From the time Creighton started playing men’s basketball (1916-1917) through the 1959-1960 season, the Bluejays called the Vinardi Center home. CU went 336-92 in 42 seasons in the on-campus gym, which now stands as home to the basketball practice facility.
Ahead of this weekend’s matchup with Tulsa, we stopped by the Old Gym to talk with Coach McDermott and his players.
Coach Greg McDermott
Q: How was it to get that first road win in the books?
Greg McDermott: “It always feels good to get that first road win. I think it’s one of the best things in sports, to go on the road and find a way to win. The way that game unfolded, where we dug ourselves a big hole, and then fought back only to lose the lead again before winning…I was very proud of our team.”
Q: Do you learn something from your team in tight games like that?
GMcD: “Yeah, I think so. I really felt like we were going to learn a lot about our team win or lose against St. Joe’s. I think our guys probably got their eyes opened to some things early in that game that we needed to do a better job of, for example our offense was a little stagnant and defensively we were maybe a half a step slow. But the second half, after really talking about rebounding, and a couple of adjustments we needed to make offensively, the guys really executed well. We outrebounded St. Joe’s in the second half, we got the ball moving, and we really made some good reads in the second half.”
Q: This isn’t the first time you guys have come back from double-digits on the road. What is it about this group of guys that lets you do that?
GMcD: “They’ve always been a pretty even-keeled group. When it happened a couple of years ago at San Diego State, that win really propelled our program on to some big things after that. That’s a very difficult environment, and yet we found a way to stay the course, and gradually chip away at that lead to get back in the game by halftime. Really, the St. Joe’s game was very similar. These guys have a tremendous belief in one another, they don’t get shook, they just take it one play at a time. That’s a pretty good approach to have, especially when you find yourself behind.”
Q: What do you know about Tulsa, and what are you expecting from them?
GMcD: “Well, I expect like always, Danny Manning’s teams play really hard. They lost a really close game to Oral Roberts where they led in the last two minutes of the game. They missed a free throw with 12 seconds left against Murray State to tie the game, and lost 96-93. And they played Wichita State even for 30 minutes last night, and then Wichita went on a huge run to end the game. So they’re a very capable basketball team, with a lot of sophomores, and some of the same guys we played last year have a year more of experience. They’re really close to being off to a good start. It’s going to be important that we do our job, and that they have our full attention, because they’re capable of coming in here and winning.”
Q: Obviously, you have the big trip to California coming up next week, any danger of this being a trap game?
GMcD: “I would hope not. We’ve had a week off, so we practiced Monday and Tuesday and really concentrated on ourselves. Yesterday we gave some guys a day off, and just did some workouts with the rest of the guys, and then today we turned our attention to Tulsa. So I think our guys are in a pretty good spot. We only get to play 30 games so we better get ready for each and every one.”
Q: Is what we saw out of Devin on Saturday indicative of what his potential could be for this team?
GMcD: “Obviously, he can get into the paint and make some things happen. He still has to get better on the defensive end, although I thought he made some good strides against St. Joe’s. And besides scoring with the basketball, he found his teammates, which he needs to be able to continue to do. He’s doing what we recruited him to do, which is getting into the teeth of the defense and making plays at the rim. We don’t have a lot of guys that do that, so he’s really added a nice dimension.”
Q: How much more dangerous does that make you from outside, having a guy that can penetrate like that?
GMcD: “It certainly helps. In some ways, it’s similar to having Gregory (Echenique) posting in there last year. It draws attention, to where the defense has to pay attention to the rim. And whether you’ve got somebody 6’9″ 275 pounds posting up there, or you’ve got a guy driving to the front of the rim and finishing through traffic, and Devin can certainly do that, it does a lot of the same things to the defense. You have to decide what to do. If you leave Ethan Wragge open in the corner, it’s almost automatic. So Devin provides a nice weapon for us.”
Q: Devin says he’s working on becoming a pass-first, score-second kind of guy.
GMcD: “Is he now? (laughing) Maybe Coach Mac is getting him to be a pass-first, score-second kind of guy (laughing). No, I’d like to get it to where it’s more 50/50, but that’s no fault of his, that’s the way he’s played his whole life. The teams that he’s played on counted on him to score, and there’s going to be times like at St. Joe’s where we need him to score. He’s just got to pick his spots, and he’s growing more comfortable every day.”
Q: How does what Devin needs to work on compare to Antoine Young during your first year?
GMcD: “I think they’re different players. Antoine was certainly great at finishing in traffic, too, so in that regard they’re similar but Antoine had run a team before, where he wasn’t the primary scorer his freshman year. But Antoine really adjusted, and didn’t take a lot of perimeter shots his senior season, and he was really critical to our level of success. I think Devin’s in the same kind of mold, he’s not into taking a bunch of perimeter shots either. He’s capable, but I think he understands we need him to get to the basket.”
Q: Off the wall question — the Championship Center is starting to look like a building now. Is that starting to get you excited?
