Creighton Game thread

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longliveskip
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby longliveskip » Thu Jan 30, 2025 7:44 am

longliveskip wrote:
Thu Jan 30, 2025 7:43 am
Creighton is, IMO, the toughest road venue in the BE. it really is. and they always shoot it well there and apparently, they NEVER foul.

we have no matchup for Kalkbrenner and most teams in the league don't either. he killed us.

they simply made almost EVERY 3 in the 2nd half and when Kalkbrenner is hitting them from 7 ft behind the line at the end of the shot clock, you kinda know that you're in "for a night".

we didn't play bad minus just not being able to finish around the rim when needed and taking some ill-advised 3's (that got blocked AGAIN!).

I'm with Anti on Miller wasting his timeouts. sometimes you gotta let your team fight through things earlier in the game. didn't matter in the end of this one, but still.

it's not a bad loss, but it's one where we were in a 1-2 possession game with like 5-6 minutes left and just couldn't get over the hump. credit to them for knocking down their 3's in the 2nd half. I mean, who goes 7-8 from 3? that's just stupid.

now we are basically in "tournament" mode every game and that should be our mindset. that each game in and of itself is "tourney or bust". no hiccups anymore.
bluegrass
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby bluegrass » Thu Jan 30, 2025 1:45 pm

Nice game from Hugley other than foul shooting.I'd feel better with him shooting threes than Freemantle . Give Creighton credit-they hit shots when the game was on the line. I hope we can beat them here.
Kevin Reilly
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby Kevin Reilly » Thu Jan 30, 2025 7:37 pm

We have a lot of trouble with tall teams and playing Kalkbrenner with a man to man defense and Freemantle getting little help is a head scratcher. Michigan, Georgetown , St John's have bullied us with their front courts .We basically have to hope Kalkbrenner misses from three feet. Hugley played like he was at Pitt and was very physical as well. I think he has been playing well and hard for at least the last three games .Georgetown is a huge game for us and we should beat them if we play defense and stay out of foul trouble.
Anti-Homer
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby Anti-Homer » Sat Feb 01, 2025 1:44 pm

Kevin Reilly wrote:
Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:33 pm
Giving up 86 points on the road is a formula for disaster. We are now 2-7 on the road. Creighton shot 52% for the game. I think the worst defender was Freemantle. I wIsh Miller had played Hugley and Freemantle together in the second half. Hugley was physical against Kalkbrenner. He made him work. Freemantle reverted to the kind of defense he played two years ago. Foster contributed almost nothing and Hunter had a poor game. The announcers were raving about Swain but Neal out played him. Going forward I hope Hugley gets more time. I still think we need 7 of the last nine and we can do it but we have to play a lot better defense
Free was the worst defender, but in fairness, he isn’t accustomed to chasing wings on the perimeter, and no one can guard a skilled center 5 inches taller than him. He, Conwell, & Hugley played well overall. Creighton is playing as well as anyone in the BE and has the best home-court advantage, imo. McDermott has done a hell of a job, as they lost their best offensive player in Pop Issacs, but they have only gotten better.

Also, I’ll take Swain over Neal 10/10 times. Neal is a nice player, but Swain is better. He just happened to have a better game statistically than Swain, in one game. Also, Swain had to guard three different guys in Ashworth, Green, and Neal, whoever was hot. His most effective move was limited (going to the hole) because Creighton has the best defensive center in Bball. and he can’t shoot threes. A perfect storm for him.

X lost bc Creighton shot out of their minds and has the best player in the league at X’s most vulnerable spot defensively. Also, McDermott had a great game plan and they completely shut X down on the break. It happens.

I have no idea what X has to do to qualify for the Tourney because they’re dependent on too many variables out of their control. However, they obviously can’t lose to any team not named Nova or Creighton and must win one of the latter at least. Otherwise, making it to the finals in the BE Tourney is probably a must.

We also want Creighton to keep winning, and hopefully, become a Q1 win at Cintas. Same goes for UConn.

Lastly, SM again called head-scratching timeouts again. Early in the 2nd half, Hunter missed a box out, and SM called a T.O. He then called his 2nd to the last around the 8-minute mark. I think it was bc X had a T.O. If he was an NFL coach, he’d use one of his challenges on a 1st down run, claiming that the runner only got 3 yards instead of 4. That left one timeout in a close game at a hostile arena. Now, management of the NIL budget has company as an area that needs vast improvement this offseason.
Anti-Homer
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby Anti-Homer » Sat Feb 01, 2025 2:02 pm

