“We’re not tough enough yet. We’re not physical enough yet. And we don’t need to do it because I’m mad and I’m upset. We need to do it because it’s the only way we’re going to reach our potential,” head coach Greg McDermott said after the No. 23 Creighton men’s basketball’s home opener with South Dakota.
Though the Bluejays emerged with what would be statistically called a comfortable 92-76 victory on Nov. 5, and though there were glimpses of potential sprinkled throughout the new team’s debut, McDermott expects more from this team.
With the season kickoff behind them, here were the pros and cons of the No. 23 Bluejay’s debut.
The Pros:
#1- Talent of returners and newcomers was glimpsed
It’s no secret that Creighton’s team is full of diverse talent. Between returners Jasen Green, Isaac Traudt and Jackson McAndrew and new recruits like Blake Harper, Owen Freeman, Josh Dix and Nik Graves, the Bluejay bench is statistically deep.
McDermott also recognizes that, which is why, against South Dakota, nine players saw over 10 minutes on the floor. That is also why in those stints on the floor, the Bluejays saw 11 different shot makers contribute to the final score. Expect to see high bench point numbers like the 36 that Creighton’s deep bench racked up against the Coyotes the rest of the season.
Some notable bench performances included: Josh Townley Thomas’s six points in just five minutes on the floor; a five rebound, two point and two assist day for Ty Davis; Freeman’s 19 points off the bench on 9-of-11 from the field.
Creighton’s starting five also gave the offense a major boost. Graves finished with 15 points and five assists, McAndrew added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Harper chipped in seven points along with six rebounds and four assists, Freeman scored 19, and Dix contributed 11 timely points.
These stats should come as a relief to Creighton basketball fans. The Bluejays may not have the familiar 7’ 1” rim protector or dynamic point guard leading the offense, but McDermott played the portal well and secured clutch shooters and players at their position.
It’s not a question of whether or not the Bluejays have the talent to form a dynamic and dangerous team, but how much every one of these players can buy into the unselfish and unique ‘Creighton-style’ basketball.
#2– An in-recovery Owen Freeman still impacted the offense
Despite still being in the recovery phase of his knee injury and sitting out of the starting lineup for the Bluejays, Freeman still generated 19 points on the night. He went 9-of-11 from the field, proving his efficiency as a scorer.
Even while still recovering from injury, the transfer ran the floor well — throwing down a dunk and layup in transition, then adding another slam off a pass from Harper less than three minutes into the second half. His energy gave the Bluejays the necessary punch needed to open the half with far better efficiency than they showed early on.
Freeman acknowledged he’s still working back into game shape — some plays felt easier, he said, while others left him gasping for air as he continues to rebuild his conditioning after the injury. Despite that, knowing that the junior can still be a playmaker as he gets back to full health is promising for this young Bluejay team, even if he does have a ways to go.
The Cons:
#1- Physicality and rebounding was severely lacking
This was probably McDermott’s most severe criticism of the Bluejay team that stepped on the floor against the visiting Coyotes. Defensively, McDermott said, rebounding and physicality on the glass nowhere near as good as it needed to be.
Creighton executed 25 defensive rebounds by the end of the game, but allowed South Dakota to pull down 21 offensive rebounds in 40 minutes. Tallying total rebounds, Creighton only bested South Dakota by seven rebounds — 44-37.
“South Dakota, they were very aggressive tonight, especially on the glass. Our first shot defense was really good, our given second opportunities was not,” McDermott said.
The numbers backed up McDermott’s point — and so did his players.
“I was able to run the floor, I thought, pretty well, but like coach said, I felt like me personally, I wasn’t physical enough on the defensive side rebounding the ball, so I’m going to look in the mirror and have a tough conversation with myself,” Freeman said of his debut performance as a Bluejay
Freeman, who had a 19-point night, was efficient offensively, but the Iowa transfer only pulled in four total rebounds, three offensive and one defensive. As the mainstay down in the paint, Freeman needs to both protect the rim and pull down rebounds.
But asserting control inside will require a team-wide effort — and the Bluejays will need to find that edge fast with a challenging stretch ahead.
#2- Offense that went in waves: from high efficiency to stagnant and back again
The first regular-season game brings a host of challenges: managing the usual jitters, translating practice-court chemistry into game-time execution, and adjusting to each player’s style — something that takes time to fully develop.
A mix of all those challenges influenced the slow offensive start following tipoff, as Creighton sat at a 14-14 stalemate with South Dakota over eight minutes into the half. In this time, the Bluejays shot just 36% from the field and hadn’t drilled a shot from downtown.
The Bluejays went nearly 10 minutes without a three-pointer before McAndrew finally broke through at 11:29 of the first half.
“We’re an unselfish team and I thought in the first half we were kind of dribbling a little too much maybe and not finding the open guy. But as the game went on, I thought we were making the extra pass to the open guy all the time and it went really well,” transfer guard Josh Dix said.
The senior is right. Creighton’s offensive production did increase in the second half — though, it appeared in waves. Over the span of the opening two and a half minutes of the second half, Dix hit a two-pointer, the Coyotes turned the ball over and Freeman took it to the rim, Freeman dunked again, McAndrew sank two free throws and Freeman notched his third score in that short time. Just like that, the Jays found themselves up by 17.
This is just one example of a higher efficiency offense. However, this offense wasn’t consistent, as Creighton would score on consecutive possessions to push the lead and then become stagnant offensively and see their efficiency drop. Creighton’s offense hasn’t fully gelled, a fact that showed in the several stagnant stretches against the Coyotes. Yet there were also moments of dynamic, high-impact play that hinted at what the team can become.
“At times we had some really good offensive possessions where it moved and at times it got stuck and we tried to do too much on our own and those are things that we have to clean up,” McDermott said.
#3- Couldn’t close out the game and maintain large lead
Though the first half saw Creighton and South Dakota trade the lead four times and hold a tie three times, the Bluejays remained in front in the second half for 19:48 minutes. The score never tied and the lead never changed.
However, the Bluejays’ inability to close out the game and stay locked in enough to maintain and even extend the lead wasn’t up to McDermott’s standard.
A closer look at the play-by-play reveals when things started to unravel.
With 10:31 left in the game, Creighton held a comfortable 24 point lead, 75-52, over the visitors. South Dakota claimed back two points for a 22 point deficit, but Creighton quickly reclaimed the 24 point margin with nine points remaining.
The home team hovered around a 20 point lead all the way up until under six minutes remained in the game. Despite letting the lead slip to 18 two times before the two minute mark, the Bluejays stayed steady at the helm.
However, within the span of a minute and a half, Creighton went from a 22 point advantage to a 16 point advantage. This type of lull caused concern for McDermott, and is something that the Bluejays will not be able to get away with in the gauntlet of non-conference and conference play that await them this season.
“We had the 24, 25 point lead — whatever it was — and you’ve just got to put an end to the game there, take it to 35 and it’s over,” McDermott said. “We kind of dilly dallied around long enough to just make it interesting.”
With a 20-plus point lead, Creighton can’t get complacent. They must extend the lead and prevent teams from getting close enough to make a game out of it.
On the near horizon, Creighton takes its first road trip of the year to No. 21 Gonzaga on Nov. 11. And McDermott isn’t sugarcoating what’s ahead.
“The Zags are extremely well coached and they’re really hard to play in their building, so we’re either going to learn a lot the next four days or we’re going to get our teeth kicked in on Tuesday,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re ready for something like that, but it’s also the only way you learn and grow, so hopefully we can correct some of it between now and Tuesday.”
Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.