I'm extraordinarily perturbed by the sight of Billy Bluejay wearing a official Nike Creighton warmup jacket. In all my years of watching the Jays, the only thing Billy has worn besides his standard issue white T-shirt with blue "C" is the occasional Santa hat in December.
The jacket's blue-and-black color scheme seems jarring after years of seeing him wear a white shirt...its like Pee Wee Herman wearing anything but a gray suit and a red bow tie. Its like Steve Jobs in anything but a black shirt and jeans. Also, it raises a question. If you're wearing a shirt, and a jacket, why not pants? Just asking.
Now that this is off my chest, on to the game.
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The Jays returned home 1-2 in the Valley, their young players having struggled mightily in the first two MVC games and showing modest improvement in the third, for the easiest game of the conference slate: Evansville at home.
Had I actually written a Gameday preview, I'm pretty sure I would have told you that the key to the game would be cutting down on turnovers, continuing to play better fundamental defense, and the continued development of Kenny Lawson and Kenton Walker. How's that for revisionist history? Ha. You bet.
But seriously, even in the Jays' win in Springfield on Saturday night, they had 22 turnovers, 10 from their point guards. This after 19 turnovers in Terre Haute and 16 at home against Illinois State. They upped their intensity and played much, MUCH better defense against Missouri State; could they continue the improvement in other areas?
Yes. Yes they could, and did. They had just 12 turnovers against Evansville, but even better they had just 8 prior to garbage time. Good stuff.
Defensively, they did a much better job of denying open looks, although they still left far too many out there that a better team than Evansville would have hurt them on. And the steals! Holy cow. Josh Dotzler had five on his own, and it seemed like he had his hands in passing lanes all night, changing passes and altering plays.
Speaking of altering...how great is it to see legitimate post players altering shots and making opponents think twice about playing in the paint? Here's the combined line of Kenny Lawson and Kenton Walker:
5-10 FG
3-6 FT
3 Offensive boards
8 Defensive boards
11 Rebounds total
3 Fouls
13 Points
2 Assists
6 Blocked Shots
1 Steal
30 Minutes
Distilled down, that's 13 points on 5-10 shooting, 11 rebounds and 6 blocks in 30 minutes. How's that for a line from your big man/big men? Not bad at all. You could say, "Yeah, Tom, but it was against Evansville." You could. I would counter, "Yeah, you, but they're both Freshmen!" You bet.
HEEE-HAW POLYFRO PLAYER OF THE GAME: Travis Justice gave the Big Sports 590 award to P'Allen Stinnett, and that's an excellent choice. He did, after all, have 13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, one rim-shattering fast break dunk, 3 steals and some pretty solid defense. Wait, I'm talking myself into changing my mind...and I have. I was going to give it to the combined efforts of Lawson and Walker, because it excites me greatly to see post players dominate, and the Jays chances in March will be much better with solid post play. But any player whose name lends itself to a fan holding up a sign after a Bufordian dunk that reads "You Got P'd On" is OK in my book. Enjoy the generic tastiness of Heee-Haw, sir.
You bet.
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