Tonight marks the beginning of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, the 24-hour smorgasbord of basketball only a hardwood junkie could enjoy. (Northern Iowa will represent the Valley in the event, and the Panthers are already 1-0 after dismantling an Old Dominion team fresh off a trip to the NCAA Tournament.) But Creighton Bluejays fans are full of dessert already, having watched Greg McDermott’s team feast on two creampuffs over the weekend.
Creighton unveiled its up-tempo offensive sets against North Carolina A&T Friday and Chicago State Sunday, resulting in 32- and 34-point wins, respectively. The Jays scored 97 points Friday and 95 points Sunday, shot 52.4% from the field and 41.5% from 3-point range for the weekend, and assisted on 56 of 66 made baskets. The single-game CU record for assists was 28 entering this season; the Jays dished 28 dimes in each of their first two games at the Center Formerly Known as Qwest (CFKQ).
As my esteemed colleague Patrick wrote earlier, I’ll try to harbor my enthusiasm about this new look CU squad until, you know, they actually play someone of quality. That could come Wednesday, when the Jays travel to Birmingham to square off against the UAB Blazers. Until then, and before I make plans for late March, I’ll bide my time by sharing a few observations from the front rows of CFKQ.
1. A concentration on the frontcourt left Creighton’s guards trigger-happy
Jahenns Manigat led Creighton's 3-point threat in the season's opening weekend (Mike Spomer/WBR)
Friday night found the Bluejays hoisting 35 3-pointers, a building record (previous was 34 3s, in a 2008 home loss to #22 Drake). The North Carolina A&T Aggies seemed content to pack the lane and prevent Gregory Echenique (4 points, 7 rebounds) and Doug McDermott (13 points, 4 rebounds) from establishing themselves in the paint. The Jays knocked down 14 of the 35 long-range attempts, following that performance with another 13 makes (on 30 attempts) Sunday versus Chicago State. Comparatively, Creighton made 10 or more 3s only six times last season (4-2 in those games).
Greg McDermott told T. Scott Marr and Nick Bahe after Friday night’s game that 35 3-pointer attempts “might have been a record for a team I’ve coached,” and while he doesn’t coach the offense to jack that many bombs they can take what the defense allows. The defenses for the Aggies and the Cougars allowed perimeter jump shot after perimeter jump shot. Ethan Wragge, following Sunday’s game, said of Chicago State’s zone, “We could attempted a corner three every time down the floor.” Weird, it kind of felt like Creighton did just that.
Aside from leading to clear looks, those defensive sets seem to have left the Bluejays’ main outside threats warming up and confident ahead of the trip to UAB. Jahenns Manigat (10-17), Wragge (6-12), and Avery Dingman (4-10) each displayed a deft touch from long range during the opening weekend, while Doug McDermott (2-5) and Grant Gibbs (2-4) both showed their range in knocking down a few open 3s too. Instead of turning over every rock around to find an outside shooter to compliment Echenique and McDermott around the blocks, Coach Mac and his staff have some options and can go with the hot hand — or hands.
2. Grant Gibbs is “The Conduit”
Manigat is the “Canadian Red Bull.” Great nickname; it speaks volumes. But watching Grant Gibbs with the basketball and directing teammates, I can’t help but think of the junior as “The Conduit.” He channels the offense in a smooth manner, uses his 6-4 frame to extend angles on defense, and displays a natural behavior with the ball Creighton fans haven’t seen in some time. There’s a little bit of 1980s NBA to his game, if the between-the-legs pass to a trailing Doug McDermott on the break is any indication. And given an opportunity to pull up, Gibbs can knock down jump shots or pump and head to the lane and finish.
After watching guys like Cavel Witter dribble (and dribble … and dribble … and dribble) and P’Allen Stinnett pretend to be smooth, it is great to see a legit combo guard in white and blue who brings a deliberate and definitive mindset to his position (whichever he’s been asked to man in a given lineup).
Friday, Gibbs did a little of everything. He scored 10 points on just 4 field goal attempts. He grabbed 9 rebounds (including a team-high 5 offensive boards). And he dished 4 assists to just 2 turnovers. Mark my words: If he stays healthy, Gibbs will be the Jose “Choco” Gomez of this year’s Creighton basketball team (national #2 seed Creighton soccer reference. Go Jays!).
3. Creighton fans in four years will thank lineup flexibility this season for upperclassmen Geoff Groselle and Nevin Johnson
Remember Anthony Tolliver’s freshman season? Probably not. It was mostly forgettable. Remember his junior and senior seasons? More specifically, remember the difference between Tolliver — a member of the currently defunct NBA — as an underclassman and as an upperclassman? What’s farther than light years?
You can’t take Geoff Groselle’s height and frame and eagerness to bang with Echenique and Will Artino away from him. You can’t take Nevin Johnson’s athletic ability and range away from him. But if you’re Coach Mac, you can get those guys a year to improve their strength, work on their weaknesses, and get practice rep after practice rep against your starters and main bench contributors.
Granted, without guys like Wragge and Artino and McDermott, these difficult decisions to redshirt Groselle and Johnson would have been even harder. At times this weekend, we saw Wragge and McDermott play the two low post positions, give Creighton a smaller look that allows the Jays to stretch defenses while on offense. Oh, and Wragge managed to grab 5.5 rebounds per game (and McDermott 6.0 rpg). Meanwhile, Artino and Echenique also shared court time together, pitting a man with the strength of a bull and a man with the wingspan of Condorman. Any combination of those four can man the low blocks in Coach Mac’s up-tempo offense, leaving Groselle able to hone his game while saving a year of eligibility.
As for Johnson, he’s an interesting case. We heard all off-season about his ability as a defender. Josh Jones better have made strides on that end of the court, if Johnson is going to sit this season. Manigat has good defensive range, and Dingman’s untested on that end of the court. Gibbs is a heady defender. But those four offer a few hurdles Johnson would have had to overcome for meaningful playing time. You have to think those four are farther along on offense than Johnson, given his true freshman status (judging by Dingman’s shooting ability, he’s an exception here). Thus, the ‘shirt.
4. Austin Chatman gets the point backing up Antoine Young
Rob Anderson and the great folks at Creighton’s Sports Information Office keep copious amounts of men’s basketball statistics. On their webpage detailing records from 1994 through last season, Antoine Young’s junior season stands out as the single highest average of minutes per game of any Creighton Bluejay since 1994-95. His 35.7 minutes per game last season edged Edward St. Fleur (35.0 mpg) and Ryan Sears (35.0 mpg) for high honors.
The telling stat? Young played 39 games last season, while St. Fleur (30) and Sears (33) played far fewer in their seasons of 35 minutes per game. As a player, you want to be on the court as much as possible. But reasonably, it would help if Coach Mac had a trusted sub he could use to lessen the load on Young during this season — the senior’s last at CU, and his final chance to advance to an NCAA Tournament.
That’s where Chatman, the uber-quick point guard from Texas, comes in. After a rough opener (fouled out scoreless, with 4 assists and 2 turnovers in 12 minutes against North Carolina A&T), Chatman showed Sunday why the coaching staff never considered redshirting this valuable true freshman. In 21 minutes Chatman dished 6 assists, didn’t commit a turnover, added 2 steals and a dozen points to go with 4 rebounds. The staff plans to play Young and Chatman together, too, which proves to pose major match-up problems to opponents who frankly can’t keep up with one of the two speedy guards, let alone both of them.