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Creighton Thread 2017-2018 Season
- Thread starter bilsker
- Start date
Predicting they'd end up with Virginia wasn't that difficult. With two 1 seeds from the Big East CU couldn't be an 8/9 in either one of those regions. And if Kansas got the Midwest regional, as they did, CU couldn't be the 8/9 there because they could potentially end up on their Home court in the Sweet 16. Which I think is a little disingenuous of the Committee as they have no problem basically giving Kansas home games as often as possible....Wichita this year, Kansas City whenever they host. They do it all the time for UNC with games in Charlotte or Greensboro. Anyway, if they were going to be 8/9 it was almost certainly in Virginia's bracket.
CU opens as a 1.5 point favorite over KSU which obviously means it's a coin flip in Vegas' eye. Mine too. If CU plays to their potential they will win. If CU owns their defensive boards I believe they'll win almost for sure. What can't happen (but easily could) is not rebound well AND have an off night shooting.
KSU wants to play slow, half court bball. CU obviously wants to run. The slow it down style usually win the style battle in these games it seems. Therefore it is imperative that CU protect the defensive glass. You can't run when the other team is grabbing 17 offensive rebounds like providence did. The good news is that KSU is ranked 270th in offensive rebound %.
Wade, their big guy, was out for the Big 12 tourney but supposedly would be ready by this week. 16 and 6 averages. The other big guy is Makol Mawien who came on strong at the end of the year. As I understand it they don't play together that often so that's a positive. I'd imagine Khyri will be matched up with Barry Brown..their 2nd leading scorer at 16/gm. Wade is actually their best 3 pt shooter at 44% (40/91). Their next best is at 40% but makes just under 1 a game. The rest shoot 33% or less.
For giggles KSU shoots 55% from 2 while CU shoots 60%.
Should be a good game.
After that I wouldn't put CU's chances at more than 15% over UVA. What I don't want to see Friday is CU go out and shoot 15/22 from 3 in a blowout. Teams rarely do that two games in a row...they can beat KSU without shooting lights out.
CU opens as a 1.5 point favorite over KSU which obviously means it's a coin flip in Vegas' eye. Mine too. If CU plays to their potential they will win. If CU owns their defensive boards I believe they'll win almost for sure. What can't happen (but easily could) is not rebound well AND have an off night shooting.
KSU wants to play slow, half court bball. CU obviously wants to run. The slow it down style usually win the style battle in these games it seems. Therefore it is imperative that CU protect the defensive glass. You can't run when the other team is grabbing 17 offensive rebounds like providence did. The good news is that KSU is ranked 270th in offensive rebound %.
Wade, their big guy, was out for the Big 12 tourney but supposedly would be ready by this week. 16 and 6 averages. The other big guy is Makol Mawien who came on strong at the end of the year. As I understand it they don't play together that often so that's a positive. I'd imagine Khyri will be matched up with Barry Brown..their 2nd leading scorer at 16/gm. Wade is actually their best 3 pt shooter at 44% (40/91). Their next best is at 40% but makes just under 1 a game. The rest shoot 33% or less.
For giggles KSU shoots 55% from 2 while CU shoots 60%.
Should be a good game.
After that I wouldn't put CU's chances at more than 15% over UVA. What I don't want to see Friday is CU go out and shoot 15/22 from 3 in a blowout. Teams rarely do that two games in a row...they can beat KSU without shooting lights out.
Jays by 10
I’m grudgingly on my annual ride on the Creighton bandwagon...it helps hat they are playing kstate!
If someone can provide Thomas and Foster some extra help on offense I feel pretty good about CU. Ballock going for about 12 would be nice. Mintz and Alexander playing at home....I'd be surprised if both didn't have nerves. Harrell needs to stuff the stat sheet...particularly the rebound column.
If Wade is hobbling I say put Epperson in and run him all over the court.
If Wade is hobbling I say put Epperson in and run him all over the court.
OOPS!
