The XJ we know

[Sean Miller Fan]

“He’s gonna be okay” — IU basketball needs steady Xavier Johnson down the stretch

Xavier Johnson’s senior season with IU has been a seesaw affair. Against Ohio State, the Hoosiers were forced to lean even more than normal on him as the lone available point guard on the ros…

www.thedailyhoosier.com

A new article. He is who he is. Sounds like his last game perfectly encapsulated him. Wretched 1st Half marred by 5 TOs and foul trouble but great 2nd Half.

He is a nice backup guard to have on a good team. Luckily, IU has TJD to get them to the tournament (barely).

 

[wolf0717]

“He’s gonna be okay” — IU basketball needs steady Xavier Johnson down the stretch

Xavier Johnson’s senior season with IU has been a seesaw affair. Against Ohio State, the Hoosiers were forced to lean even more than normal on him as the lone available point guard on the ros…

www.thedailyhoosier.com

A new article. He is who he is. Sounds like his last game perfectly encapsulated him. Wretched 1st Half marred by 5 TOs and foul trouble but great 2nd Half.

He is a nice backup guard to have on a good team. Luckily, IU has TJD to get them to the tournament (barely).

Well if they make it they are running out of time. They have been in a free fall since mid January. They just can't score enough to compete with the elite of the Big 10.

 

[snaphook297]

X sucks

 

[Pittnerski]

Would still he rather be here though…

 

[New York Panther]

Would still he rather be here though…

Not me. He became a negative factor.

 

[Franb]

“He’s gonna be okay” — IU basketball needs steady Xavier Johnson down the stretch

Xavier Johnson’s senior season with IU has been a seesaw affair. Against Ohio State, the Hoosiers were forced to lean even more than normal on him as the lone available point guard on the ros…

www.thedailyhoosier.com

A new article. He is who he is. Sounds like his last game perfectly encapsulated him. Wretched 1st Half marred by 5 TOs and foul trouble but great 2nd Half.

He is a nice backup guard to have on a good team. Luckily, IU has TJD to get them to the tournament (barely).

It seems that he has not learned a thing about consistency in 4 years, with 2 different coaching staffs.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Would still he rather be here though…

We need a PG next season. If he wanted to come back, I'd say no way. Not good enough.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

We need a PG next season. If he wanted to come back, I'd say no way. Not good enough.

24/6 on 7 shots over Maryland. But we have Femi. You don’t know CBB… at ALL

 

[PittPharm2002]

Would still he rather be here though…

Truth
He and Toney make us a way better team

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

24/6 on 7 shots over Maryland. But we have Femi. You don’t know CBB… at ALL

He is what he is.

You said he would be All Big Ten. And I'd still take Femi over him. I would take any random transfer PG over him. He plays like an idiot 60% of the time.

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

He is what he is.

You said he would be All Big Ten. And I'd still take Femi over him. I would take any random transfer PG over him. He plays like an idiot 60% of the time.

And that’s how you show everyone you don’t know CBB. Congrats, it’s only example 439304

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

And that’s how you show everyone you don’t know CBB. Congrats, it’s only example 439304

And neither do IU fans who want him benched every other game. It was you who said he'd be All Big Ten.

 

[thebadby2]

It seems that he has not learned a thing about consistency in 4 years, with 2 different coaching staffs.

I don’t think consistency is a learned trait.

 

[Ski11585]

Did we need another thread about this?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don’t think consistency is a learned trait.

Its part of not being that good of a player. He is similar in that regard to Horton. Both are P6 level players but neither are good enough to be guys you need to rely on. Both can win you a game when they're good or be guys you can't afford to have on the court when they're bad. Both need reduced roles on a good team. If they're playing 30 minutes every night, you're in trouble. In Johnson's case, he is on a very talented team so he can screw up and they can still win.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Has any school consistently had point guards with goofier shooting deliveries than we have over the past 20 year? Krauser, Fields, Johnson, Odukale... I could probably even just say guards in general and throw in guys like Cam Wright, McGowens, Burton, etc. Not all were bad or anything... Just so many unnatural shooters.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Has any school consistently had point guards with goofier shooting deliveries than we have over the past 20 year? Krauser, Fields, Johnson, Odukale... I could probably even just say guards in general and throw in guys like Cam Wright, McGowens, Burton, etc. Not all were bad or anything... Just so many unnatural shooters.

Knight - Krauser - Fields - Wanamaker/Gibbs - Woodall - Robinson was as good of a 10 year run as you could possibly have at that position. Similar to the QB position in football, you don't have to look much further than the PG position in determining whether a team will be good or not.

