By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier is only three games into the season, but a familiar trend with Musketeers (2-1) big man David West already is emerging - he's making as many foul shots as he is field goals.

So far, West is 20-for-25 from the foul line and has made 19 of 41 from the field.

A glance at West's stats from the previous two seasons shows West made just 11 more field goals than free throws last season and just six more field goals than free throws during the 2000-01 season.

He is shooting 80 percent from the line this season, which also is nothing new. The last two seasons, he has made 77 and 74 percent of his foul shots.

So while defenders continue to pound on West when he receives the ball low in the post, he keeps hurting them when he gets to the foul line.

"(West) has taken some hard fouls from people," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "And he's done a good job with that, and he knows it's coming."

Like the time against Stanford that West double-pumped on a layup attempt because he knew the Cardinal's Josh Childress would try to block the shot. The problem for West was that he didn't get the foul, and Childress did block the shot. Had West not double-pumped, and fought through the block, he might have gotten the foul or even made the shot and had a chance for a three-point play.

"(West) continues to grow and learn from that," Matta said.

West is learning this season that life down low isn't going to be easy. There have been and will continue to be double and triple teams and all sorts of trick defenses designed to beat up his 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame.

That has pushed West away from the basket to the 7- to 10-foot range where he takes many of his non-layup shots.

"What's going to happen is, playing a mid-range game is going to be beneficial, because teams can't double me then," West said. "If I'm strictly on the block, it's going to create a whole bunch of opportunities for teams to double- and triple-team me down there."

When that has happened, West has struggled so far, especially against Stanford when he was able to make just two strong post moves with his back to the basket.

"I've got to make quicker moves than that," West said.

Moving away from the basket not only frees West for less-defended shots, it also shows West's versatility, a valuable asset for his NBA draft stock. Pro scouts say West is closer to 6-7 than his listed height, and that means he will have to play even farther from the basket at the next level. But will working on that style of play detract from the Musketeers' offense?

"I've got no complaints with where (West) is playing," Matta said. "One thing he's doing is he's moving more and being more active."