Dailyn Swain just keeps getting better, and it’s causing the Big East a real problem
After one game in Big East play this season Dailyn Swain was progressing like any talented sophomore. He was averaging 8.3 points per game, occasionally being dominant, and mostly letting the other big names on Xavier do the heavy lifting. He wasn’t being lazy but he was drifting through games, content to let his prodigious talent take over only in small stretches.
Against Jackson St that was an easy double-double. Against South Carolina it was 14 points. Against TCU it was an incredibly efficient 12/4/2 without missing a shot. But that also meant games where it was hard to tell he played. Michigan leaps to mind. Xavier was in the game until late, but Swain never arrived. He went for 0/2/1 in 25 pretty pointless minutes of play.
Someone got in his ear after that opening Big East game. Since then he’s averaged 12.2 points per game, nearly 13 if you take out the game he was sick, posted the second best assist rate on the team in conference play, been tops on the team in defensive rebounding, raised his shooting percentage inside the arc to over 60%, and generally been everything except a three point threat.
This has changed largely because Swain is seeking to get involved. His usage rate for the season is just over 18%, a 5% increase from last season, but is nearly 20% in conference play. That hasn’t just come from shooting. Dailyn is still only fourth on the team in shots taken rate. What he has done is start to take on something of a point forward role of late. That leads to his climbing assist rate. Maybe even more impressively, Swain’s turnover rate has dropped in conference play to just 16%. That’s very good for someone who uses the ball a lot.
In the last two games especially, Dailyn has keyed more offense. It’s no coincidence that Dayvion McKnight has seen a revitalization in those two games, posting offensive ratings of 136 and 118 as some of the responsibility for the offense has been lifted off his shoulders. The idea of Swain as something of a point forward was mentioned multiple times in the latest episode of All In and is clearly something the team has been working on.
It’s not just offense, though. Last night Swain obliterated Butler’s offense. He guarded everyone other than Andre Screen, harassed poor Patrick McCaffery into a laughably bad night, jumped every passing lane, and ended up with a frankly hilarious six steals. In fact, that means that Dailyn Swain is now one of two Xavier players who has, in separate games obviously, led the team in points, rebounds, assist, blocks, and steals. (The other is Dante Maddox, because why would he not be.)
Dailyn Swain is a three point shot away from being a unicorn. He can score over just about anyone. He rebounds at close to an elite level. He can now initiate offense reasonably well. He’s a defensive nightmare for any opposition. Joel predicted yesterday that Swain could take this game over. He responded with 13/7/4 and those six steals. He’s warming to the challenge. If Xavier is playing in late March it may well be because of their incredibly talented sophomore.