The Bluejay Underground: A Creighton Sports Message Board

Gotta give Hurley credit. He has the blueprint on how to build a really fun to watch but great college basketball team. Perimeter full of 6'4-6'7 dudes that can shoot, pass and get to the rim. Castle can't really shoot but he's elite at his other skills. Elite college stretch 4 that can rebound. Elite rim protector and a bench big that can contribute.

Game was tough to watch but it is crazy how many wide open uncontested 3s we are missing right now. Sooner or later we are going to start hitting those at a higher clip.

Trey needs to get his confidence back. He is starting to fall down draft boards. Need Miller to give us more than 3 shots and 0 points in 27 minutes. Ashworth needs to play aggressive. Our team would really benefit from a 6'4-6'6 dude that could get downhill. Or at least it looks that way when they face guard every player and our guy with the ball doesn't attack the rim. Sky isn't falling at all. Hopefully, bounce back against Seton Hall.

#RollJays wrote:
Game was tough to watch but it is crazy how many wide open uncontested 3s we are missing right now. Sooner or later we are going to start hitting those at a higher clip.

Don't hold your breath. The Big East sample size is big enough and that sample says that this team just isn't a good 3 pt. shooting team (30%). They will go a little nuts against a Depaul or G'town but the reality is they aren't going to consistently hit 35% or better against the top 2/3 of this league. If this team wants to pile up wins in the BE they will have to do it with defense (good last night) and rebounding (historically bad last night). There is simply a lack of offensive firepower on this team (despite what the tv people CONSTANTLY claim on broadcasts) that cannot be addressed at this juncture.

Not a lot of wide open threes last night from my memory. Maybe 6 or 7. I recall some hurried late in the clock threes and sped up threes from like 3 or 4 feet behind the line. UCONN was flying all over the place. A couple by SA went about 40 feet in the air.

3ontheway wrote:Not a lot of wide open threes last night from my memory. Maybe 6 or 7. I recall some hurried late in the clock threes and sped up threes from like 3 or 4 feet behind the line. UCONN was flying all over the place. A couple by SA went about 40 feet in the air.

Agreed. I didn't recall seeing too many open threes. Ashworth had several open looks that looked good but barely missed at critical points in the game.

section221jay wrote:

#RollJays wrote:
Game was tough to watch but it is crazy how many wide open uncontested 3s we are missing right now. Sooner or later we are going to start hitting those at a higher clip.

Don't hold your breath. The Big East sample size is big enough and that sample says that this team just isn't a good 3 pt. shooting team (30%). They will go a little nuts against a Depaul or G'town but the reality is they aren't going to consistently hit 35% or better against the top 2/3 of this league. If this team wants to pile up wins in the BE they will have to do it with defense (good last night) and rebounding (historically bad last night). There is simply a lack of offensive firepower on this team (despite what the tv people CONSTANTLY claim on broadcasts) that cannot be addressed at this juncture.

Exactly. Really have to get past this idea that "sooner or later they will start going" -- why? They haven't been good all year, really. Streaky, maybe. Need to retire that constant lie that every announcer is pushing.

And Trey's NBA stock isn't "starting" to fall -- it's been plummeting all year, honestly.

Here's Matt D.'s recap on WBR from last night's loss:

https://whiteandbluereview.com/defensiv ... o-1-uconn/

And I pulled out two minutes from the Patreon pod that resonated with me -- Matt's pointed and valid criticism of how they're failing to utilize Kalkbrenner effectively. He got fired up a few times on this pod, and all of the analysis/criticism is exactly right IMHO. Lot of bad stuff in that game last night and it warranted having a spotlight shown on it.

WBR Tom wrote:Here's Matt D.'s recap on WBR from last night's loss:

https://whiteandbluereview.com/defensiv ... o-1-uconn/

And I pulled out two minutes from the Patreon pod that resonated with me -- Matt's pointed and valid criticism of how they're failing to utilize Kalkbrenner effectively. He got fired up a few times on this pod, and all of the analysis/criticism is exactly right IMHO. Lot of bad stuff in that game last night and it warranted having a spotlight shown on it.

That classic, Sad but true. Heard something on the radio today to the effect of, and i am paraphrasing.... the best three coaches in the Big East at stopping Ryan Kalkbrenner are Shaka Smart, Dan Hurley and Greg McDermott. They have ignored him all year. Kalk will go whole halves with only a couple touches. Hes not the best back to the basket player, but he at least needs to touch it once in a while. Its a crime. Bombs away!

Listened to MadDog on Sirius today. He had some good insight. UConn beat CU hard, CU is a good team, UConn has offensive issues, but has great D. The Big East is tough. UConn could repeat. All solid takes.

For a team that talked about national title expectations. It’s gonna fail hard. Disappointed with this roster construction that the staff thought would somehow work. Trey looks like he’s regressed and Kalk is not even used. Can’t wait to see the reaction once we likely lose to a aggressive and hot Seton Hall team Saturday

Here's what I wrote immediately after the game without rewatching (made many of the same points on the pod with Matt).

https://hurrdatsports.com/creighton-men ... turnovers/

After rewatching it, a few additional thoughts.

First, the offensive rebounding. I rewatched and charted each on of them. Here's how I categorized them. Do with it what you will.
— Forced help, leaving rebounder open: 5 (couple of them no communication where two guys went to contest shooter)
— Bad box-outs: 5
— Rebound right back to shooter: 3
— Out-muscled (should have been a foul): 3
— Ball through rebounder's hands: 3
— Lost foot race to ball: 2

Second, I thought a big difference in the game was the respective screen setting and navigation on offense for both sides. UConn's actions were much more threatening and successful than what Creighton tried to do. UConn set better screens and more of them, and the guy getting screened for put much more pressure on the defense with how he came off the screen.

Third, they need a heck of a lot more out of 23. His approach to using screens and attacking the basket (looping drives, avoiding contact, refusing to go/finish left) and his lack of threatening movement off the ball is a big part of what led to their offense going nowhere so often. The offense was much quicker and more dynamic playing through Ashworth.

The narrative that Kalkbrenner doesn't score well in the post just isn't close to accurate, no matter how many times it's repeated. He's not Al Jefferson with a wide array of back-to-the-basket moves, but he's one of the most effective post scorers in the country even if it doesn't always look pretty (including seals, deep catches, backing his man down, etc.). It's his most-common play type at just under a third of his scoring possessions. He has 39 makes, 21 misses, 11 fouls drawn and 4 turnovers on post-up plays according to Synergy. The guards have to get him the ball. They just miss him way too often then call for him to come set a screen that they don't use properly anyway.

He's a willing passer too, and Synergy has spot-up shooters at 6-13 from 3 on his post kick-outs (plus 1-2 on 2s attacking closeouts). However, the Mason Miller and-one against St. John's is the only cut on his post touches Synergy has logged all season. They should probably try that more often.