The good feelings of Seton Hall’s once-in-a-generation win at Villanova dissipated quickly Wednesday night as Creighton took the Pirates’ defense back to school, with The Hall permitting a season-high point total in an 87-82 loss. So is this just a bump in the road to Albany, or something a bit more significant? Let's explore.....
Powell not solid at The Rock
Myles Powell’s home struggles continued unabated. His 3-for-16 shooting performance, including 1-for-11 from long distance, makes those numbers 30-for-96 overall (31.3 percent) and 8-for-51 (15.7 percent) from three-point range in Big East play at the Prudential Center. Those are unfathomable numbers for a player of Powell’s caliber.
His three-point shooting (now 31 percent for the season) has become so erratic that Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander was doing what once would’ve been considered unthinkable. He sometimes was playing off Powell, letting him have the very deep trey, but not crowding him for fear of the blow-by. Powell's frustration was apparent, as he several times took shots even after the whistle had blown. “He wants to be great,” teammate and close friend Quincy McKnight said. "It's tough on a shooter like him not seeing the ball go through the rim."
Is there a solution?
Is Powell pressing at home? It is possible. The love affair between Powell and the fans, especially the younger ones, is strong, and he wants to do well in front of them. It's not as if he hasn’t handled pressure during his illustrious college career, but perhaps this is different.
It might be too simplistic, but I think he needs to get a basket very early in the game. Maybe that will alleviate some of the pressure he could be feeling. The problem is that opponents are sitting on most of Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard’s bread-and-butter plays, including the curl off an inbounds pass. (It’s pretty much the same play Bobby Gonzalez used to run for Jeremy Hazell.) Creighton was well-schooled on it and smothered it coming out of a first-half stoppage, and the Pirates had to reset.
Gaffe-ney?
Even with Powell only scoring 12 points, The Hall could have won if Sandro Mamukelashvili had played more than 15 minutes. He scored 13 points in that limited time and clearly was a difficult matchup for Creighton’s preferred “5-out” lineup.
Enter lead official and veteran referee John Gaffney. Usually, I don’t mention the guys in the striped shirts in this space, and there were bad calls both ways Wednesday night, as there usually are. But Gaffney made three questionable calls involving Mamukelashvili. First, he whistled Mamu for some contact with Christian Bishop on the latter’s drive 1:25 into the game. Yeah, it looked like a foul, but the official five feet away let it go until Gaffney blew his whistle after the play had gone the other way. Right call, yeah, but a weird and very late overrule.
Gaffney also called Mamu for an and-one foul later in the first half against Marcus Zegarowski when the Creighton player clearly leaned in violently to initiate contact (three points that would be huge later) and fouled Mamukelashvili out on an illegal screen with 5:29 left. Was the last one a foul? By letter of the law, yeah. But you tell me how many refs don’t swallow their whistles there on a potential fifth foul with that much time left unless the contact leads to a bucket, which it did not.
Gaffney also yelled at a Seton Hall student for an innocuous jibe. Still, this also can be a teachable moment for Mamukelashvili. For whatever reason, Gaffney seemed to have him in his crosshairs. Hey, we all drive a little slower when there’s a police car behind us. Sometimes a player must realize a game is being called way too tight and adjust accordingly. Yes, it’s difficult, but it’s necessary. And most NCAA tournament games tend to be whistled tightly.
Scouting Providence
The Friars (13-12, 6-6 Big East) likely will be in desperation mode Saturday night after two consecutive losses, including an 80-69 defeat to depleted St. John’s on Wednesday. There is little that close friends Willard and Providence’s Ed Cooley don’t know about each other’s coaching styles, but perhaps The Hall can take advantage of the fact that rudderless Providence turned the ball over 23 times versus the Red Storm. UMass grad transfer point guard Luwane Pipkins (74 points, 49 assists) has been a bust. If the Hall can turn over the Friars, that could provide the kind of easy transition opportunities that Powell thrives on.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
Powell not solid at The Rock
Myles Powell’s home struggles continued unabated. His 3-for-16 shooting performance, including 1-for-11 from long distance, makes those numbers 30-for-96 overall (31.3 percent) and 8-for-51 (15.7 percent) from three-point range in Big East play at the Prudential Center. Those are unfathomable numbers for a player of Powell’s caliber.
His three-point shooting (now 31 percent for the season) has become so erratic that Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander was doing what once would’ve been considered unthinkable. He sometimes was playing off Powell, letting him have the very deep trey, but not crowding him for fear of the blow-by. Powell's frustration was apparent, as he several times took shots even after the whistle had blown. “He wants to be great,” teammate and close friend Quincy McKnight said. "It's tough on a shooter like him not seeing the ball go through the rim."
Is there a solution?
Is Powell pressing at home? It is possible. The love affair between Powell and the fans, especially the younger ones, is strong, and he wants to do well in front of them. It's not as if he hasn’t handled pressure during his illustrious college career, but perhaps this is different.
It might be too simplistic, but I think he needs to get a basket very early in the game. Maybe that will alleviate some of the pressure he could be feeling. The problem is that opponents are sitting on most of Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard’s bread-and-butter plays, including the curl off an inbounds pass. (It’s pretty much the same play Bobby Gonzalez used to run for Jeremy Hazell.) Creighton was well-schooled on it and smothered it coming out of a first-half stoppage, and the Pirates had to reset.
Gaffe-ney?
Even with Powell only scoring 12 points, The Hall could have won if Sandro Mamukelashvili had played more than 15 minutes. He scored 13 points in that limited time and clearly was a difficult matchup for Creighton’s preferred “5-out” lineup.
Enter lead official and veteran referee John Gaffney. Usually, I don’t mention the guys in the striped shirts in this space, and there were bad calls both ways Wednesday night, as there usually are. But Gaffney made three questionable calls involving Mamukelashvili. First, he whistled Mamu for some contact with Christian Bishop on the latter’s drive 1:25 into the game. Yeah, it looked like a foul, but the official five feet away let it go until Gaffney blew his whistle after the play had gone the other way. Right call, yeah, but a weird and very late overrule.
Gaffney also called Mamu for an and-one foul later in the first half against Marcus Zegarowski when the Creighton player clearly leaned in violently to initiate contact (three points that would be huge later) and fouled Mamukelashvili out on an illegal screen with 5:29 left. Was the last one a foul? By letter of the law, yeah. But you tell me how many refs don’t swallow their whistles there on a potential fifth foul with that much time left unless the contact leads to a bucket, which it did not.
Gaffney also yelled at a Seton Hall student for an innocuous jibe. Still, this also can be a teachable moment for Mamukelashvili. For whatever reason, Gaffney seemed to have him in his crosshairs. Hey, we all drive a little slower when there’s a police car behind us. Sometimes a player must realize a game is being called way too tight and adjust accordingly. Yes, it’s difficult, but it’s necessary. And most NCAA tournament games tend to be whistled tightly.
Scouting Providence
The Friars (13-12, 6-6 Big East) likely will be in desperation mode Saturday night after two consecutive losses, including an 80-69 defeat to depleted St. John’s on Wednesday. There is little that close friends Willard and Providence’s Ed Cooley don’t know about each other’s coaching styles, but perhaps The Hall can take advantage of the fact that rudderless Providence turned the ball over 23 times versus the Red Storm. UMass grad transfer point guard Luwane Pipkins (74 points, 49 assists) has been a bust. If the Hall can turn over the Friars, that could provide the kind of easy transition opportunities that Powell thrives on.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
