Creighton post game thread

[slepers]

He really needs to stop that crap

Nope, someone repeatedly you, you would gloat on the way out.

 

[RuffRuff]

Nope, someone repeatedly you, you would gloat on the way out.

Just give a "two rings baldy" and walk away.

 

[El Obrero]

The really crazy part is not even one of the best college basketball teams of the last 40 years was able to win in that building but yet this team did in spite of all that working against them. This is why i absolutely love college basketball and why i laugh when people have already made up their mind that this team cant win it all. Ive seen too much in the last 35 years to know this sport is crazy and anything can happen.

The way this team plays, I’m almost flat-out hoping they end up as an 8 seed. Feels like you could just bank on them taking down a 1 in the first weekend. And then all bets are off.

 

[pj]

Nowell. Is he that bad not to get some minutes over Mahaney? I’m rooting for AM to figure things out. But he has become terrified to score and now looks for the pass or dish in every oppty. So why not Nowell?

I don't believe Mahaney is "terrified to score". I think the coaches are trying to develop him as a distributor and want Ball, McNeeley, Karaban, and the centers to take 90% of the shots. Those four are all more efficient scorers than Mahaney.

The reality is for Mahaney to deserve to be on the court, he has to develop as a distributor / creator for others. And I think he wanted to develop that way himself, which is why he came here.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Looked as his numbers across the last 3 big games. He has 36 total minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 turnover (net -15). Empty calories. Did help break pressure against Marquette. It doesn’t get much better if you look at the previous 4. He doesn’t seem to figure out meaningful ways to contribute. Half the time you don’t even know he’s out there unless it’s a gaff. A lack of light bulbs going off too deep into a season Hurley has tried.

The fact that Liam was only +2 and Samson was +13 in the Creighton game should tell you all you need to know about how important the raw +/- stat is for assessing a player's impact on a game.

 

[jibsey]

The fact that Liam was only +2 and Samson was +13 in the Creighton game should tell you all you need to know about how important the raw +/- stat is for assessing a player's impact on a game.

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With his performance how is that possible?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

With his performance how is that possible?

Liam played 38 minutes so he was in for almost all of the scoring fluctuations of what eventually turned out to be a very close game.

Samson played fewer minutes due to foul trouble, and due to either his play, the overall team play, the opposing team's ineptitude, or blind luck (or some combo of all of the above), he happened to play his minutes when we outscored Creighton most dramatically.

That's why +/- is a near-worthless stat.

 

[navery12]

With his performance how is that possible?

Because McNeeley played 38 of the 40 minutes in a game we won by 4, and Johnson played 11 minutes. McNeeley was on the court for basically everything that happened so it all evens out

 

[uconnyankee]

I don't believe Mahaney is "terrified to score". I think the coaches are trying to develop him as a distributor and want Ball, McNeeley, Karaban, and the centers to take 90% of the shots. Those four are all more efficient scorers than Mahaney.

The reality is for Mahaney to deserve to be on the court, he has to develop as a distributor / creator for others. And I think he wanted to develop that way himself, which is why he came here.

Those are fair points. But when he’s looking to dish on open layup, we’ve got a problem.

 

[uconngb]

With his performance how is that possible?

Probably because he played just about the entire game…..we only won by 4

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Kalk looked like he has the flu. Def not himself tonight

Responding to a post-game interview question, McDermott acknowledged some CU players had been/were sick (not making excuses, just acknowledged fact). Kalkbrenner repeatedly coughed during the interview.

No excuses for CU, injuries (Diarra) and illnesses happen for most teams. Ideally, no Huskies picked up whatever illnesses CU’s been fighting.

 

[BGesus4]

Kalkbrenner is sick for 75% of games

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

How the heck do they consider themselves the Harvard of the Midwest? It's a good school but not even close to that good. If they consider themselves the Harvard of the Midwest then I am scared what the rest of the Midwest is like.

Chicago, Northwestern, WashU, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc might be a tad bit more respected than Creighton out in the Great Plains.

 

[temery]

Kalkbrenner is sick for 75% of games

'good sick or bad sick. I can't keep track.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Those are fair points. But when he’s looking to dish on open layup, we’ve got a problem.

