Creighton Post Game Thread

[cohenzone]

We

Yeah I guess if we play them in finals.

Don't twist this. We should not be 0-5 against Creighton. You think Hurley is a good coach and I don't think he is that good of a coach. We are not playing them at MSG so it will go into next season. McDermott is a better coach and I don't think it's even close. UConn has better talent than Creighton and I don't think that's even close.

Some of you guys are hilarious. How much better is our talent? We have exactly two relatively reliable scorers game to game in Cole and Sanogo. Martin a fairly close third. The drop off after that is stark. Polley is either on or he is zilch Sanogo had a relatively bad shooting game. That hurts us a lot. Hurley can’t shoot for him We miss 3 or 4 wide open 3s in the last 3 minutes. We were down 16, partly due to a kid who can’t make 3s becoming Jerry West and we made him disappear for the rest of the game. McDermott pretty much never designed a way to stop Cole And that makes McDermott a genius and Hurley a guy who can’t coach his way out of a paper bag despite beating Villanova, Auburn and a pretty good Marquette team twice.

This league is so even in talent it isn’t funny. We have relatively the same record as Creighton. But McDermott is a way better coach. If you look at how erratic our jump shooters are, and we play with a supposed off guard who has had only a few really good scoring games in now two years. Our scoring talent up and down the line up is not dependable. Maybe Hurley is a little better than you think at having us in the top third of the league.

 

[cohenzone]

This is nonsense, our roster is older and better than theirs and you know it.

There's a reason UConn was picked 2nd and favored in both games and Creighton was picked 8th.

Its older, but we have a roster full of erratic scorers and an off guard who can’t shoot to save his heinie. If you don’t think that gets in our way and puts a big load on Cole than I don’t know what team you’re watching. The difference in talent team to team excluding maybe GTown is negligible in this league. I for one wrote several weeks ago that our team will win some we shouldn’t and lose some that some folks think we shouldn’t because that’s how even the talent level is. Pre season rankings mean squat.

 

[Willbball]

Silver-lining

Careful what you wish for!!

 

[Willbball]

I think it’s a much more favorable side of the bracket

There really is no “favorable side” to the BET bracket, this is the BE! Georgetown won it last year…Win or go home!

 

[CaptainRon]

Cool

Is there a trophy for that?

 

[Willbball]

Half of the boneyard does. The language used here after losses is hilarious

You still want Providence after last nights shitshow? We did handle Creighton easily by 21 and only lost to Villanova by 2 at their home without Durham our starting guard, think about it, Friars get a lot of rest (8 days off) coming up and are really a hungry team! I don’t think any BE team wants to face us!!

 

[Kemba15]

This is nonsense, our roster is older and better than theirs and you know it.

There's a reason UConn was picked 2nd and favored in both games and Creighton was picked 8th.

Props to Creighton, they own us and that’s concerning. But there’s a feeling on this board that we should be better than our record/metrics say we are and I have no idea where it comes from. After we lost to Nova and Xavier last month this place melted down and I figured 5 wins in a row including our biggest in 8 years would have calmed people down but apparently not.

How great do you think this roster is? It’s good with the potential to be very good but it’s far from elite. If we take care of business Saturday we’ll be 22-8 which is better than I expected this season . I was really worried about our offense sans Bouk (as shown in the games he missed last year) but credit to the staff for being better. We’re top 20 in most of the metrics that matter and will very likely have our best seeding in nearly a decade. Yeah we need to figure out Creighton next year—it’s not the worst problem to have and people need to calm down and enjoy the really nice season we’re having.

 

[Fatroony5]

The reason UConn struggles with teams like Creighton & Nova is because they stress all levels of the floor with efficient spacing. Kalk had a lot of room to operate. He had some one on ones with Sanogo with everyone else well outside of the paint. Slip screens same thing. Creighton & Nova dare UConn to play big & they do just that. If UConn isn’t going to dominate the paint and own the glass, it’s not a great matchup. They continue to just isolate Sanogo and attack the matchup.

