What Happened to Creighton

[Jays26]

1) they were a little overrated to begin with.

2) fatigue due to Mac's instance on using a short bench.

3) Mac always struggles in Feb, particularly when seeing MVC teams the 2nd time. Reliance on fast tempo and making jumpers is also an issue.

I agree with all 3 of these.

In addition, I'll add what I stated in another thread:

You can only play Suburban HORSE for so long before it finally catches up to you.

Give me a break Baller. Stop stealing quotes, pretty pathetic even for you. You never said it I'm sure until you heard Gregggggg say it.

Weak...even for you.

[WuShockNation]

I just think Creighton is soft, they really struggles with teams like UNI and WSU, teams that can rough them up

[glm38]

I just think Creighton is soft, they really struggles with teams like UNI and WSU, teams that can rough them up

Disagree. I don't think Ech, Gibbs, or even Doug (at least on offense and the boards) are soft at all. All 3 of those guys play a pretty rough physical game.

To me it's a combination of fatigue from the short bench and also getting away from the inside/out game they are so good at. They seem to have fallen in love with the 3. If the outside J's aren't falling they need to pound it inside to big E and Doug!!

It is mind blowing to me that a team with those 3 players could be playing as poorly as they are right now....

[WhiskeySierraUniform]

I think it is a combination of a several things:

1) The offense it too focused on one person, Doug McD. He has 415 shot attempts to date. Echinique has 171, Gibbs has 181, Wragge has 162, and Chatman has 187. I understand that Doug is a special offensive talent; however, I think too much time is spent trying to get Doug attempts (multiple ball screens, etc.) and not enough time is spent trying to establish other offense.

2) When things aren't going as planned on offense, the team almost looks panicked and the already questionable defense becomes even more weak.

3) Not enough touches inside for Echinique.

What the common denominator is in all of this is coaching, IMO.

[getreal4]

Blue jays defensive effort is almost nonexistent at times. softness, lack of effort, coaching...

[Ricardo del Rio]

All of the above.

It sorta makes one wonder how the Blue Birdies have maintained a high ranking in Valley play.

There is one aspect, which has not been mentioned. The Valley teams have learned how to play Dougie and hence, his point average is on a downward glide path. (No, I do not have statistical evidence to support this notion.) I have noticed that his level of scoring has been reduced.

Another factor, which has been discussed, is the bench. It would not surprise me, if it was the weakest in the conference. When starters come out of the game for rest, the Jays give up too much to their opponent. I take it back. I forgot about Wragge. Nevertheless, the bench is still weak.

Of the starting five players, only two are athletic.

If Dougie leaves this year, the Jays will be in deep do-do next season.

[Aargh]

Everything always goes back to the coach. Fatigue in February is a combination of not conditioning hard enough over summer, combined with recruiting (not enough talent to sub comfortably), combined with player development (same as previous), combined with coaching (short bench tires the starters). Even fatigue goes to the coaching.

I may be wrong about Artino, but I thought that last year he looked like he was going to develop into a solid player. This year not so much. The backups for Echenique appear to be Artino (7.5 minutes) and Groselle (2.9 minutes). Artino might be better than Lufile. Lufile is WSU's 3rd option at center. He's averaging 8.7 minutes. Jake White has even seen minutes at center. Is McDermott unwilling to play Artino to get him some on-court development, or is Artino so bad that McDermott never could afford to give Echenique a rest throughout the season?

That's just one example, but the unwillingness to give Echenique much of a breather is about the easiest to make. Recruiting has looked good, but other than Chatman and his son, has McDermott recruited anybody who's making significant contributions? There's an appearance that either recruiting or player development is an issue in Omaha. A short bench in a coaches 3rd year is a problem.

[C0|db|00ded]

I think they are playing more in line with their abilities now. I see slooowwwwww all over the BJ team. When they are drilling bombs from downtown everything is fine. When there's a lid on the basket, somebody has to make a play. Wraggs and SloMo Gibbs might be the slowest players in all of D1 basketball.

Daddy developed a plan that everything is going through Jr. at the sacrifice of all others. Perhaps the "others" are getting tired of that plan? Perhaps daddy just wants to pump up Jr's stock high enough that somebody in the NBA takes a risk on him and gives him a meaty contract with the stipulation that they share it when Daddy gets canned?

This is all just a hunch.


T


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[shoxrox]

1) they were a little overrated to begin with.

2) fatigue due to Mac's instance on using a short bench.

3) Mac always struggles in Feb, particularly when seeing MVC teams the 2nd time. Reliance on fast tempo and making jumpers is also an issue.

I agree with all 3 of these.

In addition, I'll add what I stated in another thread:

You can only play Suburban HORSE for so long before it finally catches up to you.

Give me a break Baller. Stop stealing quotes, pretty pathetic even for you. You never said it I'm sure until you heard Gregggggg say it.

Weak...even for you.

Did I say it was my quote?

It was spot on and worth repeating. I'm sorry it hurt your feelings. I guess if that's the only thing you can pick apart and respond back with, then I guess you succeed the point as well.

[Deanthonybowdenfan]

Thanks for the opinions, I'm just tryin to figure this out. I agree with 80% of what yall have said, i have a few questions and comments.

First off, to those that say we are soft or not tough. I disagree, and I think most people that really know our team would disagree also. Gibbs has a stress fracture in his foot, bad knees, and a bad back, yet he brings it every day, he might be slow, but alot of this is due to his injuries and he cant condition cause of the stress fracture. He might be one of the toughest players in the league, Ech and Doug aren't soft either. Wragge is not soft, he plays hard and does what he can, he just is simply a bad athlete. Manigat and Chatman.....they definately aren't noteably tough or anything, but I'm not sure they are soft either. I think its lack of athleticism that can make certain guys seem like they are soft.

My main concern is the coaching. And i have a ? for UNI fans. You say Greg is a bad coach, bad guy, etc. Is this anger at him leaving UNI, or do you really believe this? I have a hard time thinking you really believe he is a bad coach considering he took over your program at UNI when UNI was consistantly one of the worst teams in the Valley , and turned them into a team that made the NCAA 3 years in a row his last 3 years. That was a quick and impressive overhaul of your program. I'm asking cause I agree with you guys that he seems to have done a terrible job this year with this Creighton team, but I keep looking at his overall resume as a coach and it seems like he has been a great coach overall for most of his career. Id like to know what UNI fans really think of him as a coach when he was there at UNI, and put your anger at him leaving your program aside while giving your opinion? Thanks.