Seven big things for the 2022-23 Xavier Musketeers basketball season

Every college basketball season begins with one game.

What happens between the first and last game is a long story filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, and it's the ending that decides whether or not a season was a success.

The little things along the way have a tendency to become big things.

Before the ball officially starts bouncing, here's a look at seven big things for Xavier men's basketball and the 2022-23 season.

Season-long improvement

Like the other 352 Division I college teams, Xavier will have the chance to improve. Week-to-week and game-to-game growth is the most critical thing that has to happen for the Musketeers.

Untimely spirals have defined the last few seasons and instead of racing to the finish line, the Musketeers ran out of gas.

That's why Sean Miller's back at Xavier.

And that growth takes time. It takes energy, effort and togetherness. It won't be instantaneous. And it won't be without obstacles.

When Miller met with the media following Wednesday's 80-62 win over Kentucky Wesleyan in a preseason exhibition, he spoke about progress and the time required to ensure that it happens.

"Anytime there's a new head coach, new coaching staff ‒ I don't care how many players are returning or what happened before ‒ it takes a little bit of time. In fairness to everybody," said Miller. "Terminology, practice structure, playing a game for the first time, and having a new voice. There's no doubt about it, we're working through a number of things.

"Because of that, each week right now we can get a lot better. I think we can really improve every week, every 10 days we can be a much better overall team."

The Musketeers are coming off a season in which they lost seven of their last nine games to close the regular season and miss a fourth straight NCAA Tournament.

This team can't afford to go out like that.

"Me personally, I've never been to no (NCAA) Tournament, I've never been past the first round in the Big East Tournament and quite frankly, I'm not going out my senior year like that," forward Zach Freemantle said last week.

Hunger

With the way the last four seasons have ended at Xavier, the Musketeers should be one of the hungriest teams in the country.

No one should have to question Xavier's heart, toughness, or how badly they want to win at any point this season.

That's the bare minimum.

It's a characteristic that Miller-coached teams are known for.

Whether or not this team finds and sustains that edge will determine how the next five months go.

Guarding the ball

One of the most important staples of a good defensive team is the ability to guard the basketball. The inability to guard the ball creates chaos and forces the defense to scramble.

"Defense is such a team thing," said Miller. "Once in a while, the individual that's guarding the ball, clearly he has to do a great job, but it's that plus the help, plus the communication. We definitely can get better. We have to get better ... and we will."

A lot of defense is about toughness. It's about wanting to get stops and refusing to get beat.

The other part of that, "It's called talent," said Miller.

"Can you guard the ball? Are you quick? You can be the toughest guy in the world but if you're slow-footed there's only so much you can do."

Miller used the analogy of a defensive back in football. It requires intelligence, positioning, technique, and the rest of the team has to do its job around you.

"At the end of the day, how quick, how fast are you?" Miller said. "I think for our team, getting the quicker players to be better, guys that aren't as quick to be smarter, and then really support them with help.

"There's no doubt, on our priority list that (guarding the ball) is near the top."

Star power

Xavier's not flooded with five-star recruits or McDonald's All-Americans. The Musketeers have players with promise and potential, but for this roster, it's about getting the most out of their best players.

But those primary pieces can't disappear, they have to be reliable because they're going to be on the floor more than anyone else. That means Freemantle, Colby Jones, Jack Nunge and Adam Kunkel ‒ Xavier's most experienced players, all of whom have shown the ability to take over games and impact winning ‒ have to be solid in order for this team to have a shot.

Having the most talented player on the floor matters in a game. With the schedule Xavier's facing this season, the Musketeers might not have that luxury too often.

The way to overcome that is for Xavier to have its best players synced up on the same nights.

The offense

It's a new offense this season at Xavier. The terminology's different and the principles around it are slightly different.

A premium has been placed on feeding the ball inside. Xavier's not built to do a ton of damage on the perimeter, so the more looks they can generate around the rim, the better.

And they want to be intentional in terms of what shots they take and how they manufacture those shots.

"Early on here, too many of our possessions, we're playing too quick, too fast," said Miller. "We want to push the ball, we want to play with pace, we want to be fast into our offense, that's what I hope you would see ... but that doesn't mean that we have to take quick shots. A quick shot should be one that's easily understood ‒ a post-catch, a 3-point shot taken by one of our select players, a drive at the basket that makes perfect sense."

Xavier needs to move the defense and break it down to produce the best quality shots for its offense.

"We have to take great shots," Miller said. "Part of guarding the ball better and being a better, more dependable defensive team is you have to play offense and be smart, take great shots. Sometimes you have to use the clock in a good way. Maybe the great shot you got has eight seconds left on the shot clock, then we all get back (on defense)."

Point guard play

The point guard position has been problematic the last few seasons. Consistency, making the right decisions, and taking care of the basketball have all been areas that have negatively impacted the Musketeers, and the point guard has the power to impact those areas the most because he generally has the ball more than everyone else.

Point guard is also the one position this season that will have a newcomer assuming that role. UTEP transfer Souley Boum and freshman Desmond Claude will split time at the point.

"They both just got here," Miller said. "In Souley's case, he's more of a combo guard than a point guard, we knew that. He knows that. Des obviously is a very talented point guard."

Miller believes that the point guard position is one that will continue to stabilize as Boum and Claude continue to get comfortable. Boum knows how to score, but he's never been asked to run the point at this level. Claude's just a freshman and if he's really going to impact this team, he needs to use the first month of the season to continue to learn and improve, so that when conference play arrives, he's in a better spot to help.

Coaching

Miller's coaching ability is well-documented. In 17 seasons as a head coach, he's won 73% of his games. He had success at Xavier the first time (2004-09). He had success at Arizona.

After a year away from coaching, Miller has an opportunity to remind everyone what he can do.

Xavier brought him back because it expects to compete for conference championships and make the NCAA Tournament.

To accomplish that in Year 1 would certainly make a loud statement.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier basketball: 7 big things for the 2022-23 season