Creighton mailbag: Assessing who starts at power forward, Big East winners/losers at draft deadline

May 25, 2023

In the latest episode of Half-Court Press, Joel Lorenzi and Sam McKewon are joined by special guest Tom Shatel to talk about what the 2023-24 Creighton Bluejays will look like after the May 31 deadline announcement that Trey Alexander will return to CU for his junior season.

Creighton beat writer Joel X. Lorenzi is back with the biweekly mailbag.

Email questions to [email protected] or message him at @jxlorenzi on Twitter. You can ask about anything. Personal stuff, music opinions, NBA things. Anything. For the questions that didn't make the cut, Joel has either already answered them or is saving them for a future mailbag.

Now, for the ones that did. The first question comes from @ryancassidycbb:

Most important player to the Jays’ success next season?

The wording of the question is significant to the answer. There are too many swappable words in questions like this that allow different thought processes. But let it be known: Ryan Kalkbrenner was and still is Creighton's most important player.

While Trey Alexander's return puts CU back into preseason Top 10 discussions, the Bluejays might not be close to contention without Kalkbrenner. He's arguably the best defender in the nation and the most intimidating shot blocker.

Since his sophomore season, he has singlehandedly changed the program's identity to a mainstay among the top 30 defenses in the country. His presence as a help, drop and rim defender has warped opposing offenses. Kalkbrenner could remain the player he was this past season and still change games.

On offense, his gravity as a roller helped him become Creighton's leading scorer and will likely give the team its primary source of rim pressure. I’m not sure anyone else will come close at the moment.

Alexander isn't too distant. His combination of tough shotmaking, shot creation and abilities on and off the ball make him irreplaceable. But while his skill set puts Creighton in the conversation with the nation's elite squads, there likely isn't a conversation without the things Kalkbrenner has done.

This isn't permanent, though. Alexander can make that leap this season as a first option with unprecedented freedom. Let's talk again then.

@gbrlee74: The Big East will be a beast of a league. Where do you see the Jays preseason coming in at? Also, how many NBA players do you envision from this team?

Barring any wild changes from teams hovering in CU's current range, the Bluejays should be a top-10 team in the preseason AP Poll once more.

As for Big East preseason standings? People still like UConn as the favorites. Its lineup on paper looks pretty great. Its projected starting unit is the perfect combination of young talent, veteran experience and players ready to make big jumps — most notably Donovan Clingan.

And even with Olivier Maxence-Prosper moving on, Marquette has a lot of continuity for a team that won the Big East regular season title and tournament. Whether you prefer Creighton is based on what you feel each of their ceiling is.

Coaches and media voters alike will differ in the way they view the departures of Ryan Nembhard and Arthur Kaluma. They’ll view CU's ceiling differently as a result. The Jays still have their fill of question marks. To those who’ve monitored the situation, Ashworth and the position group at the four feel like seamless transitions. But where is CU's rim pressure? Will Trey Alexander make the promised leap that should put them right back where they were? Will the additions make for a deeper, dependable rotation?

CU has the benefit of coming off of an Elite Eight run and retaining their Big Three from that run in Kalkbrenner, Alexander and Baylor Scheierman. If we’re talking continuity and experience, Creighton is up there with the best of them now.

Whichever way things fall, it feels like the league has four Top 15 teams at the moment when including Villanova.

@gtg00d: What are reasonable expectations for the Jays next season? Ceiling? Floor?

The Jays should be held to similar expectations. They’re fresh off a run that saw them finish a possession away from a Final Four and possibly the national title game. They kept most of the players they crossed their fingers to keep, and while they lost talent in Nembhard and Kaluma's departures, they made moves that feel more fitting according to their system.

Will that carry this team as far as last year's? Time will tell. But there's no reason to not hold a team that returned so much and swiftly addressed its losses to the same standard as a year ago. The Jays are in the mix to win the Big East. They can be good enough to snag a top-three seed.

At their worst? Creighton's nightmare, barring injuries or unforeseen circumstances, is probably vying for the fourth seed in the league, which says a lot considering how good the top of the Big East is.

@PlatteCat: Big East biggest winners/losers from portal/draft decision process?

Villanova has to be the biggest winner of the summer for multiple reasons.

No. 1? Transfer Tyler Burton, a star level wing who averaged 19 points and 7.4 rebounds for Richmond. There's transfer guard TJ Bamba, who averaged 15.8 points for Washington State while helping it finish fifth in the Pac 12. Transfer Hakim Hart was Maryland's second leading scorer.

Not to mention coach Kyle Neptune grabbed transfer Lance Ware, a former top-40 center who spent three seasons at Kentucky and the past two behind Oscar Tshiebwe.

The Wildcats kept most of their core in Justin Moore, Eric Dixon, Mark Armstrong and Jordan Longino. They filled holes with prized transfers.

Their biggest loss? Cam Whitmore, an undoubtedly talented freshman whose prophecy always had him as a one-and-done. Despite the flashes that reaffirmed his draft range, Whitmore wasn't a perfect rookie in their system and suffered an injury that altered his play early. Neptune will sleep well with Burton in the frontcourt.

At Seton Hall, I had a lot of faith in Shaheen Holloway. I watched him up close when Saint Peter's advanced through the first two rounds in their miracle run. He didn't grasp this summer with the same level of urgency, though.

Seton Hall lost four of its top seven scorers. It kept some key players but might’ve had the most underwhelming summer in the portal across the Big East — a recipe for disaster for a team that visibly needed more talent last season.

