1/7/14 - Creighton Blue Jays @ DePaul Blue Demons

[section202jay]

DePaul was a little more physical than I imagined them being. Their defense was good on McDermott in the first half and overall even though he still ended up with 19 points with a hurt shoulder.

The Gibbs injury was not a dirty play. It was a very physical play, but not a dirty one.

[OutlawWales]

DePaul was a little more physical than I imagined them being. Their defense was good on McDermott in the first half and overall even though he still ended up with 19 points with an hurt shoulder.

The Gibbs injury was not a dirty play. It was a very physical play, but not a dirty one.

Yeah -- DePaul really did a nice job of keeping the ball out of Doug's hands and keeping him out of scoring position in the first half. Creighton made adjustments at halftime -- something I think Mac always does a great job of -- and got Doug some good positions and looks in the second half when DePaul just couldn't stay patient anymore.

It's remarkable that somebody can go out and score 19 points, well over half of them essentially playing one armed in the second half, and it seems like a really mediocre performance. Other players make SportsCenter when they put up 19 or 20 points because it is a big deal -- with Doug, it's a subpar overall performance!

What happened, though, is that for DePaul to keep him in check like that simply opened things up for a number of other players who stepped up. Doug had 19 -- but he deserves some credit for a whole lot of other points that came directly as a result of DePaul focusing so much on him that they forgot there were actually other players on the floor. That's going to be the interesting thing to watch, I think -- both Marquette and Seton Hall seemed to approach the game like any other game, no heavy emphasis on taking McDermott out of the game, no heavy emphasis on letting him get his and taking everyone else out of the game -- just trying to execute across the board. DePaul seemed to really focus primarily on taking McDermott out of the game -- and the rest of the team really had open looks all night. I'm not sure what approach works, but I'm curious to see what teams coming up do.

I'm looking forward to X -- and worried about them -- because I think they are much more in the Creighton mold of preparation for games. I think the rest of the BIG EAST may just have a very different approach to game prep than teams like Creighton, Butler, and X, who have relied for years on preparation and execution over pure athleticism to get the job done.

[stever20]

DePaul was a little more physical than I imagined them being. Their defense was good on McDermott in the first half and overall even though he still ended up with 19 points with an hurt shoulder.

The Gibbs injury was not a dirty play. It was a very physical play, but not a dirty one.

Yeah -- DePaul really did a nice job of keeping the ball out of Doug's hands and keeping him out of scoring position in the first half. Creighton made adjustments at halftime -- something I think Mac always does a great job of -- and got Doug some good positions and looks in the second half when DePaul just couldn't stay patient anymore.

It's remarkable that somebody can go out and score 19 points, well over half of them essentially playing one armed in the second half, and it seems like a really mediocre performance. Other players make SportsCenter when they put up 19 or 20 points because it is a big deal -- with Doug, it's a subpar overall performance!

What happened, though, is that for DePaul to keep him in check like that simply opened things up for a number of other players who stepped up. Doug had 19 -- but he deserves some credit for a whole lot of other points that came directly as a result of DePaul focusing so much on him that they forgot there were actually other players on the floor. That's going to be the interesting thing to watch, I think -- both Marquette and Seton Hall seemed to approach the game like any other game, no heavy emphasis on taking McDermott out of the game, no heavy emphasis on letting him get his and taking everyone else out of the game -- just trying to execute across the board. DePaul seemed to really focus primarily on taking McDermott out of the game -- and the rest of the team really had open looks all night. I'm not sure what approach works, but I'm curious to see what teams coming up do.

I'm looking forward to X -- and worried about them -- because I think they are much more in the Creighton mold of preparation for games. I think the rest of the BIG EAST may just have a very different approach to game prep than teams like Creighton, Butler, and X, who have relied for years on preparation and execution over pure athleticism to get the job done.

I think actually the difference with Creighton especially- and also Butler moreso than X- they come from leagues where they have played double round robin all the time. So they saw everyone 2x a year and developed a book on all 9 other teams. You see someone 2-3 x a year and you know all their tendacies and just know ok when this setup on the court takes place- this is going to happen. Whereas in the Big East before, you'd see a team 1x a year so in 4 years only 4 times. HUGE difference to me.

