Scouting: Creighton

[lanigan123]

I think Creighton wins this one. I think this is the last one they win for 3 or so years

[Silverbacked1]

I agree with let him get his. Not matador d but if he gets close let him only get 2 and not an one type of deal.

To really throw things off how about Benny face guarding him and not helping. Kind of a box and one. I know they shoot the 3 to well but it might be kind of fun to mix it up. Creighton would just throw it over the top of Benny but McD'sdribble drive would be affected. Not something to do for the whole game just once or twice to really screw with them.

Remember when Tim Floyd went triangle and two on people when he was at Iowa State? It really screwed with kids heads, coaches figured it out, but the players had problems with it.

 

 

How we defend Mcdermoot is really just going to come down to how the refs are calling the game that particular day.  If they are allowing Mcdermott to flop every time down the court it's going to be a long night and he will get 30 some points.  If the refs actually call it like it is like they did in Creighton's game vs GW then we can cause him to have some trouble.

yep, totally agree.

[hhcmatt]

 

I agree with let him get his. Not matador d but if he gets close let him only get 2 and not an one type of deal.

To really throw things off how about Benny face guarding him and not helping. Kind of a box and one. I know they shoot the 3 to well but it might be kind of fun to mix it up. Creighton would just throw it over the top of Benny but McD'sdribble drive would be affected. Not something to do for the whole game just once or twice to really screw with them.

Remember when Tim Floyd went triangle and two on people when he was at Iowa State? It really screwed with kids heads, coaches figured it out, but the players had problems with it.

 

How we defend Mcdermoot is really just going to come down to how the refs are calling the game that particular day.  If they are allowing Mcdermott to flop every time down the court it's going to be a long night and he will get 30 some points.  If the refs actually call it like it is like they did in Creighton's game vs GW then we can cause him to have some trouble.   

 

Flop on offense?  Do you mean drawing contact offense or flopping on defense?

 

He's shot a decent number of FTs but this shot/FT rate isn't all that high...powered by him taking a ridiculous number of his team's overall shots.  Tai Webster has been to the line just as much with 1/3rd of the shot attempts though his above average ability to draw contact and the recent Hack-a-New Zealander defense .

[huskerbaseball13]

 

 

I agree with let him get his. Not matador d but if he gets close let him only get 2 and not an one type of deal.

To really throw things off how about Benny face guarding him and not helping. Kind of a box and one. I know they shoot the 3 to well but it might be kind of fun to mix it up. Creighton would just throw it over the top of Benny but McD'sdribble drive would be affected. Not something to do for the whole game just once or twice to really screw with them.

Remember when Tim Floyd went triangle and two on people when he was at Iowa State? It really screwed with kids heads, coaches figured it out, but the players had problems with it.

 

How we defend Mcdermoot is really just going to come down to how the refs are calling the game that particular day.  If they are allowing Mcdermott to flop every time down the court it's going to be a long night and he will get 30 some points.  If the refs actually call it like it is like they did in Creighton's game vs GW then we can cause him to have some trouble.   

 

Flop on offense?  Do you mean drawing contact offense or flopping on defense?

 

He's shot a decent number of FTs but this shot/FT rate isn't all that high...powered by him taking a ridiculous number of his team's overall shots.  Tai Webster has been to the line just as much with 1/3rd of the shot attempts though his above average ability to draw contact and the recent Hack-a-New Zealander defense .

 

 

No I mean flop on offense.  He exaggerates everything on the offensive side of the ball(assuming hes not shooting a three)....and most of the time it works...so i can't blame him.  Lay a finger on him and he will go flying.  What I enjoyed about the GW game so much is the calls were not going his way although he acts like there should never be a call that goes against him.   

[49r]

Looks to me like this blue turkey has been getting fat for the Christmas season on a cream puff non-con schedule.

 

Okay, here it is.  Your Creighton KenPom breakdown:

 

Kenpom rankings as of 12-5-13.
==============================

Big East (0-0):
15. Villanova
24. Creighton
25. Georgetown
46. Marquette

59. Butler

60. Providence

66. Xavier

67. St. John's

113. DePaul

138. Seton Hall

 

Non-Conference (6-2):
344. Alcorn State - W (107-61)
302. UMKC - W (96-70)
78. @Saint Joseph's - W (83-79)
153. Tulsa - W (82-72)
 

---The Wooden Legacy---
65. Arizona State - W (88-60)
34. San Diego State - L (80-86)
71. George Washington - L (53-60)

226. @Long Beach State - W (78-61)
94. Nebraska
334. Arkansas Pine Bluff
49. California
306. Chicago State

[hskr4life]

Looking at their and our schedules... we have some better wins, and slightly worse losses.  Other than that they are pretty even.

[hhcmatt]

Two random thoughts

 

- With Creighton starting a couple of shorter guards and this being in Omaha, could we see Deverell start this game?

- Could Leslee Smith be a focal point on offense for periods of time?

[Handy Johnson]

Two random thoughts

 

- With Creighton starting a couple of shorter guards and this being in Omaha, could we see Deverell start this game?

