Season Preview -- Nate Funk
Well, this is a couple months overdue, isn’t it? I almost left this blog behind, actually, because I didn’t really know how to sum up the two weeks of excitement last year’s Bluejays gave Creighton fans last March. Actually, it took some help from the local television home of the Jays (KM3) and Creighton’s best player (Nate Funk) to point me in the right direction.
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Flashback: March 2005
Only a few seconds, a few plays, can define a moment as elation and despair.
Take for example the hard-fought, back-and-forth Missouri Valley Conference championship game, when Creighton defeated Southwest Missouri State with a late barrage of three-point field goals and great defensive stands. Both teams played the first 30-plus minutes of the game fairly evenly, with neither the Jays nor the Bears able to distance themselves too far beyond their opponent. Hustle plays and defensive stops made all the difference, and the Jays capped another stellar St. Louis run to the MVC crown – and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Flashback: St. Patrick’s Day, 2005
This is where despair rears its ugly head. Creighton and West Virginia spent the first 38 minutes of their first-round NCAA tournament game going punch-for-punch with one another, with neither team backing down. With a tied game and less than one minute on the clock, Creighton had its trip to the second round in its own hands. But it was the hand of Mountaineer Tyrone Sally that blocked Nate Funk’s three-point shot, which started an unbelievable sequence that Jays fans will never forget – Sally streaked down the middle of the court, teammate Mike Gansey fed him the ball, and Sally dunked it for a two-point lead with 2.4 seconds to play. Funk’s final shot attempt fell short, and Creighton dropped a heartbreaker to WVU.
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I guess I didn’t remember how much that final game hurt, until I watched KM3’s 2005-2006 Creighton Basketball season preview last weekend. A dejected Funk walks through the line of West Virginia players, showing sportsmanship with his handshakes but a look of disgust and amazement on his face. Creighton’s strongest player, the team’s go-to-guy, had his game-winning shot blocked, and no one in Jays Country knew how to react. Imagine what Funk felt.
As a Jays fan, you just knew that shot was going to fall, didn’t you? I mean, this kid absolutely carried the Jays from mediocrity in the Valley halfway through the conference slate to a MVC championship, almost single-handedly beating Wichita State and Northern Iowa twice each for victories. That shot had to fall, but Sally and the rest of the Mountaineers (who would defeat Wake Forest in the second round and make it all the way to the Elite Eight) wouldn’t let it happen.
This brings us to present day, just before Creighton’s exhibition season is set to tip off. Funk is back for his senior season, and he joins eight of his teammates last season as they return to win a regular season conference title and an Arch Madness crown, with a vision of success in late March dancing in their heads.
It would be an understatement to say Jays fans have been buzzing about the upcoming season, and the bulk of the excitement stems from the return of Funk, a deadly scoring threat who has increased his physical strength and mental toughness each of the last three off-seasons.
Funk finished as runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year competition last season, and this year a mere few points separate him and POY-favorite Ben Jacobsen of Northern Iowa for preseason honors. The 6’3”, 205-lbs. senior from Sioux City, Iowa, is poised to build on his junior campaign, when he led the Jays in scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (5.1 rebounds per game). Not only could Creighton head coach Dana Altman count on Funk for scoring, but he morphed into a difference-maker in big games, a description last held by Bluejay Kyle Korver. Funk’s epic effort at Wichita State paved the way for a late-season run by the Jays, and Funk’s determination rubbed off on his teammates. Creighton got stronger as the season finished, and Funk spent the last six months conditioning himself physically to help this year’s Jays squad continue where it left off in Cleveland last March.
Expect Creighton’s opponents to game plan around stopping Funk, trying to limit his open looks at the basket and force him to make tough plays in traffic. However, as one of the best free throw shooters in CU history, Funk can not only finish amongst bodies in the lane, but he can turn in seemingly-automatic three-point-plays. Long story short, there are not many ways to consistently shut Funk down, as any coach in the Valley can attest to.
There are people that think they are leaders because they talk loud and often and there are people who are leaders by example; people that work hard and exemplify selflessness and the utmost commitment to doing whatever it will take to succeed. Funk has shown the propensity during the last three seasons to lead by example, and a successful 2005-2006 season rests on Funk’s ability to erase the bad taste in his mouth from the end of last year and lead this team to the next level in college basketball.
