If you blink when driving through Clinton, you’ll miss it.
Same for onsted.
I was at Simpson’s game last night and bacon141 pegged it correctly – we all wanted to see X do more, demand the ball, and be a difference maker. In Whitmer’s 3rd game against Lima this year, they played him intelligently. When X brought the ball up court, they sagged off him, respecting his quickness and ability to drive. As soon as he passed the ball, though, Whitmer faceguarded him (much like Duncan or Nick have been defended). I kept waiting for Lima to run a Pick-n-Roll at the top of the key for X, but they never did the whole night. In the fourth quarter, X was considerably more aggressive, scoring 6 points including what amounted to the game-winner. He played the entire game, has a solid handle, quick/aggressive passer, and is “in-control” on the floor. His outside shot is a bit of a “push” at times, but was normally very soft.
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As someone that has watched Xavier live on 3-4 occasions (not this year though), I like him as a prospect, but the one thing I’d like him to tighten up is his left hand dribble and finishing. It was noticeable to me last summer that he is limited in that regard. That being said…enjoy
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@MattD great video. Not a ton of flash in his game (hence why I was slow to be converted) but he definitely gets the job done. Out of curiosity, where do you see his D-1 floor/ceiling on the scale of Burke to Walton? Like Burke, he doesn’t seem to be a superb athlete but more than compensates with skill, toughness, and high IQ. (I used to think Walton was a superior athlete to TB although since the toe injury he has more trouble turning the corner and elevating … unlike Burke, he almost never dunks in the open court.) Also, how do you think he projects compared to, say, an undersized but otherwise elite floor general like Tyler Ulis? Or is there a better comparison in terms of other successful college PGs? Just trying to calibrate my expectations here!
You can see my original assessment at the link, its pretty detailed. In short, I think people are probably setting themselves up for failure if they think X is a program changer…don’t think he’s that. But I do think he will be a very nice role player that will stick around 4 years. I think his impact will be comparable to Derrick Walton, but in a different way. X is certainly not going to rebound like Derrick, and won’t be as good in transition, but will most likely be a better offensive player in the half court in terms of scoring. X is already very good at some of the things Derrick struggles with, namely changing speeds off PnR and shooting the elbow jumpshot when the defender sags…perhaps more importantly than anything, X has a very good floater and doesn’t try to over penetrate like Derrick. X has a good understanding of what he can, and cannot do.
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Ah I now remember your assessment, when you mysteriously resurfaced after people had feared the worst 
. I guess X has put up a few MEGA games since then but I imagine everything in your writeup still stands…
I’m with Matt on Xavier’s potential, but I do believe he is a program changer. I think like Burke he has a killer mentality and s winners mentality combined with pure pg skill set and elite d. He’s exactly the opposite of the soft minded/weak d shoot threes non stop mentality we have now. So he isn’t the elite program changer talent wise but his style and intangibles are desperately needed. A good version of Aaron craft bAsicslly. He’s our tj McConnell bAsicslly. I think that’s a great comparison to what Xavier can be, a better scoring tj McConnell. That’s my prediction of his four year career,
Austin Davis was named a finalist for Michigan’s Mr. Basketball! Good to hear.
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Not a pure PG by any means IMO. Doesn’t break down defenses with dribble penetration and find bigs for dumpoffs and doesn’t rack up assists in PnR. Much like Walton, he gets his assists in transition and skip passes. Much more of a scoring PG at this point IMO
Also think you’re setting yourself up for failure if you think X is going to match Craft defensively. Simply too small. Like Derrick, I think X may be able to stay in front of his man but fear that he will get bodied due to size. On the bright side, X has a MUCH higher upside on offense in relation to Craft
He still looks awfully heavy footed
Some new film on Ibi Watson. I know some folks here truly believe Ibi is vastly underrated…I disagree. I see Ibi as a more fluid version of Aubrey Dawkins. I think it will be a few years before Ibi is a contributor for the team, just has too many gaps in his game right now. Perhaps most bothersome is the fact that he seemingly gets blown by on D every clip I see of him…I just couldn’t hold it any more. Gotta have WAY more pride and motor IMO.
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Compare how fast they get up and down the floor in the Ibi clip vs Davis. Wow.
Compared to past film, he looks way more agile and light footed.
At least the weight loss looks like it’s helped.
I completely agree. He looks faster and is still running in quicksand.
I am not seeing what you are seeing.
Yeah I’m not seeing that. Doyle does not, but this kid moves great for 240.
Personally, I think Davis will be fine with what JB expects from our center, plus an eventually decent jumper. But I don’t expect him to be there til he’s a RS So/uppserclassman. He runs the floor well, but he will have a major adjustment in competition level. I have bigger worries for him on defense because of lateral movement. He hasn’t had to defend good pick and rolls, probably ever (not that most HS have to defend it consistently), and that’ll be a big adjustment for him because of its prominence at the next level. Can he hedge? Will he be able to recover? Need to see more than highlights to determine that.
I have tried to refrain from chiming in but think it’s time to give some input to adjust expectation level. I had the chance to watch Austin Davis extensively over 4 days at the Michigan Elite 25. This is essentially a camp for the top 25 players for each class in Michigan. Without going in to much detail, Davis struggled mightily vs legit comp, particularly on the defensive end. He REALLY struggled in defending PnR situations, and struggled to run the floor in many instances. He can be an effective back to the basket player when catching the ball on the block, but he really struggles to seal off his defender when they move. The ball was repeatedly stolen on the entry pass because Davis simply would not move laterally to seal off his man.
In sum, Doyle runs the floor MUCH better than Davis. I would not expect Davis to be a rotational player for a few years at minimum, and quite frankly, I don’t think he’ll ever be even an average defender. Unfortunately, God just didn’t bless Davis with the necessary physical tools.
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