- Could Leslee Smith be a focal point on offense for periods of time?

Yes & yes. One way to neutralize Mickey D is to go at him on the DEFENSIVE end, tucker him out, and hopefully get him in foul trouble.

[hhcmatt]

Creighton's Notes

[Norm Peterson]

Five players on Creighton's team average more than 20 minutes.  Their starting Center is not one of them. 

 

Starting Center is Will Artino, 6-11, 230# Jr from Waukee, Iowa, averages 14.5 min., 6.6 pts and 2.9 bds.

 

The guy who comes off the bench to get the minutes is Ethan Wragge, 6-7 Sr who averages 24.3 min, 12.1 pts and 3.9 bds.  He is NOT an inside player.  30 of his 31 made FGs on the season have been threes.  Excellent 3 pt shooter averages 50.8% from beyond the arc.  He's only hit 1 of 3 shots inside the arc.

 

Their starting back court consists of:

 

Austin Chatman, 6-0 Jr, 28.4 min, 8.6 pts, 43.5% from 3 on 10/23 shooting in 8 games.  Overall, takes about 7 shots/game and makes about 3 of them.  Goes to the line 3rd most on the team and hits almost all of them.  Leads team in assists with 36.

 

Grant Gibbs, 6-5, 6th year Sr, 26 min, 5.6 pts, 2nd in assists with 34, not a significant outside shooter.  Averages fewer than 5 FG attempts per game, mostly from inside the arc.  Leads team in fouls by a comfortable margin.  Gets to the line about once/game and hits about half his attempts.

 

Jahenns Manigat, 6-1 Sr, 24 min, 5.6 pts.  Decent perimeter shooter at 40.7% from 3, but not a lot of touches.  Leads team in steals.

 

Primary back court back-ups:

 

Devin Brooks, 6-2 Jr from Harlem via Iowa Western.  Logs 17.6 minutes and makes the most of them with 9.9 pts/game with blazing shooting from 3 (63.6% on 7/11 shooting).  Rebounds very well from the guard position (4.5 bds/game, including DOUBLE the number of offensive boards of anyone else on the team.)  Third leading scorer overall.  Third in assists, 2nd in steals.  Obviously an impact player off the bench.

 

Isaiah Zierden 6-2 Fr, and Avery Dingman, 6-6 Jr, both average right around double figure minutes who make about 1 shot per game each.  Both are capable though not stellar shooters from 3.

 

The Bigs on the Bench:

 

Besides Wragge who spends most of his time on the perimeter, Creighton has expended very few minutes on back-up big men.  Or on starting big men, for that matter.  But the back-up bigs include Zach Hanson, 6-9 Fr, and Geoff Groselle, 7-0 So, who combine for about 10.8 minutes and not much else.

 

The key piece to their puzzle, obviously, is Doug McDermott who averages 24.4 pts/game on 50% shooting generally and 44.2% shooting from beyond the arc.  Doug takes slightly more than 27% (easily  more than 1/4) of all of Creighton's shots.  He also gets to the line more than any other Creighton player by a wide margin and is also the team leader in rebounding.  He's the reason everyone else on the team has such good assist numbers.  It's not like they don't have other guys who can play and score, because they do.  But he clearly deserves the recognition he receives.  Top notch, top shelf player.

 

Whew.

[hhcmatt]

Whew.

 

Nice writeup Norm!

Manigat is the key for double teaming as he's the guy who least going to hurt you scoring wise.

McDermott isn't exactly kicking the ball out to 3 point shooters for baskets or he'd have more than 7 assists on the year.  

Double teaming McD, keeping Wragge covered, and making the rest of that team beat you seems like good strategy.

[hhcmatt]

Husker's Creighton Notes

[hhcmatt]

Friday Nebraska Press Conference

 

Miles

Petteway

[Nighthawk]

OK...I'm sure I already know the answer...but are the sports bars in Lincoln going to carry the game? I see its channel 75. ..which isn't available in my house. Anyone getting together at any local drinking establishments to watch it? I'm not really wanting to be the only guy in a bar on Sunday wanting to watch Huskers more than an NFL game.

[uneblinstu]

I'd imagine every sports bar in Lincoln will have it on.

[hhcmatt]

Creighton Board Player assessments

 

 

 

This team is limited in terms of personnel. When we are on, we can beat anyone. When we aren't we can literally lose to just about anyone.

McDermott is one of the best players in the nation. But let's be honest, he had a really really stinky game against GW. He was forcing shots. Had some turnovers. That defender has his number, and unfortunately, that's the type of defense he's going to see all year in the Big East. Tall, strong, aggressive. Doug probably won't have another game under 10 points all year, but I don't think its reasonable to expect him to pour in 25 every night once conference play starts. We'll see. That's a bit concerning when you look at the production from others.

Wragge has been terrific. He's really blossomed into a quite serviceable post-defender, and his ability to shoot from anywhere within half-court makes it tough for anybody to play traditionally against us unless they have an incredibly mobile 4 and 5 man. SDSU had both of those. GW did not, we were just cold, and even Wragge's efforts weren't enough to overcome that.

