By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Entering this season, Lionel Chalmers had been Xavier's gutsy point guard for three years.

Rarely the headliner, but always an essential teammate, Chalmers made key plays and filled various roles that complemented star forward David West .

Now in his final season, Chalmers is a leader, but his play has become so erratic that he's in danger of dribbling right into a spot on the bench. Since winning the most valuable player award in the season-opening Dell BCA Classic, Chalmers has made questionable decisions and taken ill-advised shots during Xavier's last two losses to Ball State and Indiana.

Thanks to that two-game losing streak, there is some self-evaluation occurring this week as the Musketeers (3-2) prepare for Tuesday's game at Miami University.

Chalmers' decision-making as a fifth-year senior must improve, or Xavier coach Thad Matta will be forced to cut his minutes. Chalmers averages 30.6 minutes per game.

"I appreciate his aggressiveness," Matta said. "He wants to hit the big shot. I have faith in him, but right now what's important is getting Lionel to understand at each moment what needs to be done."

Chalmers is accustomed to hitting shots in high-pressure situations. His his freshman year, he won a game at Toledo with a 3-pointer. Last season, he put back a game-winner at Dayton, and sent the Saint Joseph's game into overtime in the final seconds. Last Saturday against Indiana, he nearly became a hero again, but his fade-away jumper at the end of regulation bounced out.

Coaches worked with Chalmers this week on using skills other than scoring to help the team. Against Indiana, he made 3-of-13 shots after halftime, including three straight misses midway through the half when Xavier was trying to make a comeback from a large halftime deficit.

"In the heat of the game, you make decisions that you might not normally make," Chalmers said. "It's a matter of trying to win the game. . . . I don't know if it's doing too much, but it's not working. If shots fall or whatever the case may, it's a different story."

Lately, poor decision-making seems to be infecting the entire team. The Musketeers have almost as many turnovers (58) as they do assists (62), and Chalmers leads both categories with 19 assists and 18 turnovers.

In order to end its downward slide, Xavier players say team chemistry must improve.

"The closer we are, the better we're going to be individually," sophomore Will Caudle said. "It's brought up some questions on 'Are we really together when we need each other in the clutch at the end?' "

Off the mark

Xavier guard Lionel Chalmers made only six-of-31 shots in the last two games as Xavier lost to Ball State and Indiana. Chalmers' shooting stats:

Game	FG	Percent	3-pointers	Percent
Ball State	3-of-16	18.8	1-of-9	11
Indiana	3-of-15	20	0-of-4	0
2-game total	6-of-31	19.4	1-of-13	7.7
Season	21-of-68	30.9	8-of-31	25.8

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com