re: Bama vs Creighton discussion

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I don't understand it. I mean they leave us alone on the perimeter early in the shot clock. We may as well throw it up and hope it goes in



None of our guards shoot over 30% from the 3 pt line and you want them to shoot quicker?

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

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I think you were replying to Bryant's post. I don't like the way Bama attacks the zone. You have to get the ball inside and to the middle of the zone. from there you can play high-low or drive or kick it back out. Teams shoot better from three if the ball comes inside out and the shooter can step into his shot. Bama just tosses around the perimeter but doesn't attack the middle.

Petino is a master at atacking the zone. His Louisville teams are one of the few with a winning record against Syracuse. I wish he would sent CAG a game tape.

Some fan perspective from Creighton's forum

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PRESS: haven't faced it a lot, but if you guys are as athletic as I'm reading, I could see the press impacting things. You might get some steals, but you might also play into our strengths once the press is broken by allowing our guards to attack the hoop and kick to our wings who, on most nights, are excellent shooters. So, while the press might be disruptive, I could actually see it playing into Creighton's favor.

ZONE: with our shooters, we're not too shabby. If run effectively, it could be a problem for Doug McDermott getting his points -- but he's as smart of a player as there is, and he always seems to find a way.

ATHLETIC TEAMS: Long Beach State was probably the most athletic team we faced. We won the game, but if you watched it, I don't think you came away thinking Creighton could handle such teams well. LBSU was up for much of the contest and looked like the better team for most of the game. So, that should definitely be an advantage for the Tide.

DEFENSE: never press. Almost exclusively man-to-man.

BENCH: excellent. Every player in our rotation can put points on the board, and shoot the ball. This game, like most Creighton games, will come down to whether the 3's are falling. If the Jays hit a decent percentage, you will probably lose. If not, you should like your chances.

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One more

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I suspect CU will try to play man against you, primarily due to having Echinique in the paint. He's been able to play anyone and everyone solo this year defensively and has completely taken some good centers out of the game during the season.

McDermott may have a zone in his back pocket as he likes to play to what the other team does best and may challenge Bama to hit their 3's.

McDermott will get his touches, it's really going to be a matter of how patient our guards are in passing into the post and on what Bama wants to do to stop him. Most teams have tried at minimum a double team, then escalating to a guy sagging off in the lane behind the double, and running a rotation of guys at him. For the most part it hasn't worked due to him being unselfish and smart with the ball. That leads to the key for CU being able to knock down open jumpers. When you have McDermott getting touches, you have open shooters somewhere. The key is to find them and hit the shots.

Young is the go-to guy when the offense is a bit out of sync. He gets into the lane in a hurry and can finish and/or draw contact and get to the line. With Relaford on the court, I suspect we'll see a lot of the backup PG, Chatman who is a superior defensive player, allowing Young to be more of a combo guard who can look to shoot. Chatman's only a Frosh, but is very quick, strong and confident with the ball.

The more I think about this game, the more I think the defensive keys for CU are Echinique and Chatman. Chatman to harrass Relaford and to keep him from driving cleanly to the lane, Echinique to shut down the post and provide the defensive presence when people do get into the lane. Would think that both Artino and Dingman will play a lot to match up to the long, athletic types you have and for Artino to add a bit more shot blocking on the defensive end.

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Yea I agree with you. It just hasn't happened as of yet.

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DEFENSE: never press. Almost exclusively man-to-man.




i hope so. watching bama against the zone makes me want to claw my eyeballs out

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I would be shocked if Bama doesn't see a zone. Only team that didn't was TN and it has worked every time. Anyone who doesn't play zone against Alabama should lose their coaching job for 30 days.

I've got Bama getting through the 2nd round before losing to UNC by 8-10 pts. Lacey finally looks like he is getting healthy and I think he will step up and have a very big tourney.

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DEFENSE: never press. Almost exclusively man-to-man.

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frick. Yes. Please let them play man most of the game.

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None of our guards shoot over 30% from the 3 pt line and you want them to shoot quicker?

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Its called rhythm and momentum. We know that guys like Lacy, Cooper, and Randolph can shoot, but they lose momentum when we stop and set up the offense on every possession and force a bad shot as the shot clock is expiring.

I do understand not giving guys who don't seem to shoot well the green light early in a possession, but we have to do a better job at recognizing when we have momentum or when we can take an early shot and get on a run and actually keep a run going

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Huh? They are D-1 athletes.

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so all D-1 athletes are the same? shirley, you cant be serious.

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Defense in basketball is pretty simple. Intensity and effort are the keys.

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yeah i wish it was that simple

Here's a cool video from when we got selected. I'm sure it has already been posted LINK