Manigat. Good grief. I still fail to see his value on the floor. He used to be a great defender because he could take charges. Now he's just a fouling machine. He can't score. His outside shot is somewhat effective, but it's streaky. He's not overly athletic so he doesn't add much in terms of rebounding. The kid gives terrific effort, and the other guys seem to feed off of his energy; but man, I wish he brought some more tangibles to the game.

Chatman has been steady. He's never been a big scorer, but generally speaking, he has been a great job of running this team thus far. His lack of scoring is an issue though going forward. We need him to get more aggressive when the time calls for it.

Gibbs has been disappointing this season. Physically, he looks fine; and perhaps even better than last year. But he has made some really poor mental mistakes in a handful of games. That's not typical for him, so maybe its just an anomaly. But he hasn't been the steady calming influence on the team that he normally is.

Brooks. Keep him on the floor. As much as possible. Is he going to make some boneheaded plays? Sure he is. But he seems like an incredibly coachable kid who is willing to learn and make adjustments. Allow him to play through the mistakes instead of yanking him out of the game after mishandling a pass. He is the key to the season. On nights when Doug is cold, we need Brooks out there to change the game up and give us a dribble drive option. He has all the tools to be a really special guard.

Dingman, as others noted, is doing what he can. But the bottom line is that he just isn't a high-major player. He would have done well at a smaller mid-major school. But he lacks quickness, he's tentative, and his shot is woefully inconsistent. He also seems to lack any sort of edge when he plays.

Artino. Not a 5. At least not a starting 5. He was effective last year because he came in and played against a guy that was used to having GE knock him around all game. Artino was able to stretch the 5 position a bit, and the defense wasn't used to it. This year, he's forced to play more around the basket, and he's struggling mightily. Strength is obviously a major issue. But his passing also isn't as sharp. I'm not sure what the solution is. He still provides some good moments throughout the game, but he shouldn't be our main option at the 5. I say "shouldn't" because I'm not sure there are any other options.

Zierden. I'm still not sold on him as a BE player either. He's not quick. He's not tall. He struggles to defend players at the 2. His shot is a little weird looking, and except for the 4-point play, I can't remember a single moment this year where he has made an impact. He seems like a reasonably smart player on the court, but his physical tools are really going to limit him going forward. 

Hanson. Good potential, but he's not seeing enough time to even develop this season. Not really sure why. He has the ability to be a very effective post player going forward. He's quite athletic, seems to have good touch. Just wish he was getting more minutes.

Groselle. He's had tough luck with his injuries, which seem to have hampered him to the point where he can't be the player many thought he would be. Nothing he can do about that. I still think with his size alone he can give us serviceable minutes on D. 

That's the team. What do we have? We have one phenomenal player (Doug), three guys who are pretty good (Chatman, Wragge, and Gibbs), a guy with high potential (Brooks), and a handful of guys who should be seeing spot minutes but not much else. No post presence whatsoever. No rebounding. We're limited. But the thing is, we can still be a really good team because the players listed above work well together when things are clicking. We were never going to go undefeated this season. And with the Big East schedule, there will be more losses coming. The bottom line is, we can still get in the tourney and make some noise. Two losses isn't the end of the world. Let's just enjoy the team we have, watch Doug continue to rewrite the history books, and stop worrying about what we are ranked.

[busticket]

That was actually a very well thought-out write up of the Jays.  The author was spot on....when the Jays are clicking on offense, they can beat anyone, but when the majority of the team is cold, they can have a George Washington game.  If they are cold like that, Nebraska can beat them, but it's hard to envision that happening at the Century Link center.

[trickey]

I agree that was a very fair assessment of how the Jays are playing.

 

What many Jaybackers are just starting to realize is how much they are missing Greg E...(or some one like him!)

They are starting to realize how much a good 5 player means to a team.

Major conference teams typically have 2 or 3 strong 5s on each team...

Thank god, we have one this year...and hopefully, at least 3 next year and each year thereafter if we are to be relevant.

 

Most talented 5s want to play in power conferences against the future draft competition.  ( something like if you want to be the best you have to play the best!)

 

The Jays were used to getting by with discipline, team work and shooting solid 3s...then the Jays had GE (while serendipitously havng him play at the same time as CU's best player since Korver)...and life was good!

 

 

Today, this difference in the center position is why NU has a chance to win ( I lament... I predicted we would lose in the HHCC thread)...but if Smith can be the player of the game... we have a decent chance to win.

While last year, it was virtually impossible due to the 4/5 combinations... so it is great to hear TM say Smith is healthy.

 

Interestingly enough, both NU and Creighton are both now trying to take a large step up to becoming a complete team....by recruitng quality 5s...whoever wins this race rules Nebraska.

 

As for the CU rivalry...

my view is CU should win every game they play...

except when the blue boys play the Huskers...

 

This is identical to my old view of my view of our past NU v OU football rivalry

...play the best...beat the best! I wanted Ten and 0 v 10 & Oh every year.

When I win the match-up...I feel great!

 

Go Jays!

 

Yet, GO HUSKERS...quite a bit more!!