Texas Southern Game Thread

[vivid_dude]

Put me in the camp of those who disagree with the "relying on threes" narrative. As Coach Mac said in Jacob's write-up, almost all of them were good looks. Ashworth, Trey, Isaac, Mason, Francisco (that's still fun to say!), and Baylor should never turn down an open shot from beyond the arc, which is what those shots overwhelmingly were. It would be unnatural and completely contrary to what our offensive system does for any of these six guys to pass up open looks.

Those six players took 39 of the 40 threes. Lawson took the other. His was not a particularly good look, if I remember correctly, but I forgive him and still want him shooting. If a big chunk of the attempts felt forced, that's a different story. They weren't. Enter the launch codes and fire away. I hope CU attempts 50 threes against Loyola if 50 of them are open looks!

Let me put it another way. Please read this next sentence out loud, no matter where you are, in Mr. T's voice. I pity the fool who gives Creighton 40 open threes and believes they will win.

[HoopsFan01]

Kalkbrenner has looked pretty mid, frankly, on both ends of the court for most of the season outside of a little stretch where he actually looks interested in each game.

Couldn't agree more. He has looked exactly as you described it, not interested in the game, for the majority of the games this year. Hopefully that changes soon!

[JacobPadilla]

Since I have time, rim numbers, per Synergy.

Trey: 11-17 on layups, 4-4 on dunks, 15-21 overall.
Kalk: 8-12 on layups, 7-7 on dunks, 15-19 overall.
King: 6-10 on layups, 3-4 on dunks, 9-14 overall.
Baylor: 7-8 on layups, 1-1 on dunks, 8-9 overall.
Bello: 4-4 on layups.
Isaac: 2-3 on layups.
Ashworth: 1-2 on layups.
Miller: N/A

Overall, Creighton is in the 96th percentile in layup efficiency and 78th percentile in dunk efficiency (c'mon, Fred).

For the 8-man rotation (excluding FTs):
- Layups + dunks: 54-72, 1.5 PPP on 18 possessions per game.
- 3s: 52-127, 1.23 PPP on 31.8 possessions per game.

Creighton is incredibly efficient at the rim, which is likely why teams are focused on taking that away first despite Creighton's 3-point shooting ability and reputation. Part of that efficiency is shot selection; Creighton is going to take an open 3 over forcing a contested shot at the rim most times.

Could they have tried to get something more inside the arc against an overmatched TSU team? Probably. But I think Mac was happy overall with the process and execution that led to the 3-point attempts based on the looks they were getting. I'm sure he'll find some possessions upon the rewatch that he'd consider "settling," but that's normal.

[vivid_dude]

Kalkbrenner has looked pretty mid, frankly, on both ends of the court for most of the season outside of a little stretch where he actually looks interested in each game.

Couldn't agree more. He has looked exactly as you described it, not interested in the game, for the majority of the games this year. Hopefully that changes soon!

Hmm...I'm going to come at you hard on this opinion, which you are certainly entitled to have. But...

We must be watching different games. Kalk is consistently beating the opposing team down the floor. If you record any Creighton games, go back and watch. Pay particular attention to what he does when the opposing team gets off a shot. He is a clinic on how to effectively box out. Those are energy/effort plays that don't always pay off with glory or a counting stat. Youth coaches should teach it to their players. Kalk clears the lane. While it's tough to quantify with precision, I'd guesstimate that at least 30% of Trey and Baylor rebounds were made uncontested because of Kalk doing the grunt work around them. In no world is that disinterest.

His block numbers are outpacing last year in fewer minutes. And if there was a "disruption" category, he'd be all-world. It's because he is a great help defender, knows his role, plays to his strengths and is always active.

When his teammates are thriving around him, he's as energetic of a supporter and hype guy as anyone. When Fred has been doing his thing, Kalk was the first one to greet him coming off the floor, emphatically. Again, not disinterest.

Much of the above is intangible, but certainly relevant to any criticism that he is disinterested. I don't see it at all. Even if you jump into the tangibles, he's shooting 71%. Averaging 2.3 blocks. 13 points on only 25 minutes per game, because the Jays have been blowing everyone out and Fred is playing so well. Despite playing 22% fewer minutes per game than last season, his counting stats are completely in line (or better) than last year, on a per minute basis. And this is with Trey taking a colossal leap and better overall support around him.

