Like every other reasonable college basketball coach, Chris Mack assembles his lineups to best match his roster. For example, this meant spreading the floor last season around an adept big man who could rebound, pass out of the low post, and convert around the rim. With a similarly constructed backcourt this time around, Mack has implemented the same strategy, opting to let the play-making abilities of his three-headed monster of wings shine while others perform the dirty work. When it works, the Musketeers dominate the glass and generate countless offensive opportunities via putbacks, kickouts and free throws. But the inverse is a slogging half-court offense that cannot generate enough spacing to propel its interior-focused point of attack. While the results don’t quite reflect this, there is a clear disconnect between the two years of offensive output and it starts with Xavier’s big men and ends with putting the ball in the basket.

The obvious problem is that neither James Farr nor Jalen Reynolds is on this year’s team. Both were consistent in averaging just shy of double figure scoring and combining for nearly 15 rebounds per game, but neither was a go-to guy. The rebounding void has been filled this year by transfer RaShid Gaston and freshman Tyrique Jones, but while both might be tenacious on the glass, neither newcomer is very adept on the offensive end.

Below is Xavier’s shot chart against Baylor. Subpar perimeter shooting aside, the Musketeers missed an astounding number of shots within three feet of the basket:

Gaston is converting on just 46.2 percent of his shots at the rim while Jones is hitting at 50.0 percent. Junior Sean O’Mara has been better, but his rebounding rates have fallen despite playing 92 percent of his possessions without Gaston or Jones. So despite the need for a rebounding big man to play such a large role in Mack’s offense this season, none of Xavier’s post players have been effective scorers in those situations. Players with limited offensive skill sets rarely draw double teams, thereby removing the opportunity find easy shots by passing to an open perimeter player. Even on the occasions when help defense arrives, possessions turn noticeably more stagnant and disjointed when Xavier enters the ball into the post.

Stagnant possessions mean less time and space for Edmond Sumner and Trevon Bluiett, both of whom are critical initiators in the offense, to operate. As a result, Xavier’s post players account for just 21 percent of the Musketeers’ points, placing a too-heavy reliance on Sumner, Bluiett and JP Macura for their scoring. Elite teams certainly don’t need to have a go-to player in the low post, but the absence of a reliable source of high percentage shots ultimately results in an inconsistent offense. The problem is obvious, but the solution is not — Xavier needs bettter balance.

Justin Kundrat (175 Posts)

Villanova grad, patiently waiting another 10 years for season tickets. Follow Justin on twitter @JustinKundrat or email him at justin.kundrat@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016 at 4:11 pm by Justin Kundrat and is filed under big east, feature, microsites. Tagged: chris mack, edmond sumner, rashid gaston, trevon bluiett, xavier. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.