Xaiver Johnson

[gary2]

most on the board think he is playing quite poorly, myself included.

The other day Chris Dokish compared the stats from his freshman year to this year. Surprisingly, they are very close. The only number significantly off is points per game. Dokish did not provide a comparison of shots per game.

 

[PittMan 72]

most on the board think he is playing quite poorly, myself included.

The other day Chris Dokish compared the stats from his freshman year to this year. Surprisingly, they are very close. The only number significantly off is points per game. Dokish did not provide a comparison of shots per game.

View embedded media

Maybe biggest difference to me is his number of free throw attempts. Seems to me he is attempting significantly fewer free throws this season. I don’t see that among the stats listed above however to confirm that.

 

[JS School]

I think it's the lack of improvement that affects our perception of how he is playing.

 

[NCanton Panther]

Maybe biggest difference to me is his number of free throw attempts. Seems to me he is attempting significantly fewer free throws this season. I don’t see that among the stats listed above however to confirm that.

Yeah I was going to say the same thing, reduction in FT attempts. That’s partly because he isn’t getting the foul calls from the refs near as often as he was last year. But I think that’s the same for Trey as well.

As much as everyone complains about his wild drives to the basket, I don’t think he does that as much this year. From the very start of the season, it seemed like he had a definite objective to be more of a distributor than last year. And maybe that was also encouraged by Capel. It hasn’t worked out that way w/r to distributing more. And then down the stretch in games, it seems he feels he needs to take control of things more and that’s when the wild I’ll-advised drives to the basket increase.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I think it's the lack of improvement that affects our perception of how he is playing.

Dropping 4 PPG is pretty significant especially since its not like we got so much better that he needs to score less. To be honest, I'm not sure this team is better than last year's. Johnson isnt as good. McGowens improved slightly. Toney is Toney. JWF was far better than Brown. Kene/Brown wasnt as good as this year's Hamilton/Brown.

I said before the season this team will go 7-13 but that wouldn't necessarily mean we improved because the schedule got easier and that was before I knew this would be the weakest the ACC has been in a generation

 

[JS School]

Dropping 4 PPG is pretty significant especially since its not like we got so much better that he needs to score less. To be honest, I'm not sure this team is better than last year's. Johnson isnt as good. McGowens improved slightly. Toney is Toney. JWF was far better than Brown. Kene/Brown wasnt as good as this year's Hamilton/Brown.

I said before the season this team will go 7-13 but that wouldn't necessarily mean we improved because the schedule got easier and that was before I knew this would be the weakest the ACC has been in a generation

4 points less is significant, but his shooting percentages are the same. As the other posts have said, he's not getting the FT attempts as last year. I don't think he's playing worse, or even less aggressively. Just not getting to the line as much for whatever reason.

 

[NCanton Panther]

Dropping 4 PPG is pretty significant especially since its not like we got so much better that he needs to score less. To be honest, I'm not sure this team is better than last year's. Johnson isnt as good. McGowens improved slightly. Toney is Toney. JWF was far better than Brown. Kene/Brown wasnt as good as this year's Hamilton/Brown.

I said before the season this team will go 7-13 but that wouldn't necessarily mean we improved because the schedule got easier and that was before I knew this would be the weakest the ACC has been in a generation

Dropping 4 pts per game with nearly the same 2 and 3 pt shooting %’s and FT % says he isn’t shooting as much or going to the line as much.

 

[NCanton Panther]

4 points less is significant, but his shooting percentages are the same. As the other posts have said, he's not getting the FT attempts as last year. I don't think he's playing worse, or even less aggressively. Just not getting to the line as much for whatever reason.

Looks like we were thinking the same and typing replies at the same time

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

4 points less is significant, but his shooting percentages are the same. As the other posts have said, he's not getting the FT attempts as last year. I don't think he's playing worse, or even less aggressively. Just not getting to the line as much for whatever reason.

If he is shooting less or getting to the line less, that means he isn't playing as well as last season.

 

[Franb]

Dropping 4 pts per game with nearly the same 2 and 3 pt shooting %’s and FT % says he isn’t shooting as much or going to the line as much.

