Drake 74, Creighton 62
Get Blue
Waking up Saturday I had a pretty good feeling about the day ahead. The early morning air was chilly, but with no wind and a sky full of sun there was an aura of a day much warmer and inviting than the weathermen had forecasted. I embraced the early afternoon tip-off at Qwest Center Omaha and decided to spend some quality time at Blue Line Coffee near the Q before the game. I spent a little time on the Internet with some perfectly roasted coffee beans while peering out at the continued development of the North Downtown area, engaging in some pregame writing and reading — getting blue in my own way.
This was in stark contrast to the thousands of Creighton alumni who made their way to the school’s Get Blue event previous to taking their seats in The Phone Booth. The celebration was supposed to continue inside the Q against the Drake Bulldogs, but 17,000-plus Jays fans “got blue” in a different way following another second-half collapse by this season’s squad.
Potential means nothing if it is not realized. And regardless of how many sick crossover dribbles Cavel Witter drops, high flying dunk attempts P’Allen Stinnett sticks, or improbable baseline jump shots Booker Woodfox hits, to be 5-4 in MVC play through the first half of the season means the only potential the Jays have shown consistently is the chance for some impressive and important streaks to come to a screeching halt.
After watching Drake almost double Creighton’s points in the paint (42-22) and outscore the Jays in second chance points (12-7) and fast break points (19-6), CU loyalists can’t be blamed for sporting slumped shoulders and negative thoughts while leaving the Q (some early, with more than 2 minutes left in the game). How is this team going to win 20 games this year (for the 11th consecutive season)?
What constitutes a better opportunity to start a win streak than playing a team at home that has been absolutely annihilated in their previous 2 games and comes into Omaha on a 3-game losing streak? UNI (0-1 against this season), Illinois State (0-1), Bradley (1-0), and Drake (0-1) have to be considered the four teams ahead of CU in the MVC race right now. We still have four games against these teams left on the schedule (with just 2 at home), as well as road trips to perennial problem spots in Springfield and Carbondale. How is this team going to win 10 conference games this year (for the 13th consecutive season)?
If Northern Iowa wins today, it would essentially hold a 3.5 game lead over the Jays for the conference regular season title. Moreover, against the teams CU is either trailing or tied with in the conference standings as of Sunday morning, they own a win against only Bradley. Barring a miraculous late season push by a Bluejays team that has not shown the ability to put together solid back-to-back ballgames since the first two MVC games (way back in 2008), plus a total meltdown by UNI or even Illinois State, CU looks to be no better than third in the standings by even the most radical of forecasts. How is this team going to participate in any meaningful postseason tournament this year (for the 12th consecutive year)?
That’s perhaps the most perplexing for me and the rest of my college buddies who support this program. I’ve documented my 20-plus years of Bluejay fandom on this site often, but it was during my adulthood when things gelled for Altman and the Jays. Since DA won his first MVC tournament title in 1999, CU hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
The goal of the program should be winning championships. We have won one outright conference regular season title in Altman’s 15 years (2000-2001), and we tied for one (2001-2002). We received an at-large birth in 2001 after losing to Indiana State in the Arch Madness semifinals. Other than that season, the Jays have had to rely solely on winning 3 games in 3 days in St. Louis. And while that might be a blast for me and the thousands of other CU fans who make the trek to the Lou each year, it represents somewhat of a Hail Mary situation for a program that should seem to be past that at this point.
With half of the conference season under the bridge, and two-thirds of the regular season schedule behind them, weeks of wishing for better rebounding and more consistent effort have materialized into a waste. I don’t know much about basketball, but it seems as though the coaching staff would be inclined to make some more drastic changes during the next month to prepare the team for what will need to be another dynamic run through Arch Madness toward a tournament title.
Going into yesterday, Altman’s team faced a minimal margin for error. Now they face a month’s worth of preparation for the single event in St. Louis that can give Booker Woodfox the trip to the NCAA Tournament he no doubt wanted when he signed with CU.
It is enough to make a Jays fan blue.
