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The Dagger

Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:19 pm EST

The Hunt: No. 35, Creighton

By Chris Chase

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.

Last year's record: 27-8 (14-4 MVC)

2009-2010's toughest games: at Dayton, at Michigan, at New Mexico, at George Mason

Primary attraction: Spurned by the NCAA tournament in 2008, Creighton figures to be right in the thick of the Missouri Valley race, even with the loss of the reigning MVC Player of the Year.

Three items of undeniable interest:

1. Hello, my name is Dana Altman. You killed my 2008. Prepare to die. -- Revenge on the selection committee should be a big motivation for Creighton this year. The BlueJays were the co-champs of the MVC but failed to earn an NCAA tournament invite for just the fourth times since 1998. Should Creighton have made it? Winning the MVC last year was every it as impressive as winning the SEC and I'm always partial to giving bubble spots to the good mid-majors rather than the mediocre majors (Maryland), but you can't lose a conference tournament semifinal by 24 points to a team bound for the NIT and expect to get the 65th bid. You just can't.

2. The return of Cavell Witter -- The senior guard left the team last spring but reportedly asked to rejoin Dana Altman's squad. He played 13 minutes in Creighton's exhibition game Wednesday night, scoring six points. There's been no word on what caused Witter to initially leave the team, but I bet it had something to do with that loudmouth Whit.

3. P'Allen Stinnett -- Look, I'm going to level with you. I don't know the first thing about P'Allen Stinnett's game. All I know is that his name is P'Allen and that's totally enough for me. (But in the interest of fact-finding: Stinnett is Creighton's leading returning scorer, finished 5th in the MVC in steals and was named second-team all-conference.)

Creighton basketball's leading scorer, 1955-57:

Yes, Bob Gibson -- that Bob Gibson -- played guard at Creighton in the mid-1950s. He averaged 22 points per game in 1956 and also led the team in rebounds. 

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5 Comments

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  1. marylandfan145
    1. Posted by marylandfan145 Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:04 pm EST

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    Maryland won a game in the tournament so what is your basis for calling Maryland out? Not to mention they beat both the teams in the National Championship game, Wake Forest, and Michigan.
  2. Chris C
    2. Posted by Chris C Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:04 pm EST

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    Arizona won two games in the tournament, it doesn't mean they deserved to get in either.
    Maryland's resume:
    OT vs. Vermont.
    L Georgetown
    L Morgan State
    L Duke (by 44)
    L Virginia (last game of regular season)
    7-9 in ACC
    Great, the Terps beat UNC and Wake Forest. That just shows how underachieving the team was. (And I root for Maryland and am the biggest Gary Williams fan there is, by the way. But I'm also a realist.)
  3. Eric
    3. Posted by Eric Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:39 pm EST

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    First off, I love the blog. Just wanted to mention that the Missouri Valley Conference is something you'll probably want to pay attention to more in depth this year. Yes I'm a biased fan, I graduated from Drake (a Junior during the amazing run 2 years ago Love the Drake!) and am now a first year season ticket holder. However, this conference is DEEP from top to almost the bottom.
    Teams picked one through six this preseason have the talent to win any game on any night of the week at any venue. Evansville is the Valley's bottom feeder and I have no clue what to expect out of Missouri State while Drake has too many question marks to form a true idea of what they're going to throw at teams this year. But I'm very optimistic from what I've heard. A second year coach open to reevaluate part of his philosophy to match his personnel (a la two years ago), a top recruiting class this year and an even better one forming next year will either sink while they adjust to the college game, or surprise everyone with the offensive firepower they have.
    Hopefully this year the Valley gets back to a multi-bid conference like it deserves to be. Creighton, Illinois State, and UNI (in that order) are my favorites to top the conference. Then there's Wichita State who has the strength inside and scoring capabilities outside to surprise teams as well. With such a deep conference though, it is likely that we'll get bids snubbed from us again do to tight conference records.
    For Creighton, Stinnett is that player you just love to hate, you have to marvel at his talents from afar, but when he's on your court, you'll do EVERYTHING in your power to get under his skin and mess with his head. Him and Osiris Eldridge bring major star power to this conference with a bunch of second tier stars that are just on the brink of national attention including Josh Young at Drake, Jake Kelly just transferred to Indiana State from Iowa, and another Iowa transfer Tony Freeman at Southern Illinois.
    Watch out for the Valley baby! And keep up the good work!
  4. Karl Marx
    4. Posted by Karl Marx Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:45 pm EST

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    AZ beat the Zags, #3 at the time, and KU , wins over Pac 10 champ WU, and tourney champs USC. The Cats advanced further than any other PAC 10 team. The PAC has more National Titles than ANY OTHER conference.
    PS: the Championship game was between UNC and MSU. Who gives a S--- about the NIT.
    AZ will dance for 26 this year. Deal w/ it.
  5. dgr
    5. Posted by dgr Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:49 pm EST

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    The only reason that you state the pac-10 has more than any conference is because UCLA won them all for the conference when John Wooden was coaching.

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