Comparing stats year-to-year, 2 of those 4 points are the result of taking fewer free throws and 2 are from taking fewer shots.

 

[Goldbergfan]

If he is shooting less or getting to the line less, that means he isn't playing as well as last season.

No, it means CAPEL WAS RIGHT.

 

[JS School]

If he is shooting less or getting to the line less, that means he isn't playing as well as last season.

Yeah, that's the problem, he's too unselfish.

 

[PittMan 72]

Yeah I was going to say the same thing, reduction in FT attempts. That’s partly because he isn’t getting the foul calls from the refs near as often as he was last year. But I think that’s the same for Trey as well.

As much as everyone complains about his wild drives to the basket, I don’t think he does that as much this year. From the very start of the season, it seemed like he had a definite objective to be more of a distributor than last year. And maybe that was also encouraged by Capel. It hasn’t worked out that way w/r to distributing more. And then down the stretch in games, it seems he feels he needs to take control of things more and that’s when the wild I’ll-advised drives to the basket increase.

Distribution of the ball by the Pitt G’s is important. But equally important is having finishers. The lack of skilled bigs able to consistently convert inside makes some of the distribution less effective.

It’s something that Pitt certainly needs to improve on. But it will take better personnel to be acquired in addition to simply better decisions and execution to realize significant improvement, IMO.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Distribution of the ball by the Pitt G’s is important. But equally important is having finishers. The lack of skilled bigs able to consistently convert inside makes some of the distribution less effective.

It’s something that Pitt certainly needs to improve on. But it will take better personnel to be acquired in addition to simply better decisions and execution to realize significant improvement, IMO.

"it will take better personnel to be acquired in addition"

They are on their way -- be here next season.

 

[PittMan 72]

"it will take better personnel to be acquired in addition"

They are on their way -- be here next season.

That's the plan! Looking forward to it.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

What are his stats on steals and turnovers, and number of wasted possessions that turned into points for the opponent?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Dropping 4 pts per game with nearly the same 2 and 3 pt shooting %’s and FT % says he isn’t shooting as much or going to the line as much.

We've played 17 games so far this season. Last year we played 33 all year, so basically half. Last season Johnson shot 209 ones, this season so far he's shot 63. That is a huge decrease. Last season Johnson shot 278 twos, this season so far he's shot 120. That is a pretty good sized decrease. Last season Johnson shot 105 threes, this season so far he's shot 45, so definitely fewer there as well.

 

[Thee Jackie Treehorn]

What are his stats on steals and turnovers, and number of wasted possessions that turned into points for the opponent?

Steals per 40 minutes:
Freshman: 1.7
Sophomore: 1.6

Turnovers per 40:
Fresh: 5.1
Soph: 4.7

I will have to defer to someone else on the category of wasted possessions that turned into points for the opponent.

 

[ameoba defense]

How much of this is increased expectations? A year ago we were coming off of a winless season. Expectations were minimal, and everything X did good looked great in comparison to what we saw the year before. Now expectations have risen, and things we may have given X a pass on last year, are now drawing criticism. I think we also expected him to take a big step forward, which hasn't happened.

 

[Pittisit4me]

After watching Marcus Carr and Minnesota last night I think X needs to be given a pass. It is amazing what a little talent around a point can do to enhance his image. We have zero inside game. Carr has Oturro, a great finisher and strong rebounder and an NBA talent. He has wings that can make shots that are not munchkins that have to worry about getting their shots blocked while being closed out on.

I realize we are coming out of the dark ages of Panther basketball, but, we just don't have that kind of talent yet. When we get an inside game and have some shooters with size, it will be fair to judge X. Unfortunately, since our future bigs will only be freshmen next season, we probably can't expect the inside game to be there right away. Hopefully we get Jeffress to reclassify and he could give us a wing shooter who would have some size and be tremendously more athletic than Murph.

Needless to say, we probably can't expect the XJ you all hope for until his senior year. That is if he is still here ofcourse. I never thought Marcus Carr would develop into anything special. I don't think Carr would be where he is had he stayed at Pitt. We just don't have the talent to evaluate whether XJ improved or not. All we have are stats that say he is
the same player as last year.