@Creighton, Wed. Jan. 3, 8p, FS1/570AM
- Thread starter Knight
- Start date
Did have a great first half.
His FT issue seems to be that he shoots so hard and straight..like a dart. Sad, because when he misses his wild drives more than he makes and it turns into 1 pt plays after missing at line a lot.
Not our biggest problem though.
Non existent bench
poor shot selection
Wasting time on clock and forcing
Disappointing that with the game on the line , our 2 best free throw shooters couldn’t drop 1 ! Ponds is invisible way too much this year and his shot is MIA all season . He misses playing off Lovett obviously . Anyone not missing Mussini yet ? We all should be . It’s BS to blame Mullin for having to use Trimble and Amar. We don’t have any bench . Yakwe is awful with Edward Scissorhands . Still can’t make a 2 Foot move to the hoop and finish ! Season is slipping away and this game could have been big turnaround . Harsh reality is we still don’t have enough BE talent through 8 -9 Roster . Most teams do .
Some thoughts beyond the obvious disappointment of being 0 and 3 in the conference. From their three player bench Creighton got 66 minutes and 17 Points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. From our three player bench we got 19 minutes and 0 points 0 rebounds and 0 assists. This is a large disadavantage to try to overcome.
Additionally I felt we lost our legs in the second half (not a surprising result when you don't get much quality time from your bench) As a result we could not make an outside shot. I believe we missed our last ten three point shots of the game. We seemed to stop attacking the basket and settle for jumpers while our lead disappeared. This was a strategic error and the team became tentative until the lead disappeared when they got back to scrapping and attacking the rim. It is also important to note we were out rebounded 41 to 23 and that kind of production will not produce too many wins.
In the last two road games we played top 25 teams and could have won both but wound up winning neither game. There are some good signs here though, even in defeat. Regardless of our 0 and 3 start I believe we will win our share of games in conference and be a five hundred or better team in the Big East by year end provided of course that we can avoid injuries.
Additionally I felt we lost our legs in the second half (not a surprising result when you don't get much quality time from your bench) As a result we could not make an outside shot. I believe we missed our last ten three point shots of the game. We seemed to stop attacking the basket and settle for jumpers while our lead disappeared. This was a strategic error and the team became tentative until the lead disappeared when they got back to scrapping and attacking the rim. It is also important to note we were out rebounded 41 to 23 and that kind of production will not produce too many wins.
In the last two road games we played top 25 teams and could have won both but wound up winning neither game. There are some good signs here though, even in defeat. Regardless of our 0 and 3 start I believe we will win our share of games in conference and be a five hundred or better team in the Big East by year end provided of course that we can avoid injuries.
we were up 10 when Alib came in. I think the strategy was to get some minutes and then take him out for the final stretch but in hindsight he just doesn't provide any solid and reliable play that you'd expect from a "senior" I'd rather see Yakwe on the floor. He won't be jacking up threes and doesn't have the propensity for making mistakes at devastating junctures.
Someone needs to put a red light camera on the practice court because Mullin has to stop giving our players the constant green light from the outside. Also when we switched to the 2-3 zone at the end which was a good call by Mullin Creighton looked lost and 2 of their players were very close to being caught traveling. We need to switch this D up more just to change things and not let the other team get comfortable. If I wasn't going to have to shovel a shiteload of snow tomorrow I probably would have drank a bottle of wine to dull the pain from this loss. Got robbed on the goaltending call too
Hopefully the Ambien kicks in soon
Hopefully the Ambien kicks in soon
Yep, bringing him to give a starter a rest is fine. He left him in throughout the run during which he was a negative. After 4 years, he should be able to hit an open shot. Horrible shots, no defense and a terrible entry pass. Par for the course.
redfan259999888
Active member
Shame we have hno freaking bench.
I agree with everyone, this was a tough loss because we lost a lead and we had a chance to tie it up again but didn't get it done. And I have no idea why AA was on the court for so long as the lead slipped away. Trimble was there for part of it as well and we were basically playing 3 on 5 for that period. The Creighton run started with a Ponds miss, two Trimble missed 3's and Bash missed three on an ill-advised shot and a Trimble charge. Those 5 consecutive empty trips killed us.
OTOH it's important to have perspective. I doubt many people penciled in a win at Creighton so this would have been gravy.
Very disappointing but we didn't get it. With Marcus we win the game. The difference between playing 6 and 7 is huge. A lot of top teams play 7-man rotations very effectively. And the good news is that our top 7 have all proven they can play at this level. While it's true that we don't have an 8th and 9th option that's BE ready, if we get healthy we can start winning these games and that could mean getting some wins that we also haven't penciled in. The core 7 are very strong and I'm still looking to get Marcus back, get over the hump to closing out tough games and start getting some big wins. Let's beat DePaul and Georgetown, get some momentum and then knock off the big guys - including Duke at the Garden!
OTOH it's important to have perspective. I doubt many people penciled in a win at Creighton so this would have been gravy.
Very disappointing but we didn't get it. With Marcus we win the game. The difference between playing 6 and 7 is huge. A lot of top teams play 7-man rotations very effectively. And the good news is that our top 7 have all proven they can play at this level. While it's true that we don't have an 8th and 9th option that's BE ready, if we get healthy we can start winning these games and that could mean getting some wins that we also haven't penciled in. The core 7 are very strong and I'm still looking to get Marcus back, get over the hump to closing out tough games and start getting some big wins. Let's beat DePaul and Georgetown, get some momentum and then knock off the big guys - including Duke at the Garden!
I agree, but I don't like playing that possession out, defensively. All that does is kill 30 seconds, plus however long it takes to grab a possible rebound. You're really leaving yourself with only one chance to tie, or win it. With 45 seconds left, down 2 (or 3, in the case of Sunday's game), I'd still foul right away, and hope to extend the game.
Windy City Johnny Fan
Member
I assume this has been brought up already by now, but where exactly was Yakwe tonight? He should have played 10-12 minutes unless he was hurt. In related news, Clarke and Owens looked gassed the last 5 minutes. I just don't get it.
redfan259999888
Active member
I just want an NIT berth and I'm good, with that said, I had them at 1-2 through 3 games. If we lose one of the next 2, the NIT is out of question at 1-4, then Nova 1-5.
After a very good ooc schedule, to go so bad so fast burns my insides.
Class of 72
Active member
Paul,
Unfortunately at present, without Marcus, we are a 5 man team. I agree that Mullin chose to rest Bashir and Marvin for too extensive a time. My wife even said during the Creighton comeback "has Mullin forgotten Clark and Bashir are on the bench?"
I said Mullin learned from the best, Lou Carnesecca, who used to forget to substitute key players at key moments in a game.
Some will find fault with Shamorie who hasn't been practicing or a couple of missed free throws but, even slightly if Mullin was guilty of poor roster management, our non-existent bench leaves very little for him to manage. He pulled Kassoum after 2 minutes of losing his defensive assignment but you are correct....we could have used him in lieu of Amar in the stretch where we couldn't rebound or shoot. Finally, being outrebounded by 17 is atrocious and it is not about size but mindset and positioning. Not sure who the rebounding coach is in practice but it needs to be addressed fast.
I was pleasantly surprised we competed as well as we did in both the Seton Hall game and tonight. These kids never quit.
By the numbers, looks like Simon and Ahmed had great games, Clark and Owens good games, Ponds a fair game. Our shooting was terrible 2nd half, going ice cold from 3-pt range and beginning to think Ponds should fuhgeddaboud launching 3s Willy billy. Clanks it far too often.Dont understand why Alibegovic played over Yakwe. We need LoVett back and soon.