2024 Offseason

[#RollJays]

DeMarinis was on Sharp&Handley just now. Mentioned he thinks the next step for CU is building a team that's more "full proof" and can withstand playing teams who play super physical and when officials let the game play that way. Said they need to get bigger, stronger, and faster on the wing while also being able to still play Creighton basketball and get up and down the court and be skilled.

Said he has no idea when Trey/Kalk will make or announce their decisions. Mentioned how the draft is really weak this year and that's a good thing if they choose to go.

So, nothing super new. CU under Mac usually does a pretty good job of playing things close to the vest.

That was an interesting listen. Thanks for the heads up. I really like Joshua Jefferson's skillset if that is the type of player we are recruiting to match our high skill guys. UConn has a great mix of skill guys, athletes and both so when teams try to light them up, they just light you up right back.

[bluejayfan00]

DeMarinis was on Sharp&Handley just now. Mentioned he thinks the next step for CU is building a team that's more "full proof" and can withstand playing teams who play super physical and when officials let the game play that way. Said they need to get bigger, stronger, and faster on the wing while also being able to still play Creighton basketball and get up and down the court and be skilled.

Said he has no idea when Trey/Kalk will make or announce their decisions. Mentioned how the draft is really weak this year and that's a good thing if they choose to go.

So, nothing super new. CU under Mac usually does a pretty good job of playing things close to the vest.

That was an interesting listen. Thanks for the heads up. I really like Joshua Jefferson's skillset if that is the type of player we are recruiting to match our high skill guys. UConn has a great mix of skill guys, athletes and both so when teams try to light them up, they just light you up right back.

UConn is quite literally built perfectly for a CBB team. As much as I can't stand how Hurley acts on the sidelines, he is a freaking stud of a coach. He was on Pardon My Take a few days ago, similar style interview that Mac did. He came off.. likable? He's not everyone's type of guy, but I can see why guys love playing for him. While Mac is very even tempered and says things like "We are going to go out there and swing away, let if fly, and see what happens", Hurley is more "We are better than you, tougher than you, and we expect to win every game and if we don't is a failure, we're here to kill"

A very interesting contract from two really good coaches

[Chicagojayfan]

I'm curious.. what makes Mason a "great athlete"? Some dunk highlights from high school? He is springy, but he's also rail thin, and there is way more to athletic ability than leaping.

I echo Jacob's comments. I got anxious every time Mason dribbled the ball because that's the energy he gave off. It's pretty obvious the coaches desperately wanted him to excel and grab hold of more minutes, but he didn't. I have a hard time buying that is a "confidence issue" when you're a starter and being given ample opportunity to make an impact.

I won't keep posting on this because it's pretty much a waste, but a few points:

1. leaping ability is a key aspect of playing basketball, sure there are other attributes, but it's a pretty darned important one
2. The number of 6-9 guys (thin our not) who can run the floor, jump out of the gym, and shoot 3's quickly and accurately is a really small number
3. We knew from the beginning that Miller was a high ceiling, low floor kind of guy who could develop to be something special. It's taken 3 years to get him up (20 lbs or so?) and to get him physically ready to play. He still has work to do there, though, but his HS film shows a guys scoring in more than a few ways and against pretty good competition as well
4. We'd better be figuring out how to develop guys who are willing to spend time not getting a lot of shots early in their career, because if we can't our HS recruiting won't be looking good in a few years

We were in a pretty unique situation this year, with 3 main guys who were all at peak NCAA levels, and a 4th guy who was an amazing shooter and PG as well, so taking shots away from those guys wasn't a good bet for anyone, but I think a good offseason will have him at another level on offense (anyone remember his defense last year vs. this year?)

Anyway we will see

[#RollJays]

DeMarinis was on Sharp&Handley just now. Mentioned he thinks the next step for CU is building a team that's more "full proof" and can withstand playing teams who play super physical and when officials let the game play that way. Said they need to get bigger, stronger, and faster on the wing while also being able to still play Creighton basketball and get up and down the court and be skilled.

Said he has no idea when Trey/Kalk will make or announce their decisions. Mentioned how the draft is really weak this year and that's a good thing if they choose to go.

So, nothing super new. CU under Mac usually does a pretty good job of playing things close to the vest.

That was an interesting listen. Thanks for the heads up. I really like Joshua Jefferson's skillset if that is the type of player we are recruiting to match our high skill guys. UConn has a great mix of skill guys, athletes and both so when teams try to light them up, they just light you up right back.

UConn is quite literally built perfectly for a CBB team. As much as I can't stand how Hurley acts on the sidelines, he is a freaking stud of a coach. He was on Pardon My Take a few days ago, similar style interview that Mac did. He came off.. likable? He's not everyone's type of guy, but I can see why guys love playing for him. While Mac is very even tempered and says things like "We are going to go out there and swing away, let if fly, and see what happens", Hurley is more "We are better than you, tougher than you, and we expect to win every game and if we don't is a failure, we're here to kill"

A very interesting contract from two really good coaches

I feel like Hurley's first couple rosters in the Big East lacked quite a bit of skill. He then took some of McDermott's blueprint getting guys like Karaban and mixed it with the athletes they are already were getting. Having a bunch of 6'4-6'6 guys on the perimeter that can guard is so key to your defense. When we had AOC, Trey, Kaluma, Hawkins and Kalk starting our defense was pretty elite.

[Chicagojayfan]

DeMarinis was on Sharp&Handley just now. Mentioned he thinks the next step for CU is building a team that's more "full proof" and can withstand playing teams who play super physical and when officials let the game play that way. Said they need to get bigger, stronger, and faster on the wing while also being able to still play Creighton basketball and get up and down the court and be skilled.

