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Stuhoo

Xavier Johnson - Commits to IU (PG)

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30 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

People are really overvaluing Franklin. He was a good player but he wasn’t some superstar.  He had more turnovers than assists yet Xaviers turnovers concern you?  
 

I liked Franklin and wanted to keep him. But the only thing we could say about him was he was our best 3 point shooter and given how terrible we were at that not that impressive. 
 


 

 

I see things similarly while at the same time it’s hard for me to gauge how much of an effect losing AF will bring at this point

On the one hand while people talk about AF’s 3-point percentage his 2-point percentage was around 43 percent. Compare Hunter at about 54 percent etc. 43 is not great. And that went with how many of the team’s shots he took, it was disproportionately high, with a lot of misses to go with TO’s,  we lost scoring from others because of how much of the offense he required or CAM pushed though him while he played like 30 mpg.

On the other he was our 2d leading scorer (though by about .1) and on percentages easily our best deep shooter on the season, and he brought it every game, hustled and played hard on both ends. I definitely wanted him back, good kid, good player.

I can’t tell yet what the impact will be but if guys like Leal, Hunter and Rob shoot at the level they’re capable of, with more opportunity and emphasis, Geronimo and Galloway get more PT and bring that soph jump - I think both will contribute a lot more - Lander has the jump as a soph with his age and strength and a year’s experience to let him show that #1 pg ranking promise, and X and Race bring that toughness and attacking scoring, while TJD does his thing (with some shooting), we could be really good.

Still ifs to work through but looking forward to this season with Woody at the helm, I have a feeling of confidence on what he can bring out of the players I just never had with CAM

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Xavier Johnson is an upgrade from Al Durham, of course. But to say he is an upgrade over Armaan is not nearly as clear.

Let’s not use how bad IU was as an argument for why it was okay that Franklin left. By all metrics, Pittsburgh was MUCH worse. They were bad all three years XJ was there.

He has turnover problems, isn’t a shooter, and has had issues with technicals and coaching. There are plenty of reasons for concerns.

I’m not saying he won’t work out, of course I will root for him. But I will need to be sold on the court.


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In my opinion we are asking the wrong question.

A better question is: Is Parker Stewart as/good better than Franklin? Because they have a more similar skill set.

For X? His skill set more closely mirrors Durham, but probably most closely mirrors Phinisee. I would suggest X has been and will be better than either of those two.

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In my opinion we are asking the wrong question.
A better question is: Is Parker Stewart as/good better than Franklin? Because they have a more similar skill set.
For X? His skill set more closely mirrors Durham, but probably most closely mirrors Phinisee. I would suggest X has been and will be better than either of those two.

I disagree. They are both play making guards. It is fair to compare them.


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The "turnover problems" are overblown. If you're a high usage player you're more than likely going to average a lot of turnovers. The leaders in turnovers per game in the NBA are: Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, James Harden, Giannis, and LeBron. Xavier is a high usage aggressive guard. He's going to commit turnovers. Guards won't commit many turnovers when they play Archie ball and walk the ball up the court and then pound the ball into the ground for 20 seconds a possession, but I don't think many fans want IU to do that next season.
As for not being a shooter, he shot 79% from the line last season on 5 attempts a game. That was better than everyone on IU's team last year except for Lander (who shot 8 free throws all season). He finishes at the rim better than any guard on our team last year. IU needs talent, and he's very talented. It's a no brainer pick up and I really don't see the cause for concern. 

His assist/turnovers weren’t even 2-1. And about shooting, my biggest concern isn’t that he’s not a great shooter, but that THIS team needs shooters.

I am glad we got him, for sure. Just have some real concerns about how good he is. And I really think that is okay.


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10 minutes ago, IUc2016 said:


His assist/turnovers weren’t even 2-1. And about shooting, my biggest concern isn’t that he’s not a great shooter, but that THIS team needs shooters.

I am glad we got him, for sure. Just have some real concerns about how good he is. And I really think that is okay.


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He averaged 5.7 assists a game last year. Our three starting guards last year averaged 7.6 assists a game combined. We lost a shooter in Franklin and replaced him with a guy in Stewart who is a better shooter. Johnson is going to replace Phinisee as our starting point guard. Last year Rob shot 26% from 3 while Johnson shot 32%. Now great of course, but it’s an improvement over what we had. And if a guy can shoot 79% from the line I’m confident he can become a better 3 point shooter too. 
 

