2008-09 Game Recaps: March 2009 Archives

2008-09 Game #35: Kentucky 65, Jays 63

By
Max Univers
on March 24, 2009 1:52 AM |
All I ask for as a fan, as a Jaybacker, and as an alum is for the team to play as hard as they possibly can for 40 minutes, leaving their guts, their heart, their soul, and everything they have on the court. If that's not enough to win the game, so be it. There is nothing to be ashamed of. If you do those things and come up short, I will do what I did at the conclusion of tonight's loss: stand and applaud each and every member of the team for an outstanding effort, because dammit, that sort of play is deserving of such recognition.

That was a whale of an effort, particularly defensively. I'm not sure what it looked like on TV, but in person, I can't ever remember witnessing a better off-ball defensive effort than the Jays executed on the All-American Jodie Meeks tonight. That was an absolute clinic. P'Allen Stinnett, Antoine Young and Josh Dotzler didn't just guard Meeks, they were in his face nearly every second he was on the court, and denied him from even catching the ball. It was simply extraordinary. When he did have open looks, he almost always nailed the shot, giving you a glimpse of what he might do against a worse defensive effort. That it happened so infrequently tonight is a credit to the men who stopped it from happening more often. You bet.

Furthermore, Kenny Lawson was a MAN tonight. Against the most talented big man he's likely ever faced in Patrick Patterson, he didn't just hold his own, he played toe to toe with him. In fact, you wouldn't be crazy if you made the argument Lawson outplayed him. Combined with the efforts of Kenton Walker, the Jays primary post players had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and were 8-14 from the field. Did I mention their defensive effort on Patterson was outstanding?

Everyone who got into the game had something to look back on and be proud of. Everyone.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #35: Kentucky 65, Jays 63.

2009 NIT First Round: Jays 73, Bowling Green 71

By
Max Univers
on March 19, 2009 7:34 AM |
Yesterday was my bosses' birthday, and we brought in a homemade meal of her favorite food for lunch: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, rhubarb pie and ice cream. I was entrusted with bringing in the ice cream, because my considerable cooking skills are not yet trusted. I may be the Creative/Web Production Manager for an advertising agency, but I've only been here two months. They trust my kerning; they do not trust my baking.

Meatloaf! The bombastic, theatrical singer and star of such cinematic masterpieces as Fight Club and Wayne's World? I like him very much. A loaf of bread made out of various and sundry meats? Not so much.

Why do I tell you this? For once in my life, I got a prediction right, and not just right -- REALLY right. It must be the meatloaf. Has to be. How else do you explain me writing this yesterday?

"I think the hangover from 50 minutes of shoddy play in St. Louis, coupled with the disappointment of playing in the NIT, will lead to an ugly first half. I have an awful feeling that Bowling Green is going to jump out to an early lead, perhaps by double digits. Somehow, the Jays will find a way to come back.

Creighton 69, Bowling Green 64"

Doesn't that sound like essentially an elevator speech version of the game recap? Sure does. For a couple of hours yesterday, I was marvelously clairvoyant. I also warned a co-worker that he was not only going to eat pie and ice cream, but that he was going to get an ice-cream headache when he ate it too fast.

It was like I'd taken a Quantum Leap into the body of Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic. Truly bizarre.

So...

The hangover from 50 minutes of shoddy play in St. Louis, coupled with the disappointment of playing in the NIT, led to an ugly first half.

Haha!

After the jump, I stop messing around and get to the actual recap. Join me, won't you?
Continue reading 2009 NIT First Round: Jays 73, Bowling Green 71.

2008-09 Game #33: Illinois State 73, Jays 49

By
Max Univers
on March 8, 2009 8:29 PM |
I've been racking my brain all day, and I can't recall the Jays ever playing so poorly in a game that mattered so much, at least in the DA era. For a team so reliant on jump shots for success, shooting 27% tells you a great deal about what the final score wound up being. For some perspective, that's the worst shooting percentage in a game since a February, 2001 game against Evansville.

Creighton missed layups. They missed mid-range jumpers. They missed three-pointers. Mostly, they missed.

Was it a hangover from the previous night's near-catastrophic collapse? I hate to say so, but man, that sure looked to me like a team playing with no confidence. Think about the reality of blowing a 16-point lead in the last four minutes of the game. How can that NOT be in the back of your mind? These guys are human, after all. On the opening tip, one of the Jays (I forget who, but its not important) fell down, and Champ "Don't Call me Chamberlain" Oguchi drains a wide-open three. You think doubt, even a subtle amount, doesn't creep in?

Maybe it didn't. I don't know. But I wouldn't blame them if it did.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #33: Illinois State 73, Jays 49.

2008-09 Game #32: Jays 63, Wichita State 62

By
Max Univers
on March 6, 2009 11:11 PM |
WHOOOHOOOO! YEAAAAAAHHHH! YOU BET! HIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAHHHHH! THAT'S YOUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR!!! RIGHT THERE! BOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEERRRRRR WOOOOOOODDDDDDDFOOOXXXXXX! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! YOU BET!!!

You bet.

Well then. The Jays jumped out to a 22-point lead, were ahead by 16 with just four minutes remaining, and then...

