Mid-season analysis

It's been awhile, but I wanted to comment on where Creighton is at so far this season. I've been able to see almost all of their games online and even attended their devastating loss against a solid Illinois State team.

The Bluejays are having a Jekyll and Hyde-type season thus far. In some bouts they look like a legitimate top 30 team. The common denominators in these wins are good play by Lawson and outrebounding the other team.

In other games, I want to cover my eyes so I can at least imagine that its not really happening. These are the games where the Jays get completely blown out in rebounding and try to get back into the game by launching a three-pointer with 25 seconds on the game clock.

Coach Altman has been preaching it all year long. They need to find an identity and at least be competitive in rebounding. Lawson needs to really improve for the Jays to be successful down the stretch, in my opinion. Three or four rebounds per game and turn-around baseline hooks aren't going to cut it. I'd love to see him outrebound Justin Carter for once and go at the rim on offense. I'm not trying to put it all on his shoulders, I'm just saying that I think it needs to happen for them to make it to the Big Dance. I think he can do it.

Luckily, guys like Booker Woodfox, Kaleb Korver and Case Harriman are stepping up huge this year. Stinnett has had some obvious difficulties this year, but he's always good for some steals and rebounds. I think he shoots too many three's and doesn't attack the rim as often as he should. When you have other great shooters in the game, there's no need for him to force up shots when he could drive and score or kick it out. It's almost like he expects to be the leading scorer on the team, so he feels pressured to put up poor shots. I think he'll come out of this, he's just young and trying to still figure things out. There's absolutely nothing wrong with P'Allen scoring 12 points with a few assists. Let Booker take the bulk of the three's.

That's my two cents. We'll see how they perform down the stretch. I'm confident that coach Altman and the Jays will continue strong and we'll keep seeing Stinnet and Lawson improve, which is scary for other teams in the Valley.