[Bluejay]

I think actually the difference with Creighton especially- and also Butler moreso than X- they come from leagues where they have played double round robin all the time. So they saw everyone 2x a year and developed a book on all 9 other teams. You see someone 2-3 x a year and you know all their tendacies and just know ok when this setup on the court takes place- this is going to happen. Whereas in the Big East before, you'd see a team 1x a year so in 4 years only 4 times. HUGE difference to me.

Stever, right when I am about to put you on ignore, you say something really profound.

I hadn't thought about this before, but maybe there is something to your explanation. We have former UConn assistant Patrick Sellers on our staff now and he has said that the way Creighton/Greg McDermott scout the opponents is significantly more detailed and advanced than was done in Sellers BIG EAST days. Maybe the double round robin has an impact on the coaches placing a higher value on detailed scouting, but I can assure you that they do the same thing for noncon games as well.

[stever20]

I think actually the difference with Creighton especially- and also Butler moreso than X- they come from leagues where they have played double round robin all the time. So they saw everyone 2x a year and developed a book on all 9 other teams. You see someone 2-3 x a year and you know all their tendacies and just know ok when this setup on the court takes place- this is going to happen. Whereas in the Big East before, you'd see a team 1x a year so in 4 years only 4 times. HUGE difference to me.

Stever, right when I am about to put you on ignore, you say something really profound.

I hadn't thought about this before, but maybe there is something to your explanation. We have former UConn assistant Patrick Sellers on our staff now and he has said that the way Creighton/Greg McDermott scout the opponents is significantly more detailed and advanced than was done in Sellers BIG EAST days. Maybe the double round robin has an impact on the coaches placing a higher value on detailed scouting, but I can assure you that they do the same thing for noncon games as well.

Think about it from UConn. When they were in the BE- they only would see 3 teams 2x. So for the other 12 teams in the league- you only saw them 1x. You aren't going to put in more than a basic game plan vs them....

Now I will say on the other side of things, having all those different teams- where it helps out is when you get to the tourney- you have a lot broader range of teams played. So you play Boise State. You can say ok Boise reminds me of team x who we played- and you have some reference.

[OutlawWales]

DePaul was a little more physical than I imagined them being. Their defense was good on McDermott in the first half and overall even though he still ended up with 19 points with an hurt shoulder.

The Gibbs injury was not a dirty play. It was a very physical play, but not a dirty one.

Yeah -- DePaul really did a nice job of keeping the ball out of Doug's hands and keeping him out of scoring position in the first half. Creighton made adjustments at halftime -- something I think Mac always does a great job of -- and got Doug some good positions and looks in the second half when DePaul just couldn't stay patient anymore.

It's remarkable that somebody can go out and score 19 points, well over half of them essentially playing one armed in the second half, and it seems like a really mediocre performance. Other players make SportsCenter when they put up 19 or 20 points because it is a big deal -- with Doug, it's a subpar overall performance!

What happened, though, is that for DePaul to keep him in check like that simply opened things up for a number of other players who stepped up. Doug had 19 -- but he deserves some credit for a whole lot of other points that came directly as a result of DePaul focusing so much on him that they forgot there were actually other players on the floor. That's going to be the interesting thing to watch, I think -- both Marquette and Seton Hall seemed to approach the game like any other game, no heavy emphasis on taking McDermott out of the game, no heavy emphasis on letting him get his and taking everyone else out of the game -- just trying to execute across the board. DePaul seemed to really focus primarily on taking McDermott out of the game -- and the rest of the team really had open looks all night. I'm not sure what approach works, but I'm curious to see what teams coming up do.

I'm looking forward to X -- and worried about them -- because I think they are much more in the Creighton mold of preparation for games. I think the rest of the BIG EAST may just have a very different approach to game prep than teams like Creighton, Butler, and X, who have relied for years on preparation and execution over pure athleticism to get the job done.

I think actually the difference with Creighton especially- and also Butler moreso than X- they come from leagues where they have played double round robin all the time. So they saw everyone 2x a year and developed a book on all 9 other teams. You see someone 2-3 x a year and you know all their tendacies and just know ok when this setup on the court takes place- this is going to happen. Whereas in the Big East before, you'd see a team 1x a year so in 4 years only 4 times. HUGE difference to me.

