Iowa Game Thread

[Chicagojayfan]

I was a bit worried coming into the game that the new faces on defense might have problems with Iowa and to a certain extent we did, but this game was very comparable to a few games last year from a defensive standpoint - the game @Nova, both Xavier games, Providence OT game, Arizona, and even the Princeton game a bit.

121 offensive rating vs 110.5 defensive rating and from what I saw last night I think Iowa will score a lot of points this year
- for comparison worst defensive games last year 125 vs. Nova, 118 and 115 vs Xavier

I also don't think it's a surprise that Mac had guys on the floor who'd been here a while during a lot of the critical times in the second half - Miller and Bello. Bello was in the middle of a career kind of day, so also hard to pull him (checked and it was a tie for his second highest scoring ever in all of his time in college ball!)

So I'm not reading a lot into Bello being on the floor instead of Ashworth. Bello was having a great game and has been here longer and Mac trusted him more defensively at that point, particularly when Trey was running the point so well

For whatever reason I did think the team got sped up early and looked a bit out of control and even Trey looked a bit out of sorts (4/11, 3 turnovers in the first half). Some of the turnovers were just not good ones and defensively we went under a lot of screens. Early second half was some of the nicest basketball you'll see though - wish we'd been able to keep the foot on the gas to the end, though and not let it get close again

Both teams looked pretty tired from the pace, reference put it as 76 pace rating which would have been the 3rd fastest pace we played last year. We had 40 possessions in the first half, 32 in the second and if there is a thing as too fast for us, the first half may have been "too fast"

Some general thoughts:
- Teams will give us troubles if they have a 5 who can step out and hit the jumper. We rely so much on Kalkbrenner helping in the paint against everyone else that the opposing 5 will have open shots from the distance. Traudt may be an option there to give some different looks
- Bench looking like a strength so far. Bello hitting shots, King was a beast, and Traudt played well and hit a few shots
- The Miller/Traudt rotation continues to be good for us - 13pts / 6 boards/2 assists is a solid outing for the position that is supposed to be the weakest for us, and I liked how Miller hustled on D and on the boards, especially in the second half
- Ashworth looked a bit like Baylor did at the start of last year offensively - not quite sure which shots to take, etc, and I think he'll settle with more time on the floor (e.g., he played SD State 3x last year, he can play against physical pressure D's)
- Baylor's offseason work has made him more versatile on D and on offense and it's a big difference maker for us
- Bello and King were stars last night (wanted to mention them again)
- Armstrong was especially great in that second half 5/8 FG, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 turnovers

[wildjays]

Now Playing-- The Bluejay Beat podcast with Matt DeMarinis and Jacob Padilla. They break things down in Creighton's win over Iowa on Tuesday night. Live for our Patreon subscribers.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bluejay-b ... =join_link

[Outlaw_Wales]

I know some of it is the defensive scheme Mac is running -- but Kalk has not looked particularly good most of the year so far on either end of the court. The start to the second half against NDSU and the start to the second half last night were great -- but outside of that, he's been pretty lethargic looking, not very strong in getting position, getting scored on almost at will, etc. Honestly looks a lot like he did when he went down with mono last year.

I'm definitely in the worried about Ashworth camp now. That's two games in a row against teams that aren't really known for defensive prowess where he has seemed to really struggle. And I think it's largely his size. But he looked absolutely terrified last night when he had the ball -- like he couldn't get rid of it fast enough. That first three he took about two steps across half court looked like a "oh no, I need to get rid of this" kind of shot. And that he is our starting point guard and sat for the last 6 or 7 minutes doesn't really speak well.

Trey is starting to get the Marcus Foster treatment. Getting absolutely hammered going to the basket with absolutely no calls. He's finishing a lot of those and he's starting to put people on posters pretty regularly to make up for it.

Great performances by the bench. Great performances out of Trey and Baylor. Great performances by Miller and Traudt. Bello and King were ridiculously good.

All in all just really relieved to get out of that one with the win. Wish they hadn't tried to take the air out of the ball and go without a bucket for the last 6 1/2 minutes, but a win is a win is a win.

[Angry Dan]

What did you guys think of Kriikie’s mid range bank shot?

Are we going to see more of that since that’s what we give up in our defensive scheme?

Is it easier to use the backboard or swish? Krikke made the bank shot look automatic last night, but I think with the swish you can always get a roll or bounce in if it’s not perfect

[Outlaw_Wales]

What did you guys think of Kriikie’s mid range bank shot?

Are we going to see more of that since that’s what we give up in our defensive scheme?

