Illinois State 53, Creighton 50; Bradley 86, Creighton 69
What a way to ring in the New Year, huh?
There is no such thing as a good loss. It is sports hyperbole for a player or coach to say something like, “Maybe we needed this loss; we can learn a lot from it.”
But for the Jays to lose two games in three days on the road the way they did – an underwhelming effort at Illinois State, capped off by a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer giving the Redbirds the win, and a poor shooting night against a bigger, stronger Bradley team (who shot lights-out from the perimeter) that feasted on Creighton’s soft turnovers and meek penetration play – hurts. There’s no other way to put it.
The weekend marked Nate Funk’s comeback, but his return was brief – he’ll miss the rest of this season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
So now the Jays are back to where they were three weeks ago, at home, off two road losses, looking to recapture defensive effort and offensive execution that they were with out at DePaul, Chattanooga, Illinois State, and Bradley.
The difference between the middle of December and now is, of course, that Missouri Valley Conference play has started. That means physical, hard-fought games not once a week, but once every couple of days. Jays fans thought Nebraska would pose one of Creighton’s biggest tests this season, but in hindsight (a 70-44 win and underwhelming play by the Huskers before and after last month’s game at the Qwest Center) that isn’t true.
The Jays must execute more consistently or other teams in the Valley will, plain and simple. The best six teams in the Valley resemble Xavier more than any of Creighton’s other non-conference opponents, which is a scary thought for Jays fans. It took every ounce of effort to post a victory over the Musketeers a couple of weeks ago, and Dana Altman will need that same level of exertion and passion from his guys night in and night out just to secure a top-5 finish in the Valley regular season schedule.
Is that possible? Some say no because Funk is done for the year. Take a deep breath. It is early. Give them time. If you exclude the 2003-2004 team, almost all of Altman’s squads have progressed as the season wore on, with teams hitting their strides in late February and (as the banners at the Savvis Center show) early March. With Jimmy Motz, Pierce Hibma, and Funk all missing significant time in the last month, the young/new Jays have seen increased playing time.
This scenario might cause some fatigue as the season progresses, because of the lack of warm bodies able to compete for Altman on a game-by-game basis, but the young Jays will gain experience and confidence – two traits that translate into Ws later in the year.
One thing is for certain, though: Creighton, like all of the other Valley schools, will need to protect the home court. Road victories will be at a premium this year, and Creighton’s next four home conference games offer winnable situations – two “revenge” games against Illinois State (tonight) and Bradley (Jan. 18), and games against good (but not great) teams Drake (Sunday) and Evansville (Jan. 22).
There are not many breaks for Creighton (or any other Valley school, for that matter) when looking at the schedule, which speaks volumes about the talent and execution levels in the conference this year. This bevy of good basketball also equates to two months of punishing three-games-in-seven-days swings, and I highly doubt that we’ll see a team win the regular season with a 16-2 or 15-3 conference record like the last couple of seasons.
So while the New Year started poorly for the Jays, there is plenty of season left, and it is chalked full of opportunities to play well at home, steal some games on the road, and develop in all phases of the game as a basketball team. This team is bigger than one player, and hopefully the Jays resolve to prove that in 2006, like they’ve done in 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, and 1999.
There is no such thing as a good loss. It is sports hyperbole for a player or coach to say something like, “Maybe we needed this loss; we can learn a lot from it.”
But for the Jays to lose two games in three days on the road the way they did – an underwhelming effort at Illinois State, capped off by a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer giving the Redbirds the win, and a poor shooting night against a bigger, stronger Bradley team (who shot lights-out from the perimeter) that feasted on Creighton’s soft turnovers and meek penetration play – hurts. There’s no other way to put it.
The weekend marked Nate Funk’s comeback, but his return was brief – he’ll miss the rest of this season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
So now the Jays are back to where they were three weeks ago, at home, off two road losses, looking to recapture defensive effort and offensive execution that they were with out at DePaul, Chattanooga, Illinois State, and Bradley.
The difference between the middle of December and now is, of course, that Missouri Valley Conference play has started. That means physical, hard-fought games not once a week, but once every couple of days. Jays fans thought Nebraska would pose one of Creighton’s biggest tests this season, but in hindsight (a 70-44 win and underwhelming play by the Huskers before and after last month’s game at the Qwest Center) that isn’t true.
The Jays must execute more consistently or other teams in the Valley will, plain and simple. The best six teams in the Valley resemble Xavier more than any of Creighton’s other non-conference opponents, which is a scary thought for Jays fans. It took every ounce of effort to post a victory over the Musketeers a couple of weeks ago, and Dana Altman will need that same level of exertion and passion from his guys night in and night out just to secure a top-5 finish in the Valley regular season schedule.
Is that possible? Some say no because Funk is done for the year. Take a deep breath. It is early. Give them time. If you exclude the 2003-2004 team, almost all of Altman’s squads have progressed as the season wore on, with teams hitting their strides in late February and (as the banners at the Savvis Center show) early March. With Jimmy Motz, Pierce Hibma, and Funk all missing significant time in the last month, the young/new Jays have seen increased playing time.
This scenario might cause some fatigue as the season progresses, because of the lack of warm bodies able to compete for Altman on a game-by-game basis, but the young Jays will gain experience and confidence – two traits that translate into Ws later in the year.
One thing is for certain, though: Creighton, like all of the other Valley schools, will need to protect the home court. Road victories will be at a premium this year, and Creighton’s next four home conference games offer winnable situations – two “revenge” games against Illinois State (tonight) and Bradley (Jan. 18), and games against good (but not great) teams Drake (Sunday) and Evansville (Jan. 22).
There are not many breaks for Creighton (or any other Valley school, for that matter) when looking at the schedule, which speaks volumes about the talent and execution levels in the conference this year. This bevy of good basketball also equates to two months of punishing three-games-in-seven-days swings, and I highly doubt that we’ll see a team win the regular season with a 16-2 or 15-3 conference record like the last couple of seasons.
So while the New Year started poorly for the Jays, there is plenty of season left, and it is chalked full of opportunities to play well at home, steal some games on the road, and develop in all phases of the game as a basketball team. This team is bigger than one player, and hopefully the Jays resolve to prove that in 2006, like they’ve done in 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, and 1999.
posted by Creighton Otter at 10:54 AM
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