Tuesday, February 01, 2000
ATLANTIC-10 NOTEBOOK
West's unselfish play ends up hurting Xavier
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Over a six-game stretch from Dec. 30 to Jan. 15, Xavier freshman David West averaged 16 points, shot 60 percent from the field and averaged 10 shots a game. The Musketeers went 3-3.
“I was scoring all these points, but yet we're losing,” the 6-foot-8 center said Monday. “In the back of my mind I'm thinking, man, that's not the way to go. Maybe I've got to change something.”
He did all right. But it didn't help the Musketeers.
West has averaged just six points, shot 26.3 percent and averaged 6.3 field-goal attempts the past three games. XU went 1-2.
“I was kind of pulling back a little bit, looking for the other guys more,” West said. “I was just trying to find a way to win.”
XU coach Skip Prosser met with West on Sunday night, a few hours after XU's victory over Fordham, to talk about West's recent play.
“He's been a little too passive, even in practice,” Prosser said. “We throw the ball to him inside and he throws it right back out. He doesn't even look at the rim. That's not good.”
West scored 10 points against Fordham but was just 2-of-8 from the field. He made all six of his free-throw attempts.
He leads XU, the Atlantic 10 and all Division I freshmen in rebounding (9.0 a game), and is the first freshman to start his first 19 games at Xavier since Anthony Hicks in 1979-80.
“I'll be fine,” West said. “I have to just get back to where I was. I don't know if I'll do it, but I'm going to try.”
WHERE ARE YOU? Bevon Robin, Fordham's leading scorer, had eight points in the first half Sunday against XU, and nailed a 3-pointer 3:36 into the second half. Then coach Bob Hill took Robin out for a rest.
When Hill went to put his starting point guard back in, Robin didn't appear interested. He played just six second-half minutes.
“He wasn't real excited when I went down to get him to go back in, so I told him to sit there,” Hill said. “So he sat out the rest of the game. Those are the kind of lessons that cost our team. Now I don't know that we would've won, but I think we could've made the second half a little more intriguing.”
LOOKING AHEAD: Xavier plays Saturday against George Washington freshman SirValiant Brown, the nation's leading scorer, but the Musketeers have more to worry about than Brown.
Fellow freshman guard Chris Monroe was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after averaging 25 points and 8.5 rebounds in two GW victories last week. Monroe lit up La Salle for a career-high 35 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY: This might not make Xavier feel any better about its 59-40 loss at Temple a week ago. But the Owls have won five straight games, and none of their victims scored more than 50 points. The past five Temple opponents have averaged just 42.6 points.
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