Post mortem.
What an awful game. It's not like I didn't think it could happen. They were 3-6 down the stretch. But...I'm an optimist! I felt like Thomas and Foster could mostly carry this team to a win over KSU. KSU is really good on defense. KSU is NOT a team that's going to hit 9 of 19 3s very often. Mike McGuirl is a guy that scored 13 points. THIS YEAR. Scored 17 last night. What the...?
Obscure players going off on CU is a running joke among CU fans. It happens all the time and it is hard to explain.
KSU was missing their best player. There's no reason CU shouldn't have won that game. You need more than 9 shots out of Thomas. He filled up the stat sheet again but CU needed him to score. KSU made a point of face guarding Foster and for the most part he did a good job of not forcing it. He needed a little help from his friends....and he got it...12 from Hegner and 16 from Ballock. But Thomas simply didn't do enough and Foster himself needed to do a better job than he did.
CU did more than well enough on the boards. KSU only got 7 ORBs. I'd have to watch again but it didn't seem like CU really pushed when they got a rebound...unless it was ballock who got the rebound. Dude hits the ground running on defensive rebounds.
Blah blah blah. Such a frustrating team.
Mac is getting roasted on the CU board. As well he should. That is two years in a row that CU showed up for the NCAA tourney and looked like they'd rather be somewhere else. A HUGE opportunity lied ahead of them. The #1 overall seed was just ahead. And as good as they are they proved to be vulnerable to a hot team. SCREEEETCH! Talk about opportunity! UMBC? Seriously? CU, having never been to a sweet 16 couldn't have asked for a better scenario to break that wall down. And they choked. That falls on the coach when the team looks clueless.
Going forward. Mac is NOT getting fired. If firing Miles after this year sounds crazy firing Mac is 10x as crazy. When Mac was at UNI he played that slow 52-48 brand of basketball. I don't know what he was doing at ISU but the first season at CU he ran a pretty deliberate offense...until the CBI and then he took off the chains and "Let it fly" was born. And it has served he and CU well. Very well. But he needs to evolve again. Not drastically.
All you have to do is look at Villanova to see that you can play with a let it fly philosophy AND be tough AND have some beaf in the line-up. They have two 6'9" 250 guys in the starting line up. They don't get pushed around. They don't live in fear of coming up against a team with a strong inside game. Jacob Epperson has a bright future. But he needs someone along side him that can throw fools around. 4 guards and Jacob is a recipe for disaster in March.
What is happening with CU is a natural progression of expectations. A fan base of a team that wins 10 games thinks the NIT would be really great. Go to a couple NITs and that gets old...they look at a team like CU and think "man, I'd take NCAA half the time and an occasional win and be thrilled!" Until that becomes the norm. Then you want to play on the second weekend. You want to win a conference title. Etc. Demanding better doesn't mean it's "do it or be fired" though. He'll be here a long time. And he's going to take s--- if they keep limping to the finish. He talks about "rock fights". March basketball is ALL ABOUT rock fights. Adapt, Mac. Again.
What an awful game. It's not like I didn't think it could happen. They were 3-6 down the stretch. But...I'm an optimist! I felt like Thomas and Foster could mostly carry this team to a win over KSU. KSU is really good on defense. KSU is NOT a team that's going to hit 9 of 19 3s very often. Mike McGuirl is a guy that scored 13 points. THIS YEAR. Scored 17 last night. What the...?
Obscure players going off on CU is a running joke among CU fans. It happens all the time and it is hard to explain.
KSU was missing their best player. There's no reason CU shouldn't have won that game. You need more than 9 shots out of Thomas. He filled up the stat sheet again but CU needed him to score. KSU made a point of face guarding Foster and for the most part he did a good job of not forcing it. He needed a little help from his friends....and he got it...12 from Hegner and 16 from Ballock. But Thomas simply didn't do enough and Foster himself needed to do a better job than he did.
