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CREIGHTON THREAD 2018-2019

bilsker

Tom Osborne
15 Year Member
It's right there in the thread title...don't like it don't open it. :Biggrin: For those Johnny Come-lately types there are a few people on the board who don't hate the Jays and some who even like them (even if they don't admit it!) so general basketball discussion has always been allowed in the Basketball forum.

Annual disclaimer out of the way...

So, went to the exhibition game the other night v. Winona State (coached by former jay Todd Eisner). Typical exhibition game...not really competitive and hard to say what you really saw. Kind of like the Bethune Cookman game...nothing really bad happened so...SUCCESS!

I was going to post that CU has a young team...and they do. They have 7 frosh or sophs. The good news is all those sophomores got some good experience last year. In addition to being young they have 3 guys that are new to the team (one of which is one of the sophomores). Put those two factors together and I think you might have a recipe for some early season struggles.

I'll start with the returning guys.

Mintz. I've dished out some abuse to the guy over the two years he's been around. That said he LOOKED more the part the other night. Stealing from a poster on another board..."he's more of an offensive PG than a facilitator". And that's ok. Stuck somewhere in between is no good. The kid has always had a nice stroke and he was 4-5 from 3 the other night. I think I can become a fan...

Tyshon Alexander. He is CU's next scorer. That's not any kind of revelation. You could see he had that ability last year. With Foster and Thomas gone I think he will seize the opportunity to be that next 18 PPG guy. Shot really well Saturday.

Ballock. He'll be a very nice scoring sidekick for Alexander. He'll consistently put 12-20 on the board with the occasional big game. 10 pts, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals saturday in 19 min. That's kind of what they need from him. A little bit of everything.

Kramplj is back from his 3rd ACL. Didn't look quite as "high flying" as he looked last year. I'm sure there still some mental blocks there. He did have a nice steal/break-away dunk. Fingers crossed for a full, healthy year out of him. He's was off to an amazing start last year.

Kaleb Joseph. The transfer from Syracuse that didn't play much last year. I think he was the first off the bench the other night so I was surprised to see that. Played well but was limited as he got dinged some time during the game. Whatever they can get out of him would be great. It's his last hurrah so maybe he's ready to have a year.

Jacob Epperson. Didn't get the start but heard it was because he was nicked up a little. Did play though. Still thin. He's probably just one of those guys that will never be really big. He'll be a key cog as the season progresses.

NEW GUYS

Samson Froling. He was Sam throughout recruiting but apparently goes by Samson now. Has the hair to go with the name. 7', 230 according to the roster. So he's not really "bigger" than Epperson but he carries it better if that makes sense. 4* ESPN/3* 247. Put the ball on the floor from the top of the key and made a nice move to the basket. Nice running hook shot on another. I think he's going to be a very good player. He, Epperson and Karmplj give McDermott options he hasn't had in a while as far as the possibility of "big" line-ups. Options are always good.

Marcus Zegarowski. 4* PG on both ESPN and 247. His shot was a little off Saturday. Not sure if that was nerves or something he will have to work on. He will back up Mintz all year I'd suspect. He'll be a good one but it's good that he doesn't HAVE to come in right now and be the man.

Christian Bishop. 3* on both ESPN and 247. 8 points, 5 boards. Can't say I really paid enough attention to say much about him. If you take the returning players, Froling and Zegarowski (both those frosh WILL play and play a lot) you've got 8 guys. Not sure how much time Bishop is going to get right out of the gate. Those 8 though...5 guards, 2 centers and 1 center/forward. That leaves room for PT for Bishop (6'7") or Damien Jefferson (6'5" transfer from New Mexico)...another guy I didn't pay much attention to Saturday.

Connor Cashaw. Grad transfer from Rice (15ppg). He didn't come here to sit so I'd imagine he's going to push for playing time. CU will need guys to sub for Alexander and Ballock so that's where he and Joseph fit in.

It will be interesting to see how Mac juggles playing time. He has options though so there should be strong competition for minutes behind the starting 5 of Mintz, Alexander, Ballock, Kramplj and Froling/Epperson.

The pre-season predictions aren't glowing. I think I heard the coaches have them at 9th in the Big East. If last year's frosh developed as you'd hope and Kramplj stays healthy I think they'll beat that rather easily.

So...non conference has your usual slate of dreck. But not a lot of it. They also have Ohio State and Gonzaga at home and NU and Oklahoma on the road and a tournament that has Boise, Georgia, Clemson Ill St, The Bonnies and Georgia State...none of whom I know anything about. So they have 6 games you figure they will win for sure. Then Boise to start that tourney. Let's say they go 2-1 in the tourney. 8-1 before talking about the "big 4". Eh..win one of those? 9-4 non-conference? I'd take that right now. I think this is a team, given its youth, that will be significantly better in February than December.