McDermott & Wright often go small and say we’ll still out rebound you. In all 4 matchups this season, UConn has either lost the rebound battle or only won it by 1. If they’re going to play a lineup of Whaley, Sanogo, Jackson, they have to dominate the glass, like +8 or more. It’s just way too clunky offensively, with little spacing otherwise. We see it so often how they’re prone to slow starts and struggle closing games with that line up.

 

[Kemba15]

This is nonsense, our roster is older and better than theirs and you know it.

There's a reason UConn was picked 2nd and favored in both games and Creighton was picked 8th.

You’re getting too worked up over jumbled conference records. If we lose the 3 seed it’s due to a damn tiebreaker not because we underachieved. Can you honestly say you expected better than 13-6 (assuming a Saturday win) in this conference? If so how much better?

 

[UCLJ0211]

There really is no “favorable side” to the BET bracket, this is the BE! Georgetown won it last year…Win or go home!

Disagree. I think there are teams that we match up with better. I’d rather face teams like Marquette and PC before Nova and Creighton.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Kaluma's 15 points all came in the first half and I said at halftime that he wouldn't score another point and he didn't but our adjustments certainly opened up things for Kalkbrenner

 

[aburks41]

It's not a shock and we all knew it was coming, but we're firmly into the regression of Andre Jackson's 3 point shooting. Started off BE play going 10/13 over the first 6 games, but the last 12 he's now 4/25

And those shots are more or less wide open, without a defender inside 10 feet of him. He really need to break down his shot and start from scratch this summer. We cannot keep trotting out a guy for 30+ minutes if he literally cannot score. He doesn't drive to the hoop, he can't shoot, it's a huge problem going into next year.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Creighton played really well and McDermott held a coaching clinic last night. Incredible ball movement and just enough defense is how you upset a better team. Respect.

 

[NotADime89]

Sheesh...Can everybody just relax? Its amazing how negative this board gets after one loss. Last week people in here were talking final four now those same people are saying we wont even get through the first weekend.

We played one of our worst games of the year and still only lost by 2. Losing Hawk early really hurt us. I actually think of Rese doesn't get in foul trouble we win that game. Seems like a game he would've taken over due to the way they were defending us. Lets win Saturday at home, at least get the the finals of the BE tourney then make a run in March.

The sky is not falling we still have a great team with a ton of potential!!! THIS IS MARCH!!! LETS GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[80shusky]

McDermott shows you exactly what he is going to do and then when you don't do anything about it he keeps doing it until you are dead.

 

[alphasigko]

What does ASU have anything to do with us? Congrats on dropping a random fact in the convo…

If ASU could beat Creighton, UConn should have beaten them easilly, twice. Where was the defensive and offensive intensity in the 1st half? They need to have their backs against the wall in order to play like they did in the 2nd half? Other than the Auburn, 1st Gtwn and perhaps the 2nd Nova games, they seem not to be able to put two complete halfs together. Defensive and offensive intensity in both halfs is a must during tournament play.

 

[HuskyHawk]

When a team is 5-0 against you and beats you the same way every time and you don't adjust to take away what they do and to better attack their defense, well, that's coaching. Hurley hubris is to blame for this one and the one at home. I love what he's done for the program, but he simply has to be more flexible about how we play on both ends. Needs a long talk with Belichick in the offseason. Basketball isn't football, but you still can't afford to be so predictable. UConn has to be the easiest team to scout in the whole country.

 

[NotADime89]

UConn is having the same season as 90% of the top 25 maybe 95%. I’m still unsure whether UConn fans watch any non UConn games. Add that to us being in a top 3 conference. It happens. We just lost to a tournament team on the road. After knocking off multiple quality teams prior. Yet Hurley sucks. We need some perspective. We’re still a really good, flawed team. The same team we were after Nova. Breathe.

Like the entire top 10 has been losing for 2 weeks now lol

Its insane how people lose their minds after a loss like this. Creighton was desperate for a win to guarantee they get in the tournament, it was life or death for them. We had one of our worst performances of the year yet we were still in the game (on the road with a rowdy crowd on dollar beer/fan appreciation night). Its clear most of the people in here do not pay attention to or watch anything other than BE basketball or even outside of UConn because I agree UConn is having a similar season to 90% of the top 25, we play in a very tough conference, losses happen.

