Exhibition games wrap up

November 9, 7:19 PMXavier Musketeers ExaminerClint Spaeth

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Xavier Musketeers Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

 

On Saturday Xavier wrapped up the exhibition portion of their schedule with a 83-66 victory over Northern Kentucky. The Muskies won game 1 vs. Rollins 86-47.

Here are my thoughts and observations of the team after the two exhibition games.

• Jamel McLean has added range on his shot. Last season McLean was known for his dunks but really had no game outside of 2 feet. In the game vs. Rollins Jamel showed that he has worked on his jumper by making a 16 foot shot on the wing and he looked more comfortable at the line.
• Jordan Crawford might be the most hyped newcomer in Xavier history and fans saw glimpses of why. In the two exhibition games Crawford led the Muskies in scoring (16 vs. Rollins, 15 vs. NKU), did a solid job of creating his own shot and driving to the hole.
• The other newcomer that Xavier fans look forward to is PG Mark Lyons. Lyons had a team high 7 assists vs. Rollins and played aggressive defense in both games. Lyons has a quick move through the lane as well. Terrell Holloway started both games at Point and looked better against NKU than he did vs. Rollins. Holloway will begin the season as the starting PG, but Lyons will see plenty of action as well.
• Jason Love was his usual sold consistent self and should be one of the top big men in the A10 in his senior season. Backup Center Kenny Frease struggled on the defensive end, but showed some good moves in the paint on offense.
• Freshman forward Jeff Robinson showed he has athleticism, but don't expect a lot of playing time from Robinson in his freshman season. Redshirt Freshman guard Brian Walsh struggled and with the players ahead of him, don't expect to see much from Walsh this season.
• Sharpshooting guard Brad Redford struggled to find his shot vs. Rollins but had a good bounce back performance vs. NKU hitting all four of his 3 point attempts. Redford can be instant offense, but will need to find ways to get open and improve his defense to increase his minutes.
• The coaching philosophy of Chris Mack isn't much difference from Sean Miller. You won't notice much of a difference at all on defense. This years team will be more up-tempo on offense however, due to the personnel that Mack has. Expect a lot of 3 guard line ups.