Waking up Saturday I had a pretty good feeling about the day ahead. The early morning air was chilly, but with no wind and a sky full of sun there was an aura of a day much warmer and inviting than the weathermen had forecasted. I embraced the early afternoon tip-off at Qwest Center Omaha and decided to spend some quality time at Blue Line Coffee near the Q before the game. I spent a little time on the Internet with some perfectly roasted coffee beans while peering out at the continued development of the North Downtown area, engaging in some pregame writing and reading — getting blue in my own way.
This was in stark contrast to the thousands of Creighton alumni who made their way to the school’s Get Blue event previous to taking their seats in The Phone Booth. The celebration was supposed to continue inside the Q against the Drake Bulldogs, but 17,000-plus Jays fans “got blue” in a different way following another second-half collapse by this season’s squad.
Potential means nothing if it is not realized. And regardless of how many sick crossover dribbles Cavel Witter drops, high flying dunk attempts P’Allen Stinnett sticks, or improbable baseline jump shots Booker Woodfox hits, to be 5-4 in MVC play through the first half of the season means the only potential the Jays have shown consistently is the chance for some impressive and important streaks to come to a screeching halt.
After watching Drake almost double Creighton’s points in the paint (42-22) and outscore the Jays in second chance points (12-7) and fast break points (19-6), CU loyalists can’t be blamed for sporting slumped shoulders and negative thoughts while leaving the Q (some early, with more than 2 minutes left in the game). How is this team going to win 20 games this year (for the 11th consecutive season)?
What constitutes a better opportunity to start a win streak than playing a team at home that has been absolutely annihilated in their previous 2 games and comes into Omaha on a 3-game losing streak? UNI (0-1 against this season), Illinois State (0-1), Bradley (1-0), and Drake (0-1) have to be considered the four teams ahead of CU in the MVC race right now. We still have four games against these teams left on the schedule (with just 2 at home), as well as road trips to perennial problem spots in Springfield and Carbondale. How is this team going to win 10 conference games this year (for the 13th consecutive season)?
If Northern Iowa wins today, it would essentially hold a 3.5 game lead over the Jays for the conference regular season title. Moreover, against the teams CU is either trailing or tied with in the conference standings as of Sunday morning, they own a win against only Bradley. Barring a miraculous late season push by a Bluejays team that has not shown the ability to put together solid back-to-back ballgames since the first two MVC games (way back in 2008), plus a total meltdown by UNI or even Illinois State, CU looks to be no better than third in the standings by even the most radical of forecasts. How is this team going to participate in any meaningful postseason tournament this year (for the 12th consecutive year)?
That’s perhaps the most perplexing for me and the rest of my college buddies who support this program. I’ve documented my 20-plus years of Bluejay fandom on this site often, but it was during my adulthood when things gelled for Altman and the Jays. Since DA won his first MVC tournament title in 1999, CU hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
The goal of the program should be winning championships. We have won one outright conference regular season title in Altman’s 15 years (2000-2001), and we tied for one (2001-2002). We received an at-large birth in 2001 after losing to Indiana State in the Arch Madness semifinals. Other than that season, the Jays have had to rely solely on winning 3 games in 3 days in St. Louis. And while that might be a blast for me and the thousands of other CU fans who make the trek to the Lou each year, it represents somewhat of a Hail Mary situation for a program that should seem to be past that at this point.
With half of the conference season under the bridge, and two-thirds of the regular season schedule behind them, weeks of wishing for better rebounding and more consistent effort have materialized into a waste. I don’t know much about basketball, but it seems as though the coaching staff would be inclined to make some more drastic changes during the next month to prepare the team for what will need to be another dynamic run through Arch Madness toward a tournament title.
Going into yesterday, Altman’s team faced a minimal margin for error. Now they face a month’s worth of preparation for the single event in St. Louis that can give Booker Woodfox the trip to the NCAA Tournament he no doubt wanted when he signed with CU.
It is enough to make a Jays fan blue.
posted by Creighton Otter at 12:35 PM
2 Comments:
nice write up otter man, you are my source for all things jays b-ball and i think you captured the frustration and head scratching trying to follow this years jays following this game, ugh . . . .
anyway keep up the good work
-JMRJ
Nice write-ups over at RTC.
I have a feeling OK. will go all the way.
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