All I ask for as a fan, as a Jaybacker, and as an alum is for the team to play as hard as they possibly can for 40 minutes, leaving their guts, their heart, their soul, and everything they have on the court. If that’s not enough to win the game, so be it. There is nothing to be ashamed of. If you do those things and come up short, I will do what I did at the conclusion of tonight’s loss: stand and applaud each and every member of the team for an outstanding effort, because dammit, that sort of play is deserving of such recognition.
That was a whale of an effort, particularly defensively. I’m not sure what it looked like on TV, but in person, I can’t ever remember witnessing a better off-ball defensive effort than the Jays executed on the All-American Jodie Meeks tonight. That was an absolute clinic. P’Allen Stinnett, Antoine Young and Josh Dotzler didn’t just guard Meeks, they were in his face nearly every second he was on the court, and denied him from even catching the ball. It was simply extraordinary. When he did have open looks, he almost always nailed the shot, giving you a glimpse of what he might do against a worse defensive effort. That it happened so infrequently tonight is a credit to the men who stopped it from happening more often. You bet.
Furthermore, Kenny Lawson was a MAN tonight. Against the most talented big man he’s likely ever faced in Patrick Patterson, he didn’t just hold his own, he played toe to toe with him. In fact, you wouldn’t be crazy if you made the argument Lawson outplayed him. Combined with the efforts of Kenton Walker, the Jays primary post players had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and were 8-14 from the field. Did I mention their defensive effort on Patterson was outstanding?
Everyone who got into the game had something to look back on and be proud of. Everyone.
Justin Carter had FOURTEEN rebounds against guys four and five inches taller than him. I can’t count the number of times he scrapped and clawed in between two and three defenders to get the ball. He played 27 minutes and for all 27 of them, had the burning desire that the ball belonged to him, and anyone who dared try to take it instead was in for a world of hurt. FOURTEEN rebounds! That’s twice what the all-world Patterson had, and Carter is seven inches shorter!
Kaleb Korver had a great game, blocking a would-be Jodie Meeks dunk (!), contributed four assists and knocked down a big three.
Booker Woodfox played outstanding defense on Meeks, hit three big three-pointers, and had the open look for the game winner that was flat. In addition to the scoring we’ve all come to take for granted, he grabbed five boards and dished out an assist.
Josh Dotzler had six assists, two steals and just one turnover, and fouled out only because he was scrapping and diving for everything in sight. His two steals moved him into a tie with Sir Rodney Buford for second all-time in the Creighton record books, something he richly deserves.
His defense tonight reminded me of The Mosquito, Michael Lindeman — he visibly bothered both Patterson and Meeks all night long with his tenacity. And his fifth foul was vintage Dotzler: a teammate had blown his assignment, the Kentucky player (I forget who) was driving for a bucket, and Dotzler, with four fouls, sprints over and hacks the guy hard enough to prevent him from making the basket. He took one for the team, knowing it would disqualify him.
I never understood why some people didn’t understand why Dotzler was as quietly outstanding as he was, but if they still feel that way after tonight, I have to question their basketball acumen. Seriously.
Antoine Young was 0-5 from the floor, but played such terrific defense, particularly on Meeks, that anything he contributed offensively was going to be a bonus. He also played admirably in relief of Dotzler and as a Freshman, had decent minutes at the point, especially in the last 2:30 after Dotzler fouled out.
Casey Harriman was asked to play several minutes alongside Walker in trying to stop Patterson, and despite being five inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter, bodied him up as best he could and managed to do as well as you could expect. Better than you’d expect, frankly.
Cavel Witter and Chad Millard gave solid minutes, giving starters valuable time to rest.
And last but certainly not least, P’Allen Stinnett played an awesome game. I can imagine people will remember his missed free throws and his ill-advised drive to the lane that resulted in a steal late. Its tempting to let those things poison your opinion of this performance, but to give in to that temptation would be unfortunate. Because make no mistake about it: P’Allen played very, very well for 34 of the 35 minutes he was on the floor.
He hit big shots. He had some big assists. He wanted the ball, and created plays with it, both for himself and for his teammates. And most importantly, he played the best defense I’ve seen in a long time in a game, regardless of opponent. He single-handedly removed a second-team All-American from the game offensively. Stinnett’s defensive effort completely removed Jodie Meeks from the equation — I counted, and Meeks attempted THREE shots while Stinnett was guarding him. In almost 20 minutes of gameplay. THREE SHOTS!
So if you want to rip him for his missed free throws or for his lost ball in the lane, go right ahead…just know that I’m not going to join you in that endeavor. I instead choose to applaud his effort and stand impressed by his ability to raise his defense to a level I didn’t think was possible.
Stinnett from time to time does things to draw criticism, many of them deserved. But I’m sorry, anyone who rips him tonight is allowing something else to cloud their better judgment. Without his defensive effort, without his offensive execution, the game isn’t close enough for his late miscues to matter. Period. End of discussion. Look, I’m not going to argue this. P’Allen was outstanding tonight, and was the player of the game in my book.
And Dana Altman…wow. He coached circles around Billy Gillespie. The defensive gameplan to deny Meeks the ball was genius, and it worked. The offensive gameplan to get Patterson in foul trouble early was genius, and it worked. The late-game X’s and O’s to draw up an open look for Booker, the MVC Player of the Year and the guy you want to take the game winning shot, was genius and it worked, except the shot just didn’t fall. Its games like this that make you appreciate what we’ve got here, just in case anyone ever forgets or feels the need to rip him for lack of postseason success. The dude can flat-out coach, and that should never be taken for granted.
*****
People who’ve been with me for a while on this site know that I’m not one for sappy platitudes and overly-positive, flowery displays of affection. I don’t believe in moral victories. I don’t do that stuff well, which is why I don’t do it. I make pithy remarks, I crack jokes about mini donuts and Pabst Blue Ribbon, and I link to Rick Astley videos. This is what I do.
But dammit, I’m not ashamed at all to say that tonight, I’m proud of this effort, and I’m proud of this team. If that makes me sappy and weak, then I’m the Apollo Creed to your Ivan Drago. So be it.
The thing we can’t lose sight of as we reflect back on this game is that if they hit their free throws down the stretch, they win and everyone is talking about how the Jays outrebounded Kentucky, how they held Jodie Meeks eight below his season average, how they neutralized Patrick Patterson’s inside presence, and how they played with a defensive vigor that we weren’t sure existed. The fact that they came up two points short does nothing to diminish those facts. The end result is not indicative of the effort, and it should not poison our opinion of that effort.
In January, many fans wondered out loud what had become of Creighton basketball, where the hustle plays, the defensive effort, the attitude and the swagger had gone. Fans lamented the absence of those qualities. It was hard to argue with those people, because frankly the team wasn’t doing much for us staunch defenders of the program to argue with.
Over the last ten games of the season, they silenced those critics and won a regular season championship. And in the last game of the season, on a big stage in front of 17,000 partisan fans and a nationwide audience on ESPN, playing against the most storied program in college basketball, the Jays made everyone who’s ever graduated from Creighton, rooted for the team or had the pleasure of meeting the people associated with it proud. They played as hard as they could possibly play, they put themselves in position to win, and were a couple of shots away from pulling out a landmark victory.
I for one am damn proud to be an alum of Creighton University tonight, and I hope you join me in saluting this group of players for an outstanding effort. Its going to be a long eight months until we see them play another game, but I will be able to sleep well knowing they gave it everything they had in the last game, and it just wasn’t quite enough. And there’s no shame in that.
You bet..
