“This is not a competition, this is only an exhibition. Please … no wagering.” -Dave Letterman
On Wednesday night, the Creighton women defeated Rockhurst 83-26 in an exhibition game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Overmatched from the start, the game was barely competitive, which also made it difficult for coaches — and for fans — to get a read on the Jays.
Sunday afternoon, the men’s team from Rockhurst plays Creighton in an exhibition game, and will hope to keep the game more competitive than their women’s team was able to. Despite a solid history of good teams, this year’s Rockhurst squad is coming off an 8-19 record a year ago and 6-12 in league play, and is rebuilding. Chances are good this won’t be reminiscent of some of the tight, hard-fought exhibition games of years past — and the chances of them pulling off a Global Sports-esque upset are slim. Global Sports beat the Jays three times, in 1999 (77-73), 2000 (82-74) and 2003 (66-65).
Those scores notwithstanding, exhibition games are generally more about experimentation and measuring the team’s progress before “real” games start. The stars rarely play after halftime, with the emphasis being on getting the newcomers’ feet wet in a real game situation, and giving the coaches actual game film to study on those players. Occasionally, you get the gift of a competitive game so you can see how the players respond to adversity (remember the overtime battle with UNO in 2003?). Most times, winning is almost a given, though.
367 days ago, the Greg McDermott Era began with a 79-67 exhibition win over Northern State. Beyond the normal questions any fan has coming into a new season, there were all sorts of curiosities before that one. There’s a lot more “certainty” heading into this exhibition opener. We know Doug McDermott is awesome and on a Quest For Greatness. We know how Gregory Echenique looks in a Jays uniform. We know Antoine Young can still be one of, if not the, best point guards in the Valley despite playing in a different system. We know a bit more about Mac’s coaching style.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to be curious about. Will the flashes of tough-to-defend play Will Artino showed in summer league translate into an actual game? Is Grant Gibbs the vocal on-court leader everyone says he is? Is Ethan Wragge still a lights-out sharpshooter despite the medical redshirt last year? How do the newcomers look?
That last question is always the one I’m most curious about. Getting excited about future recruits is great, but when they actually play in a game wearing a Creighton uniform — that’s when you can actually start to see how they fit in. To that end, an early blowout would be a good thing for the Jays four freshmen — some people believe one of them will redshirt, so the more minutes they can get to show coaches how they’re progressing, the better.
The newcomers will get plenty of playing time, without a doubt, but will any of them start? Creighton hasn’t started a true freshman in an exhibition game since November 14, 1988 when Latrell Wrightsell started against Turkey. Here’s some trivia for you: even Ryan Sears, the great Jays guard who started all 124 games of his career — and the second exhibition game of his freshman year — came off the bench in the first exhibition game.
That streak could come to an end tomorrow, however. Echenique suffered a mild concussion in practice this week, as you may have read, and while he’s been cleared to practice, his status for Sunday’s game is still up in the air. Even if he does play, it likely won’t be for more than 10 minutes. That means the bulk of the time at center will go to Will Artino and Geoff Groselle — and if Echenique sits out, one of them likely gets the start, which would make them the first freshman in 23 years to do so.
About Rockhurst: One of the 28 Jesuit universities and colleges in the U.S., Rockhurst University is a Catholic, Jesuit university serving 3,000 students in the business and cultural heart of Kansas City … Sophomore Alex Hook is a 6’2″ guard from Creighton Prep who lettered four years in basketball, three years in football and one year in track for the Jays … Head Coach Bill O’Connor has been on the bench for 17 years, and is the winningest coach in Rockhurst history with 239 victories. Seven of his teams have qualified for postseason play, and he’s twice played for the DII National Championship … The Hawks return seven letterwinners and three starters from last year’s club, including senior guard Najja Nicholson (12.1 points, 45.5% from behind the arc), sophomore guard Brandon McCann (10.8 points) and senior forward MartinRoper II (7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds) … Rockhurst played before 25,309 total fans in 27 games all of last season (937 per game), and no crowds larger than 5,200. Creighton played before 297,161 total fans in 22 home games (13,507 per game) by comparison.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Creighton is 36-6 since 1987 in fall exhibition games, with ten straight victories. The only team since 1994 (the start of the Altman Era) to beat Creighton in an exhibition setting has been Global Sports, which merged eight years ago and changed their name to EA Sports … Greg McDermott is 18-0 in exhibition games asa Division I head coach, including a 10-0 mark at UNI, a 7-0 record at Iowa State, and a 1-0mark at Creighton.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton and Rockhurst, fellow Jesuit universities, have a history of games in the regular season, believe it or not. The last one came in December of 1983, when Benoit Benjamin led the Jays to a 66-52 victory at the Civic Auditorium. That Willis Reed-coached Jays team finished 17-14 and went to the NIT.
The Series: Creighton leads 7-2, and is 5-1 in Omaha all-time. The last loss came in March of 1946, when the Jays lost 46-34.
Gratuitous Linkage: Earlier this week, Creighton released a “hype” video in advance of the game. Enjoy.
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a College Radio DJ: OK, despite cheesy production values, that “hype” video did manage to do one thing: it got me in the mood for some straight-up early 90s rock and roll.
Prediction: There will be some growing pains as the Jays get used to playing at the faster tempo they will favor this year. Lots of explosive dunks, fast break shots and three-pointers. Lots of blown defensive assignments. In other words: plenty of stuff for the coaches to break down on film before the regular season opens next Friday.
Free pizza!
And most importantly, much to the chagrin of a certain student journalist, Billy Bluejay will be in attendance cheering on the Bluejays and getting the fans pumped up for the game.
Creighton 88, Rockhurst 59
