Creighton Post Game Thread

[Palatine]

To say we are not appreciated by the BE is to state the obvious.

 

[husky429]

Hurley is a fast learner. I hope after this season he never again assembles a roster this void of shot creation. It’s too reliant on sets and very easy to game plan against for the elite coaches. Guys like Newton and Spencer could get you a bucket. Right now that guy hasn’t emerged for us. Losing Liam made it even more alarming.

Agreed. I think with an improved Stewart and Ahmad we will still be 2 short on shot creators for an ideal balance. Adams/Mullins and probably a portal piece or two.

 

[metsfan2323]

That’s absolutely ridiculous.

Stop being blind, that foul on Diarra is a shooting foul 100 out of 100 times.

 

[Hi-Low]

7 points from the 5 spot (all Samson) is the reason we lost. Kalk a very good defender but you still need more than 7 points from them. How does Samson only attempt 2 shots in 24 mins? & the bench overall just isn't proving anything on offense consistently.

 

[Palatine]

Mahaney was but got very little run.

 

[IndyLives]

The free throw disparity continues to kill this team. Not good in a physical BE conference. Needed Reed to at least bang and soften up the Creighton middle a bit. Made it way too easy for the Creighton Center today. Hardly stressed.

 

[superjohn]

That’s absolutely ridiculous. I didn’t see that at all. We got beat by a disciplined , well coached team with 2 29 year olds who make very few mistakes. They were simply a better team than us today, they executed better, and didn’t blink.
The reality of the situation is at this point of the season and without McNeeley we are simply a good team. Just a good team. Not a great team. There are some glaring issues that keep us from being a great team at this point.

I don’t think we played poorly today , we played pretty well actually and didn’t lay an egg. This is just simply who we are right now. Would’ve been nice to find a way to hold serve at home as that is real important in the league race.

We have a great coaching staff and coachable players, but we just are not a good defensive team individually . That isn’t breaking news , we know that. We simply can’t get stops when stops are needed. This in turn puts serious pressure on our fantastic offense, when you can’t get stops you pretty much can’t afford empty trips, and the game was in the balance when we missed floater after floater when Alex hurt the ankle. Really our season is going to hinge on our floater conversion rate as that is what every team is going to give us.

Right now we are no different than Creighton , St John’s and Nova. And we’ve lost to 2 of them .

This is Marquettes regular season to lose.

We will see what kind of bump we get when we get Liam back. It will be needed. But there are a lot of areas where at this point we just are what we are. A good team vying for position in top 3rd of league.

Our offense shouldn't be dependent on AK shooting floaters, his in between game isn't good. He has to knock off being a ghost for 20 minute stretches but making him the go to guy certainly isn't the way to do it. He's a great role player/connector, he hurts the team when we're trying to force him into being the man.

McNeeley is our best player and we miss him badly but we have enough options to get it done without trying to make AK a go to put it on the deck wing.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

A number of comments (or perhaps some rambling):

• I F#$&ing hate playing Creighton
• There were about a half dozen instances where a Creighton player was grabbing one of our guys trying to run around a screen with no calls
• Somehow they seem to find a guy every year who shoots out of his mind against us
• Reed seemed to be afraid of Kalkbrenner's and offered zero offense
• Speaking of Kalkbrenner, while I won't fully believe it until I see it, but he has to run out of eligibilty at some point over the next couple of seasons
• Above also applies to Ashworth. He looks older than Donny Marshall.
• Not only was Hassan in the air, beginning his shot when Ashworth fouled him, earlier in the half Stewart was grabbed on the arm as he put back a rebound with no call. That should have been an and one.
• I think this was a game where we would have benefitted from running shorter possessions at a faster pace. Our standard offense allowed three guys to play 119 of 120 minutes.

 

[JLW]

They have 2 months to get it together and be tournament ready. AK might want to come back next year and refine his game. I’m still not freaking out yet. They owe us nothing after the last 2 years.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

7 points from the 5 spot (all Samson) is the reason we lost. Kalk a very good defender but you still need more than 7 points from them. The bench overall just isn't proving anything on offense consistently.

Love Reed and this was just a down game, but he was borderline unplayable today. Kalk made him so uncomfortable on the offensive end and he was just getting abused on D. Hopefully he comes back with a vengeance next game.

 

[AntG168]

Also, I know Hurley prefers either at the rim or behind the arc BUT I’d love to incorporate more of those Solo middies. It’s a pressure release on offense. And the way teams are defending him will make the shot available

 

[Kitaman]

I'm just going to point out some positives, because the negatives were covered.

Stewart is making himself out to be a legit 6th-man wing.

We wondered if Solo's 45%+ shooting was going to be an early season anomaly. It was not.

Samson is really getting comfortable in his role on offense. Finally passing the ball well.

Solo and Stewart have what it takes to get us another Championship in the next 3 tries.

