That was fun while it lasted, huh? The Bluejays come in with a two game winning streak and for about the first 15-20 minutes of the game against the Redbirds Wednesday night was about as good as I have seen the Bluejays play all season. But then for whatever reason the wheels fell off, the team was stone cold from the field and Illinois State started pounding the ball inside as well as getting several uncontested layups to an over 20 point swing from the first half to the second half leaving the Bluejays to come back to Omaha again wondering what happened.
To start off the game, Darryl Ashford was on fire scoring 9 of the first 11 points. The starters even got to play past the first timeout and almost to the second time out. They looked cohesive and focused ready to blow Illinois State out of their gym up 17-8. At 13:28 then the substituting started. Things then went up and down until halftime, but it seemed that the Bluejays had an answer for any run that Illinois State was throwing at them shooting almost 50% at the half. Osiris Eldridge was even held to 7 points for the half. At the same time it might not have been too surprising given that the Redbirds have been outscored mightily by their opponents in the first half lately.
The second half started off on a positive note with Ashford hitting a shot right away. But the Redbirds then decided that they could pound the ball in the inside. They started establishing their inside game with Dinma Odiakosa and he was playing like a mad man to start the second half. His play opened things up on the outside and Eldridge started hitting his shots. Then an unknown Justin Clark had a career night for the Redbirds with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Before Wednesday’s game, Clark was 4-of-38 from the field and 5-of-30 from three. Unbelievable. The Bluejays some how bring out the Redbird players to have career nights.
Creighton on the other hand could not buy a bucket and again went through another stretch of 9 minutes without a field goal until Casey Harriman hit a three-pointer to get back within 5. By that point, the Bluejays couldn’t make up the deficit and instead of walking out of Normal with a win that could have been decisive, they walk out of Normal with another loss. There were so many ways this could have turned out differently.
The thing that baffles me the most is that the players that have the hot hand get a quick seat to the bench. Let’s take Darryl Ashford as the example. The guy had 9 of the first 11 points plus an assist in the first stretch of the game before all the starters were taken out of the game at the 13:20 mark. He then was in and out throughout the rest of the half without getting a shot. Then he comes out the second half and hits the first shot for the Jays. That would be the last shot of the game for Darryl and he only ended up playing eight minutes the whole second half. So the guy that is leading you in points at the time and seems to be shooting from lights out when he gets a chance to shoot the ball barely sees the court in the second half, I just don’t understand. Wouldn’t you keep the guy in the game and run plays for him? Frankly, I think Ashford could have scored at will against the Redbirds if Coach Altman would have kept with him. I don’t have a problem seeing guys play 35-40 minutes a game if needed. This is after all Division I basketball and aren’t players conditioned to play a full 40 minutes? I didn’t think it was YMCA ball where everyone has to have equal time on the court. One game it could be Ashford getting 35 minutes, or maybe Justin Carter or P’Allen Stinnett. If there is a hot hand, I don’t see why they can’t have the opportunity to take advantage of that.
Creighton has one of the lowest minutes per game for starters in the league and I start to wonder if that is a good thing. Everyone averages less than 26 minutes a game with P’Allen Stinnett at the top and Antoine Young at 24. Look at the teams at the top of the league:
- Northern Iowa has 3 of their 5 starters playing more than 26 minutes a game and Farokhmanesh and Ahelegbe are at almost 30 minutes a game
- Wichita State has 3 of their 5 starters playing more than 26 minutes with Murry and Hannah at or around 30 minutes a game.
- Illinois State has 4 of their 5 starters playing more than 26 minutes with Eldridge, Phillips and Okiokosa at 30 minutes or more.
- Missouri State even has 3 of their 5 starters playing more than 26 minutes a game with Weems at 27 and then Mallett and Leonard at 30 or more.
Do I need to go on? Coach Altman says that none or very few players have separated themselves to cut down the substitution pattern. So the question now becomes is it that the players haven’t had a chance to separate themselves because they don’t get the minutes they need to show that? Are they not conditioned to play more than 26 minutes a game? Is the substitution thing a mental thing that in order to appease everyone involved they have to play x amount of minutes to keep everyone happy, even at the expense of their performance?
In a season full of frustration not only for the fans, but for the players and the coaches, the second guessing and armchair coaches come out of the woodwork and you run out of things to say to spin a positive outlook. I will continue to go to the games and support this Bluejay team through the rest of the season. I hope everyone else does as well. This is when they need the support the most. However, don’t be surprised if there are more voices of opinion than there used to be.