Photo: Creighton Athletics

Postgame notes n quotes are generally ho hum, humdrum, and a boring recital of the obvious. These Tulsa Hurricane Quotes are Golden Nuggets, and speak to the heart of recruiting, coaching, practice… “Practice, we talkin’ ’bout Practice, man?”, and the exertion of one teams’ will, one teams’ dominance on the opponent. (Click title for full article)

On Game planning:

“We really wanted to defend the three-point line against them. They make 10 three’s a game. We did a really good job on (Jahenns) Manigat. He gets one shot, no three’s. We did a really good job on Ethan Wragge. He’s an excellent three-point shooter.”

-On the nine points added from Gregory Echenique…
“The first play of the game, we do exactly what we want to do and get a foul on him by taking a charge. He was a non-factor early. Across the board, the post defense really hurt us tonight.”

-On the defensive concept against McDermott…
“It was really hard to bring help to him because of the three-point line. Give (Antoine) Young a lot of credit, too. He’s a senior point guard who plays off of ball screens really well. We wanted to guard the three-point line because they just shoot it so well. They got rolling, and there wasn’t much we could do about it. Some nights you just get your butt kicked, and we got our butt kicked.”

Tulsa gameplanned well. Take away a major weapon, the 3 pt shots. Shut down the chief perimeter threats- EW and JM. Get the Big guy in early foul trouble.
…And they were successful in all three areas! Ordinarily that would be enough of a cushion to swing the contest in their favor… and win the game.

On evaluating your opponent:

However, as Coach Mac referred to in his postgame remarks: Against good teams or very good teams – “You have to pick your poison.” It is nearly impossible to gameplan every aspect of a game, hence the strategizing prior to. Tulsa underestimated the overall quality and talent of the Bluejays. They also underestimated our big gun.

-On McDermott “My goodness, it really surprised us how good McDermott was, particularly in the post against size, how good his strength is, how good his stamina is, how good his feet are, and how good of hands he has. He was very impressive to me, tonight.”

Hence not double teaming on Doug McDermott allows him to go off on a record night. AY uses screens and drives to score. AY also forces numerous defensive TO’s and has 5 steals. Artino squeezed in 5 pts at a crucial juncture of the 1st half. EW plays defense since the treys are cut off. Grant Gibbs has 10 Assists, 7 rebounds, and 9 points. His end-of-game play is brilliant, spectacular. Jahenns Manigat adds insurance FTs. 12 of the 14 players who entered the game scored. This is the value of excellent recruiting. Bring in the best possible players – allow them to learn the system… or… tailor the system to your talents. Play smart, play hard, play to win!

Had TU known or really respected the quality and depth of the Jays, they would have gameplanned differently: Dbl on McDermott…Foul trouble for Echenique, cut off the passing lanes to reduce assists and increase potential steals. They might have won with that strategy, as we would have had to beat them with the 3’s.

On being a competitive team versus being Dominant Team:

However, the MOST TELLIMG quote came from Guard Tim Peete:
On the importance of the start of the second half…
“We knew going in to the locker room what they were going to do. They were going in for the block, going in on the inside. That’s where they were really pushing us, forcing us to call time-outs on the floor. That was big. What they did didn’t surprise us. They did what coach told us they were going to do and we just didn’t execute stopping it.”

Paraphrase: We knew what they were going to do, we just couldn’t stop them.

On the nine points added from Gregory Echenique…
“The first play of the game, we do exactly what we want to do and get a foul on him by taking a charge. He was a non-factor early. Across the board, the post defense really hurt us tonight.”

After being off the floor for all but 2 minutes in the 1st half, Echenique scores the first 9 pts of the second half and keys a 15-3 Creighton run that put the game out of reach – early! Creighton dominated the last eight minutes of the 1st half and the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half. Total Victory!

Teams scout each other. They get to know the others tendencies, favorite plays, trends governing various segments or situations in-game, end of game scenarios, and the like. Knowing your opponent is one thing, stopping them from executing is another.

Good teams exert their will. Great teams dominate. It was said of Bobby Knight’s Indiana squads… We know what they are going to do. They do the same things every game. Can we stop them?

Great teams practice their game. Yes, they do situational rehearsals, end of game scenarios, and the like. But Mainly they play THEIR GAME. Just like Creighton Soccer Coach Bolovich stated the other week entering the NCAA College Cup. Great teams don’t worry about the opponent, they just play their game and stop the opponent from playing his. Great teams dominate the opponent. They disrupt, dissect, & dismantle the opponents plan, his rhythm, his dynamic, and his flow. The result is total victory.

What we have here… is a very dangerous basketball team. What we have here… is potentially a great basketball team. Yes, they need to buckle down in practices… they need to improve on known weaknesses…they need to continue to show incremental process improvement. I believe they will do so. They need to continue to be unselfish, play FOR one another, and above all “PLAY TO WIN”.

What we have here…in the 2011-12 Creighton Basketball Team…is a team that has the pieces in place to exceed ALL our expectations.

When you’re up by ten, and it appears that your foe is about to fold – Pour it On Heavier…Leave no doubts. DOMINATE!

Love ya BLUE!

– gtmoBLue

PS:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2011-ncaab-cbt

Partial Article Clip –
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
2010-11 Conference Record: 10-8, fourth place (tie)

Lineup Breakdown: Coach Greg McDermott has used his bench more extensively in the nonconference portion of the 2011-12 schedule than he did in his first season with the Bluejays. The reserves responded until a Dec. 10 loss at Saint Joseph’s when they provided only six points and nine rebounds. Point guard Antoine Young led the MVC in minutes played last season, but has a capable backup in freshman and future starter Austin Chapman. Redshirt freshman Will Artino gives Gregory Echenique a break in the middle, while Ethan Wragge allows Doug McDermott a chance to get a quick rest. Freshman Avery Dingman and junior Josh Jones can replace starters Grant Gibbs and Jahenns Manigat on the wings, giving Creighton a solid 10-player rotation.

Roster Report

• Sophomore Ethan Wragge’s first 26 shots this season were three-point attempts until he made three two-point baskets against San Diego State on Nov. 30.

• Junior center Gregory Echenique struggled at the free throw line in the first eight games. Echenique made nine of 25 attempts (36 percent) after shooting 70.3 percent at the line last season.

• Freshman Avery Dingman became the second Creighton player in the last 14 years to make all of his three-point attempts (taking at least four) away from home when he went four of four against Iowa on Nov. 20 in Des Moines, Iowa.