GMcD: “You know, just Monday when we practiced at the Ryan Center, I popped my head out the door and looked at it and it’s coming along quick. Obviously that’s exciting. I don’t look at it much because then I’ll want to be in there, but it’s going to be a beautiful place. I got to tour it a couple of weeks ago, and the some of the spaces were bigger than I anticipated. I just think it’s going to be a first-class training center.”
Q: After the big win on the road, talk about what it’s like to come back home to the CLink.
GMcD: “It’s always fun to play in front of your home fans, especially with the enthusiasm that our fans have. The two home games so far this year have been incredible and I expect Saturday afternoon to be no different.”
Devin Brooks
Q: How does it feel to get that first road game out of the way, as a new player for Creighton this year?
Devin Brooks: “It feels good, just to see how it will be on the road, with the crowd and the whole experience. I’m glad it’s out of the way.”
Q: How was the St. Joe’s crowd?
DB: “It was interesting, you know, they were crazy. But that wasn’t really on my mind. I just wanted to win.”
Q: You’re a couple of games in after transferring from a JuCo to Division 1, what do you notice — has there been any difference for you?
DB: “You just have to work harder, and play better defense because everybody is good. You have to do more than score.”
Q: How did it feel to be so involved in the outcome of this game?
DB: “It felt good to be out there and to be known for having one of the bigger stops at the end, that was good.”
Q: You seem to be pretty adept at taking people off the dribble, and going to the hole. Is that something they taught you when you got here, that they want you to take the ball all the way to the rack?
DB: “Yeah, they’ve mainly just talked about creating for others and getting the shooters open. If it’s open, attack, and if it’s not, kick it out to the shooters. It’s kinda easy.”
Q: What are you looking for when you come down the court?
DB: “I’m looking to score (laughing). That’s really my first instinct is to look to score. But if someone else’s man helps off, just kick it out to them. I’m trying really hard to get to that stage where I look for other guys to score first and me to score second. I’m working on it. It’s a big adjustment.”
Q: Is that difficult?
DB: “A little bit. But I’m learning, I’m learning, because I’ve always wanted to score but now I need to be a pass-first shoot-second kind of guy. But, you know, it’s working out.”
Q: Does it help when they’re knocking down all those open threes?
DB: “Oh yeah, it helps a lot. That makes my job a lot easier.”
Doug McDermott
Q: How’d the game winner feel?
Doug McDermott: “Good! There was still a lot of time on the clock, so I tried not to celebrate too much, but we pulled it off. Devin was huge down the stretch there, and it felt good to finally have one.”
Q: Last year, it seemed like opposing fans would chant ‘Daddy’s Boy’ and it would kind of get you going. Did you hear those chants, and the ones of ‘Overrated!’, on Saturday night and did that motivate you at all?
DMcD: “Ah, you know, I don’t really pay attention. But in a gym that small you can basically hear everything. It is what it is, and it definitely gets you going whenever someone’s chanting something like that. I was hyped enough just to play against a good team, in a good atmosphere, but that definitely got me going.”
Q: What does a win on the road that early in the season do for you guys?
DMcD: “It’s huge for our confidence, to get one out of the way early. Now we have that confidence going for tough environments in the Big East. We’ll have the same amount of (travel) distance to similar cities, so I think this is good for us.”
Q: What do you guys know about Tulsa, and what are you expecting?
DMcD: “They’re a tough team. They were tied at half last night against Wichita, and I was watching that one. Whenever Danny Manning’s involved, it’s always going to be a challenge. He’s a great coach, he’s at a great place and he’s going to rebuild it. I think we’re going to be ready them.”
Q: Is there an advantage to them playing Wichita so close to when they play you, with the familiarity with both schools?
DMcD: “Yeah, it definitely does. We know how good they are, and our coaches have been reminding us. But last night, following the game a little more, definitely showed us how good they are. They were missing some shots in the second half and Wichita kind of got going, but they’re good. They definitely won’t be scared to come into this type of atmosphere.”
Q: Obviously, you have the big trip to California coming up next week, any danger of this being a trap game?
DMcD: “Yeah, we’re taking it one game at a time. You definitely have to be focused for every game, you can’t look forward to California. In the locker room when I’ve seen guys talking about it, I’ve tried to remind them we’ve got a game to play on Saturday against a good team. We’ve got to stay focused. We’re excited to play them. It will be a great test after having a week off.”
Q: Is that something you need to remind the new guys, because Devin was already talking about California to us earlier
DMcD: “Yeah, I’m sure he was (laughing). But yeah, you definitely gotta remind those guys. This is all new to them, and you know, I feel like guys like me, Grant, Jahenns, Ethan, I think we provide them with that guidance and focus. I’m sure the coaches will do a good job of reminding us. Hopefully we’ll get a good jump on Tulsa early, and we won’t even be thinking about it.”
Q: You showed up on the Naismith Watch List today. You’re on everybody’s list it seems like. I know it doesn’t mean much this early in the year, but to see your name on those things, how does it feel?
DMcD: “It means a lot to me. Like you said, it’s just a list, and we’ve only played three games so there’s a lot of games still to be played. It’s an honor, but I’m not worried about. I’m just focused on each game, and trying to help my team win. I think all those other things will take care of themselves.”