Pittsburgh has had several talented guards transfer away from Jeff Capel, so I’m not as concerned about the behavioral stuff. 

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29 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

The "turnover problems" are overblown. If you're a high usage player you're more than likely going to average a lot of turnovers. The leaders in turnovers per game in the NBA are: Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, James Harden, Giannis, and LeBron. Xavier is a high usage aggressive guard. He's going to commit turnovers. Guards won't commit many turnovers when they play Archie ball and walk the ball up the court and then pound the ball into the ground for 20 seconds a possession, but I don't think many fans want IU to do that next season.

As for not being a shooter, he shot 79% from the line last season on 5 attempts a game. That was better than everyone on IU's team last year except for Lander (who shot 8 free throws all season). He finishes at the rim better than any guard on our team last year. IU needs talent, and he's very talented. It's a no brainer pick up and I really don't see the cause for concern. 

Its a no brainer in my mind as well. Id like to see X shoot it  little better from three but other than that I think he could be the best pg weve had since Yogi.

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He averaged 5.7 assists a game last year. Our three starting guards last year averaged 7.6 assists a game combined. We lost a shooter in Franklin and replaced him with a guy in Stewart who is a better shooter. Johnson is going to replace Phinisee as our starting point guard. Last year Rob shot 26% from 3 while Johnson shot 32%. Now great of course, but it’s an improvement over what we had. And if a guy can shoot 79% from the line I’m confident he can become a better 3 point shooter too. 
 
Pittsburgh has had several talented guards transfer away from Jeff Capel, so I’m not as concerned about the behavioral stuff. 

That’s all great. You don’t have the concerns and I do.


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5 minutes ago, IUc2016 said:


That’s all great. You don’t have the concerns and I do.


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You’re free to have whatever concerns you want, but they’re not based in reality, imo. He’s an improvement over our starting point guard last year, and if for whatever reason he’s not, our starting point guard from last year is still on the team. 

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You’re free to have whatever concerns you want, but they’re not based in reality, imo. 

Huh? Alright then. I think another poster who went back and watched his games would disagree with you.

Would be interested in if usps feels my concerns aren’t based in reality as well. Sure he has watched way more than both of us


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27 minutes ago, IUc2016 said:


Huh? Alright then. I think another poster who went back and watched his games would disagree with you.

Would be interested in if usps feels my concerns aren’t based in reality as well. Sure he has watched way more than both of us


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You said: 

“He has turnover problems, isn’t a shooter, and has had issues with technicals and coaching. There are plenty of reasons for concerns.”

He averaged 1 more turnover a game than Franklin last season while averaging 3.6 more assists. If turnovers are an issue for you when it comes to Johnson, why aren’t/weren’t they for Franklin? Franklin averaged more turnovers than he did assists. 
 

As for technical fouls... “Technicals hadn’t been a problem, at least not to this glaring extent, for much of Johnson’s college career until the past few weeks, making his recent lapses all the more confounding and concerning. In his first 78 games with the Panthers, Johnson had four technical fouls and never finished a season with more than two. In just 19 days, that career mark has nearly doubled.” 
 

Technical fouls were an issue for the entire Pittsburgh team.
“After Wednesday’s game, the Panthers have been called for nine technicals this season, seven of which have come in the past five games. The next-closest ACC team, Boston College, only has four and the conference’s other 14 teams have combined for 21. Of those 21, five came in games against Pitt.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pitt/2021/02/18/pitt-panthers-basketball-nc-state-wolfpack-technical-fouls-xavier-johnson-jeff-capel-femi-odukale/stories/202102180167

For the vast majority of his college career, technicals weren’t an issue for him. 4 techs in 78 games isn’t a cause for concern. That’s a technical every 19.5 games. 3 techs in 3 weeks, during a period where the team as a whole was having technical foul problems, says as much about the situation he was in as it does about him personally. Jeff Capel sounds like the problem in Pittsburgh, not Xavier Johnson. Capel has went 15-38 in the conference and has had a number of players transfer. 

He shot 79% from the free throw line last year. A team that finished 299th in the country in free throw shooting could use some of that shooting. He also finishes very well at the rim. His three point percentage, while not great, was higher than our team average. He shot better from 3 than Phinisee, Lander, Leal, and Galloway.  

Two of the four teams in the final four, including the national champion Baylor Bears, wanted him. They did their their due diligence and thought he could help their teams. We were lucky enough to get him instead of them. 

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