BE - Sat 1/2/16 - Marathon - General Discussion...

[NovaBall]

Missed the second half of the Creighton game, doesnt look like I missed much .

If you want to see why people are excited about Jalen Brunson you can re-watch it

[admin]

Missed the second half of the Creighton game, doesnt look like I missed much .

You missed more than Villanova did. 28 for 32 on two point attempts has to be some kind of record.

[stever20]

Missed the second half of the Creighton game, doesnt look like I missed much .

You missed more than Villanova did. 28 for 32 on two point attempts has to be some kind of record.

shoot, that's better than 22-28 that Nova shot in the title game vs Georgetown.....

[mel ott]

Just back from the Creighton game. Great atmosphere. 3pt shooting was huge as CU shot poorly ( some due to Vill pressure D) and Vill was just above their %. Hart was unstoppable. Vill is so tough, fast, and athletic they make you speed up. Even after a double digit loss, I feel good about the Bluejays. A couple of three pointers that hit earlier and the tempo and atmosphere changes. Oh well, love being in the BE and being able to watch these conference teams all year.

[Jet915]

Missed the second half of the Creighton game, doesnt look like I missed much .

You missed more than Villanova did. 28 for 32 on two point attempts has to be some kind of record.

Against our porous D, no thanks. That being said, Villanova was passing very well from what I saw. Kudos to them. Just wish we could have put up a better fight.

[stever20]

1 interesting thing to kind of keep an eye on.... Last year, Ken Pom ratings meant more than ever before. Advanced metrics....

right now here's how the Big East schools are in Ken Pom... It'll surprise you...
Villanova #2
Xavier #8
sounds great, right.....
Providence #33
Butler #37
Seton Hall #42
Georgetown #67
Creighton #69
Marquette #109
DePaul #154
St John's #240

Butler to me is really going to be interesting I think. On face value, no shame in losing to PC or Xavier. But now, they have to go 4-0 obviously vs DePaul, St John's- but then also vs Nova, PC, X they're projected in KP to go 0-4 now. That would be 6 losses. That would mean vs Seton Hall, Georgetown, Marquette, Creighton- going at least 4-4. And that would only get them to 8-10 in conference play. I think it's pretty close to a must win game for Butler on Tuesday @ DePaul.

[ChestRockwell85]

I honestly thought Creighton played well tonight. It just seemed that every time it looked like Creighton might go on a run and close the gap Villanova had an answer. I am not pounding my chest here, but Villanova is a very tough team, and a few of our guys stepped up tonight (Ochefu and Hart and then Brunson in the 2nd half) to make sure we left there with a W.

I can understand the frustration from Creighton fans that maybe their D made it look easy for us to score at times, but perhaps they were prepared for the Villanova team that launches 3s all game.

Like my Villanova brethren, NovaBall, who is a legend, I too am ecstatic that Villanova is no longer shooting 30+ 3s a night. We have the players to score in a variety of ways and I am happy we are finally utilizing their talents to mix it up on the offensive end. We should have been doing this for a lot longer if you ask me.

[BEhomer]

mo watson played well and kept his team in the game. I guess I'm wrong about him being turnover prone. I thought he would struggle and Groselle would give nova some trouble but it was exact opposite.

too many layups and open mid range jumpshots. no rim protection from Groselle. It looks like Ocehfu dominated on paper, but his pts mostly came from layups. Cole Huff can score but he's soft on D and on the board. With all the size and depth advantage they get outrebounded. and that after Nova playing zone (hard to rebound) and was in foul trouble which forced them to go small at times.

[GumbyDamnit!]

mo watson played well and kept his team in the game. I guess I'm wrong about him being turnover prone. I thought he would struggle and Groselle would give nova some trouble but it was exact opposite.

too many layups and open mid range jumpshots. no rim protection from Groselle. It looks like Ocehfu dominated on paper, but his pts mostly came from layups. Cole Huff can score but he's soft on D and on the board. With all the size and depth advantage they get outrebounded. and that after Nova playing zone (hard to rebound) and was in foul trouble which forced them to go small at times.

I disagree about Ochefu. As impressive as is stat line was--9/10 from field, 19 & 7--I thought his overall impact was even greater. His first two buckets are face up 12-15 foot jump shots. Then he started pump faking and blowing by Groselle. Then he backed him down and scored with running hooks. When doubled he passed out well. Offensively he did just about anything he wanted. This was the Ochefu most of us expected to see this year. For us to be more well rounded we need an aggressive Ochefu. Last night, and Sat., against probably the two best other bigs in the conference, Ochefu got the better of both. And defensively he was just as good. He kept Groselle from his spot and made him work for every inch. I don't think you can just fault CU for Groselle only scoring one bucket; Ochefu was up for the challenge.

Defensively I was confused by The Jays D. You guys seemed to want to play Nova straight up but when our guys blew by their defenders there was zero weak side help. We spread you and let Hart and Booth work one on one. Tough ask without help.

[jfan]

mo watson played well and kept his team in the game. I guess I'm wrong about him being turnover prone. I thought he would struggle and Groselle would give nova some trouble but it was exact opposite.

too many layups and open mid range jumpshots. no rim protection from Groselle. It looks like Ocehfu dominated on paper, but his pts mostly came from layups. Cole Huff can score but he's soft on D and on the board. With all the size and depth advantage they get outrebounded. and that after Nova playing zone (hard to rebound) and was in foul trouble which forced them to go small at times.

I disagree about Ochefu. As impressive as is stat line was--9/10 from field, 19 & 7--I thought his overall impact was even greater. His first two buckets are face up 12-15 foot jump shots. Then he started pump faking and blowing by Groselle. Then he backed him down and scored with running hooks. When doubled he passed out well. Offensively he did just about anything he wanted. This was the Ochefu most of us expected to see this year. For us to be more well rounded we need an aggressive Ochefu. Last night, and Sat., against probably the two best other bigs in the conference, Ochefu got the better of both. And defensively he was just as good. He kept Groselle from his spot and made him work for every inch. I don't think you can just fault CU for Groselle only scoring one bucket; Ochefu was up for the challenge.

Defensively I was confused by The Jays D. You guys seemed to want to play Nova straight up but when our guys blew by their defenders there was zero weak side help. We spread you and let Hart and Booth work one on one. Tough ask without help.

Quite honestly, the Jays looked confused by the Jays defense! As you said, no help on D and it became isolation BB with Nova players blowing by for easy layups or short jumpers. That being said, 28 for 32 on 2's is amazing. This was the best and most balanced Nova team I have seen at C-Link. Hart was a beast and Ochefu played great.You have four or five players that can be go to guys. They wouldn't let the crowd get into the game. With Nova, X and Providence, the BE has three teams that are capable of making deep runs in the Tournament. Butler needs to find their identity again and it could be 4 teams. Don't know what to think about Creighton at this point. Even with the blowout last night, I think we are better than last year, but the defense needs to improve in a hurry. Just don't know if the defensive ability is there!