Kevin Reilly wrote:
Thu Jan 30, 2025 7:37 pm
We have a lot of trouble with tall teams and playing Kalkbrenner with a man to man defense and Freemantle getting little help is a head scratcher. Michigan, Georgetown , St John's have bullied us with their front courts .We basically have to hope Kalkbrenner misses from three feet. Hugley played like he was at Pitt and was very physical as well. I think he has been playing well and hard for at least the last three games .Georgetown is a huge game for us and we should beat them if we play defense and stay out of foul trouble.
We have a lot of trouble with tall teams
X's frontcourt is a 6'8 1/2 Freemantle and a 6'7"+ PF in Hunter. I saw him standing next Fletcher in the shoot-around vs Marquette, and Hunter seemingly towered over him by 1/2 an inch. Of course they struggle.
Kevin Reilly
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby Kevin Reilly » Sat Feb 01, 2025 3:56 pm

Anti- Homer I know almost everyone agrees with you about Swain. Though I think Neal who averages 11.6 points , 5.7 rebounds, 4.1 assist and one steal a game is pretty much the same player as Swain except he shoots a little better ( who doesn't ). Swain averages 10 points a game, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.4 steals. I was watching the Florida vs Tennessee game today and man are both teams big and strong. They both have a lot of different looking front court players. It was a war. I realize how good and tall Kalkbrenner is. Heck he's 7 foot two and 270 lb's and probably a first team All American. I know Freemantle is 6 inches smaller and is giving away 50 lbs. My point was Hugley made him fight for his position . He didn't let him catch it 5 feet from the basket and let him score at will. If all of us realize the mismatch why didn't the coaches put someone with some weight ( Hugley ) and who fought for his position and move Freemantle to the four? All of us know Freemantle is undersized and is playing out of position. Also how about a little zone mixed in? I'm just not sure how everyone thinks a guy who averages 10 points a game and 5 rebounds (Swain) and has basically stated two years is a NBA player. I know beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and I hope I'm wrong but I haven't seen a NBA player yet.
Anti-Homer
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby Anti-Homer » Sat Feb 01, 2025 5:51 pm

Kevin Reilly wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2025 3:56 pm
Anti- Homer I know almost everyone agrees with you about Swain. Though I think Neal who averages 11.6 points , 5.7 rebounds, 4.1 assist and one steal a game is pretty much the same player as Swain except he shoots a little better ( who doesn't ). Swain averages 10 points a game, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.4 steals. I was watching the Florida vs Tennessee game today and man are both teams big and strong. They both have a lot of different looking front court players. It was a war. I realize how good and tall Kalkbrenner is. Heck he's 7 foot two and 270 lb's and probably a first team All American. I know Freemantle is 6 inches smaller and is giving away 50 lbs. My point was Hugley made him fight for his position . He didn't let him catch it 5 feet from the basket and let him score at will. If all of us realize the mismatch why didn't the coaches put someone with some weight ( Hugley ) and who fought for his position and move Freemantle to the four? All of us know Freemantle is undersized and is playing out of position. Also how about a little zone mixed in? I'm just not sure how everyone thinks a guy who averages 10 points a game and 5 rebounds (Swain) and has basically stated two years is a NBA player. I know beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and I hope I'm wrong but I haven't seen a NBA player yet.
KR,

I agree that Hugley is a better matchup against Kalk, and he did get extended minutes. However, that is based on a singular game, so we'll see. I also agree that mixing in some zone wouldn't hurt. I know a lot of people will say that you can't leave them open for treys, but statistically, they shoot 36% from 3, and Kalk shoots %70 from 2. I'll go with the odds and make them shoot out of their mind again at Cintas, rather than trying to guard Kalk without help.

As for Swain, he's not an NBA player now, but has tremendous upside. He has made a big leap since BE play. Hell, even though he missed the last month of last year, and showed no semblance of an outside shot, he was still invited to the prestigious Jayson Tatum Small Forward Camp, which only invited the top 10 sm forwards in NCAA. Supposedly, he wowed the scouts, which is why he was projected a preseason to be a top-20 pick.

However, if he goes to the draft this year, he will go straight to the G League. He needs to develop a jumper, not necessarily from 3, because he is very good in the open court, and getting to the rim in the half-court. His free throw stroke gives great hope that he will become a good shooter. Also, he is a very good defender who can switch 1 through 3, and sometimes 4.

I think of a guy like Anthony Davis. he was a tremendous defender and rebounder at KY, but very raw offensively. Calipari has said as much. He was still the 1st overall pick, despite only averaging 14 points a game. They could see the player he has become: a top 5 guy in the NBA with a very polished offensive game as a 3-level scorer. Stats don't tell the whole story.

You will start drinking the Kool-Aid soon enough.
skyhops
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Re: Creighton Game thread

Postby skyhops » Mon Feb 03, 2025 1:59 pm

Unfortunately, I feel that McKnight is neat the bottom of BE point guards this year. He seems scared to shoot 3's and is getting outplayed on a regular basis. We folded down the stretch many times the last few years and that has a lot to do with our PG. Georgetown's PG schooled us last time and I don't expect tomorrow to be any different.

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