When you play teams from the bottom rung of D1 at home, you can generally assume victory is imminent. What becomes more important, then, is working on things and improving for games against tougher opponents down the line. In that respect, did Creighton succeed in their two-game sojourn into the valley of suckitude?
I have to be honest with you, I don't think so. Their defense was shoddy on Monday night in allowing 73 points to Houston Baptist, and while they only allowed 54 last night, they were every bit as porous. Time after time, players were out of position in their defensive rotations, and the result was easy baskets. This was a 10-point game for a good chunk of the night, and the reason was defense (or lack thereof). There's no reason this game should have been that close, especially when you're scoring 40 points in a half. Sorry to be a downer, but its true.
But there they were, with a 40-30 lead at the break. To be fair, this is a young team, and painted in broad strokes young players are usually better offensively than defensively. They'll get better. Just not this week.
What the first nine games illustrate to me is just how good a defender Anthony Tolliver was. He made sure his teammates on the court were in the right spots defensively, and when they weren't, he covered up an awful lot of their defensive mistakes. He had their back. As a result of having that "safety blanket" in the paint, the other guys were able to play with more confidence, which led to better defense. This isn't intended as a slap at Dane Watts -- Tolliver was just that good.
The promising thing about this team is that while they're young and extraordinarily talented, they seem very coachable and know they need to improve. If there's one thing to take away from these "Developmental Games" this week, its this: Dana Altman is still a genius.
At haltime on Monday, the Jays held a 49-37 lead; within the first six minutes after the break, they had made adjustments to their schemes and their attitude on defense and put the game on ice. Last night, they led 40-30 at half; after the break they increased the lead incrementally before turning on the afterburners midway through the final stanza.
In Dana We Trust, right? You bet.
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Ironically enough, the turning point, momentum-wise, might have been P'Allen Stinnett getting T'd up. With 13:54 left, the Jays had their biggest lead of the night at 51-35, but were still playing sluggishly on both ends of the court. Kenton Walker caught a pass in the paint, put up a shot that caromed off the rim, and like a ball shot out of a cannon, P'Allen Stinnett came flying through the lane to catch the ball and slam it home in one motion. The crowd erupted, the bench came life, and even DA smiled.
But then the whistle blew. Technical foul on P for hanging on the rim! Even though a NCCU player was underneath of him. It was a no-win, really. If he'd let go of the rim immediately, he would have crashed into an NCCU player and caused a pileup. If he held on, as it turned out, the ref trailing the play was going to call him for hanging on the rim. Hmm.
In any event, it seemed to kick the team into a second gear. With a 53-37 lead, over the next four minutes, they ran off a 15-6 run that took a fairly competitive 15-point game and blew it open. By the 7:31 mark, it was 71-43, and the game was for all intents and purposes over.
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Is there a dunk contest coming up? By my count, CU had eight, count 'em, EIGHT dunks in this game. As T Scott Marr said on the radio broadcast, "Some teams keep track of dunks as an official stat, and the Jays certainly had a ton tonight. Of course, Creighton doesn't keep track of dunks. Act like you've been there!"
Made me laugh.
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I raved about the play of Kenny Lawson Monday night, and even gave the Heee-Haw Player Of The Game Award. He contributed another nice effort on Thursday, and his fellow Freshman, Kenton Walker, did as well. Together, the two post players posted this line:
29 minutes
25 points
13 boards
I have a feeling DA will take that from Dane Watts' backups any day. Heck, I know I would.
Speaking of the bench, in just nine games they've now outscored the bench over the entirety of last season. 359 points from the bench this year, 358 the entire season a year ago. On the postgame show, assistant coach Darren DeVries was asked who would win in a pickup game between CU's starting five and the first five off the bench. He answered, "That would be a heckuva game, wouldn't it?" Indeed.
Right now, they've got 8 players who are legitimate threats to hang 10+ points on a given night. And frequently, they have 5 or 6 do just that in the same game. That makes it awfully difficult for a defense to focus on any one guy, like we saw so often last year with Nate Funk.
This team is going to be special in February and March. I just wish they could have improved more this week.
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POLYFRO HEEE-HAW PLAYER OF THE GAME: For the second game in a row, the award goes to a freshman post player, which makes me giddy. Kenton Walker gets the tasty generic flavors of Hy-Vee Brand Mountain Dew for this game, after his 12-point, 9-rebound effort. During conference play, if he and Kenny Lawson can put together a combined game half as good as what they had on Thursday in relief of Dane Watts, watch out. That's all I saying. Watch out.
You bet.
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