by JacobPadilla » Mon Oct 07, 2024 6:14 pm
I think the roster is pretty clearly built to let it fly. They may have less ability to attack the basket this year than they did last year, even though that wasn't necessarily Trey and Baylor's strength. An Ashworth and Isaacs backcourt is not going to give you much in the way of effective rim scoring (Isaacs was very bad at it even during his freshman year when he was healthy).
Ashworth, Isaacs, Miller, Traudt, Zugic and McAndrew are all guys who you would probably list 3-point shooting at or near the top of the list of what they bring. Green has put in a lot of work and seen results; we'll have to see how that translates to the games once the season starts.
Isaacs' shooting talent is much better than a 29.7% would indicate. In watching both his freshman and sophomore tape, I'm largely willing to write off last year, especially if his shot selection improves in what should be a more functional offense at Creighton.
To be honest, I'm not sure what to think of Neal. He was sick during the practice I watched so I didn't see him in person, and he was in a completely dysfunctional offense at Arizona State. He's a horrible shooter off the dribble yet took nearly two-thirds of his jumpers off the bounce. He actually made a decent percentage of his open catch-and-shoot looks, and Mac's offense is pretty good at generating those. He's also pretty effective at the rim but the volume was way too low for a player of his athleticism and effectiveness.
Mac said as much on this topic, but they're largely betting on getting more out of Isaacs and Neal in his offense than what we saw of them at their previous stops.
Quote from the first day of practice: “In the transfer portal, you have to dig really deep. Neither of them were incredibly efficient at the places that were, but if you dig deep enough, there were some shots that were really efficient — if they took the right shots. And some of it is a product of the offense, some of it is a product of the system, some of it is a product of them making better decisions of what's the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. But in the recruiting process, they were both hungry to become more efficient, and I think they saw us as an avenue to do that.”
Without Trey and Baylor creating as much offense as they did, I'm hoping Creighton will be able to run the offense through Kalkbrenner to an even greater degree this season while continuing to space the floor around him. He's the best bet at keeping this offense balanced.
