Live by the 3, die by the 3

[DudeAnon]

Can Creighton defeat this commonly accepted wisdom?

I know they have a myriad of other weapons, but their main threat is their 3 point shooting. My only worry is that when it matters (March Madness) that one off-night could spell a short trip for the Jays. Here is to hoping I am wrong.

[Hunter]

Can Creighton defeat this commonly accepted wisdom?

I know they have a myriad of other weapons, but their main threat is their 3 point shooting. My only worry is that when it matters (March Madness) that one off-night could spell a short trip for the Jays. Here is to hoping I am wrong.

I'm not sure this applies to Creighton as much as what people think. To me, the "Live by the 3, die by the 3" axiom applies more to teams who are streaky from the 3-point line. Statistically, Creighton is the best 3-point shooting team in the nation and it is not really close. To me, it would seem logical for any team to leverage that kind of skill to the maximum possible. Furthermore, as you mentioned, Creighton has additional weapons beyond its 3-point shooting ability and has proven their ability to win games that are more of the grind-it-out/defensive battle variety. If you have seen how this team played defense three years ago and how far it has come in that regard, you'd realize they understand that winning basketball games over the course of a season is much more than finding who has the hot hand on any given night. Over the past 10 days or so, it just so happens that their offense is clicking and they have been able shoot 3s at an unprecedented clip even for them. When you have have one of the top players in the country who can play the post effectively and also stretch the D, it opens things up for everyone whether that is in the post or on the perimeter.

[DudeAnon]

I guess I am not a good thread starter.

Still, Regressing on Deadspin just put an analysis http://regressing.deadspin.com/how-crei ... 1505676416

Basically, at this rate, Creighton is the most efficient basketball team ever. Man do I hope they make a run in the Tourney.

[Bluejay]

I think that is an overly simplistic analysis of Creighton. While poor shooting obviously played into it, many of us feel that the Princeton loss was equally due to piss poor rebounding effort that led to multiple second and third chance opportunities for PC.

Either that, or the darkness that is Dunkin Donuts Center impacted our ability to see the rims from way out...

[Bill Marsh]

This is actually a very interesting thread, Dude.

Rick Pitino was one of the first to see the potential of the 3 point game. He was at Providence when the rule went into effect. He basically designed his offense around three 3 point shooters and 2 post players. He wanted his players to shoot only 3's or lay ups.

His 1986-87 Providence team went to the Final Four. His. 3 perimeter starters, Billy Donovan, Delray Brooks, and Pop Lewis all shot above 40% on 3's as did 6th man Darryl Wright. As a team they averaged 42.1% from behind the arc, which is very close to what Creighton is shooting.

Providence didn't shoot as many 3's as Creighton, but they did take about 35% of their shots from 3 and scored 29% of their points on 3's, both of which is still very high.

[Bill Marsh]

I think that is an overly simplistic analysis of Creighton. While poor shooting obviously played into it, many of us feel that the Princeton loss was equally due to piss poor rebounding effort that led to multiple second and third chance opportunities for PC.

Either that, or the darkness that is Dunkin Donuts Center impacted our ability to see the rims from way out...

Yes, poor rebounding was definitely a factor in that game as Providence killed Creighton on the offensive boards in that game. But even with that said, it's hard to minimize poor 3 point shooting as a factor in that game. If Creighton had hit its normal 40+% of its 3-point attempts, your guys would have scored 4 more baskets for 12 more points. You lost by 13. Hit the 3's and it would have been a one-point game that could have gone either way.