A few days into practice and a lot going on.
The Creighton men’s basketball team learned on and off the court the past few days.
Martin Krampelj and the big men did some different post drills at practice (Williams / WBR) CLICK TO BUY
Friday’s session honed in on the four and five spots after Thursday’s day off. Martin Krampelj, Jacob Epperson, Damien Jefferson, Christian Bishop, and Sam Froling all matched up against each other in various combinations and worked on denying entry passes, repositioning to challenge shots, and trapping in the low block on the catch in certain situations. Those drills were integrated and emphasized during the 5-on-5 portion of practice as well.
The next morning’s practice began with a birthday mobbing of athletic director Bruce Rasmussen, who turned 69 on Saturday. He managed to survive the chaos, fortunately, and the Jays got into some individual skill work. The verticality drill was two-fold as the big men were challenged to avoid dropping their arms or swinging for the block at the last second and getting a foul, while the guards were also trying to draw fouls and finish through the contact they were initiating. The team also worked on ball screen defense, specifically situations that called for going under the screen while maintaining gap discipline and communicating through the action.
Sunday morning was the annual points of emphasis day. Big East Supervisor of Officials, John Cahill, was in town to explain any rule changes or modifications for the upcoming 2018-19 season. Moving screens and “hook and hold” plays in the paint, specifically on rebounds, were particular topics of interest. This year, officials have been instructed to call fouls in situations where the offensive player is either moving into the defender (such as on dribble hand-off plays) or setting their base too wide on the screen. Fouls will be called on defenders who try to “blow up” those screens, and double fouls will be called on plays that involve both infractions. The “hook and hold” plays will always result in both a monitor review and either a Flagrant 1 or a Flagrant 2 foul depending on the severity in an effort to reduce the risk of injury.
Samson Froling and Martin Krampelj shot really well from beyond the arc during the scrimmage portion of the day. Marcus Zegarowski continued to impress with his ability to slow the game down and see the floor. Davion Mintz has been really good so far, so that’s been a fun matchup to observe. Damien Jefferson also finished the weekend strong after struggling the first couple days. His athleticism, especially in the open floor, is really impressive.
We caught up with Coach Mac:
On freshman point guard Marcus Zegarowski:
“He’s just got a great feel for the game. He’s a true point guard in that sense. He sees things and naturally makes the right read most of time, instinctively, rather than having to be — you don’t have to draw a picture for him. He sees it in his head. He’s been good so far, and when you consider that he didn’t do anything this summer, he’s playing pretty well for the limited time that he’s been on the floor.”
On his early impressions of Southeast Missouri State transfer Denzel Mahoney:
“He’s really strong, he gets to spots, and obviously he can really shoot the basketball. He’s probably surprised me defensively. He’s a little better than I anticipated he would be at this stage. He’s going to be a really good player for us down the road.”
On freshman center Samson Froling:
“He plays within himself. He plays with a really good pace. And while this system has certainly been a shock to him, because we play so fast and he has to get up and down, I think his ability to be affective in ball screens, be effective in dribble hand-offs because of his passing ability, is going to be a huge plus for us. And he’s a big body defensively. Obviously Jake has had a history of knee problems and Martin is coming off an injury, so Sam has to be ready.”
On junior center Martin Krampelj’s rehab and development at the four:
“He’s really worked hard on his rehab. He’s been in the gym since June doing individual drills and building some of his conditioning in the pool, so I think he has done a lot of things outside of this gym to prepare himself for this that maybe we all haven’t seen. Had he not done that he wouldn’t be in the position that he’s in today.”
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“It’s a different mindset at the four. You’re spacing a little bit more, whereas at the five we need a few more ball screens and to put pressure on the rim, but I think he’s done fine.”
On sophomore guard Mitch Ballock’s hot shooting during the first week of practice:
“I think he and Ty-Shon are both better shooters than what their numbers indicated last year. Some of that is the freshman stuff and adjusting to the speed of the game … it takes a little bit of time, but he’s played really well.”