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Still no word on Edmond Sumner
Anyone with a Twitter account is undoubtedly refreshing frantically to see if there is an update. There isn’t. Speculation is running rampant that Ed tore his ACL, but that’s all just based on watching that horrific landing. As soon as any word comes down, we’ll let you know. Be prepared for the worst. Does Kevin Feeney have any eligibility left?
The bigs are horrid right now
6/6/1. That’s not the line of part time guy who came in to get some work in the low post, that’s the combined effort of Sean O’Mara and Rashid Gaston in 25 minutes of work. While Xavier didn’t get bullied as badly on the post as they did against UC, at least in part because that’s simply not possible, the two main post players were bad again. 2-5 from the floor with no shot coming from farther than six feet out is just inexcusable. If Ed really is done for the year, Xavier is going to need their two bigs to actually start doing their job.
The freshman are not
Tyrique Jones got the start and went 1-6 from the floor, but he was relentless on the glass and managed to play 16 minutes without fouling out. Jones needs some refinement in his game, but his effort is unquestioned. Xavier needs some snarl down low, and the man built like your favorite mid-sized truck provides it. Quentin Goodin posted a 158 offensive efficiency rating and took the game over for Xavier after Sumner went down. Just two weeks ago people were questioning what Goodin really brought to the the team. It’s safe to say he has answered those question.
Kaiser Gates remains an enigma
Gates raked in nine rebounds yesterday, six of them on the defensive end. That kind of rebounding effort is excellent, especially when O’Mara and Gaston are mired in futility. Unfortunately, that came with an 0-4 floor, three of which came from behind the arc. So, Kaiser remains a tantalizing amount of potential that Coach Mack (or perhaps Gates himself) hasn’t figured out how to effectively tap.
JP Macura isn’t himself
Last season, JP was the third most efficient player in the Big East once conference play started. His 121.3 offensive efficiency was tops on Xavier and came on the back of a low turnover rate and good shooting. This season, JP’s efficiency rating is 12 points lower, his turnover rate is 5% higher, and all of his shooting numbers are down. With the team desperate for any sort of help in the backcourt, JP is going to need to figure out what is going on, and quickly.