Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Creighton In Review
11/16/2017 10:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
They had just lost their first game of the season, and had surrendered 92 points in their defeat, and had been buffeted by 50 percent shooting on threes and battered by 48 points in the paint, and so it did not matter that they themselves had scored 88. They recognized the reality and were brutally honest in their assessment. "Just a disappointing defensive performance," the point Bryant McIntosh would say Wednesday night after the 'Cats fell to Creighton by four in the Gavitt Games.
"We knew— this is a game we talk about as a program game. It's an opportunity to show everybody what we're about. We actually did the opposite. We're a blue-collar, defense-first program. Tonight, it was great, we put up 88 points or whatever it was. But we also gave up 92. Just disappointing. We have to do a better job guarding our paint."
"We have to play better defense," echoed Vic Law from a chair away. "We gave up 92 points. I don't think you'll see a 92-88 game in the Big Ten all year. We've just got to start playing defense."
••••••••••
The Bluejays flew into Allstate 2-0, and averaging 100.5 points-per-game, and very clear about their intentions. "We," said their coach Greg McDermott, "want to run all the time."
"You don't see that style a lot," said Chris Collins, his 'Cat counterpart. "They're a hard team to prepare for. You can't simulate it (their style) as much. Their speed early, the way they pushed it, they had us on our heels."
"But it wasn't anything different from playing Indiana or Michigan State," said Law. "I don't think we did do the best job— most of their points were in transition or right at the basket. But it's nothing we hadn't seen before. We just need to do a better job keeping them out of the paint."
That is something the 'Cats clearly did not do, especially early, and here Creighton collected its first basket on a layup, its third on an eight-footer in the paint, its fourth on an alley-oop layup, its fifth on another baby jumper down low. That set the pattern for this Wednesday evening and slowly, inexorably, its lead grew, cresting finally at 15 at 5:12 of the first on yet one-more layup.
Here, his team down 44-29, Collins called a time, and out of it the 'Cats finally stiffened, got some stops and pulled themselves back to within eight at halftime. "The story of the game was really the first half, our inability to defend them," Collins would later say, looking back on these 20 minutes. "We had a number of breakdowns. We didn't communicate that well. They play at a really fast tempo. So when you're running back, if you're not talking, you can get cross-matched, you can get lost. That's what was happening. A lot of it was communication based. We weren't talking at a high level in transition, which led to a number of easy baskets. That's what they do great."
"Then," said Creighton's McDermott, "the second half, Coach Collins made the decision to really tap the brakes and slow it down, and we couldn't get out and run as much. Obviously that allowed them to get back in the game. But I kept telling the guys, 'Just stick to our plan. We'll get some opportunities to push. They'll be there.' Fortunately we made some big plays."
••••••••••
There would be no big plays from Scottie Lindsey this night. He was saddled with foul trouble and put in just 22 minutes and collected only 10 points. Nor would the 'Cats get assistance from their short bench. It scored a mere four points while Creighton's put up 33. That left the heavy lifting to Law and McIntosh, and both were incandescent while playing just ticks short of the full 40 minutes.
Law, his team's stopper, harassed Creighton's high-scoring Marcus Foster into 3-of-11 shooting while himself collecting a career-high 30 and grabbing five rebounds and going 11-of-19 (58.4 percent) from the field. McIntosh, in turn, scored 24 while shooting 55 percent and handing out nine assists while committing just one turnover. "They were terrific," Collins would say of them. "They made big shots. They made big plays. They weren't running from the game. That's what you expect."
"They're a hard team to guard. You have to pick your poison," said McDermott. "It's hard to cover everybody. We have good defenders. We don't have three elite defenders. He (Law) caught us standing a few times and came off screens and got rolling. Then give him credit. He hit some really challenged three-point shots and kept them in the game."
Law did that early in the second half, dropping a three from the left side at 18:32 and then driving the baseline for a layup at 17:35. Now, on a four-point play, he gave the 'Cats their first lead since the game was just over three minutes old, and finally he hit one more three to score his 12th point in just over two minutes to put it up two at 16:27.
