- Joined
- Jan 6, 2015
- Messages
- 7,492
- Reaction Score
- 62,011
Five weeks ago, Creighton’s long-term prognosis took a major hit when a hip injury to combo guard Pop Isaacs (16.3 ppg, 3.9 apg, 38.3 3P%) knocked him out for the remainder of the year. As a result, Creighton lost two of their last three (losses to Alabama and Georgetown), but have quickly adjusted and now have won four of their last five, keeping their NCAA Tournament aspirations alive.
In terms of stylistic matchups, there are a few glaring differences that will be of note. Creighton’s offense is based on sharing the ball freely and shooting a ton of threes, so naturally, UConn’s defense limits assist opportunities but still needs to work on their perimeter D. Expect a ton of five-out from Creighton. Especially with Isaacs out, Creighton is even more turnover prone, are awful on the offensive boards and don’t have a lot of guys who can create off-the-dribble.
On defense, Creighton is the #1 team in the country that prevents free-throw opportunities and are also excellent at forcing isolation offense and also do a nice job preventing perimeter play. Aside from Kalkbrenner protecting the rim, the defense does not aim to create turnovers, rather shifting their focus on forcing tough shots. Expect the Bluejays to try to clog up space.
Creighton’s injury woes haven’t changed Kalkbrenner’s game one bit as the fifth-year senior gets every minute he can get at the five. He’s an elite rim-protector but isn’t as strong of a rebounder as his size might predict. With the 8th best eFG% in the nation, Kalkbrenner, so far, has not only been efficient inside, but has made 44% of his shots from three, a massive improvement to 29.6% last year. He’s an excellent defender, so Hurley will try to utilize UConn’s beautiful movement to find the cracks. How can Kalkbrenner defend so well when getting charged just 1.1 fouls per 40? Backing up Kalkbrenner is junior Fredrick King, who is a capable rim-protector and excellent offensive rebounder. Thick, strong, physical and very efficient in the low-post, but he doesn’t have a perimeter game, so the spacing clogs in the 5-7 minutes Kalk is out.
WIth Isaacs out, McDermott has been leaning even more offensive responsibility to Steven Ashworth and Jamiya Neal, with both players playing nearly every minute of the game. This year, Ashworth is not only 27th nationally in assist rate but his 26% shot rate is good for 7th in the Big East. He’s never had a conference-play shot rate higher than 21.8% and that occurred during his time at Utah State. This increase in volume has lowered his efficiency in both shooting and turnovers, but he’s arguably the best free throw shooter in the nation. Worst defender on the starting lineup.
After transferring over from Arizona State, Jamiya Neal has stepped up into a playmaking role that he never had with the Sun Devils. Averaging nearly three times as many assists-per-game compared to his career high, Neal is also a strong 2-guard rebounder and a solid third scoring option who is a much better interior scorer, but has been impressively making 41% of his threes in conference play. That seems flukey (career 27.8 3P%). Neal is the best defensive guard, can protect the rim and has very good positional size.
Stepping into the starting lineup is sophomore small forward Jasen Green, a 6’8 230 Omaha native who plays a team-first style and does the little things to win. He doesn’t have the ball in his hands often, but his length helps on the defensive end. Backing up Green is junior Mason Miller who has struggled this year making just 17% of his threes after making 45% last season. When he’s not shooting, he has no value, and I can’t imagine his shooting will struggle this badly, this long. Prized Montenegro native Fedor Zugic is now eligible and is getting minutes at the 3. In the preseason, he was getting NBA Draft hype, but methinks that he will be eased in slowly.
Starting at the 4, freshman Jackson McAndrew is quickly showing why he is one of the most touted recruits in Creighton history. Coming into the season as a knockdown shooter, the 6’10 220 Minnesotan has lived up to that hype (36.2 3P%, about 80% of FGAs are from 3), but he’s been surprisingly effective on defense. He’s not a turnover generator, but his underlying stats ranks him as Creighton’s most efficient defender, per EvanMiya.com. A low-mistake offensive player, McAndrew is also a better rebounder than expected, especially on the offensive end. Backing up McAndrew is redshirt sophomore Isaac Traudt. At 6’10 225, he’s similar sized to McAndrew, and plays a similar offensive game as a big spacer. Long story short, both players play the same offensive game and both are effective, just Traudt isn’t as strong as an offensive rebounder and he is weak on defense.
