One of my friends from my college days on the Hilltop likes to complain. He’s a compulsive complainer. And there’s nothing he gripes more about than Bluejay hoops. For years, he’s been complaining that the Jays need to play a beefier schedule, that he’s tired of the Houston Baptist’s of the world, and on and on. When the Jays backed out of the Vegas tourney two years ago to go to Canada, shunning a matchup with North Carolina, you wouldn’t believe the emails I got from him (actually, you probably would, because I bet you know people exactly like this.)
Now, this year, he was excited. “Finally, a REAL non-conference schedule!” he exclaimed in August when it came out. But last week, I got a completely predictable email from him.
“Gee, do you think the guys are ready? This schedule is ridiculous the next three weeks…”
As I said, he’s a compulsive complainer. But he does raise an interesting query. Are the Jays ready for what awaits them? For the first time in their history, they play two ranked teams in the month of November. In the first game, a shorthanded Jays squad played valiantly in a tough road environment before falling to Dayton. Tomorrow, a fully healthy Jays team takes on #15 Michigan in Orlando on a neutral court. Friday, they play either Marquette or Xavier. Next Sunday, they take on a bad Nebraska team that nonetheless will be motivated to beat CU. Then they take Finals. The following weekend they travel to Fairfax, VA to play George Mason. The weekend after that they travel to Albuquerque to play New Mexico. So its not necessarily complaining to ask whether the Jays are ready, its a valid question, and one which we’ll begin to learn the answer to tomorrow.
Michigan and Creighton might be relative strangers on the court, but their coaches are not. Dana Altman and John Beilein squared off in the NCAA Tournament in 2005 against Beilein’s West Virginia squad. In that game, the Jays had very little trouble with their vaunted 1-3-1 zone, and I maintain to this day that they would have won had Johnny Mathies not fouled out. I remember watching the game on a tiny 13″ TV propped up on a milk crate in the middle of the living room of my house, which I’d gotten the keys to just two days before. There was lots of room for pacing without furniture blocking my path, and let me tell you, I just about wore out the carpet before I’d even moved in.
(Incidentally, you may be wondering, why would your cable TV be hooked up before you move in? Answer: A man has to have priorities. Also, not that you were curious, but the first three items I moved in were a TV, a milk crate, and a case of Bud Light. The first two were for watching the game. The latter was for forgetting it after the fastbreak dunk at the buzzer.)
Michigan went 21-14 a year ago, and made it into the round of 32. Their expectations are higher this year, and rightfully so. The Wolverines boast not one but two players averaging 20+ points a night, making them a defensive strategist’s nightmare. Further, one of those players averages a double-double, while the other nearly does. DeShawn Sims brings in 22 points and 8 boards a game, while Manny Harris is at 21.5 and 10.5. As if those numbers aren’t scary enough, how about this:
Their point guard, Darius Morris, is 6’4″, which would make him one of the taller players on Creighton’s team. That size is a huge asset at the top of their 1-3-1 zone, but as Dylan from UMHoops.com told WBR’s Patrick Marshall, he’s much more than that. He handles the ball well, can find the open man, and plays good defense. What he doesn’t do well is shoot, which may allow defenses to sag off him and concentrate on Sims and Harris.
As for Sims, all he did was earn second-team All Big Ten honors last year, and is one of just 25 players in program history to get 1000 points/500 boards in his career. The 6′8″ Sims is a beast in the paint, averaging over 15 points a game and nearly 7 rebounds last season. His early season numbers this year indicate no dropoff and if anything, perhaps an improved game. More impressively, last season he had his biggest games when it counted most: 29 points in a late-season upset of 16th ranked Purdue, and a 28 point/12 rebound game in their win over 4th ranked Duke. Adding to the nightmare for the Jays, he’s drained 69 three-pointers in his career.
Meanwhile, Harris was a first-team All Big Ten player last year, and from what I saw of the Wolverines, was the team’s motor. He ranked in the top ten in the conference in scoring, rebounding, and assists…and was 12th in steals. His game is versatile, equally dangerous with dribble penetration and jump shooting. And he hits 86% of his free throws.
So yes, Michigan is good. Very good. And the nation knows it. In other words, exactly the sort of team Creighton fans have been hoping to get a chance at for years. A win here will not only pay immediate dividends in the PR department, it will go a long way in March. The Jays finally got a top team on their schedule. Now its up to them to make it matter.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Michigan coach John Beilein has 584 wins in his career, most among active Big Ten coaches. In 27 of his 31 seasons on the bench, his teams have finished .500 or better … The Wolverines early season statistics are skewed due to two blowouts of poor teams. They waxed Northern Michigan 97-50, and beat Houston Baptist 77-55. So don’t let their frightening stats make you believe they’re superhuman. Averaging 87 points a game while giving up just 52 is dominant, but the two teams that they played to compile that average are somewhat less than bad … The winner of tomorrow’s opening round of the Old Spice Classic takes on the winner of Marquette vs Xavier, another game that has the Jays salivating, although for very different reasons. Marquette has steadfastly refused to play their fellow Jesuit institution for decades, and Xavier recently stopped playing the Jays with no believable reason given. I’m personally very excited to see the Jays play either of these teams, perhaps moreso than Michigan … The Jays have reached the Championship Game in each of the last six regular season tournaments they have played in, winning the 2002 and 2004 Guardians Classics, as well as the Las Vegas Classic in 2008.
The Last Time They Played: Many, many years ago, the Jays and Wolverines played. Nineteen-hundred-and-Sixty-Two, to be precise. Michigan won 81-62. That was 47 years ago for you Art majors (like myself.)
Gratuitous Linkage: The 10 Best Celebrity Computer Ads of the 1980s. Yeah, I’m pretty sure with THAT title, anything I write afterwards will get ignored as you click away to go watch these hilarious ads, so I’ll just shut up and move on. But not before noting that Dick Cavett, star of the first ad, grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska. Not sure how that’s relevant, but I figured since I knew it, I’d pass it along. You bet.
Official Gametime Snack: It is Thanksgiving. There is no time for snacking, there is only time for eating. Eat everything you can get your hands on. Turkey. Mashed Potatoes. Stuffing. Cranberry sauce. Pies of many varieties. Its all good. Remember, if you’re not consuming 8000 calories on Thanksgiving, you’re not doing it right.
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a Radio DJ: The Commodores, Brick House. Substitute “She” for “He” and the rest of the song for “Throwing up lots of brick shots”, and this is way closer to making sense in a basketball game vs Michigan sense. Trust me.
And if you’re still dubious…check out my man Lionel Richie on saxophone in this video! Lionel! On sax!
Prediction: My friend who wonders whether Creighton is ready is going to be surprised, I think. The Jays have the scorers to keep up with Michigan’s Motor City Duo, I think they will be able to stay even on the boards, and I think they’ll pull out a close win.
Jays 81, Michigan 75.