The Bluejay Underground: A Creighton Sports Message Board

JacobPadilla wrote:

5PointsBank3 wrote:I'm pretty sure there is an interview with Traudt after he committed saying he was interested in coming to Creighton regardless of Art's decision to go pro or come back to school. Miller and Traudt's minutes would certainly be reduced with the (surprise) return of Art or addition of Nelson, but I doubt either would consider transferring because of it. Lawson fits better as a 3 or 2, so his playing time is likely unrelated to the 4.

Creighton is likely fine with their current roster, but with the loss of R2 they really could use another player like Art or Nelson that is capable of finishing at the rim (not a strength of Ashworth, Miller, or Traudt). Personally, I hope we shoot our shot with Nelson and if he chooses another NIL bag or NBA then so be it. But we should try to field a team of the best players possible and let playing time and minutes work itself out in practice.

I think Traudt can be more of an interior finisher than you're giving him credit for. He's not just a pure spot-up 3-point shooter.

Initial contact doesn't mean much. I'd be surprised to see this go much beyond reaching out at this point.

Would you consider it one of his strengths though? Admittedly, it is difficult to tell from his high school and AAU tape, especially with nothing at the collegiate level. I’ve primarily seen him heralded as an excellent shooter who would prefer not to play with his back to the basket, but would love to hear/see otherwise.

And to be fair, Ashworth is also capable at the rim, but I wouldn’t put him in the same class as R2, Z, or Mo. I was more just saying we may be lacking a player next year who is “magnetized” to the rim. Even with 4 excellent shooters (Ash, Trey/Bello, Baylor/Lawson, Miller/Traudt), there will be times when shots won’t fall and having a guy that can create his own basket at the rim to end a drought is incredibly valuable.

I’m not trying to knock Traudt by any means. I think he is a perfect long term fit for our system, I may just be a bit lower than consensus on him for next season.

His defense was up and down. It was what got him benched the one game later in the season that I can't recall.

There were two Arts - good Art who shot well on occasion. Drove the lane and rim with purpose - and did all the hustle stuff.

Bad Art couldn't hit a three - would play ISO ball and had a lot of turnovers, overdribble, and oftentimes went under screens or would lose his man on back cuts etc.

But, he's in the draft and will get a hard look for good reason. He's damn talented. He's a great kid. And if he can really put it all together he's going to be a helluva player.

Art obviously wasn't perfect and didn't have the year that we wanted him to, but a couple things:

Our offense, as designed and with our current personnel wasn't a great "fit" for his skill set and style given most of the time our guys are watching the Ryan's run pick and roll of some variety.

Art, by design, spent a lot of time in the corner as the offense was designed around the Ryan's then Trey and Baylor, and then Art.

When Art would get his turn, there often wasn't the best spacing for him to operate given he's more a "bully" driver than a "finesse" driver. Think about it, you've got a 7 footer sitting in the lane most of the time so you have to be pretty precise in how you attack. Precision isn't Art's primary skill set.

I agree he was occasionally frustrating, but he also had some moments where he was absolutely the difference between winning and losing.

We'll miss his contributions more than some on here want to admit, but that's college basketball...every year is a new puzzle to solve.

I expect him to leave, I'd like him to stay, but good luck to him either way.

5PointsBank3 wrote:

JacobPadilla wrote:

5PointsBank3 wrote:I'm pretty sure there is an interview with Traudt after he committed saying he was interested in coming to Creighton regardless of Art's decision to go pro or come back to school. Miller and Traudt's minutes would certainly be reduced with the (surprise) return of Art or addition of Nelson, but I doubt either would consider transferring because of it. Lawson fits better as a 3 or 2, so his playing time is likely unrelated to the 4.

Creighton is likely fine with their current roster, but with the loss of R2 they really could use another player like Art or Nelson that is capable of finishing at the rim (not a strength of Ashworth, Miller, or Traudt). Personally, I hope we shoot our shot with Nelson and if he chooses another NIL bag or NBA then so be it. But we should try to field a team of the best players possible and let playing time and minutes work itself out in practice.

I think Traudt can be more of an interior finisher than you're giving him credit for. He's not just a pure spot-up 3-point shooter.

Initial contact doesn't mean much. I'd be surprised to see this go much beyond reaching out at this point.

Would you consider it one of his strengths though? Admittedly, it is difficult to tell from his high school and AAU tape, especially with nothing at the collegiate level. I’ve primarily seen him heralded as an excellent shooter who would prefer not to play with his back to the basket, but would love to hear/see otherwise.

And to be fair, Ashworth is also capable at the rim, but I wouldn’t put him in the same class as R2, Z, or Mo. I was more just saying we may be lacking a player next year who is “magnetized” to the rim. Even with 4 excellent shooters (Ash, Trey/Bello, Baylor/Lawson, Miller/Traudt), there will be times when shots won’t fall and having a guy that can create his own basket at the rim to end a drought is incredibly valuable.

