With another practice in the books, both the Creighton men’s and women’s basketball teams had a lot going on during practice on Monday.
Women’s Basketball Notes:
- The coaching staff continues to throw in defensive wrinkles on a daily basis. Last week, they did one drill focused on closeouts and lateral movement, and later implemented some full court woman-to-woman defense. They want to create more turnovers this season, and the early practices have made that an emphasis.
- Jaylyn Agnew is a constant example for the younger players. When the coaches need to show how a certain technique should be done, Agnew is the player they call on. And with good reason, too — this is her fifth preseason camp. Everyone else on the team, aside from Olivia Elger, is at least two years behind her.
- Speaking of Agnew, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that she has consistently been the best player in the gym, and not just because she can score at all three levels. During 5-on-5 on Tuesday, she blocked a 3-point attempt by Payton Brotzki, and started the session with rebounds on three consecutive possessions (two defensive, one offensive).
- The gap between Tatum Rembao and everyone else getting reps at point guard is … wide. And that’s not a knock on her competition. While Agnew has been the best player in the gym, Rembao has been No. 2. The 5-foot-9 junior is still a risk-taker, which can make her prone to mistakes, but everything about her game looks better than it did a year ago. She’s been a more assertive communicator, she’s slowing the game down enough to make plays that put teammates in high percentage situations, and there hasn’t been a passing lane she won’t disrupt or a loose ball she won’t hustle after.
- Mykel Parham has displayed a great feel for the game, and has thus far seemed to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the information being thrown at her. She talks through her mistakes, isn’t afraid to ask questions, and lets her athleticism and length do the rest.
Men’s Basketball Notes:
- Sunday was “rules day,” which means John Cahill, the Big East Supervisor of Officials for men’s basketball, was in town to demonstrate and explain the points of emphasis for the upcoming season. Of note were two things that ought to be beneficial for defenders were the officiating of the “Harden” step-back jumper and flopping.
- This season, officials will be paying close attention to the pivot foot for those players *cough*Myles Powell*cough*Markus Howard*cough* who have become quite adept at creating extra space to get their shot off.
- As for the flopping, referees will be watching “head bobbing” that drivers like to do to exaggerate or sell contact as well as shooters falling to try to draw a whistle. In both instances a signal will be shown while the ball is live, and a warning will be given after the play. Each team will be allowed one warning per game with a technical foul being issued on the second occurrence.
- Once practice started, the team got into a competitive on-ball defense circuit drill. To hold court you needed to get a stop, after which you were rewarded with a fresh player to guard. By the end of the drill, Kelvin Jones, Antwann Jones, Shereef Mitchell, Denzel Mahoney, and Ty-Shon Alexander were players who compiled the most stops.
- The team jumped straight into 5-on-5 after that and Alexander kept up the defensive intensity with a pick-six on the very first possession. It was all part of an impressive day for the junior guard as he was also nails from both beyond the arc and on his mid-range jumper.
- Mahoney was pretty sharp on Sunday and Monday. He’s got a bit of mean streak defensively to compliment his wingspan and his strength. When he locks you up, he’s not shy about letting you know. He also really likes that top of the key three-ball. He’s a guy to watch.
- Jacob Epperson is still not cleared for full on “live” action, but he has been going full speed in the defensive drills that usually make up the first half of practice before he heads off to do conditioning workouts. On Monday afternoon, he ran sprints on the court with the rest of the team for the first time since December.