Southern Illinois 74, Creighton 67
Broken record, huh.
I rarely experience writer’s block, partly because I can't stop talking (which includes chatting to myself in the ol' noggin) and partly because I’m a pretty positive person by nature.
Plus, I’ve always made it a point – per my father’s advice – to keep these rants and raves as good-natured and encouraging as possible. That puts me at a slight disadvantage in the current media climate, where negativity and mudslinging seems to be more impressive to readers than thorough facts and analysis. No one around these parts is trying to be Edward R. Murrow – just trying to share some thoughts about Bluejay basketball.
That being said … COME ON!!! Can’t we beat these guys just ONCE!!!
One of the highlights of my senior year was 80-56, a score that will live in modern Creighton history as one of Dana Altman’s best coaching jobs. On March 10, 2003, Larry House, Brody Deren, Michael Lindeman, and a guy named Kyle Korver pasted Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game.
Creighton and Southern split their regular season series that year, which marks the last time Altman or any of his Bluejays walked out of the Qwest Center Omaha or flew out of Carbondale with a victory. In fact, Creighton hasn’t beaten SIU in The Phone Booth, making the Salukis the only undefeated Valley school at the new digs.
I honestly thought Altman had an answer for SIU this time around, though. Things started rough for the Jays in this year’s earlier meeting between these two squads, but I was confident that the home crowd and a little more confidence amongst the Jays could stem the tide, and that the Jays would win a close one.
Well, it was close (again), but Southern asserted itself as a royal thorn in Altman’s side (again).
Add Injury to Insult
Freshman phenom point guard Josh Dotzler hurt his knee midway through the first half and will miss the Valentine’s night road tilt at Wichita State. Dane Watts also suffered an injury in the second half and did not return. Altman’s bunch has been snake-bit by injuries all year, but with the homestretch in sight he needs all of his guys healthy because, honestly, he just doesn’t have a lot of numbers to throw at the situation.
With as stingy as Southern’s defense is, Creighton could ill-afford to lose either Dotzler or Watts, let alone both of them, and a nip-and-tuck contest quickly turned to the Salukis’ favor. The Jays certainly helped SIU out enough, though, with seemingly every Bluejay defensive stand giving way to a turnover and every solid 30-second stretch of defense negated by a basket with a waning shot clock.
And that is what made the game so sickening; the Jays played hard through the injuries, and they were close for 30 minutes, but they didn’t play smart and no one stepped up. Everyone was waiting for Anthony Tolliver to assert himself, but someone had to get him the ball and he had almost no touches in the second half. He finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, but 7 of those points came in the first half, and 7 of his points came at the free-throw line.
And so the game went; an arena full of fans waiting to explode, a team looking for some clutch shots to fall, and a 6-game losing streak against one team snapping an impressive 16-game Jays home winning streak.
Stay positive, stay positive, stay positive…
I rarely experience writer’s block, partly because I can't stop talking (which includes chatting to myself in the ol' noggin) and partly because I’m a pretty positive person by nature.
Plus, I’ve always made it a point – per my father’s advice – to keep these rants and raves as good-natured and encouraging as possible. That puts me at a slight disadvantage in the current media climate, where negativity and mudslinging seems to be more impressive to readers than thorough facts and analysis. No one around these parts is trying to be Edward R. Murrow – just trying to share some thoughts about Bluejay basketball.
That being said … COME ON!!! Can’t we beat these guys just ONCE!!!
One of the highlights of my senior year was 80-56, a score that will live in modern Creighton history as one of Dana Altman’s best coaching jobs. On March 10, 2003, Larry House, Brody Deren, Michael Lindeman, and a guy named Kyle Korver pasted Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game.
Creighton and Southern split their regular season series that year, which marks the last time Altman or any of his Bluejays walked out of the Qwest Center Omaha or flew out of Carbondale with a victory. In fact, Creighton hasn’t beaten SIU in The Phone Booth, making the Salukis the only undefeated Valley school at the new digs.
I honestly thought Altman had an answer for SIU this time around, though. Things started rough for the Jays in this year’s earlier meeting between these two squads, but I was confident that the home crowd and a little more confidence amongst the Jays could stem the tide, and that the Jays would win a close one.
Well, it was close (again), but Southern asserted itself as a royal thorn in Altman’s side (again).
Add Injury to Insult
Freshman phenom point guard Josh Dotzler hurt his knee midway through the first half and will miss the Valentine’s night road tilt at Wichita State. Dane Watts also suffered an injury in the second half and did not return. Altman’s bunch has been snake-bit by injuries all year, but with the homestretch in sight he needs all of his guys healthy because, honestly, he just doesn’t have a lot of numbers to throw at the situation.
With as stingy as Southern’s defense is, Creighton could ill-afford to lose either Dotzler or Watts, let alone both of them, and a nip-and-tuck contest quickly turned to the Salukis’ favor. The Jays certainly helped SIU out enough, though, with seemingly every Bluejay defensive stand giving way to a turnover and every solid 30-second stretch of defense negated by a basket with a waning shot clock.
And that is what made the game so sickening; the Jays played hard through the injuries, and they were close for 30 minutes, but they didn’t play smart and no one stepped up. Everyone was waiting for Anthony Tolliver to assert himself, but someone had to get him the ball and he had almost no touches in the second half. He finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, but 7 of those points came in the first half, and 7 of his points came at the free-throw line.
And so the game went; an arena full of fans waiting to explode, a team looking for some clutch shots to fall, and a 6-game losing streak against one team snapping an impressive 16-game Jays home winning streak.
Stay positive, stay positive, stay positive…
posted by Creighton Otter at 9:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home