Trying to find a way to describe the drastic transformation Xavier has gone through this season, colorful former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin turned to the classic 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Specifically, it was the who-are-those-guys line both stars said as a posse kept chasing them.
“You know, they’re trying to lose them and they think they’re gone and all of a sudden they hear the hoofsteps,” Lavin said.
Lavin’s point: That Xavier won’t go away, becoming better after losing Myles Davis to a suspension and January departure and even after standout guard Edmund Sumner blew out his knee later that month.
“People are evaluating Xavier based on their freefall when they lost seven of 10 games (including six in a row),” said Lavin, now an analyst for Turner Sports. “But they reinvented themselves and this current group is playing at a very high level in terms of confidence. You look at them and it’s `Who are those guys having career nights?' ”
Lavin said he’s been particularly impressed with guards Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura, while noting that the Musketeers’ switching defense can be problematic – especially when they go to a 1-3-1 zone.
“They’re mixing defenses which they’ve done in the past but this group has been paying better defense than they have all season,” Lavin said. “They have a 1-3-1 with (J.P.) Macura out top fulltime and then they have a 1-3-1 that drops into a 2-3 zone. They sometimes trap and they also have a man-to-man. They’ve been very effective at keeping opponents off balance. I would imagine Arizona would see a lot of zone.”