Since Robinson, we've had:

16-17: no PG (Artis dribbled the ball up the court)
17-18: Carr but a true frosh and not quite ready
18-19: Johnson (good for a frosh)
19-20: Johnson (bad soph year)
20-21: Johnson (good enough but team had other issues)
21-22: no PG

If you look at the Dixon teams that didn't make the NCAAT, 1 was when Woodall got hurt and Gibbs played the point. Robinson was the PG for the other but the team had major issues underneath.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Knight - Krauser - Fields - Wanamaker/Gibbs - Woodall - Robinson was as good of a 10 year run as you could possibly have at that position. Similar to the QB position in football, you don't have to look much further than the PG position in determining whether a team will be good or not.

Since Robinson, we've had:

16-17: no PG (Artis dribbled the ball up the court)
17-18: Carr but a true frosh and not quite ready
18-19: Johnson (good for a frosh)
19-20: Johnson (bad soph year)
20-21: Johnson (good enough but team had other issues)
21-22: no PG

If you look at the Dixon teams that didn't make the NCAAT, 1 was when Woodall got hurt and Gibbs played the point. Robinson was the PG for the other but the team had major issues underneath.

It's everything, really. If we had a big man to complement Johnson, Toney, and Champagnie we might make the tournament one of those years.

I get there was other stuff going on behind the scenes, but losing always exacerbates that (although I guess you could argue some stuff happened even when we were winning last year).

 

[PittPharm2002]

I mean X is more of a point than either femi or Burton
Toney was the best overall player we’ve had

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's everything, really. If we had a big man to complement Johnson, Toney, and Champagnie we might make the tournament one of those years.

I get there was other stuff going on behind the scenes, but losing always exacerbates that (although I guess you could argue some stuff happened even when we were winning last year).

Yep. It was so frustrating Capel struck out on so many bigs, even ones who turned out to be terrible like Igiehon.

You need 3 players. A PG, a wing, and a big. Like lets say next year, everyone comes back and we add a Tray Woodall, slightly above average PG clone, that's all we really need. We have the big. The wings are good enough. If we had a PG, we'd have a team with enough to get to the NCAAT. Now, I don't think we'd get there because you still have to have a guy who can coach but we'd have the pieces.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Yep. It was so frustrating Capel struck out on so many bigs, even ones who turned out to be terrible like Igiehon.

You need 3 players. A PG, a wing, and a big. Like lets say next year, everyone comes back and we add a Tray Woodall, slightly above average PG clone, that's all we really need. We have the big. The wings are good enough. If we had a PG, we'd have a team with enough to get to the NCAAT. Now, I don't think we'd get there because you still have to have a guy who can coach but we'd have the pieces.

I don't know if I could go quite that far with Mo leaving. Even this year, it feels like we're more than just a PG away.

Moving forward, and assuming we'll not be loaded with talent any time soon, I think we need to have three guys on the floor who are legitimate 3-point threats... and they can't all be liabilities on defense like Horton/Murphy/etc. I just can't see how else we could win with the level we're recruiting/not recruiting at.

 

[wbrpanther]

He is what he is.

You said he would be All Big Ten. And I'd still take Femi over him. I would take any random transfer PG over him. He plays like an idiot 60% of the time.

So if someone offered you your choice of apples, you'd take the orange. FEMI IS NOT A PG. I would not like to see X here but he would be a huge improvement at the point, even with the attitude.

 

[PittAU]

Maryland is not a good team.

The other day in an important game against Ohio State, a pretty good team, X was a good part of why IU lost. He was terrible down the stretch and finished 3/12 from the floor, 0/3 from 3PT, had six turnovers and 5 fouls.

He should put up good numbers against Maryland.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

So if someone offered you your choice of apples, you'd take the orange. FEMI IS NOT A PG. I would not like to see X here but he would be a huge improvement at the point, even with the attitude.

Femi is not a PG. I'd take not having a PG over Johnson. He is a terrible fit for a flawed team.

 

[thebadby2]

24/6 on 7 shots over Maryland. But we have Femi. You don’t know CBB… at ALL

That’s awesome. It almost makes up for the fact that he’s coming off a 5 game stretch where he was as bad as any starting guard in the history of college basketball. Biggest single reason why his team lost 4 of those games.

 

[thebadby2]

Its part of not being that good of a player. He is similar in that regard to Horton. Both are P6 level players but neither are good enough to be guys you need to rely on. Both can win you a game when they're good or be guys you can't afford to have on the court when they're bad. Both need reduced roles on a good team. If they're playing 30 minutes every night, you're in trouble. In Johnson's case, he is on a very talented team so he can screw up and they can still win.

X is most certainly a P5 level player, just not nearly as good of one as some on this board continue to believe. And he can't "screw up" and have his team win--they aren't that good and they have lost a number of games when he has played very poorly, including 4 of their last 5.

I've never thought much of Femi. Long and athletic but fundamentally unsound mid-major role player-level guy who gets a lot of minutes on a P5 team out of pure necessity.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That’s awesome. It almost makes up for the fact that he’s coming off a 5 game stretch where he was as bad as any starting guard in the history of college basketball. Biggest single reason why his team lost 4 of those games.

And he didn't even play in one of those games!