CU did more than well enough on the boards. KSU only got 7 ORBs. I'd have to watch again but it didn't seem like CU really pushed when they got a rebound...unless it was ballock who got the rebound. Dude hits the ground running on defensive rebounds.
Blah blah blah. Such a frustrating team.
Mac is getting roasted on the CU board. As well he should. That is two years in a row that CU showed up for the NCAA tourney and looked like they'd rather be somewhere else. A HUGE opportunity lied ahead of them. The #1 overall seed was just ahead. And as good as they are they proved to be vulnerable to a hot team. SCREEEETCH! Talk about opportunity! UMBC? Seriously? CU, having never been to a sweet 16 couldn't have asked for a better scenario to break that wall down. And they choked. That falls on the coach when the team looks clueless.
Going forward. Mac is NOT getting fired. If firing Miles after this year sounds crazy firing Mac is 10x as crazy. When Mac was at UNI he played that slow 52-48 brand of basketball. I don't know what he was doing at ISU but the first season at CU he ran a pretty deliberate offense...until the CBI and then he took off the chains and "Let it fly" was born. And it has served he and CU well. Very well. But he needs to evolve again. Not drastically.
All you have to do is look at Villanova to see that you can play with a let it fly philosophy AND be tough AND have some beaf in the line-up. They have two 6'9" 250 guys in the starting line up. They don't get pushed around. They don't live in fear of coming up against a team with a strong inside game. Jacob Epperson has a bright future. But he needs someone along side him that can throw fools around. 4 guards and Jacob is a recipe for disaster in March.
What is happening with CU is a natural progression of expectations. A fan base of a team that wins 10 games thinks the NIT would be really great. Go to a couple NITs and that gets old...they look at a team like CU and think "man, I'd take NCAA half the time and an occasional win and be thrilled!" Until that becomes the norm. Then you want to play on the second weekend. You want to win a conference title. Etc. Demanding better doesn't mean it's "do it or be fired" though. He'll be here a long time. And he's going to take s--- if they keep limping to the finish. He talks about "rock fights". March basketball is ALL ABOUT rock fights. Adapt, Mac. Again.
Haven't updated in a while...
Darian DeVries (D-Rock)...longtime assistant for CU took the Drake Job. This isn't great news. D-Rock often got the nod for game planning the biggest games. He was at CU going back to the Altman years so they got their money's worth out of him. Will definitely be rooting for Drake. Not sure that's a great job but with no Wichita maybe there's a void in the valley that needs to be filled.
Khyri Thomas has declared for the draft but has not hired an agent yet. I think this is going to end up being a formality as I do believe he's gone. Most mocks have him in the first round. Obviously this hurts. BUT it was going to be a bit of a rebuilding year anyway...
Surprisingly Ronnie Harrell has decided to take the grad transfer route and transfer to Denver for his last season. His cousin is Chauncey Billups who coaches at Denver and Denver is home for Ronnie so the destination makes sense. Ronnie has been kind of an enigma ever since he showed up. IIRC he was one of the first "Big East" recruits. A 4* in some rankings. 6'8" with guard skills. Smooth as butter at times. But often in the doghouse with Mac and fans, myself included, were frustrated by that. But over the course of the 3 years he played to me it eventually became clear how he might have been in the doghouse. Ronnie's ceiling was very high IMO. You could see flashes. I commented many times how the guy would stuff a stat sheet...but you could SEE that there was so much more he was capable of and you just wonder how much he really WANTED it. Guys like Doug McDermott, Khyri Thomas even a Toby Hegner got every last ounce of production out of the basketball talent they possessed. I just never got that impression from Ronnie. He showed flashes...which is what makes you think that. But all too often he would miss easy shots...DECLINE TO TAKE easy shots, etc. He'll be one of those "I wonder what he could have been had he had the burning desire to be great" guys.
