A first in person look at McDermott

Father did do a ton of complaining late in the game during every timeout. I think that worked in our favor. Who needs their coach in the huddle the entire timeout when down with less than 2 minutes to go.
 
what is this need to crap on McDermott. Guy is a great player period. You know when you beat a guy and then knock his ability that takes away from your win. What's better beating a great player or a guy that isn't that good?
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Read my opening post. I'm not crapping on him, and said he is a great collegiate player, and would be great in any college program. I questioned whether he will be a great pro, as I objectively stated shortcomings that I feel will limit his effectiveness as a pro. That notwithstanding there is no way a single one of our front court players would get away with so much pushing, use of arms to clear space, and hooking. Consider that one of Sampson's precious fouls to give was an over the top rebounding foul that on review showed only incidental contact. McDermott is a great college player, not an unstoppable college player. I say no way does Creighton get beyond the sweet 16, and that far may be optimistic.
 
Watching McDermott in person for the first time, as dangerous as it is to based an assessment on one game viewed in person:

1) He gets away with a lot down low. He hooks, he throws his body backwards to get space, pushes a lot. The clear out a lot for him, and using these tactics, frees himself for high percentage shots.
2) When dogged on the perimeter, is not a dribble in your face jump shooter, like Bernard King, for example. He won't be that open in the pros, so don't expect him to fill it up from outside.
3) He's an awful whiner. Every single time he hit the floor in the second half, he immediately looked at his father and screamed for Daddy to get on the refs.
4) He cannot jump. On more than one occasion, even with position, we snatched rebounds above him.

He will be a lottery pick, but this is in no way Larry Bird. He is capable of scoring 12-15 pts per game in the pros with the right team. He will not be a force down low, is not a great passer, and is slow getting up and down the court.

I'm glad that my suggestion that they guard him by committee. Sampson did a marvelous job carrying a lot of the load, Obekpa opened up on him, and both Sanchez and Pointer also did reasonably well in their turns. Nice job to hold him to 25 points, and nothing down the stretch.
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Also seeing him for the first time live, this kid is a really tremendous player. I agree he gets away with a lot. But, I give him credit in that regard, as he does not shy away from contact (especially away from the ball) and uses his body very effectively and most importantly tirelessly (he literally never stops) to get position. Whether it's legal or not is for the refs to decide, and he forces the issue, taking whatever they allow him to get.

Where I really agree is the flopping and whining. I was seriously wondering if Creighton had to rush out of there to get back to drama class in Omaha this morning. Midway through the second half I looked at the scoreboard and the fouls are 7-2 Creighton, but you would have thought it was in reverse. This was particularly dissapointing from McDermott. He's the best player in the country, he doesn't need to act like a soccer player out there.

That aside, he's exceptional. We worked him as hard as we are capable of working him and he still got his 25. A punishing player physically and he's more skilled than he is physical. The key was he had 10 before you could blink, and then we did a better job on him the rest of the way. Pointer turned the momentum when he was on him in the 1st half, as Sampson was really struggling. Sampson then matched that effort and was marvelous in the 2nd half.

Creighton runs the best half-court offense of any team I've seen in person in years. They never stop screening you and intentionally force unfavorable switches all over the court. They take "hard to guard" to the next level, and have a Seahawks like approach: they are going to bang you until the refs call it. They give you a little extra on almost every screen, a little shoulder on every drive. Our defensive effort in the last 30 minutes, dealing with a team this sophisticated and this physical on offense, was truly remarkable!
 
anyone remember who his father played for? He looks like a football player but wasn't he a semi-decent player back in the 80s somewhere in middle America
 
Well schooled, talented, cerebral player, who gets calls & takes advantage of that. Look for warts in his game and personality, but recognize, if he played for us, we would not have much to say about it. Frankly, I had more trouble with those "Paul Runyon" looks a likes who play very chippy and got away with it most of game.
 
He's an awful whiner. Every single time he hit the floor in the second half, he immediately looked at his father and screamed for Daddy to get on the refs.


Also seeing him for the first time live, this kid is a really tremendous player. I agree he gets away with a lot. But, I give him credit in that regard, as he does not shy away from contact. Whether it's legal or not is for the refs to decide, and he forces the issue, taking whatever they allow him to get.

Where I really agree is the flopping and whining. I was seriously wondering if Creighton had to rush out of there to get back to drama class in Omaha this morning.
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Anyone ever hear of Sidney Crosby? aka Cindy Crosby.
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McDermott moves extremely well without the ball, has a nice shot (especially at his size), and does a good job of getting position down low. He is also a willing rebounder. It's true that Creighton runs a whole lot for him, but that's a chicken-or-egg argument to some extent. If he wasn't excellent they wouldn't run plays for him, and the plays they run help him get open looks.