Said he has no idea when Trey/Kalk will make or announce their decisions. Mentioned how the draft is really weak this year and that's a good thing if they choose to go.

So, nothing super new. CU under Mac usually does a pretty good job of playing things close to the vest.

That was an interesting listen. Thanks for the heads up. I really like Joshua Jefferson's skillset if that is the type of player we are recruiting to match our high skill guys. UConn has a great mix of skill guys, athletes and both so when teams try to light them up, they just light you up right back.

UConn is quite literally built perfectly for a CBB team. As much as I can't stand how Hurley acts on the sidelines, he is a freaking stud of a coach. He was on Pardon My Take a few days ago, similar style interview that Mac did. He came off.. likable? He's not everyone's type of guy, but I can see why guys love playing for him. While Mac is very even tempered and says things like "We are going to go out there and swing away, let if fly, and see what happens", Hurley is more "We are better than you, tougher than you, and we expect to win every game and if we don't is a failure, we're here to kill"

A very interesting contract from two really good coaches

As obnoxious as Hurley comes off on the sidelines, I appreciate his press conferences after games. He usually makes great points (not just cliches to satisfy the press) and to my ears comes off as respectful of what Creighton does after we play them, win or lose. He's a heckuva coach, but he's also at a premier program with a ton of history that helps when recruiting and promoting the team

What will be interesting is to see how far we are willing to go in order to add the right amount of physical toughness to the team for next year. We suffered through a couple of years where we lacked shooters, and last year seemed to have a more balanced offense/rotation, but still lost to SD State, and then this year, we beat some knock-down drag out physical games, but also lost to Tennessee (I think it's a bit of bad luck that, IMO, we played the 2 most extreme physical D style teams in the tourney the last 2 years also and both were games where the refs ignored their whistles)

In the end, it has to be a balance, and we do have Green playing a lot more minutes next year to add more of that style, but a guard who can get to the rim versus rugby defenders would help as well, but we also don't want to be Providence under Cooley either. Their physical style matched up in situations like that, but tended to lose in the tourney as well

[#RollJays]

I'm curious.. what makes Mason a "great athlete"? Some dunk highlights from high school? He is springy, but he's also rail thin, and there is way more to athletic ability than leaping.

I echo Jacob's comments. I got anxious every time Mason dribbled the ball because that's the energy he gave off. It's pretty obvious the coaches desperately wanted him to excel and grab hold of more minutes, but he didn't. I have a hard time buying that is a "confidence issue" when you're a starter and being given ample opportunity to make an impact.

I won't keep posting on this because it's pretty much a waste, but a few points:

1. leaping ability is a key aspect of playing basketball, sure there are other attributes, but it's a pretty darned important one
2. The number of 6-9 guys (thin our not) who can run the floor, jump out of the gym, and shoot 3's quickly and accurately is a really small number
3. We knew from the beginning that Miller was a high ceiling, low floor kind of guy who could develop to be something special. It's taken 3 years to get him up (20 lbs or so?) and to get him physically ready to play. He still has work to do there, though, but his HS film shows a guys scoring in more than a few ways and against pretty good competition as well
4. We'd better be figuring out how to develop guys who are willing to spend time not getting a lot of shots early in their career, because if we can't our HS recruiting won't be looking good in a few years

We were in a pretty unique situation this year, with 3 main guys who were all at peak NCAA levels, and a 4th guy who was an amazing shooter and PG as well, so taking shots away from those guys wasn't a good bet for anyone, but I think a good offseason will have him at another level on offense (anyone remember his defense last year vs. this year?)

Anyway we will see

Mason can jump out of the gym but it hasn't shown up on the court. Struggled finishing at the rim and rebounding the ball. At this point though I feel bad for talking negatively about Mason so I agree we should stop arguing with the air.

I hope to be wrong here.

[bluejayfan00]

Devin Carter going pro.

[LJay]

It just occurred to me that the only players we know for certain will be on the team next year are:

Jackson McAndrew
Larry Johnson
Ty Davis

Carry on.

[vivid_dude]

Some updated mock NBA drafts below. Kalk not listed in any.

Bleacher Report (4/2 update)
- Baylor Scheierman - 2nd round (#35)
No Trey.

Sports Illustrated (4/2 update)
- Baylor Scheierman - 2nd round (#39)
- Trey Alexander - 2nd round (#45)

NBA.com (3/22 update)
- Baylor Scheierman - 2nd round (#42) - NBA comparison is Joe Ingles
- Trey Alexander - 2nd round (#51) - NBA comparison is E'Twaun Moore

The Ringer (3/27 update)
No Creighton player projected.

NBADraft.net (3/27 update)
- Trey Alexander - 1st round (#21)
No Baylor.

NBADraftRoom.net (4/2 update)
- Baylor Scheierman - 2nd round (#51)
- Trey Alexander - 2nd round (#58)
Kalkbrenner is listed as the 111th ranked pro prospect.
(Interestingly, Arthur Kaluma is listed as the 118th ranked pro prospect; Creighton-killer Eric Dixon is 113th)

[jayc13]

Thanks for putting that together! Even though he's all over the board, or completely off, I'm pretty convinced Trey is gone and just as convinced that Kalk is back. Having him, Ashworth, Miller, and Green would be a solid 4 as a foundation. We then would need some scorers to step in Baylor and Trey's shoes. I don't love having to lean on freshmen for too much, especially early on.