By just about any measure, Dayton is a really good team. They're athletic, they're tough, they rebound well, they hustle, and they've beaten good competition. What then does that say about the Jays putting an 18-point whupping on them?
In this game, at least, it says a lot. Dayton's MO is defense and rebounding, and Creighton was superior in both facets on Wednesday night. The Jays won the rebounding stat by 11, and held Dayton to 35% shooting, while forcing 14 turnovers.
Sure, the Jays made 13 three-pointers for the second consecutive game, shooting 45% from the floor and 52% from behind the arc. But if you're outrebounding your opponent by double digits and playing tough, tenacious defense, you're going to win games even on nights when your shots aren't falling.
Mid-way through the second half, my buddy R.O.B. said this was the most consistent aggressiveness and intensity on both ends of the floor that he'd ever seen from the Jays, which makes perfect sense to me because he moved here from Noo Yawk four years ago and has never seen Creighton when they play that way. This was like the old Creighton teams of Ben Walker and Kyle Korver. And it was damn exciting to welcome an old friend back.
On the subject of Korver, flashbacks and proof that I have been around too long, on Korver's second three pointer early in the first half, I nearly blacked out thinking I was back at the Civic watching Kyle in his sophomore year, eating free Godfather's Pizza. Watching him turn off the screen and fire up a three from the corner...I tell you, it brought back flashbacks. Not the unpleasant flashbacks to bunkers in 'Nam that my high school History teacher used to have where he'd dive behind his desk unexpectedly; flashbacks to Kyle Korver using that exact same move time after time.
Korver, on Wednesday night, provided the spark that ignited the blowout. With the offense struggling to score early on, he hit a wide-open three to get the team on the board. Moments later, his second three was the start of a 17-4 run that essentially was the game. You hate to say such a thing so early in a game, but Dayton was never closer than two possessions behind the rest of the way, so really, for all intents and purposes, it was.
Korver's emergence, along with Casey "Hollywood" Harriman's continued tough play, have removed one of the team's biggest question marks entering the season. Namely, who would play the "4". Korver brings outside shooting and impeccable instincts; Harriman brings toughness and a desire to get boards. Combined, they're a deft duo. I'm not afraid to say this: Harriman is the toughest MF on the team. Period. There's no debate. Oh, you can debate me if you want to, but it will always end the same way, with me winning and Harriman being the toughest. But, please, feel free to debate me.
*****
On the subject of rebounding, Lord knows I've harped on it in this space this year. And with good reason; the Jays simply weren't very good at it. Wednesday, time after glorious time, I found myself standing up to applaud the supreme effort on the boards. Some people like watching P'Allen throw down a mammoth dunk or Booker Woodfox drain a three. I like watching Kenny Lawson throw someone out of the way and grab a tough board. Call me sentimental and old-fashioned, but I like watching big guys fight for rebounds.
There were many heroes in this facet on Wednesday. Five players had at least five rebounds. That's absurd. That's called crashing the boards. That's called coaching -- anyone doubting Dana Altman's ability to coach and motivate a team needs to watch tape of this game. What they'd see is an undersized team buying into a system and selling out to crash the boards. Lawson had 7. Carter had 5. Korver had 5. Witter had 5. Woodfox had 4. Dotzler had 3.
Most impressive might have been Harriman with 7 boards -- SIX of them offensive. You had to see his performance to believe it. He was boxing bigger players out, grabbing boards in traffic, and generally being a humongous pain in the ass to Dayton's defenders trying to get rebounds.
The Jays newfound toughness can be epitomized by one play. Late in the second half, Kenny Lawson goes up in traffic, grabs a board against two defenders, and dunks the ball with both hands. That play simply doesn't get made two weeks ago. First off, he wouldn't be in position for the board, because he'd allow himself to get pushed away. Second, if he did manage to grab the board, he'd fall away with a weak jumper that may or may not actually go in. Not on this night. Good stuff.
*****
Looking ahead, the next two games are as close to gimme's as you can get. Northern Colorado and Southern are interchangeably terrible, and if the Jays play the game they should play, neither game will be particularly close. Then they go to Vegas to play our old friends Fresno "Is not a" State, and the winner of the Saint Louis/DePaul game. I'm not exactly going out on a limb to say those are four games they should win.
10-2 entering the conference slate. You draw your own conclusions as to where the team ends up from there.
*****
Today's Polyfro Player of the Game is brought to you by the New York Yankees. After signing every free agent on the market including two dead guys who will never play anyway and a trained chimp to be their mop-up guy at the end of the bullpen, there was amazingly money left over, so they paid me a promotional fee to be the sponsor. They're bastards, but cash is cash.
If you were basing this purely on points, Booker Woodfox is your man every day and twice on Sunday. However I don't base this purely on points, but rather on a complex combination of seven factors that is almost as heavily guarded as the Colonel's secret recipe of seven herbs and spices. Therefore, it goes to Kaleb Korver. Woodfox scores, Korver scores AND rebounds. I like rebounds. They're the Mother Theresa of basketball. And no, I don't know what it means either.
You bet.
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