I’m not trying to knock Traudt by any means. I think he is a perfect long term fit for our system, I may just be a bit lower than consensus on him for next season.

Hard to just project anyone for their first trip through the BE, but a few points:

1. Hardly any 4's are really playing with their back to the basket these days unless they get a mismatch off of a switch, but Traudt is 6-10 and has good bulk, so most teams will have a problem is they switch a guard onto him
2. Traudt has a good handle and isn't just a catch and shoot guy from 3PT range. If teams overplay him or if he's given a lane, he can get into the paint and score

But we will see. We haven't always had the kind of 3 PT shooting we like the last couple of years, but I think next year's team will be a better shooting team than the recent versions. And Mac's offense is pretty darned good at getting open looks!

If we need a bucket and 3 PT shots aren't falling, I'm guessing the go to guy will be Trey next year. Another 10 lbs of muscle will go a long way toward helping him finish in the paint

5PointsBank3 wrote:

JacobPadilla wrote:

5PointsBank3 wrote:I'm pretty sure there is an interview with Traudt after he committed saying he was interested in coming to Creighton regardless of Art's decision to go pro or come back to school. Miller and Traudt's minutes would certainly be reduced with the (surprise) return of Art or addition of Nelson, but I doubt either would consider transferring because of it. Lawson fits better as a 3 or 2, so his playing time is likely unrelated to the 4.

Creighton is likely fine with their current roster, but with the loss of R2 they really could use another player like Art or Nelson that is capable of finishing at the rim (not a strength of Ashworth, Miller, or Traudt). Personally, I hope we shoot our shot with Nelson and if he chooses another NIL bag or NBA then so be it. But we should try to field a team of the best players possible and let playing time and minutes work itself out in practice.

I think Traudt can be more of an interior finisher than you're giving him credit for. He's not just a pure spot-up 3-point shooter.

Initial contact doesn't mean much. I'd be surprised to see this go much beyond reaching out at this point.

Would you consider it one of his strengths though? Admittedly, it is difficult to tell from his high school and AAU tape, especially with nothing at the collegiate level. I’ve primarily seen him heralded as an excellent shooter who would prefer not to play with his back to the basket, but would love to hear/see otherwise.

And to be fair, Ashworth is also capable at the rim, but I wouldn’t put him in the same class as R2, Z, or Mo. I was more just saying we may be lacking a player next year who is “magnetized” to the rim. Even with 4 excellent shooters (Ash, Trey/Bello, Baylor/Lawson, Miller/Traudt), there will be times when shots won’t fall and having a guy that can create his own basket at the rim to end a drought is incredibly valuable.

I’m not trying to knock Traudt by any means. I think he is a perfect long term fit for our system, I may just be a bit lower than consensus on him for next season.

It's not the first thing you would mention when describing his game, but he shot 64% inside the arc with virtually no spacing as a senior at GI. He scored down low, in the mid-post and from the perimeter. He's certainly not going to be Joel Embiid on the block, but he developed into a guy who could score around the rim (either on self-created shots or on dump-offs from others) in addition to with his jump shot by the end of his high school career. Doing so in the Big East is obviously a different story than doing it in high school, so we'll have to see how that part of his game translates.

FWIW, Nembhard was pretty bad at the rim; he just got there a lot. Ashworth definitely isn't a guy they're going to count on for rim pressure though, you're right there. Kaluma also was average at the rim, and sub-average on layups. That was a weakness on the roster last year too; only Kalkbrenner and Scheierman were good finishers at the rim. They haven't necessarily fixed that weakness but instead appear to be trying to improve their 3-point shooting around Kalkbrenner to level up their offense that way.

Saw a YouTube of Lawson that was mostly 3s but there were a few drives at the hoop with dump offs and finishes so hopefully he can help with this somewhat missing piece in the CU lineup.

Funny how the situation is four level chess with our NBA prospects.

Level 1. Art leaves. Trey returns. Kalk returns.

Level 2. Art leaves. Trey leaves. Kalk returns.

Level 3. All three leave

Level 4. All three return

Angry Dan wrote:Funny how the situation is four level chess with our NBA prospects.

Level 1. Art leaves. Trey returns. Kalk returns.

Level 2. Art leaves. Trey leaves. Kalk returns.

Level 3. All three leave

Level 4. All three return

2^3=8, so you left out four possibilities

alum84 wrote:

Angry Dan wrote:Funny how the situation is four level chess with our NBA prospects.

Level 1. Art leaves. Trey returns. Kalk returns.

Level 2. Art leaves. Trey leaves. Kalk returns.

Level 3. All three leave

Level 4. All three return

2^3=8, so you left out four possibilities

yep. he left off a few options??? Nice catch.

The last few pages on this thread are up there for the worst and most pointless things I’ve ever read.