Quotes and Notes from women’s basketball practice:
- Freshman point guard Kiani Lockett (knee) has been cleared to do some 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 with contact, according to head coach Jim Flanery. It’s possible that she could be upgraded to 4-on-4 and 5-on-5 in a couple weeks if she continues to progress.
- In an anonymous poll of the players and coaches, senior guard Rachael Saunders and junior point guard Molly Mogensen were nearly unanimous selections as the vocal leaders of the team. Junior guard Jayme Horan earned three votes, which was a bit of a surprise but probably shouldn’t be to those who have been around her on a daily basis. The 2019 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year has several standout moments throughout preseason camp and looks poised to have her best season as a Bluejay. By all accounts, she is a weight room warrior who can knock down open shots, defend post players, stick her nose in a loose ball scrap, and talk up her teammates during drills. That’s valuable on a team that returns three players who averaged more than 12 points per game last season.
- Junior guard Lauren Jensen put on a hell of a show for the media members who woke up early enough to attend practice prior to local media day on Tuesday. In a pair of controlled live sessions, she hit five threes without a miss, nailed a pull-up jumper off the dribble, hit a baseline floater, forced a shot clock violation in the post against All-Big East forward Emma Ronsiek, and capped it off with a mid-range jumper off the catch. There were unconfirmed reports of a random aftershock in Iowa City around the same time.
- Speaking of Rachael Saunders and her leadership — the senior guard got shaken up a bit when she crashed to the floor and landed hard on her elbow near the baseline. A few plays later, she was the first one to the floor to secure a loose ball near midcourt. They don’t make them any tougher.
- Freshman guard Brittany Harshaw had maybe her best practice of the fall on Thursday afternoon at The Ruth. A couple standout moments were a corner three-ball and a deflection/steal. Both came against the guys’ practice squad.
Jim Flanery on Molly Mogensen’s transition to PG1:
“I think she’s been really good. I think she understands that she’s a different point guard than Tatum, but I think she understands that she can run the team in a similar way but not necessarily exactly the same. Her assist numbers in practice are really good and her turnovers are down. I think she needs to look to shoot a little bit more than she has, and that will be a back-and-forth thing between what lineup is she in — when she is in a little better lineup versus when she is in a lineup where she needs to squeeze a shot or two more.
She’s just steady and it’s good because when you have shot makers like Lauren and Emma and Morgan, who are going to miss three in a row, it’s good to have that voice of a classmate who can steady them. With those three it’s probably more important from game-to-game that they are making shots, but Molly can be kind of in their ear a little bit more because she knows that her role isn’t necessarily quite as much about putting the ball in the basket as those other three. And defensively, she gives us someone who is tenacious and solid.”
Jim Flanery on Morgan Maly’s ballhandling:
“She seems way more comfortable; I’m really excited about that. We’re not going to give her an immense amount of freedom, but she’s got a little more freedom to play with it and put it on the floor a little. Two years ago, we were telling her if you haven’t shot it by the time you’ve caught it and jabbed once or twice, don’t dribble it.
She’s way more comfortable now. She’s done a good job of putting herself in position where she can create off the dribble. I love her mid-post game, too. I think she’s more comfortable there, and that requires some ballhandling, too. Yeah, you can jab, but sometimes you have to go one dribble and finish, and you have to control the dribble in traffic, so I think she’s done a good job all the way around. She’s really improved.”
Morgan Maly has improved her ball handling (Juszyk / WBR)
Jim Flanery on Jayme Horan’s performance in preseason camp:
“Jayme is going to play and have a bigger role than she’s had without a doubt. Defensively she has some limitations … but she’s solid, she’s going to block out, she’s going to draw charges, and she makes open threes and keeps the ball off the floor. The only thing she has to worry about is her turnovers are just a little bit high for what we’re asking her to do.
Today, she was perfect. She had two assists and no turnovers, but there are a lot of days where she has two assists and two turnovers, and for no more than we are asking her to put the ball on the floor she’s got to keep those turnovers down. Otherwise, I think she’s doing great. When you look at what Payton (Brotzki) played last season, those are her minutes if she stays true to who she is and doesn’t deviate.”
Quotes and Notes from Men’s Basketball Practice:
- Junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner is as impactful as you’d expect coming off a season where he shot 65% from the field and won Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Creighton wants to speed things up again on the offensive end this year, but they also want to get their big man the ball more with his back to the basket and let him go to work. He even showed off something nasty facing the basket as well when he put the ball and the deck against a teammate, that shall not be revealed at this time, and drove in for a one-handed dunk on said teammate’s head.
- South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman showed off the elite playmaking ability in a couple instances during controlled scrimmages. He grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled it out to the corner, and turned around to cash a three-ball. Later he cut through the lane, caught a no-look bounce pass from Ryan Nembhard and immediately hit Mason Miller on the wing with a perfect chest pass for a wide open three.
- TCU transfer Francisco Farabello is looking more and more like a guy who can be trusted in crunch time. He shoots it well, handles it well, doesn’t make costly mistakes, communicates on time, and understands time and score. Barring an injury, he probably won’t be a starter, but he might be a closer.
- Sophomore forward Arthur Kaluma practiced three of the last four days before the team went on fall break. The coaching staff has been wisely conservative with Kaluma’s workload during the offseason after he injured his knee in early February last season.
- Sophomore combo guard Trey Alexander is a bad mother you-know-what on the defensive end of the floor. The attributes are there with the quickness and the length, but it’s the mentality that really sets him apart. He met freshman big man Fredrick King at the rim during a live session, blocked the dunk, stole the loose ball, and pitched it ahead to Ryan Nembhard for an easy scoop layup in transition.
Greg McDermott on having Ryan Nembhard and Shereef Mitchell healthy and available to practice:
“You’ve got the ball flying up and down the floor no matter which team has the basketball if they are on opposite teams. Our pace never suffers because of who is at the point guard position. Obviously ‘Reef’ brings a lot defensively coming off of what I thought was the best basketball of his career the Sweet 16 season, so hopefully he can build on that and ‘R2’ is back and healthy, so it’s been a nice luxury to have.”
Having Ryan Nembhard and Shereef Mitchell both available this season could really make the Jays click (Williams / WBR)
Greg McDermott on Baylor Scheierman’s skill set:
“I had studied him quite a bit before we got involved in the recruiting process, so I was well aware of what he was capable of. He has a tremendous basketball IQ and that leads to the passing and decisions that he makes. Defensively he’s really got a sense for where to be and when to be there, and he rebounds his position pretty well. He’s been everything we could have hoped for and more.”
Greg McDermott on how Francisco Farabello is acclimating to Creighton:
“He really fits our system. He’s great at coming off pin downs and screens. He makes the right decisions and can really shoot the basketball, and he’s very intelligent on the defensive end of the floor. His communication skills have probably surprised me the most. He’s not afraid to lead. He’s done a great job trying to impact the young players on our team. He’s going to be a valuable weapon for us.”