The "good news" is this could be a down year for the big east. I haven't really paid much attention to the predictions. Nova is always going to be tough. As is Xavier. Not sure what Butler has. St. John's is SUPPOSED to be loaded but they still have Chris Mullen as coach so I would never buy stock in them. I say they will beat 9th place. But I doubt they can crack the top 5 this particular year. The homer in me says otherwise but I'll go with 6th place. Last year that meant 9-9. I'd take that right now. So...18-13 prior to the Big East Tourney. NIT. Not what you hope for but given the very solid frosh/soph base on this team I'm optimistic going beyond this season.

This is likely the year that Tim Miles finally breaks through against Mac. Watson, Palmer, Roby and Copeland form a pretty veteran core that's going to be hard for a young team to beat early on. Just don't run up the score, Tim! ;)
 
Forgot to mention. D-Rock...Darren DeVries, long time CU assistant, left to take over Drake. He was always the guy Mac leaned on to scout the bigger games. Paul Lusk was brought in as his replacement. Supposedly Lusk is a solid defensive "mind" and they've changed some things up in that department. The Lusk for D-Rock trade isn't insignificant.
 
Until Tim Miles actually beats Creighton, I won’t be too confident. Nebraska always plays poorly against Creighton. Last year, Roby immediately got in foul trouble and Watson fouled out. Creighton ended up shooting 17 free throws, Nebraska shot 3.

Nebraska does have an immensely better team though...they *should* win by 10+ points. If I were Miles, I’d run the score up if the opportunity presented itself. I’d be just happy with a 1 point win.

DeVries is a big, big loss. I’m not sure most Creighton fans understand just how big that loss is.
 



Until Tim Miles actually beats Creighton, I won’t be too confident. Nebraska always plays poorly against Creighton. Last year, Roby immediately got in foul trouble and Watson fouled out. Creighton ended up shooting 17 free throws, Nebraska shot 3.

Nebraska does have an immensely better team though...they *should* win by 10+ points. If I were Miles, I’d run the score up if the opportunity presented itself. I’d be just happy with a 1 point win.

DeVries is a big, big loss. I’m not sure most Creighton fans understand just how big that loss is.
With regard to devries...yeah, I was hoping he wouldn't take that Drake job. Not sure if that was a great move for him or not. I suppose a team doesn't have to get too good to have success in the new valley...capitalize on that and get out asap?

Supposedly scouting will be done by group instead of each game being scouted by a different assistant. My hope is that Lusk's supposed defensive mind will improve that end of things enough to offset whatever is lost in DRock taking off.
 
Jay's beat Western Illinois last night 78-67. And didn't look all that good doing it. Gave up 10 offensive 4 rebounds. Gotta clean that up. Actually shot the ball decently...except 9-20 from the line. Western didn't shoot all that well...so i guess if cu hits a decent rate at the line they probably get close to the 20 point spread.

Again, this is a young team with a LOT of new faces. It's going to take Mac minute to figure out rotations/combinations. They will most definitely struggle early. The non-con record may not be real pretty.

Not a lot to write home about. Damien Jefferson (new Mexico transfer) had 8 points and 12 boards...kid is super athletic. Marcus Zegarowski looked way better to my eye than he did in the exhibition game...by the end of the season I expect he may be getting even minutes with Mintz at the point.

Another tomato can Sunday then Ohio State at home next Thursday. They better improve a lot in a week if they want to win that one.
 
I was definitely mistaken in calling east Tenn st. a "tomato can". Apparently they've won 76 games in the last 3 years. Lost a lot of guys from last year so it remains to be seen if they are any good this year but they aren't your typical 300+ RPI early season game.

Their m.o. according to a scouting report I saw was to basically throw up shots and then send 5 guys to the boards. I told a friend cu would be a success if cu held them to 15 offensive boards for the game. First half they didn't exactly crash the boards and only got 4 on the offensive glass. The second half was a totally different story. They bludgeoned cu on the boards...something like 23-9 with 15 offensive. Eek.

Jay's got down 12 with about 7 min to go. I figured the game was toast. But the Jay's stormed back and won by 6 behind 20 from Alexander.

Mac is doing what he can to find combos that thrive. He found one with about 7 minotes left and mostly stuck with it...namely Zegarowski at the point. That kid is going to be a player. Shades of Mo Watson on a couple drives to the paint. But he is young so Mintz will continue to start.

Kramplj didn't practice all week and has a ways to go before he is back to the level he was playing at when he got hurt last year. Hopefully he gets there. I'm still optimistic that this will be a salty team by year's end...but I think there are going to be some serious growing pains in getting there. Picked a bad year for probably their toughest non-con slate. I'm (almost) ready to back off my prediction that this will be a bubble team...I think there is going to be too much damage done in the non-con to have them thinking about dancing. Hope I'm wrong. The good news is i don't think it's because of a dearth of talent...just too much youth/too many new faces to pile up a bunch of goodwill early on. We shall see.
 