Mahaney is at the phase of his development where he's second guessing everything he's doing in real time, overthinking everything, instead of just playing.

With the right coaching the learning process can be sped up but it's going to take an undetermined amount of time to get over the hump.

 

[boog204]

So now all Ross did in the Marquette game was help us break the press? Don't be a disingenuous tool.

Ross' minutes are gonna shrink with Liam back. No big surprise.

He let Ashworth drive by him once in the 1st half, contained him well on at least a couple of other possessions. Every possession counts.

Raw +/- stats for a team are a lousy metric to apply to 1 individual player to assess their impact. We've been through this plenty of times before.

By the way, what site do you go to for raw +/-? It's not in the box scores on any of the common sites.

The Bleacher Reports app has it, too...

 

[gsmooth]

Responding to a post-game interview question, McDermott acknowledged some CU players had been/were sick (not making excuses, just acknowledged fact). Kalkbrenner repeatedly coughed during the interview.

No excuses for CU, injuries (Diarra) and illnesses happen for most teams. Ideally, no Huskies picked up whatever illnesses CU’s been fighting.

Hass was UConn's best player in the game at Gampel, too. Also, don't forget no McNeeley in the game in Gampel.

 

[RuffRuff]

Hass was UConn's best player in the game at Gampel, too. Also, don't forget no McNeeley in the game in Gampel.

And hopefully no Creighton player picked up what McNeeley had, as he has a strong case of the studs

 

[3rdbass]

A couple thoughts...

Liam of course was awesome, but his 'tude was just as great. Not only feeding off the crowd's hostility, but shoving it right back in their face. I'm sure the Creighton fans hate him at this point.

Need to get Diarra healthy. Having him come off the bench and play 8 minutes won't cut it. We know Mahaney isn't the answer and I think Nowell is still out with the ankle injury?

Bottom line a great win. Liam showing that he will make a terrific pro and helping his draft status. On the flip side, I love Karaban and he basically can do whatever he wants and will still get a pass from me (not that he cares), but IMHO he continues to hurt his draft prospects. A slow 6'8" wing who can't seem to find the bottom of the basket - makes you wonder if he should have gone pro last season. Still plenty of time for him to fix whatever is going on with him, but time is running out...

Nowell is available but i don't think having him play meaningful in a high pressure game against Creighton waa what Hurley envisions to get him back out there. He has made a lot.of mental mistakes when playing PG. If a healthy Nowell doesn't play against Seton Hall then Hurley might of given up on him as an option off the bench.

 

[RuffRuff]

Nowell is available but i don't think having him play meaningful in a high pressure game against Creighton waa what Hurley envisions to get him back out there. He has made a lot.of mental mistakes when playing PG. If a healthy Nowell doesn't play against Seton Hall then Hurley might of given up on him as an option off the bench.

 

[Conndog]

Mahaney is at the phase of his development where he's second guessing everything he's doing in real time, overthinking everything, instead of just playing.

With the right coaching the learning process can be sped up but it's going to take an undetermined amount of time to get over the hump.

He needs to stop grabbing people when playing defense too

 

[Edward Sargent]

No. 5 Neal on Creighton - Stephon light?

 

[TheShot1990]

He needs to stop grabbing people when playing defense too

Or at least when he does, stop throwing his hands in the air and rolling his eyes like he can't believe blatantly grabbing someone's arm in the lane is a foul.

 

[Huskyforlife]

We also did a really nice job sticking big guys on Ashworth when he had the ball which really put him out of sorts and blocked his ability to get easy entry passes to Kalk.

Liam did a stellar job; JStew, Ross, & Karaban alll chipped in during a few possessions each.

Agreed, you could see him visually frustrated trying to pass over the length of those guys. Liams defense that game was an underrated aspect of his career game, we asked him to do so much on both ends.

 

[Huskyforlife]

That isn’t really Kalks game. He has a weak base. You don’t really see him backing guys down

Don't think it's asking a lot to have him set up next to the basket to turn and score? They set it up once and it worked easily. Might've just been Kalk being "sick" and not having the energy?