Xavier has given fans reasons to be thankful, it just takes a moment to remember them.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! We all, hopefully, have things to be thankful for that we should remember this time of year. My mom always drove this point home by having us write down what we were thankful for on a turkey shaped piece of paper and taping that to a door in the house. In that vein, here are some things Xavier fans, or at least me, are thankful for.
Zach Freemantle
Yes, that 14 points on 7-16 shooting with 3 TOs does leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Frosty has returned to the floor after an amount of time that would be comical if it wasn’t sad. He’s currently putting up 15.4/7.9/2.4 per game while shooting 60% inside the arc. Against Michigan, he was the only interior presence against the Wolverines monsters inside the paint. He’s also turning the ball over at the lowest rate of his career and is ruthlessly efficient at the rim.
Three point shooting
Yes, the team that just shot 29.2% from three in Fort Myers should be happy about three point shooting. That woeful performance brings the season average down to 39.9% on the year, which is good for 19th in the country. This team is full of guys who have shown they can shoot and shoot well. Ryan Conwell, Dayvion McKnight, Marcus Foster and Trey Green are all over the 40% mark and Jerome Hunter is at that mark exactly. This team can shoot, but seemed like they were forcing poor looks in Fort Myers. This, hopefully, will continue to be an area of strength for this team.
Defensive rebounding
A collection of Freemantle, Swain and Foster have been sealing off the glass on the defensive end. John Hugely has also rebounded well in his time on the floor. If the defense can stop letting opponents take warm-up shots from three, the defense could move from concerning to good when the team does a good job of limiting second chance looks.
Sean Miller
Remember a couple years back when he took over? Yeah, that team didn’t look great through their first seven games. They were 4-3 and looked like they were capable of beating decent teams, but not good ones. Once Miller ironed out the rotation and the team gelled more, they ripped off 11 straight wins, beat the National champs (twice) and finished second in the conference. This team is not the same as that one, but Miller has shown that he can figure things out and put the team in a place to succeed.
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