Arthur Kaluma

[section202jay]

I will always love Arthur Kaluma. He's the kind of player that Creighton typically doesn't have on their roster.

[AttyAlum]

Kaluma had 9 rebounds. We will definitely miss that.

Sometimes people focus too much on scoring. Art’s athleticism and physicality were an important part of our defensive strength the last two years. Plus, he could guard any position.

[vivid_dude]

Kaluma had 9 rebounds. We will definitely miss that.

Sometimes people focus too much on scoring. Art’s athleticism and physicality was an important part of our defensive strength the last two years. Plus, he could guard any position.

100% this.

Art's weaknesses and shortcomings were both real and well-defined. CU won't miss those. But the things he brought to the table in other areas (rebounding, physicality, defense, hustle, ball-handling from the four spot, etc.) - I don't see those collectively replicated by his replacements.

The hope is that it'll be a wash (or better), since Art's occasional vacuum-style, suck-the-life-out-of-a-possession offense will also be in Manhattan. I also wonder if having two less ball-dominant guys (R2/Art) in CU's offense might be an overall blessing. More movement. More passes. More fluidity. I could see that happening.

I think there's as much of a chance that 2023/2024 ends with "Holy shit, I never dreamed we would miss Kaluma that much" as there is "Art leaving was necessary for Creighton to take the next step." More likely, it'll be a mixed bag. Will be fun to watch how all the new pieces fit together.

[#RollJays]

We will miss Kaluma when the other team has a 3/4 blow by Miller and get to the rim. See Miller guarding Whitmore at Nova last year. We will miss the 6-8 rebounds per game.

We won't miss the 1/11 shooting with 4 turnovers. We won't miss the other team being able to leave him open on the perimeter.

[Chicagojayfan]

Kaluma had 9 rebounds. We will definitely miss that.

Sometimes people focus too much on scoring. Art’s athleticism and physicality was an important part of our defensive strength the last two years. Plus, he could guard any position.

100% this.

Art's weaknesses and shortcomings were both real and well-defined. CU won't miss those. But the things he brought to the table in other areas (rebounding, physicality, defense, hustle, ball-handling from the four spot, etc.) - I don't see those collectively replicated by his replacements.

The hope is that it'll be a wash (or better), since Art's occasional vacuum-style, suck-the-life-out-of-a-possession offense will also be in Manhattan. I also wonder if having two less ball-dominant guys (R2/Art) in CU's offense might be an overall blessing. More movement. More passes. More fluidity. I could see that happening.

I think there's as much of a chance that 2023/2024 ends with "Holy shit, I never dreamed we would miss Kaluma that much" as there is "Art leaving was necessary for Creighton to take the next step." More likely, it'll be a mixed bag. Will be fun to watch how all the new pieces fit together.

This is good analysis. I think in terms of defense Kaluma was good, but also a mixed bag. He's in between sizes for the 4, but had the wingspan and strength to guard the post. He did struggle sometimes out on the wing against 4's who played more like a 3 than a 4 offensively (a bit of a knock from some NBA scouting reports), and sometimes could be bullied inside by the bigger guys as sometimes wingspan only makes up for so much when it comes up against sheer size advantages, but he was a versatile defender (a bit part of why the NBA still likes his potential)

I think we have the right parts to make up for a lot of that, but it will be a challenge for Mac to find the right rotation and to have the right guy on the floor defensively without messing up the offensive flow as well. Traudt is a guy who can play the post even against the bigger guys, but who will struggle a lot on the wing (like trying to chase an OG playing forward for Wayne State!), Miller is athletic and should be better at playing the wing, but he needs to show us he's advanced beyond last year, although I think he made progress last year during the season

And even though Green is hurt, I have to think he can have a defensive role this year - even last year there were games when we could have used another versatile forward to play D and hustle

I'm looking forward to seeing how Traudt and Miller play tonight as we should be facing more traditional sized forwards, unlike what we saw versus Wayne State

[vivid_dude]

And even though Green is hurt, I have to think he can have a defensive role this year - even last year there were games when we could have used another versatile forward to play D and hustle

While it's great to have a shooting threat at every position, which we theoretically have with Ash/Trey/Baylor/Traudt or Miller/Kalk - it's not 100% necessary. That's where my Jasen Green intrigue sparks up. Can he take on those roles that Art had - that I don't think Traudt and Miller do (although I'd love to be wrong about that)? And it's not like Jasen would be a slouch on offense, but what do we want out of that frontcourt position next to our core four guys?

I don't watch practice. I don't know offseason player development. I trust the coaches. This is all hypothetical. But on paper, somebody with the perceived skillset of Jasen Green could be a better glue fit with the starting five. Run Traudt/Miller with the second unit, more as the bucket-getters we need while starters get a breather. I'm not advocating for it, as much as theorizing on whether it could work. The coaches will do what's best.

All fun to discuss. And now, to put aside because it begins tonight. I don't recall being this excited about a season ever. It's not quite as invigorating as Britt Prince going to my Huskers, but close!

[Outlaw_Wales]

Kaluma had 9 rebounds. We will definitely miss that.

Sometimes people focus too much on scoring. Art’s athleticism and physicality were an important part of our defensive strength the last two years. Plus, he could guard any position.

I am really curious to see how Mac plans to defend some of those guys like Hopkins. We don't have anybody who can just matchup one on one with a guy like that.

As far as rebounding goes, though, I think this year's team as a whole is showing some really big strides in rebounding and everyone is going to the boards pretty hard. We might not miss that as much.

Think Miller and Traudt can end up being a net plus offensively.

So -- does that net plus offensively outweigh the likely net negative defensively? I think it probably does because not everyone has a Bryce Hopkins kind of guy to have to guard.

[JayPak]

I am also optimistic about rebounding.

[YankeesJunkie]

Kaluma had 9 rebounds. We will definitely miss that.

Sometimes people focus too much on scoring. Art’s athleticism and physicality were an important part of our defensive strength the last two years. Plus, he could guard any position.

I am really curious to see how Mac plans to defend some of those guys like Hopkins. We don't have anybody who can just matchup one on one with a guy like that.

As far as rebounding goes, though, I think this year's team as a whole is showing some really big strides in rebounding and everyone is going to the boards pretty hard. We might not miss that as much.
Think Miller and Traudt can end up being a net plus offensively.

So -- does that net plus offensively outweigh the likely net negative defensively? I think it probably does because not everyone has a
Bryce Hopkins kind of guy to have to guard.

After the first couple of games, I will take the net offense gain especially if Trey and Baylor are going to take some of those possession as they are much more efficient and effective offensively than Art the majority of the time.

[go_jays]

Don't mean to bag on Art... I wish him nothing but the best. But there were times (many, actually) that he was not mentally sound.

I think someone posted that they nicknamed him "ball-stop". And that's exactly what happened. I call them "black holes". The ball goes into them but never comes out. And it slowed the pace down considerably... and we play with a Pace and Space philosophy. Ball movement and positioning are critical... especially ball movement. He could completely destroy rhythm in our offense because of that.

On defense, he may have had the physical attributes, but again, mentally he would sometimes "check out". Don't know if it was lack of confidence or something more inherent. But it was problematical for the team.