Absolutely agree that that is a big part of it. But it's a reason for the totally different approach to game prep, not some completely different idea altogether. I tend to be in the crowd that thinks you contribute some great stuff on here -- but I swear it seems like you have to start every single post by finding a way to disagree with whatever was just said by anyone else. As noted, this is not unique to Creighton's approach to conference play -- the Jays have prepared this way for nonconference teams, too -- even if we only see those teams 1x every decade.

[stever20]

Absolutely agree that that is a big part of it. But it's a reason for the totally different approach to game prep, not some completely different idea altogether. I tend to be in the crowd that thinks you contribute some great stuff on here -- but I swear it seems like you have to start every single post by finding a way to disagree with whatever was just said by anyone else. As noted, this is not unique to Creighton's approach to conference play -- the Jays have prepared this way for nonconference teams, too -- even if we only see those teams 1x every decade.

I'd think that they kind of prep for nonconference teams like to get them ready for when conference play starts, they're used to getting that kind of detailed information... It'd be something that would be difficult to just start doing when conference play rolled around.

Will be interesting to see if the C7 changes their prep style closer to Creighton. Wouldn't shock me. I'd think for some programs- that'll even increase their advantage even more- coaching would matter that much more.

[jays911]

Watched it again tonight. Many times. With all deference to Dr. Pietro, I am pretty confident that was thuggery. And that is also the conclusion of a number of fan-friends who saw it live. But all is forgiven. Any school that pays a coach as much as you do for so little in results--well . . Peace.

[BluejaysForThree]

Watched it again tonight. Many times. With all deference to Dr. Pietro, I am pretty confident that was thuggery. And that is also the conclusion of a number of fan-friends who saw it live. But all is forgiven. Any school that pays a coach as much as you do for so little in results--well . . Peace.

I have to politely disagree jays911, the more I watch the replay of this injury, Gibbs was being just as aggressive on the play - both players were making a play for the basketball - and it was a freak injury during a fairly physical battle on the baseline. Every Jays fan should realize that the Big East is known for its physical style of play, and things happen during the course of the game including injuries (comments like the above do not represent the Creighton fanbase either, believe me). The DePaul player did not (in my opinion) appear to "try" and injure Grant, rather the two were going after the ball and Gibbs' knee bent awkwardly in the process. To straight up claim that DePaul is a team of thugs is like calling the Indiana State or heck even Creighton a thuggish team, it just doesn't make sense - things happen and injuries happen, get over it. Sounds like GG#10 is out 4 weeks at most, thankfully not for the season, so let's hope he recovers quickly and this whole issue can be put to bed. Just be glad he will be able to come back and possibly finish out his 6th year\Senior Year .

[stever20]

Watched it again tonight. Many times. With all deference to Dr. Pietro, I am pretty confident that was thuggery. And that is also the conclusion of a number of fan-friends who saw it live. But all is forgiven. Any school that pays a coach as much as you do for so little in results--well . . Peace.

I have to politely disagree jays911, the more I watch the replay of this injury, Gibbs was being just as aggressive on the play - both players were making a play for the basketball - and it was a freak injury during a fairly physical battle on the baseline. Every Jays fan should realize that the Big East is known for its physical style of play, and things happen during the course of the game including injuries (comments like the above do not represent the Creighton fanbase either, believe me). The DePaul player did not (in my opinion) appear to "try" and injure Grant, rather the two were going after the ball and Gibbs' knee bent awkwardly in the process. To straight up claim that DePaul is a team of thugs is like calling the Indiana State or heck even Creighton a thuggish team, it just doesn't make sense - things happen and injuries happen, get over it. Sounds like GG#10 is out 4 weeks at most, thankfully not for the season, so let's hope he recovers quickly and this whole issue can be put to bed. Just be glad he will be able to come back and possibly finish out his 6th year\Senior Year .

Just saw the story- ESPN and Jeff Goodman is saying 4-6 weeks for Gibbs.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ed-kneecap

4 weeks from now is Feb 6. Means he's missing no matter what- Xavier, Butler, @ Providence, @ Nova, Georgetown, and St John's. All are before Feb 1 even- so no chance he's making any of those games.

Games in that Feb 6-20 timeframe-
Feb 7 DePaul
Feb 9 @ St John's
Feb 13 @ Butler
Feb 16 Villanova
Feb 19 @ Marquette

Huge difference between 4 and 6 weeks- 4 of the biggest games are in that middle.