P'Allen Stinnett falls out of bounds in the backcourt with the ball. Cavel Witter dribbles the ball off his foot in the backcourt. Stinnett misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Booker Woodfox misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Kenny Lawson fails to get a rebound on a missed free throw. Stinnett gets tied up one-on-three. Lawson and Millard fail to get another rebound on another missed free throw. Stinnett gets screened and leaves Wichita State's best shooter wide open for a three. Antoine Young dribbles into traffic and loses the ball without getting off a shot at the buzzer.

And just like that, a 16 point lead with 4 minutes left had evaporated into a 62-61 deficit with under 2 seconds to play. As I sat with my buddy Gilby and about 75 other Jays fans at Beer & Loathing here in Omaha, I was about to go from a lenten vegetarian to a groin-kick anorexic. My digested cheese pizza was about to make an unwelcome reappearance to say hello to me. I was distraught and looking for things to throw. I needed a dart, or a shoe, and an empty spot on the wall to punish.

It looked bleak. Gilby, ever the realist, correctly pointed out that there would still be a second or two on the clock as a Shocker player knocked the ball out of bounds on Young's drive. We watched in horror as the Jays did what Altman teams always do: run a buzzer-beater play sans timeout. Wichita, after seeing that Creighton was lining up for a lob play to their bigs, called their last timeout to set their defense accordingly.

Unbelievably, GENIOUSLY, after seeing Wichita's defensive personnel consisted of every big man on the Shocker team and realizing the play wouldn't work, Altman did what he never does: call timeout to draw up a buzzer-beater. What a coaching job. Say what you will about his failure to use a timeout to stem the tide during the four-minute-meltdown; that timeout to draw up the play for the game-winner was great.

Altman put in all new personnel, drew up a new play...and Marshall was stuck with his big lineup because he had no more timeouts. Wichita's big men were trying to guard a shooter-heavy Jays lineup consisting of Booker, Cavel Witter, and P'Allen. You could see before the inbounds that the strategy had changed entirely -- instead of a lob play, this was going to be a jump shot. And Wichita had a lineup of bigs out there to defend it. Genius.

And so it was that Altman drew up a play to get the Player of the Year in the conference -- the leading three point shooter in the country, mind you -- the ball. And not just to get the ball, but in position to get a shot off? That's absolutely, positively, one of the most marvelous coaching moves I've seen in some time. Just what was that play?
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #32: Jays 63, Wichita State 62.

2008-09 Game #31: Jays 74, Illinois State 70

By
Max Univers
on March 1, 2009 7:43 PM |
As I watched the game on Saturday, it was apparent that this was the best Illinois State had played in about a month. In retrospect, it shouldn't have been surprising. Speaking in generalities, the Jays always get their opponent's best shot in conference games. At home, opponents get jacked up to play in front of the biggest crowd they'll see all year, in an NBA-quality arena. On the road, Jays' opponents are excited because their crowd is larger and rowdier for Creighton than it is for almost anyone else.

I've heard this theory mentioned before, but I wasn't sure I ever really bought into it. Two years ago, I almost came around to believing it after watching team after team in the MVC play lights-out against a very good Jays squad -- and then suck against other teams. You'd see SIU or Bradley or Wichita State randomly blow out a team they were supposed to struggle with, and wonder, "Why is it no one ever has an off night against Creighton?"

Because everyone circles Creighton on their schedule. No one ever looks past them, no one ever has trouble getting up for the game, and everyone wants to play well against them. It makes a lot of sense. And maybe its part of the reason Creighton hasn't won a regular season title since 2002. Not THE reason, mind you, but part of the reason. There's no off night for Creighton in the MVC. Every time Creighton plays an MVC game, they have to bring their A game because the opponent is damn sure going to bring theirs. While some other teams can afford to have a game or three where they aren't 100% focused, Creighton can't.

Remember when Illinois State started the year 14-0, and Champ Oguchi bragged to the Chicago Tribune that the Redbirds were going to go undefeated all season -- including March? After knocking Creighton into next month in mid-January, it looked like his ridiculous claim was slightly less ridiculous. The Redbirds hadn't played as complete a game as that since, and tripped up enough to fall all the way to third place. Including Saturday's loss, they're just 8-8 since that 14-0 start.

They were a team spiraling downward until Saturday, when like clockwork, the Redbirds suddenly looked a lot like the team that started the year undefeated and led the outspoken Oguchi to make his ludicrous claim. This just four nights removed from a disheartening, stunning double-overtime loss to Northern Iowa on Senior Night that eliminated them from a chance at the league title. I wonder why that is?
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #31: Jays 74, Illinois State 70.
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Max Univers (not his real name) is a graphic designer and author of two books, neither of which you’ve probably heard of. A 2001 graduate of Creighton University’s Journalism program, Max takes time out of his busy nightlife to share his thoughts on Jays hoops here during the season.

Why Univers? Its his favorite font, plus it just sounds really cool as a surname.

Why Polyfro? Years and years ago, Max had a giant afro wig that he wore as part of a Halloween costume. Not wishing to retire its giant fro awesomeness after the holiday, he began wearing the wig out in public as part of his everyday ensemble. One night at a dance club, the DJ called out the moniker over the soundsystem. Max thought it sounded cool, and purchased the URL shortly thereafter.

More questions? Send me an email: max-at-polyfro-dot-com. I like jokes, story tips, and generally all correspondence involving Bluejay athletics. Emails that point out how stupid I am and/or where I should go after I die are not encouraged.

About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the 2008-09 Game Recaps category from March 2009.

2008-09 Game Recaps: February 2009 is the previous archive.

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