As for Samson, I'm disappointed that he doesn't even try and shoot a jump shot whenever he is wide open (which is a lot). He doesn't even look at the basket or even fake a shot. That part of his game he is already too comfortable.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Solo and Stewart have what it takes to get us another Championship in the next 3 tries.

As for Samson, I'm disappointed that he doesn't even try and shoot a jump shot whenever he is wide open (which is a lot). He doesn't even look at the basket or even fake a shot. That part of his game he is already too comfortable.

There’s a reason he’s wide open a lot. It’s not because he’s a good shooter.

We saw a jump shot last year (I think in an end of clock situation?) and it should have been VERY apparent from that shot why he’s not taking them.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

there is no team in this league that gets a friendlier whistle than Creighton.

On Creighton's first offensive play of the game, Kalkbrenner sets a moving screen about 5 feet in front of the ref. In hindsight, it was obviously a sign of things to come.

 

[jibsey]

Solo continuously failed to defend Neal in the first half. He had 17 pts in the first half. No adj made by DH until the second half. We never really recovered though Solo hit a lot of nice shots throughout the game.

We have a lot of weaknesses which opposing coaches are quick to exploit. Some bright spots but we have a long, long way to go. Liam will help.

Inconsistent and hesitant. Not sure exactly why but they need to know that they don't have the luxury of playing less than 40 minutes full throttle against a good team like Creighton.

The team held back and didn’t put effort in? I hear this all the time and it’s never true. It’s players beating other players with quickness and skill. Or it’s help defense on Kalkbrenner leaving a 3 open or the reverse. These players are trying and trying hard.

 

[Palatine]

Love Reed and this was just a down game, but he was borderline unplayable today. Kalk made him so uncomfortable on the offensive end and he was just getting abused on D. Hopefully he comes back with a vengeance next game.

More than a down game. He is definitely in a slump.H is play has been heading in the wrong direction,

 

[husky429]

Solo and Stewart have what it takes to get us another Championship in the next 3 tries.

As for Samson, I'm disappointed that he doesn't even try and shoot a jump shot whenever he is wide open (which is a lot). He doesn't even look at the basket or even fake a shot. That part of his game he is already too comfortable.

He's open because he can't make that shot. It is what it is. He ain't learning to shoot overnight. It has been 4 years

 

[August_West]

Stop being blind, that foul on Diarra is a shooting foul 100 out of 100 times.

So what . It was a bad call, but you don’t win basketball games by hinging your hopes on a fluke prayer of getting an “ in shooting motion “ call on what everyone in the building knows is an automatic floor foul call in that situation.

 

[husky429]

More than a down game. He is definitely in a slump.H is play has been heading in the wrong direction,

Almost feels like a freshman wall to me. I really he's got experience, but he hasn't ever been taught to play the game before

 

[Hi-Low]

Solo and Stewart have what it takes to get us another Championship in the next 3 tries.

As for Samson, I'm disappointed that he doesn't even try and shoot a jump shot whenever he is wide open (which is a lot). He doesn't even look at the basket or even fake a shot. That part of his game he is already too comfortable.

was thinking the same thing, they leave him wide open on perimeter every possession and taking a shot not even in the realm. If Clingan learned to take wide open 3 's why can't Samson.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

So what . It was a bad call, but you don’t win basketball games by hinging your hopes on a fluke prayer of getting an “ in shooting motion “ call on what everyone in the building knows is an automatic floor foul call in that situation.

Should have been a shooting foul. If we hit our damn bunnies, we’re not even having this conversation though.

 

[August_West]

Our offense shouldn't be dependent on AK shooting floaters, his in between game isn't good. He has to knock off being a ghost for 20 minute stretches but making him the go to guy certainly isn't the way to do it. He's a great role player/connector, he hurts the team when we're trying to force him into being the man.

McNeeley is our best player and we miss him badly but we have enough options to get it done without trying to make AK a go to put it on the deck wing.

Teams sell out blowing our sets at the 3 line, only way to make them pay. Alex not only one missing in between shots. Reed missed solo missed, is what it is.

 

[Hi-Low]

To say we are not appreciated by the BE is to state the obvious.

maybe because every off-season we "apply" to the Big12? Hopefully they accept our application someday

 

[AntG168]

Teams sell out blowing our sets at the 3 line, only way to make them pay. Alex not only one missing in between shots. Reed missed solo missed, is what it is.

Which is why I think the solo middy should be leaned on more. We don’t have a guy who can get by his man and cause the defense to break down. So we’re going to need to take what the defense gives us which are the floaters and mid range jump shots. Force the defense to commit to those shots and it may be just as effective as getting to the rim. We just have to convert them. Today we didn’t.

 

[husky429]

was thinking the same thing, they leave him wide open on perimeter every possession and taking a shot not even in the realm. If Clingan learned to take wide open 3 's why can't Samson.

Because Clingan is about 45x more skilled than Samson? Love the kid but he isn't in the same category as Don or Adama.

Not everyone can learn everything. Samson has bad touch and pretty middling BBIQ. That he is playing as well as he is is a testament to his work ethic.