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The jays came out and layed an egg in the first half....11 turnovers and got down 12 at the half. Played much better in the 2nd...only 3 turnovers and eventually led by 3 I think. Then they folded up like a cheap suit to end the game with OSU going on a 13-0 run.

Early indications are that CU doesn't have a "go to" guy. The closest thing they have is Alexander but he disappeared down the stretch. Mitch Ballock was MIA. Davion Mintz, as one would expect, came up microscopically small when they needed him to come up big. Dribbles the ball off his foot to turn it over when they absolutely had to have a bucket down 4 late. Then airballs a 3 on the next possession. Game over.

This just isn't a good team. If there's a silver lining...it looks like the "graduation" bug that hit just about every top Big East team was equally devastating. It's pretty crazy how pretty much every BE team lost a majority of their production. If Chris Mullen could coach his way out of a wet paper bag St. John's would probably win the league this year. He has the horses. They just have no jockey.

Anyway, the sooner Marcus Zegarowski relegates Mintz to the bench or spot back-up duty the better. Never liked the guy as a point guard and never will. Zegarowski appears to have the skills and attitude needed. Just needs some time. Broken record? :) Kramplj showed signs of returning to his pre-injury self. On one possession I think he got 3 ORBs and drew a foul on another. May not have mattered but him fouling out with 2 minutes left sucked the air out of the building. By necessity, Mac had Zegarowski and Mintz on the court at the same time. I like Mintz as a 2 much better than at the point. He's not a bad shot and he's a decent defender. He just sucks at running an offense. \

On to the Caymen Islands for a tourney that I think you have to watch on the internet. :rolleyes: Picking up 2 of 3 there would be helpful. Boise St. is up first..they are 0-1 with a loss to Idaho St. Bonnies or Ga St. after that. The other side of the bracket includes Clemson and UGA.
 
Actually I think you're being a little too hard on Creighton. I saw a team that came back from a first half deficit, seemingly able to score easily. I think the lead may have been more than three, forcing Ohio State to play make-up with threes (that didn't fall). Until their run (and Kramplj fouling out) I'm sure Holtmann was sweating bullets.
 
Actually I think you're being a little too hard on Creighton. I saw a team that came back from a first half deficit, seemingly able to score easily. I think the lead may have been more than three, forcing Ohio State to play make-up with threes (that didn't fall). Until their run (and Kramplj fouling out) I'm sure Holtmann was sweating bullets.
Maybe. I just haven't been too pleased with what I've seen so far. It may be a struggle for me to stay patient with the fact that basically the entire team is 1st or 2nd year players (outside of Mintz and Kramplj).
 
Jay's beat Boise St. 94-82 in Caymen Islands Classic tonight. Looked more like the Jay's we've been used too. 57% shooting, 54% from 3 and hit their free throws...and had 23 assists. First 3 games they had a negative assist/TO ratio.

I'd say "don't forget the name Marcus zegarowski" but I won't let you so no worries. :) The real deal. 14 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 0 turnovers. He has the "it" factor. There is no question he is better than davion mintz right now.

Damien Jefferson came out like a man possessed tonight. Scored 16...probably 13 in the first 10 min...which was huge because it kept cu in the game until everyone else woke up.

Georgia State up next then either Georgia or Clemson.
 



That was an easy bet. I love non-con college basketball gambling. Makes up for NFL losses.
 
That was an easy bet. I love non-con college basketball gambling. Makes up for NFL losses.
I hear ya. Got cu and the overs. Something about that gym appears to agree with CU. Before last night i wouldn't have touched an over bet with the jays involved.

My issue has been college football....I'm doing way better on NFL. Part of the problem is I bet too many games in college football.
 

So the Jay's stomped Georgia State. 93-68 after leading by 28 at the half. GS was a tourney team last year so they are a credible, if not formidable, team. Jay's came out and just ran away. GS couldn't hit anything in the first half.

Jefferson had another great game. 20 points and 6 boards in 21 min. 9-10 from the field. I didn't recall that he was only a sophomore...I thought he was a Jr.

23 for Ballock. Added 6 assists, 7 boards and 2 steals.

Alexander added 13 points and 5 assists.

Creighton has a really strong sophomore class when you add Epperson to those 3. Throw in frosh Zeharowski (14, 3 and 3) and Bishop (really solid frosh but buried on the bench for now...got his first action tonight) and Frohling (a little raw but big upside) and the future is bright.

Definite progress from even the OSU game. Granted Boise and GS aren't OSU but they are better than the first two teams CU played...and cu didnt look good at all in those wins. So, I'm feeling better but there are still going to be several "one of those nights" nights.

Really hope Kramplj can make some progress. He is nowhere near 100%...may never be again.

Clemson up next. They will definitely be a dog in that one. That one would be gravy. Mission accomplished on this trip...get better...and they did that.
 

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