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Last time out, Quentin Goodin dropped 5 points on 2-6 shooting. Despite that, he had a highly effective game thanks to his 6 assists and 0 turnovers.
That got me thinking: what does Xavier need out of Q? Under Coach Mack, Xavier has traditionally had one guard who has the ball in his hands for most of the game. It started with Tu Holloway, then passed to Semaj Christon, Dee Davis, Ed Sumner, and now Q.
With the exception of Dee, these guards have fit a certain mold. They were guy who could score the ball, and they were often asked to carry a large portion of the offensive load. Even Dee could knock down shots when left open, as UC can attest.
Goodin is obviously a bit different. He is averaging 5.4 PPG on his career. He has taken 252 shots and made 91 of them (36.1%). These are not the numbers of a guy who is going to make offense by creating and making his own shot. Here is how he compares to Xavier lead guards during the Chris Mack era:
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| Year | PG | ORtg | %Poss | %Shots | eFG% | TS% | ARate | TORate | Team AdjO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | PG | ORtg | %Poss | %Shots | eFG% | TS% | ARate | TORate | Team AdjO |
| 2018 | Quentin Goodin | 109.5 | 20.6 | 15.9 | 41.4 | 49.6 | 36.8 | 24.5 | 119.1 (3) |
| 2017 | Edmond Sumner | 110.2 | 24.9 | 21.5 | 50.7 | 57.0 | 30.3 | 19.6 | 115.7 (29) |
| 2016 | Edmond Sumner | 104.3 | 23.6 | 21.2 | 44.5 | 51.6 | 25.1 | 19.0 | 117.1 (18) |
| 2015 | Dee Davis | 104.3 | 19.8 | 17.0 | 46.7 | 51.2 | 33.5 | 22.6 | 116.6 (15) |
| 2014 | Semaj Christon | 106.5 | 26.9 | 25.9 | 50.1 | 54.4 | 25.3 | 16.8 | 112.9 (46) |
| 2013 | Semaj Christon | 95.9 | 30.2 | 28.1 | 45.3 | 50.3 | 32.2 | 22.2 | 106.0 (116) |
| 2012 | Tu Holloway | 111.8 | 25.5 | 22.7 | 48.7 | 58.7 | 27.5 | 19.0 | 108.7 (74) |
| 2011 | Tu Holloway | 114.1 | 28.0 | 24.7 | 50.0 | 60.2 | 30.4 | 19.5 | 112.8 (37) |
| 2010 | Tu Holloway | 113.0 | 19.9 | 17.9 | 47.0 | 56.8 | 22.1 | 17.6 | 115.5 (18) |
Let’s unpack the story the numbers tell. Q is using a decent amount of possessions, but he barely shoots at all. Instead, he’s distributing as well as any of his predecessors on the ball.
It’s probably just as well that he’s not shooting much, because he doesn’t do it very well. An average EFG% is in the neighborhood of 49%, so... yeah. His True Shooting Percentage (TS%), which includes his free throw numbers, bumps him back up into a respectable range.
The main takeaway here is that Coach Mack’s usage of his lead guard reflects the evolution of the Xavier offense. From throwing it to Tu or Semaj and asking him to do his thing, the flow has evolved into something that moves a lot more and gets the team involved. With JP, Tre, Kaiser, Kerem, Tyrique, and Big Sean all posting ORtgs over 130, the Muskies don’t need another scorer, they just need a dude they can trust to get the ball to their scorers where they can score.
Cometh the moment, cometh the man. Q may not be drilling jumpers, but he’s definitely doing his job.