Simply put, Creighton is at its best with its starting lineup and McDermott will look to get his top-three players every minute they could get, especially since Creighton’s spacing is the main reason why the offense runs.
In terms of stylistic matchups, there are a few glaring differences that will be of note. Creighton’s offense is based on sharing the ball freely and shooting a ton of threes, so naturally, UConn’s defense limits assist opportunities but still needs to work on their perimeter D. Expect a ton of five-out from Creighton. Especially with Isaacs out, Creighton is even more turnover prone, are awful on the offensive boards and don’t have a lot of guys who can create off-the-dribble.
On defense, Creighton is the #1 team in the country that prevents free-throw opportunities and are also excellent at forcing isolation offense and also do a nice job preventing perimeter play. Aside from Kalkbrenner protecting the rim, the defense does not aim to create turnovers, rather shifting their focus on forcing tough shots. Expect the Bluejays to try to clog up space.
Creighton’s injury woes haven’t changed Kalkbrenner’s game one bit as the fifth-year senior gets every minute he can get at the five. He’s an elite rim-protector but isn’t as strong of a rebounder as his size might predict. With the 8th best eFG% in the nation, Kalkbrenner, so far, has not only been efficient inside, but has made 44% of his shots from three, a massive improvement to 29.6% last year. He’s an excellent defender, so Hurley will try to utilize UConn’s beautiful movement to find the cracks. How can Kalkbrenner defend so well when getting charged just 1.1 fouls per 40? Backing up Kalkbrenner is junior Fredrick King, who is a capable rim-protector and excellent offensive rebounder. Thick, strong, physical and very efficient in the low-post, but he doesn’t have a perimeter game, so the spacing clogs in the 5-7 minutes Kalk is out.
WIth Isaacs out, McDermott has been leaning even more offensive responsibility to Steven Ashworth and Jamiya Neal, with both players playing nearly every minute of the game. This year, Ashworth is not only 27th nationally in assist rate but his 26% shot rate is good for 7th in the Big East. He’s never had a conference-play shot rate higher than 21.8% and that occurred during his time at Utah State. This increase in volume has lowered his efficiency in both shooting and turnovers, but he’s arguably the best free throw shooter in the nation. Worst defender on the starting lineup.
After transferring over from Arizona State, Jamiya Neal has stepped up into a playmaking role that he never had with the Sun Devils. Averaging nearly three times as many assists-per-game compared to his career high, Neal is also a strong 2-guard rebounder and a solid third scoring option who is a much better interior scorer, but has been impressively making 41% of his threes in conference play. That seems flukey (career 27.8 3P%). Neal is the best defensive guard, can protect the rim and has very good positional size.
Stepping into the starting lineup is sophomore small forward Jasen Green, a 6’8 230 Omaha native who plays a team-first style and does the little things to win. He doesn’t have the ball in his hands often, but his length helps on the defensive end. Backing up Green is junior Mason Miller who has struggled this year making just 17% of his threes after making 45% last season. When he’s not shooting, he has no value, and I can’t imagine his shooting will struggle this badly, this long. Prized Montenegro native Fedor Zugic is now eligible and is getting minutes at the 3. In the preseason, he was getting NBA Draft hype, but methinks that he will be eased in slowly.
Starting at the 4, freshman Jackson McAndrew is quickly showing why he is one of the most touted recruits in Creighton history. Coming into the season as a knockdown shooter, the 6’10 220 Minnesotan has lived up to that hype (36.2 3P%, about 80% of FGAs are from 3), but he’s been surprisingly effective on defense. He’s not a turnover generator, but his underlying stats ranks him as Creighton’s most efficient defender, per EvanMiya.com. A low-mistake offensive player, McAndrew is also a better rebounder than expected, especially on the offensive end. Backing up McAndrew is redshirt sophomore Isaac Traudt. At 6’10 225, he’s similar sized to McAndrew, and plays a similar offensive game as a big spacer. Long story short, both players play the same offensive game and both are effective, just Traudt isn’t as strong as an offensive rebounder and he is weak on defense.
Simply put, Creighton is at its best with its starting lineup and McDermott will look to get his top-three players every minute they could get, especially since Creighton’s spacing is the main reason why the offense runs.
