Sat 1/25 BE Game Thread (5 Games).

[Bill Marsh]

James Milliken - a JUCO guard - 6'2", vertical leap close to 40" and scored 18 pts/gm while shooting 42% from 3 in JUCO - he was expected to contribute a lot this year, but was squeezed out when Gibbs got another year of eligibility

Darian Harris - 6'6" guard from Arkansas - seems to be a Gibbs-type facilitator, but can score when needed

Toby Hegner - a 6'10" SF/PF from Wisc - has a similar skill set as Doug (obviously not on the same level, but a inside/outside player who can score from anywhere) - was offered by Iowa State, Marquette, Boston College, among others. He fits our system perfectly as the typical stretch 4 ala Doug and a lot of folks in Omaha expect him to be a star.

Thanks, Old Fan. Greatly appreciate the information. Sounds like there's a lot to look forward to.

[Bill Marsh]

Re #6. It may haunt them I guess, however when you are the most efficient offense (and probably best shooting) team in the country you roll with what you have. Why would a bunch of guys who are better than 40% career three point shooters start driving when it is not their strength at all just to try and take more free throws?

I didn't say they should start driving. Every team has their strengths and weaknesses. The inability to take the ball to the hole is one of Creighton's weaknesses and that weakness, I'm saying, may come back to haunt them. When those 3's aren't dropping, the fact that they don't have another weapon is a problem. We aleady saw that against Peovidence who killed them on the offensive boards.

Fair point, but you hit the nail on the head with your second statement there. The key to most games for Creighton this year is rebounding along with defensive effort. When they get out rebounded the outcome is not good.

Jays, my impressions are based on limited opportunities to see Creighton play this year. And even if I'm right - which I may not be - the great thing about college basketball is that every team is a work in progress since these kids are still developing both individually and as a unit. If I see something as a weakness! I'm sure that the coach was aware of it long before I was. It's ver likely that he's introducing things in anticipation of the very situation I mentioned. He knows that any team that relies too heavily on the 3 has an Achilles Heel. That doesn't mean that a team with talent at shooting the 3 should stop shooting them, but they should have a Plan B in their back picket for the inevitable time when they're not dropping. It doesn't matter too much during the regular season. Providence was just one loss. But it can end a season in tournament play. I expect that a coach as good as McDermott will have them prepared by then.

[Sumdumguy]

I think it is way too early to even discuss who a FF team is and isn't. Creighton is a FF team if they don't run into a team who is able to out rebound them by 15. Granted anyone who makes 21 threes in a game should win, but if CU shoots their average and can't get a rebound, I don't like their chances. For example, while I watched the CU/PC game, if Creighton didn't make their shot, it was going the other way. And when PC took a shot, there was a very good chance they would get at least one more. I think CU is a much better team than PC, but if we ran into them, or a team as long and athletic as they are, in the tourney I would be worried about their chances.

I haven't watched Nova enough to know what their specific weakness is, other than 21 threes, but they have shown that they can win enough games against good opponents to go to the FF as well. Someone can check me on this but I think Wichita State was unranked going into the tourney last year and made the FF. Were they good, yes. Were they great, no. But they ran into matchups that gave them a fighting chance and they won. Creighton beat them 3 times last season and didn't make the FF, so saying with any confidence who is and isn't a FF team in January is impossible to tell. There are so few teams who have so few weaknesses that you can say there are only 3 teams who could beat them on any given night that it's not worth projecting.

I will say that the knock on Nova being that they have won so many close games should really be a compliment. Winning a lot of close games can obviously show that a team may not have the mentality to step on an opponent's throat, but it can also show a team's will to win. Finding a way to win no matter the circumstances should not be overlooked. When it comes down to a win or go home game, I'll take the team who wants it more.

Sorry if I don't make much sense, but I think we have at least 3 teams with FF potential, no one is a lock. CU's loss to PC is one game and Nova's loss to CU is also one game. Neither are when it counts. I'm going to enjoy the ride and save my predictions until the brackets come out.

[Bill Marsh]

Sumdumguy, great post! Enjoyed reading it.