Jump to content
  • hhcmatt
    hhcmatt

    Game Day Essentials: Game #11 vs Creighton

      Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-3) vs Creighton Bluejays (6-2)

       

      Date: Saturday Dec 9, 2017

      Time: 1:30 pm CST 
      Arena: CLINK

      TV Broadcast:  FS1

       

      25016425_506222893093382_494179053041876

       

    Creighton Info


    Head Coach: Greg McDermott 
    Location: Omaha, NE
    Conference: Big East
    Nickname: Bluejays, Sweatervests
    Mascot: Billy Bluejay
    Last time out: Beat North Dakota
    Typical Rotation Depth: 8+
    Line: Creighton by 11
    Tempo: Fast
    Style: High Assists/High 3pt Attempts
    4 Factors Good: Shooter U, doesn't turn the ball over
    4 Factors Bad: Not trying to turn you over, don't draw contact

     

    Four Factors
    Effective FG%: 59.9 6 49.4 128 50.8
    Turnover %: 14.8 12 15.3 332 19.3
    Off. Reb. %: 25.2 266 19.6 2 29.1
    FTA/FGA: 31.1 247 31.7 122 34.5

     

     

     

    Most Frequent Lineups

     

    Nebraska

    1
    5 Glynn Watson
    6-0  173  Jr
    11 Evan Taylor
    6-5  208  Sr
    24 James Palmer
    6-6  210  Jr
    14 Isaac Copeland
    6-9  221  Jr
    32 Jordy Tshimanga
    6-11  268  So
    16.9
     

    Creitghton

    PG SG SF PF C Pct
    1
    1 Davion Mintz
    6-3  180  So
    0 Marcus Foster
    6-3  205  Sr
    2 Khyri Thomas
    6-3  210  Jr
    4 Ronnie Harrell
    6-7  200  Jr
    15 Martin Krampelj
    6-9  220  So
    21.2

     

    The word on the street is that TOBY! Hegner is moving back to the starting lineup over Ronnie Harrell. That was their lineup to start the season before Hegner severely twisted his ankle.

     

    Players to watch: PG by committee

    I think the vision for this team was to bring in Syracuse Kaleb Joseph and have him be the man for the next two years. A combination of ineffectiveness and injury has given the starting job to Davion Mintz with freshman Ty-Shon Alexander as backup and then Khyri Thomas in a pinch. Eventually I think the Jays would love to see the talented Alexander grab the starting job. Currently that belongs to Mintz who comes off as a taller Benny Parker in the sense that his usage in the offense is extremely limited.  One thing to note that could just be a fluke: his worst two games were the two games the Jays have lost.

     

    Players to watch: Post by committee

    When the Jays redshirted Justin Patton, they probably figured they had their center of the future for the next 3-4 years.  After going to the draft early, they Jays had a pretty good shot at Brian Bowen before Loui$ville $wooped in. Not ideal.

     

    Martin Krampeli, when not flailing around on defense, has proven to be quite skilled at the paint as he's scoring almost as efficiently as Patton. He does show just a little range but mostly lives in the paint. Ronnie Harrell has been one of the better rebounders on the team but like Mintz isn't aggressive offensively.  TOBY! Hegner is Michael Jacobson with a 3pt shot.  The wildcard in this group is senior transfer Manny Suarez who hasn't played much all year. Suarez is an aggressive offensive player who is limited by his defense. You could argue that the ineffectiveness of the Nebraska centers on offense could mask this deficiency. 

     

    The Skinny

    Hey, it's Nebraska goes to Creighton and Creighton boat races them to start the game and wins in a laugher because that's what always happens, right? Let's take a look anyway.

     

    The Jays arguably have the two best players on the court in Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas in an offense that is the fastest that Greg McDermott has run to date. The rest of the cast is serviceable but relative to last year, it's a downgrade.  The only player I haven't mentioned to this point is the other talented freshman Mitch Ballock. While he's talented he's also a guard who isn't a PG. Even though it's a down year talent wise the Jays execute their stuff as good as anyone in the country. With their top tier shooting, ability to hold on to the ball, and fast pace they are able to overwhelm most teams.

     

    Defensively the Jays pack the paint though with their length they've been doing a good job at holding down opponent's 3pt % the last couple of years. On top of that in Thomas they have one of the best defenders in college basketball as he's shut down almost everyone he's been assigned to guard. Given this is how they've defended Nebraska for almost all of the Miles era I'd expect to see a lot of this again.

     

    The big difference here is that Nebraska is fielding a completely different type of team. Defensively the Huskers have added length and athleticism that have allowed them to cover the 3 without being destroyed inside; the shot blocking ability is the best anyone has seen in a decade. Offensively this is the first Miles team since the tourney squad that isn't a couple of guys + hoping someone else will show up. The offense no longer is completely dependent on individuals driving into 5 Jays sitting in the paint. 

     

    It's been mentioned by a lot of people inside and some on the outside that this Nebraska team had enough talent to sniff the post season. The Minnesota game showed that the Huskers possess this ability but the issue here is that one good game at home doesn't make you a good team. Learning to win takes time and are they there after one good game? Probably not. 

     

    This Creighton team isn't necessarily more talented than Nebraska but they're further along as a team and at home. That's a lot to overcome.

     

    Prediction: Creighton 82 - Nebraska 70

     



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...