What's The Matter, Xavier?

When the final buzzer went off in Manhattan on Saturday evening, the Kansas Jayhawks and their fan base were ecstatic. 

The Jayhawks had just beat in-state rival Kansas State in the Wildcats' "Octagon of Doom." While I am sure he and most of his supporters were more happy to get the win, Xavier Henry struggled. 

In fact, he's been struggling. 

His performance against Kansas State, (16 minutes, six points, and four turnovers) will go down easily as the worst of his young career at Kansas. 

The problem for Jayhawk Nation and Henry is that Saturday's dud is just the culmination of less than stellar play from the highly-touted high school prospect. 

Henry excelled through the non-conference slate without so much as a hitch. He averaged over 15 ppg in a system that rarely yields any scorers that average over 12. 

Once conference play began, it was as if someone had forgot to remind "X" (as he's referred to by most in the Lawrence and Kansas City area) that the season was only at its midway point. 

Frankly, people shouldn't be all that surprised. 

Xavier never really gave any reason to believe that he'd put up the same kind of numbers in conference play as he had in non-conference play. Why?

Well, among the non-conference games where the Jayhawks faced more than stout defensive teams, Xavier would put on a show attuned to what we currently see from him. 

And here we are. Local and national sports personalities preface each conference game of the past two weeks with, "I think tonight is the night where X breaks out of his slump."

So what's the matter, Xavier?

A week ago, he was still on everyone's NBA Draft Lottery radar. Some Web sites even had the blue-chip prospect going as high as eighth last week, while most had him hovering towards the bottom of the lottery (the 13th and 14th picks). 

After his 16-minute display of hapless turnovers, an inability to recognize defenses, and failure to get the ball to teammates against Kansas State, he's fallen out of the projected lottery by most accounts. 

People should not misconstrue this article as an overt criticism of the player. He's a 19-year-old young man, and shouldn't be accountable to hyper-criticism no matter if he's averaging four points a game. 

It's simple really, when a recruit who hovered around the No. 1 prospect spot for a period of time as a high school senior last year, fails to live up to expectations, people are going to talk about it. 

What we should be talking about is that he played for just 16 minutes on Saturday. And we must give credit were it's due, he did make a key bucket during the final minutes of regulation when both KU and K-State were frantically trading baskets. 

So, can I make a diagnosis, assuming there is anything to be diagnosed?

First, the main source of X's problems lies in the speed of the game brought on by the Big 12 season. 

Not unlike his high school games, where he could essentially dictate the pace with his skill and athletic ability, most of Kansas' non-conference games allowed him to get open for shots that he struggles to find in conference play. 

Likewise, he is struggling to get his own shot, which he didn't struggle much to do during non-conference games.

Another noticeable problem for Xavier is that he doesn't really have a right hand. He forces everything to the left side of the court when he has the ball. 

He left a wide open drive to the hoop go awry on Saturday in Manhattan while he was on the right side of the floor. His game is so dominated by his left hand that he didn't even look to his right, where he could have easily spotted the wide open path to an easy bucket. 

I'm not saying he can't or won't get out of his slump unless he develops a right hand. I am saying that it makes it easier for defenders to defend you when they know you won't go both ways. 

Finally, the place where he should be looking to improve the most is the five or six inches between his ears. 

I'm not being accusatory, but it's easy for freshman to read their press clippings early on in a season and let their foot get off the gas pedal. 

Xavier likely isn't worrying about his draft status come June, but if he is, there is a problem. 

While the NBA most certainly drafts on potential, (see Darko to Detroit), Bill Self rarely advises his players go to the NBA early unless he feels they will be in a good situation come draft day. 

If Xavier wants to be a run-of-the-mill two or three man his entire NBA career, then he can leave after this season. If he wants to make a name for himself, he needs one more year at Kansas. 

Kansas fans should take to heart what they have and not what they don't. I'd rather have Henry on my team than not. 

I'd take his three turnovers on his first three touches at K-State, simply because I know he can make a clutch drive and score during the latter part of the game. 

So what's the matter with X?

We can't really know for sure, but I've got my hypotheses laid out. 

Who am I kidding? I am just another Kansas fan waiting for the real Xavier to come back to us. 

Heck, I'll even be the next person to say, this: I'll be looking for Xavier to finally break out of his slump tomorrow night at Colorado.