So...next year could be tough. Martin Kramplj coming back and being healthy now becomes very very YUGE. There is a lot of young talent on this team and coming in. If I'm Mac I bite the bullet and go with a youth movement (as if he has a choice
). But I move Zegarowski into the PG spot immediately. Mitch and Tyjon at the wings. Figure it out at the "4" and mix and match Martin and Epperson at the "5"...with those two playing together 10+ minutes a night. Mintz can provide depth at the 1-3 spots as can Kaleb Joseph. You've got a transfer from new Mexico that can play wing or the "4" in a small line-up (they will go small a lot obviously). I'm guessing the 6-11, 225# kid will redshirt. But they have a 6'7" 4 star coming in from KC (built like Ronnie) and he's going to have to play I would guess. Mac will earn his check next year. I don't propose to have any idea how it will turn out. Kramplj was a bit player last year. This year he walks in and goes for 13 and 6 before getting hurt. I expect big jumps from all 3 freshmen....Alexander, Ballock and Epperson. If they do make that big frosh to soph leap, Martin comes back healthy and they get something out of the transfer market they should still be pretty good. Next year would be a good year to NOT suffer a major injury to a major contributor.
Darian DeVries (D-Rock)...longtime assistant for CU took the Drake Job. This isn't great news. D-Rock often got the nod for game planning the biggest games. He was at CU going back to the Altman years so they got their money's worth out of him. Will definitely be rooting for Drake. Not sure that's a great job but with no Wichita maybe there's a void in the valley that needs to be filled.
Khyri Thomas has declared for the draft but has not hired an agent yet. I think this is going to end up being a formality as I do believe he's gone. Most mocks have him in the first round. Obviously this hurts. BUT it was going to be a bit of a rebuilding year anyway...
Surprisingly Ronnie Harrell has decided to take the grad transfer route and transfer to Denver for his last season. His cousin is Chauncey Billups who coaches at Denver and Denver is home for Ronnie so the destination makes sense. Ronnie has been kind of an enigma ever since he showed up. IIRC he was one of the first "Big East" recruits. A 4* in some rankings. 6'8" with guard skills. Smooth as butter at times. But often in the doghouse with Mac and fans, myself included, were frustrated by that. But over the course of the 3 years he played to me it eventually became clear how he might have been in the doghouse. Ronnie's ceiling was very high IMO. You could see flashes. I commented many times how the guy would stuff a stat sheet...but you could SEE that there was so much more he was capable of and you just wonder how much he really WANTED it. Guys like Doug McDermott, Khyri Thomas even a Toby Hegner got every last ounce of production out of the basketball talent they possessed. I just never got that impression from Ronnie. He showed flashes...which is what makes you think that. But all too often he would miss easy shots...DECLINE TO TAKE easy shots, etc. He'll be one of those "I wonder what he could have been had he had the burning desire to be great" guys.
So...next year could be tough. Martin Kramplj coming back and being healthy now becomes very very YUGE. There is a lot of young talent on this team and coming in. If I'm Mac I bite the bullet and go with a youth movement (as if he has a choice
). But I move Zegarowski into the PG spot immediately. Mitch and Tyjon at the wings. Figure it out at the "4" and mix and match Martin and Epperson at the "5"...with those two playing together 10+ minutes a night. Mintz can provide depth at the 1-3 spots as can Kaleb Joseph. You've got a transfer from new Mexico that can play wing or the "4" in a small line-up (they will go small a lot obviously). I'm guessing the 6-11, 225# kid will redshirt. But they have a 6'7" 4 star coming in from KC (built like Ronnie) and he's going to have to play I would guess. Mac will earn his check next year. I don't propose to have any idea how it will turn out. Kramplj was a bit player last year. This year he walks in and goes for 13 and 6 before getting hurt. I expect big jumps from all 3 freshmen....Alexander, Ballock and Epperson. If they do make that big frosh to soph leap, Martin comes back healthy and they get something out of the transfer market they should still be pretty good. Next year would be a good year to NOT suffer a major injury to a major contributor.