I took some major league heat via my inbox after the lashing I gave to the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic yesterday. Apparently not everyone agrees with my harsh assessment of the tournament. And really, shouldn't it have the word "Tournament" in the name instead of "Classic"? There's nothing classic about it. I mean, how low does your attendance have to be for the official box score to not even bother listing it? The article on GoCreighton.com says the crowd was "sparse"; the box score simply ignores it entirely.
I know that as I listened to the game on the radio, it seemed like I could hear individual voices in the crowd. This is never a good thing, I can assure you, although it did bring back memories of the Civic. At least at the Civic there was free Godfathers Pizza at halftime. In this game, there was just a 38-38 tie in an ugly game against a bad opponent.
Wait, I take back the "bad" thing. Paul George is a good player, and may become a great player if he progresses the way he appears he will. Holy cow, that guy can score, rebound, pass...he's the entire package. He was as advertised, and the Fresno fans were selling me on the fact he was great, so that's saying something.
The first half, which I mentioned ended in a 38-38 tie, also featured 23 fouls and more whistles than the first season of Baywatch. The first seven minutes alone saw both teams on the precipice of the bonus, with six fouls each. Incidentally, this is where I'd make a smart-ass remark about the game being "unwatchable", except for me, it actually was unwatchable. The stupid webcast only works on a Mac if you contact tech support for the link, which at 9pm was pretty much not going to happen. On the bright side, for the first time since I've been using that phrase, the game actually WAS unwatchable. So there is that.
A 12-3 run to open the second half gave the Jays a 50-41 lead, and the run featured P'Allen Stinnett finally making plays in front of the home crowd. His first half was vintage P, and by vintage I mean January 2008 P. A cheap foul on defense, a technical foul for jawing at another player, and lots of bench time with foul trouble. Thankfully for his sake and for the Jays, his second half was of a more recent vintage. A breakaway dunk that brought the 273 people in attendance to their feet highlighted the run at the outset of the second stanza.
Then the Jays caught a break: George left the game with an injury to his arm, and while he would return, his offensive contributions were essentially non-existent from that point forward. The Jays used this fortuitous turn of events to continue pouring it on, running the lead out to 70-54 with just over 7 minutes left. From that point on, you know how the story goes: run the weave, shoot with 2 seconds left on the shot clock, rinse and repeat, etcetera etcetera, ad nauseam.
From what I was able to gather from T. Scott's always detailed radio broadcast, the defense was ratcheted up in the second half, the offense stopped turning it over, and Cavel Witter decided that assists were the new points. Nine assists for Cavel in this game. Nine! And not the German nine, either, which means No. Nine as in 9. Yep. You bet. Also, one as in 1 second half turnover for the entire team. Throw in above-average shooting, and you've got yourselves a 46-27 second half advantage, turning a tie game into a blow out. I like blow outs, except when it pertains to your tires on the interstate. Then a blow out is bad. In all other scenarios where you might use the term, a blow out is universally a good thing.
*****
Today's Polyfro Player of the Game is brought to you by the 2007-08 Las Vegas Invitational. Yes, the one that featured North Carolina, Louisville and not Creighton. Chin up, there's always next...oh wait. Good luck with DePaul.
I continue to be impressed by Booker Woodfox, but be honest, isn't his 24 points and 4-6 from behind the arc almost taken for granted at this point? Dude is consistent. Consistently Awesome! No, on this night I was impressed by Justin Carter, who finally looks to be healthy after the nasty foul against Oral Roberts AND comfortable with the Jays schemes. Most Juco players take until the holidays to become acclimated to Dana Altman's system. See: Johnny Mathies, Booker Woodfox, Cavel Witter, et al. Add Justin Carter to that list. With 11 points and 7 tough rebounds, 4 of them offensive, Carter is looking more and more like the player we all salivated over when he signed. I'll take 11 and 7 from him every night, but something tells me that might be setting the bar a tad low. We'll see.
Later today, Gameday preview for tonight's DePaul game, including tips on how to make your own mini donuts at home. Seriously.
You bet.
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