In light of this evening’s announcement that Creighton guard P’Allen Stinnett is currently suspended indefinitely for “conduct not acceptable to the team,” I’m glad the bad weather hijacked my post-game “Ott’s Thoughts” writing following a slower than usually drive home from the Qwest Center Sunday night.
I’ll touch on Stinnett’s situation later, but first, for his Bluejays teammates, I’d like to offer you this:
That’s right. You get a Slow Clap for stepping to the free throw line 15 times in the second half and knocking down all 15 shots. Kudos.
And sure, the entire evening wasn’t exactly filled with positive play by the Bluejays, but in the end Creighton won a close game at home. In this topsy turvy season (not only from CU’s perspective, but in the rest of the Valley), that means a lot. At least, it does right now.
Why? Because a loss to Missouri State at home would have put the Jays squarely behind the “We’re playing on Thursday Night in St. Louis?!” eight ball. Throwing out the hypothetical “if the season were to end right now…” the Bears, the Salukis, the Sycamores, and the Purple Aces would open things up at the Scottrade Center a few weeks from now. As it stands, Creighton’s win fortifies the logjam for 3rd place, with Illinois State, Bradley, Drake, and CU all claiming 5-4 Valley records midway through conference play.
But with home games remaining against two of the teams at 5-4 (Bradley and Illinois State) and two of the teams in the bottom four (Indiana State and Evansville), protecting the home court against MSU was vitally important to Creighton’s seeding in St. Louis. Let’s be honest: at the beginning of the year, I would venture a guess that most (if not all) Jays fans penciled in a win against the Bears in Omaha. Home games against UNI (loss), SIU (win), and Wichita State (win) were toss-ups as far as I was concerned, but I thought the Jays would have a chance in all three (they did). But the Missouri State matchup was one I felt the Jays needed to win. And they did. So, all is right with the world, then, right? Um, wrong.
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Let’s start with the elephant in the room. Or, in this case, the junior guard who racked up his 9th technical foul in less than three full seasons of college basketball. I don’t know if Stinnett got suspended for the technical foul or for other reasons. But I do know that his actions Sunday night (both watching the game in person, and then watching the incident later that evening on my DVR) embarrassed me as a Bluejays fan.
After a first half (another one he did not start) that seemingly looked like so many normal halves Stinnett has logged in his Creighton career (4 points on 2-2 shooting; 2 rebounds, an assist in 12 minutes), P’Allen checked in with about 16:30 to play in the game and the Jays trailing by 1. After committing a turnover and a foul a few minutes later, Stinnett put together a string of a couple of plays that seems to sum up the pros and cons of his game quite nicely.
He cut the MSU lead from 6 to 4 with an off-balanced leaner just outside the lane, during which he thought he got bumped and let the defender and referee know it. Then, on the other end of the floor, he picked up his defensive intensity and was able to deflect a pass from Nafis Ricks into the backcourt. He beat the Bear to the ball, went in uncontested on the break, and flushed home a regular looking jam.
Then, he pointed to the ESPNU TV cameras. Then, he started letting the Bear he beat to the ball know about it. And then, after apparently being told to cool it, he dropped some foul language in the general vicinity of the referee. Whistle blows. Technical foul. Future in jeopardy.
I’m just writing what I saw, both in person and on TV. MSU’s free throws from the technical (both makes) bumped the Bears lead back to 4 from 2. But more importantly, a player who has tried to say (via the local media) all the right things about maturity and growing up and being a leader cost his teams points (again) by running his mouth. It cost him minutes down the stretch — he didn’t check back in between the 12:25 and 6:24 marks of the second half — and, depending on whether the T was the reason P was suspended, time in games for the foreseeable future.
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Perhaps, then, Creighton fans should prepare to see more of Darryl Ashford, arguably the player of the game against Missouri State and the heir apparent to more of Stinnett’s minutes. After posting a 13.5 points per game average through the first four games of his CU career, Ashford hit double figures in just 3 of his next 12 games (averaging 6.75 ppg during those dozen contests), culminating in a 2-point afternoon at Wichita State. And while he scored just 2 points again a week later during Creighton’s 1-point win against the Shockers, Ashford re-entered the starting lineup against SIU and has gone for 10 or more points in three of his last four games (the 2 points during the WSU win the exception).
Against Missouri State, played 29 minutes (a few off his career-high 33, in the overtime loss against Michigan) and put up 15 points on 4-9 shooting from the field. He was 6-8 from the free throw line but made all of his attempts in the second half. He grabbed 6 rebounds, grabbed a steal and dished an assist, and didn’t commit a turnover. And he looked a little more comfortable defensively, give or take a few possessions.
Ashford started out extremely hot against Illinois State last week, but played only 19 total minutes against the Redbirds. I wrote about it here, including wondering aloud why he wasn’t playing more minutes if he was, in fact, one of the Bluejays’ only hot shooters. But with Stinnett apparently out indefinitely, Ashford will need to be successful at the off guard and third guard positions.
Ashford must continue to improve his defense to maximize his minutes
And you know what? I have every confidence in Ashford to improve his play. How many times have we seen a junior college transfer struggle a bit during the early part of his first season at Creighton, only to have the light switch flip on down the stretch? Our last Player of the Year, Booker Woodfox, experienced that evolution. Justin Carter did, as well. Most importantly, based on statistics, Ashford is as good or better than Stinnett right now, anyway.
Ashford scores more per 40 minutes (15.9) than Stinnett (14.2) this season. He posts a better field goal percentage (44.9%), 3-point percentage (34.9%), and true shooting percentage (55%) than Stinnett (40.5%/28.4%/49.8%). The both average about 3.6 rebounds per game. Stinnett has about twice as many assists, but also twice as many turnovers. Oh, and with his freakishly long arms, Ashford has blocked 12 shots already, to Stinnett’s 4.
I don’t want to seem as though I’m piling on P’Allen, but the proof is in the pudding (or, as the case may be, the statistics). While his minutes per game have increased slightly from his freshman through his junior seasons, his statistics have regressed. A 12.6 point per game scorer his freshman season, he now posts a 9.1 ppg average. He shot 45% from the field as a frosh; now it is 40.5%. His 3-point shooting has decreased (slightly, from 31.7% to 28.4%), as has his free throw shooting percentage (significantly, from 78.6% to 69.8%). He’s averaging almost half as many steals per game as a junior as he did as a freshman. Sure, his assists have gone up each season, but his rebounding has plateaued.
In essence, Ashford and Stinnett statistically are the same player. One has been at Creighton for the better part of three seasons, and one is pretty much brand new. As a fan of the Bluejays and college basketball in general, I’m much more forgiving of a newcomer still learning his way around a system than a veteran who should have stuff figured out by now.
But for the Bluejays’ sake, let’s hope Ashford continues his education, even if it is on an accelerated learning curve. With winnable but difficult road games at Bradley and Drake, the Bluejays need to make noise the right way (road wins) instead of the wrong way (suspensions and personnel problems). Here’s hoping Sleepy continues his awakening at the off-guard spot.