Now this one was an express rushing down the tracks, Creighton regaining the lead at 14:25 and never again relinquishing it, the 'Cats holding on and pushing back and trailing by only two at 4:33 after a baby hook by Law. Then he dropped to once again defend Bluejay star Foster, who after 35 minutes had just one field goal on nine shots (11.1 percent) after entering this game averaging 23 and shooting 77.3.
That is a measure of the fine work Law had done on him, but now, with his Bluejays under siege, Foster went up from in front of his team's bench and buried a three at 4:21 to push its lead back to five. The 'Cats, on their next possession, got one-of-two free throws from center Barrett Benson, but here came Foster again, dropping his second-and-last three of the night while shooting toward the 'Cat student section and then shushing it with an index finger to his lips. "When they crept back in, his two three pointers were back breakers," McDermott would say.
"Just trying to do my job, which is stopping the other team's best player," Law would says of his night's work on Foster. "Did a good job for the most part. It's just that those last two that he made killed us. . . . As a defensive player, which I consider myself, I need to do a better job."
"And I'd add as a competitor too. Not just as a defensive player, but as a competitor," said McIntosh. "The object of the game is to score more than the other team, and if you don't stop the other team, it's going to be difficult to win."
••••••••••
That second Foster three, at 3:45, pushed the Bluejays' lead to seven, and now the 'Cats would never again really threaten. They would close to two on a three by Gavin Skelly at 17.7, but here Creighton hit a pair at 15.4 and then it was over with the 'Cats not getting another good look. "I know for me it's mad. Upset. Frustrated," Bryant McIntosh would soon say when asked the mood in his team's locker room.
"My JV coach, he always told us the definition of insanity is to continually do something and expect a different result. I felt like that's been our case the last three games. We've had trouble switching guard-to-guard. Our communication's been lacking. We keep talking about it, but we keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Tonight it got us beat. Our defense wasn't good enough. I hope it's eye-opening for our guys and that we learn from it."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
They had just lost their first game of the season, and had surrendered 92 points in their defeat, and had been buffeted by 50 percent shooting on threes and battered by 48 points in the paint, and so it did not matter that they themselves had scored 88. They recognized the reality and were brutally honest in their assessment. "Just a disappointing defensive performance," the point Bryant McIntosh would say Wednesday night after the 'Cats fell to Creighton by four in the Gavitt Games.
"We knew— this is a game we talk about as a program game. It's an opportunity to show everybody what we're about. We actually did the opposite. We're a blue-collar, defense-first program. Tonight, it was great, we put up 88 points or whatever it was. But we also gave up 92. Just disappointing. We have to do a better job guarding our paint."
"We have to play better defense," echoed Vic Law from a chair away. "We gave up 92 points. I don't think you'll see a 92-88 game in the Big Ten all year. We've just got to start playing defense."
••••••••••
The Bluejays flew into Allstate 2-0, and averaging 100.5 points-per-game, and very clear about their intentions. "We," said their coach Greg McDermott, "want to run all the time."
"You don't see that style a lot," said Chris Collins, his 'Cat counterpart. "They're a hard team to prepare for. You can't simulate it (their style) as much. Their speed early, the way they pushed it, they had us on our heels."
"But it wasn't anything different from playing Indiana or Michigan State," said Law. "I don't think we did do the best job— most of their points were in transition or right at the basket. But it's nothing we hadn't seen before. We just need to do a better job keeping them out of the paint."
That is something the 'Cats clearly did not do, especially early, and here Creighton collected its first basket on a layup, its third on an eight-footer in the paint, its fourth on an alley-oop layup, its fifth on another baby jumper down low. That set the pattern for this Wednesday evening and slowly, inexorably, its lead grew, cresting finally at 15 at 5:12 of the first on yet one-more layup.
