Ok, tonight I was a little excited. I came home from work, picked up the kids, put on my Mac’s Militia shirt, grabbed my three-point signs and headed out to the Qwest Center. With the opportunity to see some college hoops again and see the Bluejays on the court for their first game under new coach Greg McDermott, I was jazzed up and ready to go. I got to the Phone Booth and walked into the arena. I was only a little under an hour from game time, but the kids and I were one of about maybe 50 people actually in the arena as the teams were doing a little shooting and warming up.
We took a walk around the Qwest Center to see what has changed–literally not much. There were still ads on the walls with pictures of Dana Altman in them. After securing food to keep the little ones at bay, we sat down and waited. There was new music,a lot more darkness with new videos and introductions and we then was the tip. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but if you have followed the Bluejays over the years, once play started on the court I almost thought I was seeing the same team as a last season, until I looked over and was reminded that Greg McDermott was standing on the sidelines.
The tough part is realizing that the players that started the game were here last season. They still have that Dana Altman basketball in them and it will take a bit for those veteran players to transition to McDermott ball. So things started off a bit slow and sloppy. It happens in most exhibition games. Ethan Wragge gets two fouls in the first 90 seconds. I hate to say this, but that was probably the best thing that happened as the game started.
Freshman Doug McDermott quickly checked into the game and immediately the team looked really different. I’m not really sure, but McDermott the Kid really looks like a veteran player already. He seems to look taller than I saw him last and plays with some great poise. And as the night wore on, you can tell that this guy is going to be a key to Creighton’s success this season.
Coach Greg McDermott has a different mindset to running the Bluejays focusing on defense and getting the ball down low. Doug has been watching his dad’s coaching for years growing up around it all. So it is easy for him to help direct the team in the right direction. Doug McDermott finished with a team high 18 points and 7 rebounds in only 20 minutes of play. He was also able to solidify things down low when Kenny Lawson was out of the game.
Even more amazing is that early in the game, fans saw Casey Harriman enter and play some minutes. It has been well documented the struggles he has run into this season with his shoulder and the Big Sports 590 radio crew even mentioned in their pregame that Harriman wouldn’t play and didn’t know when fans would see him on the court. I think he surprised everyone. His toughness is a testament to players that will give their all to help their team no matter what.
As the game wore on, there were flashes of some things we did not see last year. Antoine Young was aggressive to the basket and leading the team, playing 34 minutes, scoring 16 and dishing 6 assists. Wayne Runnels shot and made a three-pointer. Kaleb Korver is not afraid to shoot. There were not nearly as many three-pointers as Bluejay fans have been used to. There were some lapses in defense. That isn’t new, but it will take shape as the season unfolds. Most exciting of all was that Dance Cam Guy now has a baby strapped to his chest.
I enjoyed seeing the new guys, in addition to McDermott, on the court. Jahenns Manigat could be a Johnny Matthies type player by the time he is done at Creighton. Will Artino was nice to see in the few minutes he got. In the end, everyone went home happy with free pizza, a 79-67 win against Northern State, and a little better idea what the transformation of this team may be under Greg McDermott. The bad part is that it is still a little more over a week before we see a game count. Basketball is back–and I love it.