I'd like to see us run more plays and have more guys move without the ball like he does, actually.

However, Sampson neutralized him last night. McDermott scored 25, but I think only about 8 or 10 when Sampson was on him. Jakarr did a super job of denying him the ball wherever possible and played excellent defense in the post. He got rubbed off on some screens, but you can't really stop that. It looked like he knew where to go to pick his man back up every time that happened, and when we switched that was seamless as well. Overall a super defensive job by Sampson and by the team as a whole.
 
McDermott moves extremely well without the ball, has a nice shot (especially at his size), and does a good job of getting position down low. He is also a willing rebounder. It's true that Creighton runs a whole lot for him, but that's a chicken-or-egg argument to some extent. If he wasn't excellent they wouldn't run plays for him, and the plays they run help him get open looks.

I'd like to see us run more plays and have more guys move without the ball like he does, actually.

However, Sampson neutralized him last night. McDermott scored 25, but I think only about 8 or 10 when Sampson was on him. Jakarr did a super job of denying him the ball wherever possible and played excellent defense in the post. He got rubbed off on some screens, but you can't really stop that. It looked like he knew where to go to pick his man back up every time that happened, and when we switched that was seamless as well. Overall a super defensive job by Sampson and by the team as a whole.
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McDermott's last points came with 8:41 left in the game. That put Creighton up by 2 at 59-57. It was an absolutely tremendous effort by SJU to shut him out. Almost 9 minutes with the game on the line. Great effort.
 
I thought McDermott was impressive...moves constantly to get himself open or at least a passing lane. But his 25 points didn't come easy. Sampson was a monster on defense. Even if McDermott doesn't hit star status in the NBA, he has
the skills to have a long and productive career at the next level.
 
I thought McDermott was impressive...moves constantly to get himself open or at least a passing lane. But his 25 points didn't come easy. Sampson was a monster on defense. Even if McDermott doesn't hit star status in the NBA, he has
the skills to have a long and productive career at the next level.
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And won't be a head case or problem child. Wally S type career IMO.
 
I did notice he looked at his father every single time he hit the deck or wanted a foul. It was a petulant display and it occurred numerous times, made me think less of him for sure.
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He was probably taught at an early age not to talk back to officials. A lot of coaches demand their players talk to the refs through them.
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I thought about that for certain, but it was also evidence more of a father-son coach-player relationship. It was either an "I didn't mess up, I was fouled" plea to his father, or "Tell the refs I'm getting murdered" plea. Either way, his father was quick to question the refs calls every time McD hit the ground. No way every player gets the privilege, and in the pros McDermott won't. At his size he won't be isolating bigger, quicker and stronger NBA forwards the way he was posting our guys all night. He does pick and roll very well.

I have never seen such prolonged video reviews in my life. The flagrant foul call on Obekpa on his missed FT rebound was one, and without video review, was not apparent at all. The second was reversing the out of bounds call late. If you cannot easily determine that the refs initial call was wrong, why reverse it?
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Anytime a player goes down and appears to have been hit in the fact, especially in a crowd, the first chance they get, the refs will look at a replay. I have seen this in numerous games in person and on tv, not just St. John's games. There is such an emphasis on it and head injuries now. Was at the game and did not see the replay on CO so I can't comment on that particular play. However, they are definitely looking at players with their elbows up or swinging them to clear space. I heard one commentator earlier this year saying he though players would start flopping at any opportunity if a pointed elbow goes up, whether or not elbow actually makes contact.
 
I did notice he looked at his father every single time he hit the deck or wanted a foul. It was a petulant display and it occurred numerous times, made me think less of him for sure.
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He was probably taught at an early age not to talk back to officials. A lot of coaches demand their players talk to the refs through them.
Click to expand...

I thought about that for certain, but it was also evidence more of a father-son coach-player relationship. It was either an "I didn't mess up, I was fouled" plea to his father, or "Tell the refs I'm getting murdered" plea. Either way, his father was quick to question the refs calls every time McD hit the ground. No way every player gets the privilege, and in the pros McDermott won't. At his size he won't be isolating bigger, quicker and stronger NBA forwards the way he was posting our guys all night. He does pick and roll very well.

I have never seen such prolonged video reviews in my life. The flagrant foul call on Obekpa on his missed FT rebound was one, and without video review, was not apparent at all. The second was reversing the out of bounds call late. If you cannot easily determine that the refs initial call was wrong, why reverse it?
Click to expand...