 

[Umami Zen]

Mac and Jay have similar schemes/models that they believe in. They recruit players to those schemes re: roster construction and rotations. Works for them. As an opposing coach--You know what you're playing against- Your strengths vs their schemes. They will impose their will on you if you let them.

Plenty to be positive about re: our team.. Adjust/learn and win the next game.

 

[auror]

When a team is 5-0 against you and beats you the same way every time and you don't adjust to take away what they do and to better attack their defense, well, that's coaching. Hurley hubris is to blame for this one and the one at home. I love what he's done for the program, but he simply has to be more flexible about how we play on both ends. Needs a long talk with Belichick in the offseason. Basketball isn't football, but you still can't afford to be so predictable. UConn has to be the easiest team to scout in the whole country.

We did those things. Do you think we attacked their defense the same way in this one as last game? Or even the same way throughout the game? We made them adjust after we started killing them.

They killed us on offense one way in the beginning of the 1st half and then we limited them to 14 points over a 15 and a half minute stretch (we scored 29) bridging halftime and the 8 minutes before and after.

They adjusted again and we made some minor adjustments, but McDermott drew up a couple nice plays at the end at crucial times. We drew up a couple nice plays and had the ball in our best players hands in great spots and we missed the shots. Guys miss shots on the road more often.

 

[Sea Goat]

Boy, this is frustrating. Is Hurley really the guy? Remember, Hurley was in the locker room for 2/3 of the Villanova game, our biggest win of the season...

 

[aburks41]

Its insane how people lose their minds after a loss like this. Creighton was desperate for a win to guarantee they get in the tournament, it was life or death for them. We had one of our worst performances of the year yet we were still in the game (on the road with a rowdy crowd on dollar beer/fan appreciation night). Its clear most of the people in here do not pay attention to or watch anything other than BE basketball or even outside of UConn because I agree UConn is having a similar season to 90% of the top 25, we play in a very tough conference, losses happen.

I'm upset about this loss because it means we're 90% locked into a 5 seed in the NCAAT. The only path to a 4 seed is winning the BET. I really do not want anything to do with playing an underwhelming Indiana, Memphis, or UNC team in the first round.

 

[NotADime89]

Boy, this is frustrating. Is Hurley really the guy? Remember, Hurley was in the locker room for 2/3 of the Villanova game, our biggest win of the season...

If you don't think Hurley is the right guy for this program then you are clueless. Do you remember where this program was at 4 years ago?? We have great young talent, excellent recruiting classes coming in and the way he's developed guys like Bouk and Sanogo is very impressive. We're a top 20 team in the country that has the potential to make a deep March run. Asking if DH is the right guy is comical

 

[auror]

I'm upset about this loss because it means we're 90% locked into a 5 seed in the NCAAT. The only path to a 4 seed is winning the BET. I really do not want anything to do with playing an underwhelming Indiana, Memphis, or UNC team in the first round.

Winning 2 gets us two more Q1 wins, so I think it's still possible if we just get to finals.

 

[superjohn]

You’re getting too worked up over jumbled conference records. If we lose the 3 seed it’s due to a damn tiebreaker not because we underachieved. Can you honestly say you expected better than 13-6 (assuming a Saturday win) in this conference? If so how much better?

I didn't say anything about our conference record. I'm talking about McDermott owning Hurley over two different teams and having to replace basically a whole new roster. Creighton should not be beating us this season, especially without their point guard.

We did those things. Do you think we attacked their defense the same way in this one as last game? Or even the same way throughout the game? We made them adjust after we started killing them.

They killed us on offense one way in the beginning of the 1st half and then we limited them to 14 points over a 15 and a half minute stretch (we scored 29) bridging halftime and the 8 minutes before and after.

They adjusted again and we made some minor adjustments, but McDermott drew up a couple nice plays at the end at crucial times. We drew up a couple nice plays and had the ball in our best players hands in great spots and we missed the shots. Guys miss shots on the road more often.

We never adjusted to Kalkbrenner, he scored 20 points in the final 16 minutes of the second half all off of layups/dunks.