Valley Teams Start Action Tonight

[shaunguth]

The Valley kicks off the season 4-0.

Also, Bradley's non-conference opponents put up a best-possible 5-1 record tonight.

[LincolnJay]

I'm back after watching the whole second half. Stinnett is a pest and he's REALLY cocky. DePaul played TERRIBLE defense in the second half and let him walk to the basket or take wide open threes the entire second half. If he would have had Ruffin of Mullins guarding him, it would have been a completely different story.

I was simply not all that impressed with Creighton at all, other than that they have a great coach who settled his team down from making too many mistakes (which DePaul made tons).

I'm glad they could do something good for the Valley, but they should expect to beat an extremely inexperienced team at home. They've got a ton of work to do if they're going to be successful in the Valley.

More than anything else, DePaul gave this game away. I couldn't even keep track of how many easy layups they allowed on defense. Then the last 10 minutes of the game they went into rush mode and didn't even run an offense anymore (similar to something they've done against BU).

Creighton might be a middle of the pack Valley team, but I didn't see any evidence they'll be better than that, yet.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Good post.

[VromanFan]

And DePaul continues to get embarrassed by the MVC. It's like clockwork to see them get waxed by the MVC in openers. Am I the only one that finds this hilarious?

Hey I'm a DePaul alum (post-grad) and I guess after BU they're my 2nd favorite team (distant second) and I also find it hilarious!! How about last year when they refused to step out on us even after we drained like 15 3's on them!!! Then I went down by the students and started yelling "Big LEast" down at their bench and I almost got thrown out.

Memories. But your right BBrave...don't sell this conference short....even on a "down" year many Valley teams have built their programs up to level where they are going to compete year in year out...not many Big LEast teams would win in Omaha...give the Demons credit I guess for ambitious scheduling....partly due the circus being in residence in Rosemont...

[Big Mike]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/643818,CST-SPT-demon10.article

[Da Coach]

The Creighton win is even more impressive now that I see they fell behind 20-4 early in the first half due to poor shooting.

It sounds like DePaul thinks they gave the game away to Creighton. They don't seem to give Creighton much of the credit.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=75051&src=289

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/cs-071109depaul,1,5516615.story?coll=cs-college-headlines

[tornado]

The heralded trio of freshmen (Matija Pocsic, Mac Koshwal, Mike Bizoukas) scored 7 pts total and had 5 turnovers.

All by himself last night Michael Beasley went for 32 pts, 24 rebounds for Kansas State

[SFP]

I actually thought DePaul would win this game fairly easily considering how young a team Creighton has this year. But that fact that Creighton won going away is a very good sign for Creighton and the rest of the Valley in this "down" year.

I guess I should never underestimate a Dana Altman coached team!

Vegas had Creighton as a 3 point favorite which spells out they should have played even for much of the game. The 3 points are home court advantage points. It's hard to pick against the Vegas odds.

[BUBraves2006]

The Creighton win is even more impressive now that I see they fell behind 20-4 early in the first half due to poor shooting.

It sounds like DePaul thinks they gave the game away to Creighton. They don't seem to give Creighton much of the credit.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=75051&src=289

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....lege-headlines

Watching the game from a fairly impartial point of view (I like Creighton and DePaul both), I do feel that way too, that DePaul gave the game away. Like I said earlier, DePaul rushed their offense so much in the second half it was like there was a fire and they had to shoot in 10 seconds or less off the shot clock. DePaul looked clearly more talented than the Jays, but as the national media sees time in and time out (that MVC fans already know), MVC coaches get their teams ready to play out of the gate and superior coaching often trumps what may be lacking in athleticism.

The difference between our wins against DePaul and this one is that we really stuck it to them and flat out BEAT DePaul, as opposed to this was a combination of Creighton sticking to its system and DePaul literally "throwing" it away.

[tornado]

I have never doubted the physical talent nor the scoring ability of P'Allen Stinnett. But there are concerns about the ability of the kid to play within a teamwork/system, as has been expressed already by Dana.

There are, of course, a few red flags even in last night's performance.........

---P'Allen Stinnett played a total of 26 minutes.

Here are his stats in the first half....
Minutes played - 10:54, FG 0-3, 3ptFG 0-2, zero pts, 1 reb, 3 Turnovers, 1 foul----
....pretty unimpressive, in fact actually a very BAD half of basketball.

In the second half he played 15:19, and in the first five of those minutes was just 1-2 with another TO, and a missed dunk....again not too impressive, but then.........

Then he got hot, and in a 10 minute stretch of playing time, he scored 21 more points, although he missed both of his FT's in that interval.
One of the 3-pointers he made in that stretch was a wild one that ended up going in off the backboard.
In that final 10 minutes that P'Allen was on the floor, he took 11 of his team's 18 shots........I guess OK if you're hot, but maybe not something that would have amused the coach had he not been both hot and lucky enough to even be banking in the 3-pointers.


I can't deny that the stat line of 23 points is very good, but even some of the Jays fans are using terms like "inconsistent", "streaky", and "hot and cold".

[it's boogie time]

So if Will Egolf had that type of performance in his first collegiate game, would you break it down like that? I'd call it clutch. That's impressive when a freshmen turns a loss into a win.

[tornado]

Can you say......Jermaine Brown.........Fred Atkins.........David Selby..........

[Braves4Life]

P

Gotta agree with ya Boogie. I'd take a stat line like that any day from a freshman, especially in his first big college game. Of course he's gonna be inconsistent. He's only a freshman. It sounds like Creighton has a potential superstar in the making and, if anyone can reign him in, it's a quality coach like Altman.

I predict this kid will be something else; the type of player we need in the Valley. The fact that Creighton has to play a freshman and we don't simply tells me the state of CU basketball this year - slightly down but not out. I agree, if Egolf or Maniscalco had put up a bottom-line stat of 23 points in just 26 minutes in their first big collegiate game and we got the "W" we'd be ecstatic. Regardless of the inconsistent halves.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Tornado -

Don't you think that a freshman playing in his first real game in front of almost 17,000 people might just be a little nervous in the first half?

Your analysis of his offensive numbers also omits the fact that he played extremely well on the defensive end, creating several steals and causing DePaul players to have to alter their shots.

I'm not saying he is the second coming, but he is very talented. He's the most athletic player we've had since Rodney Buford.

I look forward to CU's games against Bradley this year. They will be played at mach speed and should be a ton of fun to watch. Our JUCO transfer Cavel Witter has Ruffin-esqe quickness and I hope he can develop into a complete Ruffin clone.

I almost forgot - go out and kick UIC's arse tonight.

[LincolnJay]

Anyone care to rethink their opion that Creighton is marginal?

Wow, I did not expect this loss to UIC!