Bluenotes Short Riff – 4 November 2015

On By gtmoblueIn college basketball 365

Short Riff
Stay focused…Stay hungry!

Courtesy: Creighton Athletics
2015-16 Previews:  WBR MBB player bios. www.whiteandbluereview.com  
Great profiles by the WBR team.  My comments;

GG-  Great profile. IMO GG has a Stainbrook type of breakout year…for the Jays this season. He’s healthy, he knows he can play with the big dogs, and he’s hungry. Go Geoff. As for ingame durability – as long as he paces himself, 20 minutes should not be an issue. Hopefully ZH and JP can squeeze in a few minutes. 
wink emoticon
jMilli- Great profiles…good stuff guys. James’ game should improve due to experience, confidence, and greater team depth. He won’t have the burden of “carrying” the team, which will allow him greater flexibility and less pressure to perform.

Zach Hanson- Imo ZH can be an impactful player by doing the things he stated. Bring energy when he comes in and with aggressive rebounding and defensive play. Impact is more about what you do with the minutes you get, rather than the amount of minutes. It’s a team game and ALL of the players need to contribute to the overall team effort. I am looking to see him show improvements and aggressiveness…which will be an asset to the team play.  

IZ- IZ is a Phoenix…he gets burned…but “again I rise”. He rises from the ashes again…in triumph!  He will be a spark for the squad with his shooting and his leadership.  
Chase perfection – catch excellence. 

Maurice– Absolutely, refreshingly candid, direct, and to the point. A leader and a team 1st guy. He’s in the right place at the right time, thank God. Talented – no fear. Poised, confident, experienced – the ‘coach’ on the court come crunch time. Luv this guy! 

THeggs– Sounds as though THeggs has his confidence back, enthusiastic and excited for the season. The quality and depth of our bigs should reduce / eliminate any thoughts of having to carry the team.  He can contribute and just play the game.  He should have a good frosh to sophomore jump in his stats. 
CoopDreams (Malik)- This young man, along with Khyri…are the wildcard players. Malik is a scoring machine (in the Marcus Foster vein) and is a good PG to boot. Should injuries mount at either guard spot Leek can come in, augment the team, and boost production. Humble but talented. He was and is a great late pickup, who will pay big dividends this season.



Bluejay Banter: asks 5 Questions heading into the season.  
Part 1 – https://creighton.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1821048
Part 2 – https://creighton.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1821462

Media articles:  I was set to go on a tirade against small ball and excessive dependence upon the 3pt shot.  However, Coach Mac knows better than I and a series of OWH articles have put me in my proper place.  It is wait and see time, regardless of my small opinion.  Also a piece on transfers and one on the Jays inclusion in the 2016 Paradise Jam.  Two articles on current injuries and effects on practices.

Omaha World Herald –
http://www.omaha.com/creighton/
http://www.omaha.com/creighton/bluejays-plan-to-mix-small-ball-into-offense/article_11b9f578-3923-5750-a1aa-74dff8ef4fb2.html

Sports Illustrated – Ranking of all Div 1 teams.  Villanova, G’town, and Xavier ranked in Top25. Providence, Seton Hall, and Creighton ranked 79th-81st respectively.
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/11/03/every-team-college-basketball-ranked-north-carolina-kentucky-kansas

ESPN – Vitale’s Preseason NCAA Tourney predictions.
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/11/03/every-team-college-basketball-ranked-north-carolina-kentucky-kansas

MGolf;  
Creighton Bluejays        ✔ @gocreighton
Creighton Men’s Golf finishes 12th in Florida meet with a 307-329-315=951 total. Charlie Bolton tied for 36th with 71-83-80=234 total.
MSoc: #1 Bluejays rebound at Providence. 16-1 /7-1 BE. Next up: Championship showdown @Georgetown on 5 Nov.

JaysVB: Jays bounce back with a sweep vs Seton Hall. http://www.gocreighton.com/



WSoc:  Closes season with L Georgetown.   http://www.gocreighton.com/

BluejayCC:   CWcc takes 7th, Men take 6th at BE Cross Country Championships.  
https://twitter.com/gocreighton 



Other media articles:

Villanova makes NBC’s top 15 backcourts…
http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2015/10/27/ranking-college-basketballs-top-back-courts/

Villanova has best odds (of BC Teams) to win NCAAs.  (BECB)
http://www.bigeastcoastbias.com/2015/10/30/9646410/villanova-has-best-odds-among-big-east-schools-to-win-2016-ncaa

2015-16 Kenpom – http://kenpom.com/index.php?y=2016  Analytics, not subjective.
Matchup Zone – Jays 43rd and 5th in BE – Analytics, not subjective.
Adamcwisports (Bart Torvik) –  Torvik’s T-Rankings.  Jays 65th and 6th in BE.  Torvik states his dBase now has enough data to stand alone.  Had previously utilized Kenpom data to augment his stuff.  Should be a great comparison tool now.  Analytics, not subjective.