Here, his team down 44-29, Collins called a time, and out of it the 'Cats finally stiffened, got some stops and pulled themselves back to within eight at halftime. "The story of the game was really the first half, our inability to defend them," Collins would later say, looking back on these 20 minutes. "We had a number of breakdowns. We didn't communicate that well. They play at a really fast tempo. So when you're running back, if you're not talking, you can get cross-matched, you can get lost. That's what was happening. A lot of it was communication based. We weren't talking at a high level in transition, which led to a number of easy baskets. That's what they do great."
"Then," said Creighton's McDermott, "the second half, Coach Collins made the decision to really tap the brakes and slow it down, and we couldn't get out and run as much. Obviously that allowed them to get back in the game. But I kept telling the guys, 'Just stick to our plan. We'll get some opportunities to push. They'll be there.' Fortunately we made some big plays."
••••••••••
There would be no big plays from Scottie Lindsey this night. He was saddled with foul trouble and put in just 22 minutes and collected only 10 points. Nor would the 'Cats get assistance from their short bench. It scored a mere four points while Creighton's put up 33. That left the heavy lifting to Law and McIntosh, and both were incandescent while playing just ticks short of the full 40 minutes.
Law, his team's stopper, harassed Creighton's high-scoring Marcus Foster into 3-of-11 shooting while himself collecting a career-high 30 and grabbing five rebounds and going 11-of-19 (58.4 percent) from the field. McIntosh, in turn, scored 24 while shooting 55 percent and handing out nine assists while committing just one turnover. "They were terrific," Collins would say of them. "They made big shots. They made big plays. They weren't running from the game. That's what you expect."
"They're a hard team to guard. You have to pick your poison," said McDermott. "It's hard to cover everybody. We have good defenders. We don't have three elite defenders. He (Law) caught us standing a few times and came off screens and got rolling. Then give him credit. He hit some really challenged three-point shots and kept them in the game."
Law did that early in the second half, dropping a three from the left side at 18:32 and then driving the baseline for a layup at 17:35. Now, on a four-point play, he gave the 'Cats their first lead since the game was just over three minutes old, and finally he hit one more three to score his 12th point in just over two minutes to put it up two at 16:27.
Now this one was an express rushing down the tracks, Creighton regaining the lead at 14:25 and never again relinquishing it, the 'Cats holding on and pushing back and trailing by only two at 4:33 after a baby hook by Law. Then he dropped to once again defend Bluejay star Foster, who after 35 minutes had just one field goal on nine shots (11.1 percent) after entering this game averaging 23 and shooting 77.3.
That is a measure of the fine work Law had done on him, but now, with his Bluejays under siege, Foster went up from in front of his team's bench and buried a three at 4:21 to push its lead back to five. The 'Cats, on their next possession, got one-of-two free throws from center Barrett Benson, but here came Foster again, dropping his second-and-last three of the night while shooting toward the 'Cat student section and then shushing it with an index finger to his lips. "When they crept back in, his two three pointers were back breakers," McDermott would say.
"Just trying to do my job, which is stopping the other team's best player," Law would says of his night's work on Foster. "Did a good job for the most part. It's just that those last two that he made killed us. . . . As a defensive player, which I consider myself, I need to do a better job."
"And I'd add as a competitor too. Not just as a defensive player, but as a competitor," said McIntosh. "The object of the game is to score more than the other team, and if you don't stop the other team, it's going to be difficult to win."
••••••••••
That second Foster three, at 3:45, pushed the Bluejays' lead to seven, and now the 'Cats would never again really threaten. They would close to two on a three by Gavin Skelly at 17.7, but here Creighton hit a pair at 15.4 and then it was over with the 'Cats not getting another good look. "I know for me it's mad. Upset. Frustrated," Bryant McIntosh would soon say when asked the mood in his team's locker room.
"My JV coach, he always told us the definition of insanity is to continually do something and expect a different result. I felt like that's been our case the last three games. We've had trouble switching guard-to-guard. Our communication's been lacking. We keep talking about it, but we keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Tonight it got us beat. Our defense wasn't good enough. I hope it's eye-opening for our guys and that we learn from it."
••••••
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