A week-and-half before their exhibition opener against Iowa State, Creighton got some great news when center Owen Freeman was cleared to be a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. Greg McDermott thought Freeman would be on the front end of a 4-6 month recovery from knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and sure enough, Freeman was on the court roughly four months after surgery for full court drills, 5-on-5 and contact drills, and more. It was his first real practice since February, as a finger injury sidelined him for the final weeks of Iowa’s season a year ago.
When the Jays last met the media two weeks ago, Freeman said he had started cutting, jumping and dunking and felt like he was close to a return. He told the media he’d been leaning on the knowledge of graduate assistant Geoff Groselle — a fellow big man who’d played for Greg McDermott and could offer first-hand experience — to try and bridge the gap from not getting reps on the floor.
“Being able to learn from him and learn the offense has been huge,” Freeman said. “We have a lot of great people and obviously that’s why I came here, to learn from all of them. It gets competitive for sure and that’s the best part. We have guys who want to win and ultimately that’s why we’re all here because we know Creighton wins games. That was a huge selling point — I want to win some games. That’s what we’re going to do.”
After practice, WBR’s Matt DeMarinis fielded questions on Twitter from Bluejay fans. Here’s a recap of that Q&A presented mailbag style.
Owen Freeman on the practice floor Wednesday. (Photo by Matt DeMarinis/WBR)
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“Who looks to crack the rotation and how much small ball with Jasen Green at the 5 do you think we might see a game?” -Jon Skinner (@jonskin1929102)
Matt DeMarinis: Tough to say right now. A lot of guys are being given opportunities to prove they can contribute. As always, it’ll come down to how much Coach Mac can trust who he is putting in the game.
Not sure on the small ball, but Traudt and Green make it a matter of how much, not if.
“Nik Graves still trending to start at PG based on what you’ve seen? He had to do basically everything at Charlotte, so interested in how he’s developing as a passer in this system.” -Angry Kalk (@angrykalk)
MD: Yes. He’s been operating at a high level since fall camp started. He had 13 assists and 0 turnovers in their scrimmage last week.
“Who is the first backup point guard when Graves isn’t on the court from what you can tell? Also, any more insights on what Hudson Greer and Blake Harper’s role will look like, especially in terms of minutes per game?” -Peter Cunningham (@MrC_Mathematics)
MD: Ty Davis is PG2. I think Dix or Swartz could be used there too.
Hudson Greer has had a good camp so far. I think he’s going to have a role. Harper has a unique offensive skill set. Not going to be easy for the coaching staff to allocate concrete roles this season.
“Konan role?? How deep on the bench? First front court bench guy?” -bill (@unclebillyo)
MD: Size off the bench.
(His role) probably depends on the questions the game is asking. Do you need to shoot your back into a game? In that case, some 5 out with Traudt is probably the move. Is Freeman in foul trouble and you’re having a tough time with a 5 that can stretch the floor? In that case, it’s Green.
I don’t think it would crazy to see him eclipse (10mpg). I don’t see Freeman averaging the type of minutes Kalkbrenner did, especially coming off knee surgery.
“What’s the plan for the front court without Freeman and how’s Fedor looked so far?” -Fire Sean (@depewsgentleman)
MD: I think Freeman will be ready for the opener. Fedor has his best day of the fall on Tuesday imo. He just needs to stack more of those on top of each other.
“How much has Jackson’s offensive game developed? Are we running different sets for him to score like giving him the ball on the block?” -Himothy Jones (@HaywoodMortMan)
MD: He definitely is sharper when he goes to the block. He’s mainly been setting the nets on fire from long range the last few sessions though.
“Who’s starting game 1, and who do you think will start come Big East play?” -OTtrips (@12otrips)
MD: vs. South Dakota: Freeman, Traudt, McAndrew, Dix, Graves.
Big East play could honestly depend more on the matchups, because I think Jasen Green will need to guard Bryce Hopkins and guys like him.
“How will Creighton defend the pick and roll without Kalk in the lane?” -Nolan Samuelson (@Nolan)
MD: They have several coverage options. Nothing is off the table yet.
“do you think isaac traudt has learned to hit the three yet?” -Alex Sindelar (@__Sindelar)
MD: So much so that I think he needs to learn how to miss sometimes so his teammates aren’t always pissed off when they have to guard him.