Anytime a player goes down and appears to have been hit in the fact, especially in a crowd, the first chance they get, the refs will look at a replay. I have seen this in numerous games in person and on tv, not just St. John's games. There is such an emphasis on it and head injuries now. Was at the game and did not see the replay on CO so I can't comment on that particular play. However, they are definitely looking at players with their elbows up or swinging them to clear space. I heard one commentator earlier this year saying he though players would start flopping at any opportunity if a pointed elbow goes up, whether or not elbow actually makes contact.
Click to expand...

IMO, on that out of bounds call, unless you clearly see that the ref who made the call got it wrong, you have to let it stand. All three refs looked at multiple replays of the video for 304 minutes - which would have snuff momentum in either team had it at that point. This is ridiculous. You may as well have a team of refs reviewing video all game - you could then clal an entirely different game, reverse 50% of the offensive call/block charges, half of the foul calls, and call travelling 20 times per game.
 
To be clear, I was watching McDermott to see if he is the next coming. My opinion is he isn't, but also that if we had him as an additional piece, we'd be talking final four
 
Early in the game, a few flops got called. Then there was an obvious flop where there was no contact at all. The ref caught it and didn't make the call. After that, that particular ref was much more hesitant to call them. U fortunately, the one with the white hair kept giving Creighton every call they wanted.
 
I did notice he looked at his father every single time he hit the deck or wanted a foul. It was a petulant display and it occurred numerous times, made me think less of him for sure.
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He was probably taught at an early age not to talk back to officials. A lot of coaches demand their players talk to the refs through them.
Click to expand...

I thought about that for certain, but it was also evidence more of a father-son coach-player relationship. It was either an "I didn't mess up, I was fouled" plea to his father, or "Tell the refs I'm getting murdered" plea. Either way, his father was quick to question the refs calls every time McD hit the ground. No way every player gets the privilege, and in the pros McDermott won't. At his size he won't be isolating bigger, quicker and stronger NBA forwards the way he was posting our guys all night. He does pick and roll very well.

I have never seen such prolonged video reviews in my life. The flagrant foul call on Obekpa on his missed FT rebound was one, and without video review, was not apparent at all. The second was reversing the out of bounds call late. If you cannot easily determine that the refs initial call was wrong, why reverse it?
Click to expand...

Anytime a player goes down and appears to have been hit in the fact, especially in a crowd, the first chance they get, the refs will look at a replay. I have seen this in numerous games in person and on tv, not just St. John's games. There is such an emphasis on it and head injuries now. Was at the game and did not see the replay on CO so I can't comment on that particular play. However, they are definitely looking at players with their elbows up or swinging them to clear space. I heard one commentator earlier this year saying he though players would start flopping at any opportunity if a pointed elbow goes up, whether or not elbow actually makes contact.
Click to expand...

IMO, on that out of bounds call, unless you clearly see that the ref who made the call got it wrong, you have to let it stand. All three refs looked at multiple replays of the video for 304 minutes - which would have snuff momentum in either team had it at that point. This is ridiculous. You may as well have a team of refs reviewing video all game - you could then clal an entirely different game, reverse 50% of the offensive call/block charges, half of the foul calls, and call travelling 20 times per game.
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly on the out of bounds play. That was like three full times outs rolled into one.
 
Early in the game, a few flops got called. Then there was an obvious flop where there was no contact at all. The ref caught it and didn't make the call. After that, that particular ref was much more hesitant to call them. U fortunately, the one with the white hair kept giving Creighton every call they wanted.
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He was atrocious.
 
Early in the game, a few flops got called. Then there was an obvious flop where there was no contact at all. The ref caught it and didn't make the call. After that, that particular ref was much more hesitant to call them. U fortunately, the one with the white hair kept giving Creighton every call they wanted.
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He was atrocious.
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I think that white haired ref was McDermott's mom...
 
And, I swear to God, it still looked to me in the 25 replays they showed like Harrison completely missed the ball!
 
And, I swear to God, it still looked to me in the 25 replays they showed like Harrison completely missed the ball!
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Shows how people can see different things looking at the same replay. I thought Harrison clearly touched it. Also, he went after the ball which is the sure fire sign he touched it. If he hadn't the instinct is to pull your arms back, not go after it to try to save it.
 
And, I swear to God, it still looked to me in the 25 replays they showed like Harrison completely missed the ball!
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Shows how people can see different things looking at the same replay. I thought Harrison clearly touched it. Also, he went after the ball which is the sure fire sign he touched it. If he hadn't the instinct is to pull your arms back, not go after it to try to save it.
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My daughter and I got the Metro PCS seat upgrade. We were right under the basket. It looked to me like it was off Dlo. I haven't seen replays but I was surprised when the call initially went in our favor.

Btw, I felt like Joe3 in a medium tshirt...only I don't have his guns. I'm a large guy and I was wearing a fleece and had to put the tshirt on over it.
 
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