So, I respectfully disagree.

FTs could be better though. He'll fix that.

[JacobPadilla]

On Kalk, I think there have been a handful of plays where he's been pretty soft, failing to corral a rebound he got his hands on or putting up a weak shot around the basket. Those plays are probably sticking in people's minds.

But he just had a 16-10-4 game and is still shooting over 70% from the field. Not worried about him at all.

[vivid_dude]

On Kalk, I think there have been a handful of plays where he's been pretty soft, failing to corral a rebound he got his hands on or putting up a weak shot around the basket. Those plays are probably sticking in people's minds.

I agree with this. Kalk probably would too. But the criticism/observation above is a far cry from the way more insulting (and inaccurate, IMO) opinion of "Kalk is disinterested."

In fact, I'd argue the polar opposite. I'm impressed by this team's interest level, including and especially Kalk, in the first four games of the season where the average margin of victory was 30 points. Human nature favors disinterest in blowouts. Mac doesn't accept that, and I have not seen it much from our guys, including Kalk. Tape don't lie.

Anyways...I'm "interested" in seeing the Jays' schedule get tougher to establish a truer sense of this team's ceiling, which currently sits at the 1995-1996 Bulls.

[go_jays]

I think the only game that you could say was a true barometer on what the Jays can do and what they should be emphasizing on both sides of the ball is (duh) Iowa. And still, it's pretty early in the season to make too many assumptions.

The other 3 games should only be looked at from the standpoint of how well they are executing whatever it is they are doing. Point being... so what if Kalk isn't "The Kalk" we all know and want to see against FA&M, NDSU and Tex Southern. It's his performance against teams like Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama and the BE teams that matters. And you can say that about all of the players.

Anybody can look good against cones. It's how you look against real/high level competition.

The other thing to keep in mind is that they can only play with one ball at a time. And depending on the opponent's game plan, if they really want to go after 1 or 2 players and shut them down or attack them... they could do that. The bottom line is... are we winning games... and doing it within the system(s) that we will want to use against higher level competition down the road.

And, really, the only ones to know if that is happening or not is Mac and the coaching staff. Are THEY seeing the things THEY want to see, that will win us those games down the road.

[LJay]

Trey and Baylor look pretty damned good whether playing Hawkeyes or Rattlers.

[Chicagojayfan]

On Kalk, I think there have been a handful of plays where he's been pretty soft, failing to corral a rebound he got his hands on or putting up a weak shot around the basket. Those plays are probably sticking in people's minds.

But he just had a 16-10-4 game and is still shooting over 70% from the field. Not worried about him at all.

I remember people focusing on the balls he had stripped as a Freshman and Sophomore. I think in part because he wasn't as confident in the paint and hadn't built up his strength as much. But even back then, he was finishing at a really, really high rate in the paint (close 2% over the years for him - .763, .745, .770, .773) and even now he's finishing at a really high rate. His Total Shooting% is down slightly (he's missed FT's this year, but his other stats are right in line with his last year -
per 40:
pts 19.8 - 19.7 last year
rebounds - 8.2 versus 7.6
assists - 2.3 vs. 1.5
blocks - 3.5 vs. 2.6

I think sometimes with these lower level teams we expect a guy like Kalk to stomp on them, but it's hard because the opposing coaches get a turn in the game also, and they scheme to take out their biggest weaknesses which is usually inside. I mean, I'd challenge us to make 3's also rather than give up 77% inside to Kalk! Beyond that though, I think that can be tough for a guy like Kalk because the D's that get tossed at him have doubles and triples collapsing from different directions making it hard for him to get into a flow

I think he's primed to have a huge year, and we are so lucky to have a guy like him, and really a full roster of guys who are unselfish enough to share the ball in the right way and not worry too much about their counting stats

And, I'd add that Texas Southern is by no means a good team right now, but they'd played a couple of decent defensive games coming into the game against us, and we got open shots all night while scoring at a high rate overall

[go_jays]

Trey and Baylor look pretty damned good whether playing Hawkeyes or Rattlers.

No doubt about that.