Michael Alexander

Rating: 2 Units

Oakland forward Xavier Hill-Mais is coming off a 30-point, nine-rebound performance in the loss to Toledo. He may be tasked with slowing down Seth Dugan who opened the season with a 32-point, 22-rebound outburst in the win over Detroit. He showed he could dominate undermanned competition and should have another big game against the Golden Grizzlies. Keep an eye on Bronco guard Jared Printy who has knocked down eight 3-pointers in the first two games.

Rating: 2 Units

So the Musketeers didn’t blow Evansville off the court. Should we worry about coach Travis Steele’s team? Not quite yet. Xavier has competent players at every position and point guard Quentin Goodin could be back in the starting lineup to give the team a ball hawk on defense and field general on offense. Ethan Happ opened the season with a triple-double, but the long Musketeer defenders will cut off some of his passing lanes.

Rating: 2 Units

It’s hard to see any light with this Cleveland team. One night, Larry Nance Jr. will barely play and then he’ll get 31 minutes. They have refused to defend the 3-point line. They are missing three starters and a couple of other guys didn’t practice on Monday. Ty Lue has to be ecstatic that he got fired. The Hornets have been riding Kemba Walker but that is a pretty good horse to climb aboard. The consistent point is averaging 28 and 6 dimes. Charlotte was in Detroit on Sunday and even though they were coming off a tough overtime loss 48 hours prior, the Hornets won the last three quarters and the game. There was even a Tony Parker sighting. Charlotte started the season 5th in scoring and they have been smothering teams on the perimeter.