It still somehow did alright behind its pesky defense a year ago, but now it's lost a few of its best defenders while not exactly taking a notable scoring leap. SHU feels like the biggest loser of the league this summer.

@southpawpress: Creighton is not bringing back its two highest-rated recruits in program history (Kaluma and Nembhard) but seems to have a more complete roster. What will make them a more challenging team to prepare for, and what will make them an easier assignment for opposing teams?

Until we know what Steven Ashworth and Isaac Traudt look like — even Mason Miller by the time the summer finishes — it's more difficult to say what this team's strengths and weaknesses are.

From what we know, teams will struggle with how much space Creighton will have to work with on offense. At its best, CU could have five players who can stretch the floor if Kalkbrenner morphs into an in-game threat. Realistically, he’ll have four shooters starting around him while shifting the defense with his roll gravity.

Obviously it's not as difficult to defend space in college as it is in the NBA, but the Jays will really force bigs to defend pick-and-rolls well. Or guards to hold up at the point of attack. Or help defenders to stay disciplined on the wing. If anyone can get downhill outside of Kalkbrenner, defenses will be forced to go deep in their bags against Creighton.

That's a big if, though. As it stands, no one in CU's starting lineup jumps out in terms of rim pressure. Alexander isn't an exceptional athlete. Neither are Baylor Scheierman or Steven Ashworth. Mason Miller is tucking away a vertical that's easily over 40 inches, but we’d never know by how he's looked in the halfcourt and in his handful of dribble drives.

Kalkbrenner is the lineup's primary source of rim pressure, and he can only do so much. For as much space as CU will have, how well will they use it? That might be the one thing defenses can plan around.

Part of Alexander's leap as a first option might have to be developing a bag as an unconventional driver that uses his body and angles to finish efficiently at the rim. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has mastered that. Some of that will come with how he improves in the pick-and-roll and how he begins to improve his advantage creation.

I’m not sure it’ll keep them from winning games because I think teams will still find it difficult to defend such a well-spaced lineup, but it's a notable hole for a team with national title aspirations.

@southpawpress: What will the Jays and Mac miss most about Alan Huss?

His offensive mind. I’ve heard stories of late game decisions he's made, necessary input on play calls, that showed how far along he was on that side of the ball. He was just so well-versed with actions. High Point will pop on offense in the Big South if Huss finishes the offseason with the right personnel.

He also has a pretty good eye for talent. He played a significant role in landing Nembhard and Kalkbrenner. He was around plenty of talent while coaching La Lumiere in Indiana.

@CreightonFinal4: Who starts at the 4 and how deep is the rotation this year?

From what I heard through the summer, it felt like Miller was the frontrunner to start. There's some untapped potential there.

This will be his third year with the program, so he's familiar with the system and is in line to make a leap with a big summer. Personally, I just have to see it first. Miller has an unparalleled combination of shooting and athleticism on this team. But you’d only need one hand to track his dribble drives last season.

He looked increasingly comfortable in his spot-up opportunities as the year went on. More reps will do that. I expect him to remain one of the best shooters on the team. Defense — both awareness and overall ability — was a problem for him last season.

These are things Miller can tap into that would make it difficult to start anyone over him. But they remain to be seen. I have to imagine Traudt, even as a player who hasn't played a minute of college basketball, is on his heels based on his skillset.

This summer will do a lot for each of them. Strangely enough, they also somewhat find themselves on different ends of the spectrum, with neither being a perfect fit at 4. They’re just suitable options.

At 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds as of last season, Traudt seemingly stands to be maximized spending time in between the 4 and 5 spots. Who he’ll guard is what comes into question. Whether mobility will be a problem next to Kalkbrenner is something to monitor.

But Miller is in a similar boat. He hasn't proved quick enough to consistently defend 3s at this level or strong enough to defend 4s without some help. Creighton will likely be forced to alternate based on situations and what lineups they prefer to run with on a game-by-game basis.

Jasen Green is somewhere in the mix, too. His frame seems ready. Whether his game catches up will determine how many options CU has at that position.

I’m not sure how deep the Jays’ rotation can be just yet. If Johnathan Lawson pans out, whoever comes out of the Miller/Traudt battle makes Creighton's rotation at least two players deeper than a year ago. If it was six, then the Jays could be eight deep. If the final half of the season indicated that CU could only trust five guys, maybe it’ll trust as many as seven this season.

@gtg00d: What is your favorite restaurant in Omaha?

I’m not adventurous enough to have been all over the city, so I won't act like some Omaha food expert. I really like Three Happiness, though. Never been disappointed when I go there. Surprisingly enough, I haven't been to a steakhouse since I’ve lived here (I know, sue me.)

I’m always open to recommendations. I’m still on the hunt for the best Italian spot in the city.

@sicilianstilett: What's your go-to at Chipotle? And their queso or Qdoba's?

Nothing crazy. I’m not too adventurous and I just started going so I’m sure there are hacks I’m not aware of. I just get a bowl with white rice, double chicken — one scoop of the regular chicken and one scoop of the al pastor — pico de gallo, queso, veggies and if I feel like flexing on the cashier, guac.

I haven't been to Qdoba's because I'm still new to this gentrified Mexican food thing. But you guys can send me your orders and I’ll see if I can trust you guys or not.

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World-Herald staff writer

In the latest episode of Half-Court Press, Joel Lorenzi and Sam McKewon are joined by special guest Tom Shatel to talk about what the 2023-24 …