Is it easier to use the backboard or swish? Krikke made the bank shot look automatic last night, but I think with the swish you can always get a roll or bounce in if it’s not perfect

I get that Mac's defensive philosophy is always to come in completely planning to give certain guys certain shots. But when they hit 10 or 11 straight and make it look like child's play, I do wish there'd be at least some kind of a tweak to slow that down. I think we're definitely going to see that whenever a team has a big that can shoot a little.

[vivid_dude]

One of my most favorite plays in the game was at 10:19 in the 1st half when Ryan was shooting a free throw when a fan yelled “ go big red!”, I’m glad Vivid was able to make it to the game!

I'm a little worried how often some of you guys are thinking about me. People imagining what color underwear I'm wearing. Creating fictional worlds describing my outfits. In the middle of an amazing game against Iowa, I'm crossing your mind? Yikes! All good though. Fiction doesn't hurt me much. And "SonofFrankTomera" I can't tell you one single thing you've posted in the past, because you're pretty much an extra in the BJU world. Not relevant or particularly interesting. Go Jays though, amirite?

As for the game, after having some time to reflect and re-watch the game on my Huskervision TV , a couple things stand out:

- I reject the narrative that Kalk is playing as poorly as some are saying. I'll repeat what Coach Mac said post-game and what Jacob said in-game. This was the scheme. The Jays will proceed confidently believing teams cannot outscore them taking a few dozen mid-range shots. It's a good scheme!

Kalk looks nothing like the mono games, when he was laboring up and down the court. Conversely, he was beating Iowa down the floor for dunks and active in the half court game. His defensive assignment isn't getting offensive rebounds. Guards dribble their way into the lane, see Kalk, and spin back outside. No perimeter player is interested in challenging him. That type of presence is invaluable.

There's always room for improvement, but I don't see what others are seeing. If Krikke has a normal or above-average shooting game, instead of the insane, borderline outlier performance, CU wins by 16 and these Kalk questions aren't a thing, IMO. Credit to Krikke for being a scheme-buster. That won't happen often. And even in this instance, Jays won by 8.

- Bench play - WOW! On repeat, it was even more impressive than in person. King and Farabello rightfully deserve a ton of hype, but Miller was right there with them being sneaky effective. He creates spacing. His box-outs (noticed this with Traudt too) were high level. Didn't lead to a ton of individual rebounds, but cleared the way for others. Shot confidently. Knocked down his FTs. Defensively, Mason exceeded expectations.

- Josiah's analytics last night were jaw-dropping. Nearly 800 steals per 40 minutes played. Get that guy some more PT.

- The biggest concern I have for Ashworth is his sloppy play in spurts over the last two games. That is not a weakness I would have predicted. That's fixable. Still buying high on Ashworth. I held on to my Farabello stock and now I'm feeling pretty good.

- FT shooting should be a strength. Remove Kalkbrenner and the team was 15-16. Kalk missed five, which won't happen again. (Fred shooting 100% probably won't happen again either, unfortunately - but good on him!)

Other than some mild Ashworth concern, yesterday only validated the expectations many around here are setting. Glendale or bust!

[WBR Tom]

Wow, reading the Iowa board and as usual all they do is complain about officiating. Yes, they had quite a few fouls early on when CU had none, but they only finished with 4 more fouls and they were fouling to end the game.

It was a great game played by both teams. Thought the officiating was decent both ways. It’s crazy that they are one of the least foul-prone teams in ncaa yet they constantly complain about officials.

A lot of hate towards Greg McDermott and Trey for some reason too.

I saw that. Iowa Rivals board, right? Though to be fair, that entire thread about Greg immediately turned into a bunch of people telling the OP he was nuts. Especially when the reason he ultimately gave for hating him was because "he wins too much." Someone said, "Yeah, who wants to win too many games? That sounds horrible" LOL

I did think it was interesting that multiple people posted that it was a tougher road environment than they'll see anywhere in the Big Ten. Always fascinating to hear the perspective of another fan base on stuff like that, especially after a game like this where CU fans were frustrated (and rightfully so) at so many corporate tickets being sold on the secondary market to Iowa fans.

[drbluejay]

Lotta iowa walking around downtown

They must have stayed downtown walking around during the game because there weren't that many at the game.
Thank you fans for not selling your tickets to Iowa fans.

[drbluejay]

Trey had a fabulous game last night as did Bello but I give my standout player of the game to the KING. What a monster he was last night on the boards. My favorite moment was the standing ovation King got while being taken out of the game.

[skinzfan23]

I was glad that there weren't that many Iowa fans there. I expected many more....I think IA St had a better showing a few years ago.

Shatel today stated that was one of the best environments for a Creighton game. I did think that is was decent, but has he never been to a Big East game vs Nova, Providence or Marquette????