You just know he’s going to do it, don’t you?
--------------------
Flashback: March 2005
Only a few seconds, a few plays, can define a moment as elation and despair.
Take for example the hard-fought, back-and-forth Missouri Valley Conference championship game, when Creighton defeated Southwest Missouri State with a late barrage of three-point field goals and great defensive stands. Both teams played the first 30-plus minutes of the game fairly evenly, with neither the Jays nor the Bears able to distance themselves too far beyond their opponent. Hustle plays and defensive stops made all the difference, and the Jays capped another stellar St. Louis run to the MVC crown – and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Flashback: St. Patrick’s Day, 2005
This is where despair rears its ugly head. Creighton and West Virginia spent the first 38 minutes of their first-round NCAA tournament game going punch-for-punch with one another, with neither team backing down. With a tied game and less than one minute on the clock, Creighton had its trip to the second round in its own hands. But it was the hand of Mountaineer Tyrone Sally that blocked Nate Funk’s three-point shot, which started an unbelievable sequence that Jays fans will never forget – Sally streaked down the middle of the court, teammate Mike Gansey fed him the ball, and Sally dunked it for a two-point lead with 2.4 seconds to play. Funk’s final shot attempt fell short, and Creighton dropped a heartbreaker to WVU.
--------------------
I guess I didn’t remember how much that final game hurt, until I watched KM3’s 2005-2006 Creighton Basketball season preview last weekend. A dejected Funk walks through the line of West Virginia players, showing sportsmanship with his handshakes but a look of disgust and amazement on his face. Creighton’s strongest player, the team’s go-to-guy, had his game-winning shot blocked, and no one in Jays Country knew how to react. Imagine what Funk felt.
As a Jays fan, you just knew that shot was going to fall, didn’t you? I mean, this kid absolutely carried the Jays from mediocrity in the Valley halfway through the conference slate to a MVC championship, almost single-handedly beating Wichita State and Northern Iowa twice each for victories. That shot had to fall, but Sally and the rest of the Mountaineers (who would defeat Wake Forest in the second round and make it all the way to the Elite Eight) wouldn’t let it happen.
This brings us to present day, just before Creighton’s exhibition season is set to tip off. Funk is back for his senior season, and he joins eight of his teammates last season as they return to win a regular season conference title and an Arch Madness crown, with a vision of success in late March dancing in their heads.
It would be an understatement to say Jays fans have been buzzing about the upcoming season, and the bulk of the excitement stems from the return of Funk, a deadly scoring threat who has increased his physical strength and mental toughness each of the last three off-seasons.
Funk finished as runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year competition last season, and this year a mere few points separate him and POY-favorite Ben Jacobsen of Northern Iowa for preseason honors. The 6’3”, 205-lbs. senior from Sioux City, Iowa, is poised to build on his junior campaign, when he led the Jays in scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (5.1 rebounds per game). Not only could Creighton head coach Dana Altman count on Funk for scoring, but he morphed into a difference-maker in big games, a description last held by Bluejay Kyle Korver. Funk’s epic effort at Wichita State paved the way for a late-season run by the Jays, and Funk’s determination rubbed off on his teammates. Creighton got stronger as the season finished, and Funk spent the last six months conditioning himself physically to help this year’s Jays squad continue where it left off in Cleveland last March.
Expect Creighton’s opponents to game plan around stopping Funk, trying to limit his open looks at the basket and force him to make tough plays in traffic. However, as one of the best free throw shooters in CU history, Funk can not only finish amongst bodies in the lane, but he can turn in seemingly-automatic three-point-plays. Long story short, there are not many ways to consistently shut Funk down, as any coach in the Valley can attest to.
There are people that think they are leaders because they talk loud and often and there are people who are leaders by example; people that work hard and exemplify selflessness and the utmost commitment to doing whatever it will take to succeed. Funk has shown the propensity during the last three seasons to lead by example, and a successful 2005-2006 season rests on Funk’s ability to erase the bad taste in his mouth from the end of last year and lead this team to the next level in college basketball.
You just know he’s going to do it, don’t you?
posted by Creighton Otter at 4:33 PM
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