from deep. Dee Davis, however, hit 35-109 from behind the arc and finished the season on a tear from deep that coincided with Xavier's hot streak of results as a team. Having a ball-handler who could hit if teams walked away from him was key for the Musketeers.

Can we replace it?

By and large, I believe we can. Remy Abell is not the kind of guy who hunts shots, but he is a reliable three-point shooter when the ball rotates his way. Myles Davis built on a solid freshman season by carrying his effective shooting deeper into the season last year. Trevon Bluiett and JP Macura both came into the program with reputations as big-time shooters, and they will surely both put up better numbers from behind the arc with a year of experience under their respective belts.

What is a more interesting problem is having a point guard who can shoot. Coach Mack is apparently at least a little unsettled with LAJ and Edmond Sumner at the point because Myles Davis is also part of the plan then. Myles can obviously shoot, but Larry didn't show much of a shot as a freshman and it was not high on his scouting report when he signed. Sumner is a guy who can score it all kinds of ways; if he can stay healthy and make a quick transition to the college game, he could answer a lot of the team's offensive questions by playing the point.