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November 22 Sheet

Xavier (-5) at Stanford - 7:30pm Pacific
It is hard not to like this Xavier team. A-10 preseason player of the year forward David West shocked everyone by announcing he was coming back for his senior season at the teams postseason banquet last year. Knowing what they have a chance to accomplish this season, the team has been all business ever since.

It is well known that David West is a bona fide star. West has improved his ball handling and face the basket skills allowing him to create more of his own shots this year. He has worked hard to become an NBA lottery pick in next years draft. Junior swingman Roman Sato is the lesser known star but may actually be even better than West. Sato averaged 16.1ppg & 6.6 rebounds last season. He is an explosive slasher, defensive dynamo, and accomplished outside shooter. Head coach Matta calls him the best two guard in the country when you combine both ends of the floor. Point guard Lionel Chalmers will start for the second straight year and is now a senior, he also averaged double figures last season. Senior forward David Young and junior center Anthony Myles, both solid complimentary players, round out the starting lineup.

One key development for Xavier this year is depth. Freshman guard Dedrick Finn, sophomore forward/center Will Claudle, and sophomore guard/forward Keith Jackson are three emerging young players who make Xavier solid one through eight. All three looked great in the season opener. Unlike last season, there will not be much of a drop-off when the team goes to the bench.

Stanford is not a very good basketball team right now. They lost two standouts (Curtis Borchardt & Casey Jacobson, both 1st round NBA picks) from last years team. The two accounted for 47.5% of the teams scoring last year. Jacobson also led the team in assists while Borchardt had twice as many rebounds and blocks than anyone else on the team. They also lost steady senior point guard Tony Giovacchini.

Stanford must play the first month of this season without their projected starting point guard Chris Hernandez (injury) and their best inside power player Teyo Johnson (still with football team) for another few weeks. This team does not have a go to scorer. Senior Julius Barnes was expected to carry much of the scoring load but he went just 2-for-13 in season opener. Sophomore Josh Childress scored 22 points in the opener but many of his points came on putbacks and against simply outmatched Boston U defenders. Neither player was very impressive. Not helping natters is the fact that the team has no low post threat. Starting center Rob Little is a big body but only took one shot in first game. Power forward Justin Davis is a bit undersized. He had a few big plays in the game but nothing meaningful in a set offense. This was against an undersized, athletically challenged Boston U team. Not sure how Stanford will score points consistently against good defensive teams and their defense is not nearly good enough to win games on its own.

Boston U (American East conference Sporting News preseason rank: 114) led the entire first half and by as many as 8 in the 2nd half before Stanford went on a decisive 17-4 run to get a narrow lead and was able to hold on (not pull away) from there for a four point victory.

Xavier went 26-6 last year and returns all key players except for Kevin Frey. It took final four bound Oklahoma to knock them out of the NCAA tournament last season. This years team is more experienced, deeper, and even better than last year. Three seniors and two juniors make up the starting line up. Xavier was an excellent 13-5 away from home last season which gives me confidence they will come to play on the road here. Do not see this game being very competitive. Musketeers by double digits.

Xavier  1 UNIT

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