 

[thebadby2]

Has any school consistently had point guards with goofier shooting deliveries than we have over the past 20 year? Krauser, Fields, Johnson, Odukale... I could probably even just say guards in general and throw in guys like Cam Wright, McGowens, Burton, etc. Not all were bad or anything... Just so many unnatural shooters.

I agree. Some of those guys were outstanding players and made big shots at big times-like Fields obviously. But Pitt has always seemed to lack that pure jump shooter in the backcourt. Lot of home-made shooting strokes we've seen over the years.

With Odukale's shooting mechanics, or rather lack thereof, I'm suprised every time one of his perimeter shots falls.

 

[thebadby2]

I mean X is more of a point than either femi or Burton
Toney was the best overall player we’ve had

Yet he's averaging 10 ppg and shooting 30% from three point range this year as a senior. Not much of a best overall player.

That said, I agree that he's a solid all-around wing and is very good defensively. Considerably better than any perimeter player we have this season.

 

[thebadby2]

Yep. It was so frustrating Capel struck out on so many bigs, even ones who turned out to be terrible like Igiehon.

You need 3 players. A PG, a wing, and a big. Like lets say next year, everyone comes back and we add a Tray Woodall, slightly above average PG clone, that's all we really need. We have the big. The wings are good enough. If we had a PG, we'd have a team with enough to get to the NCAAT. Now, I don't think we'd get there because you still have to have a guy who can coach but we'd have the pieces.

Like lets say next year, everyone comes back and we add a Tray Woodall, slightly above average PG clone, that's all we really need.

That's not even close to true.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That's not even close to true.

I was going to say this, but sometimes it doesn't seem worth the effort.

 

[thebadby2]

Maryland is not a good team.

The other day in an important game against Ohio State, a pretty good team, X was a good part of why IU lost. He was terrible down the stretch and finished 3/12 from the floor, 0/3 from 3PT, had six turnovers and 5 fouls.

He should put up good numbers against Maryland.

Well he was 1-8 against Maryland a month ago. And with 9 assists in that one truthfully that might have been the best game he's played since the Maryland game the other night.

Can't for the life of me undrstand why certain posters are so insistent on trying to paint X as something he's not. Is he a better guard than we currently have? Obviously, but just about any legit P5 starter would be. Is he a good starting P5 guard? No. He's middling. Very inconsistent.

 

[thebadby2]

And he didn't even play in one of those games!

If it makes you feel better I can change it to say that IU lost 4 of the last 5 games X played in before Maryland the other night. They lost 5 of their last 6 before that.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

If it makes you feel better I can change it to say that IU lost 4 of the last 5 games X played in before Maryland the other night. They lost 5 of their last 6 before that.

It doesn't make me feel any better or worse, because I don't actually care.

It did, however, give me a little chuckle that you are so desperate to paint Johnson in a bad light that you essentially blamed him for his bad play in a game that he didn't play in.

Seriously, why do you care so much?

 

[wbrpanther]

Femi is not a PG. I'd take not having a PG over Johnson. He is a terrible fit for a flawed team.

Exactly what we have now.

 

[PittAU]

Well he was 1-8 against Maryland a month ago. And with 9 assists in that one truthfully that might have been the best game he's played since the Maryland game the other night.

Can't for the life of me undrstand why certain posters are so insistent on trying to paint X as something he's not. Is he a better guard than we currently have? Obviously, but just about any legit P5 starter would be. Is he a good starting P5 guard? No. He's middling. Very inconsistent.

I don't care too, too much about him now that he is not a Panther. Is he, at times, better than what we have on the floor today? No doubt.

He is part of the reason though that we are in such a bad state of affairs. There are a lot of people to blame.

 

[sonofabit]

I mean X is more of a point than either femi or Burton
Toney was the best overall player we’ve had

Since Champ? I’d take Champ over Toney 24/7/365. Unless I misunderstand. Dude could ‘bound and score.

 

[thebadby2]

It doesn't make me feel any better or worse, because I don't actually care.

It did, however, give me a little chuckle that you are so desperate to paint Johnson in a bad light that you essentially blamed him for his bad play in a game that he didn't play in.

Seriously, why do you care so much?

I think you have me all wrong there Joe. You lost me at "desperate" and "care so much". The discussion is about X. Some posters seem to think he's something very clearly isn't. I'm countering them.

I watched a couple of those last few games X tanked in and it took 20 seconds for me to look at his stat line over the last 5 games he played in. His team lost 4 of them and he was a big part of the reason.

 

[Millerton24]

24/6 on 7 shots over Maryland. But we have Femi. You don’t know CBB… at ALL

I know basketball greatly and I'm glad he's not at Pitt

 

[BballinsiderfromPitt]

I know basketball greatly and I'm glad he's not at Pitt

This is by far our worst team of the Capel era.

He’s not the answer and has flaws but this team would be much better with him on this. People can’t seriously think it wouldn’t be