In no particular order
1. Word for the day
This time it's undisciplined. Dawes, Samuel and Holloway all said it in the post game, meaning it was a topic of discussion after the game.
2. Where is everyone?
After losses the players and especially Holloway keep the media waiting in the post game. That hardly ever happened under Willard but seems to be the norm with our new coach. Clearly he doesn't handle L's very well.
3. Was it me or....
did it seem like every Creighton possession either ended in a basket or a turnover?
4. POTG
Not even close and it's not the seemingly obvious choice of leading scorer Baylor Scheierman. It was Ryan Kalkbrenner who SHU could not handle on either side of the court.
5. For example
How many times did the ball go inside out when weakside help arrived and the big man passed out starting a ball rotation that ended with an open 3? It was no accident that Creighton was 12-20 from the arc.
6. For example part 2
Why did SHU continue to challenge the 7-1 mobile big man? Usually ending in a blocked shot (1) or at least 10-15 altered attempts. Kaklbrenner does not reach and goes straight up making any offensive shots very difficult as seen by Richmond's (4-15) and Ndefo's (1-6) stats.
7. Say what
The winning team lost the turnover battle 19 to 5. Yet points off turnovers were only 18-11 in favor of the Pirates. Call that wasted opportunities.
8. Balance the court
How many times, especially in the first half, did Creighton beat the Hall down the court for easy points AFTER the Hall scored a basket? More undisciplined (there's that word again) play by the Pirates.
9. Can't catch a break
When it goes bad nothing seems to go your way. Harris, having a difficult season even though he's now 2 points shy of 1000 for his career, missed only one shot last night. And of course it was from the arc as his jumper was three quarters of the way down before it spun out.
10. Play smarter
Samuel, who has to be on the court continues to be in foul trouble seemingly in every recent game. He picks up fouls in bunches and that is on him, not the zebras. He has to keep his focus and stop with the silly fouls.
11. 40 minutes
That's how long you have to play and when you don't a nail biter becomes a blowout in the last 4 minutes of the game.
12. Jay Wright 2.0
McDermott is in the ears of the refs more than with his players during the game. He never stops complaining, even on obvious calls that go against him and that is why he gets so many 50/50 whistles. Maybe even the 40/60 ones. The Big East now has a new commissioner.
13. Late arriving
10 minutes before the game I looked around the sparsely attended arena and thought to myself this is pitiful. But by the opening tip the crowd filled in and was raucous until the Pirates caved in the last 4 minutes.
14. All the Pirates that played well
Dawes. And to a lesser degree Jackson. That's it.
15. Hurting
The Pirates look like a MASH unit. Yetna, out for the year. Richmond. various injuries, with the ankle being the worst, Davis, out with a grade 3 ankle sprain, Harris, shoulder issues and Ndefo, bad left wrist which he was flexing most all game long.
Call Davis a game time decision this weekend at Nova.
16. My good friend Seton75....
paid a visit at halftime where he told me that was a very entertaining first half. Of course he was right, but I also said that we cannot win a game like this against Creighton and unfortunately for once I was correct. We do not have the offensive talent to beat a high quality team over a span of 40 minutes playing like we were playing in the first stanza.
17. Stay with your man
Again chalk it up to undisciplined play. Help D is the root of a good defense. But against certain teams you have to sacrifice 2 point opportunities to ensure you don't give up easy 3's. All game long the Pirates left open shooters on the perimeter and that led to 36 points on just 20 shots.
18. Bad news and good news
Spoke to Matt Loughlin after the game. The bad news is he had a podcast set up with Jared Rhoden but it was canceled at the last minute. The good news? It was canceled because 1/2 hour before it was scheduled Rhoden was called up to the Detroit Pistons.
19. Shout out
Flagman Joe is getting better each game. Just a sophomore he has two more years to improve on his skill set.
20. Dwindling opportunities
Up 6 and playing well you can't lose on your home court by 13 points, which BTW was the Blue Jays biggest lead. Samuel and Dawes were very upbeat in the post game, but is that false bravado or the ignorance of youth? Clearly Holloway did not feel as his players did noting the disappointment he expressed.
BONUS
21. Saying it without saying it
Neither Holloway, Dawes or Samuel outright complained about the whistles in the post game, with Holloway even saying they did a good job. But you didn't have to be a mind reader to know they were not happy with the zebras as they all brought up the subject unsolicited.
