It’s the Friday before Christmas! That means you really don’t want to work. That means the Brunch Bites needs to help make your day go faster. We’ll do our best with a massive plate.
We have 10 big stories in 10 little bites — plus a few desserts. We have Papuchis and Caputo, the (un)Lucky Colts and unluckier Redskins. We have Dave Rimington, Kellen Moore, Terry Bowden, Rob Gronkowski and how Twitter is ruining my life. But first, a few helpings of Creighton hoops (sorry Husker fans) …
Forget the 10-1 record, what stands out about these Jays after a big night at the C-Link is the entertainment value. This is a team easy on the eyes — a team that entices the casual fan to watch the sport.
This is a team from the ’80s and early ’90s (my childhood), when basketball was more about shooting and passing than defensive rotations and taking charges. (Style of play isn’t as important as winning, but darned if it isn’t a nice cherry on top the sundae).
Creighton hasn’t had a team this fun to watch since the Civic Auditorium days, when Kyle Korver was burying 3s, then sprinting to the baseline to lead the full-court press.
Before this year, I always thought Greg McDermott was philosophically more like Tom Izzo than Roy Williams. But give him credit for recognizing his strengths — for pushing tempo and believing he could win a ton of games by wearing out opponents at Creighton’s end of the floor.
His players hit the open shot. More important: they look for the open shot. They’re unselfish. They’re smart.
Now, the downside. They couldn’t defend Northwestern, an average Big Ten team. They’re going to face better offensive teams in March. More athletic teams. Wing players like Drew Crawford, who would’ve scored 40 had he avoided needless fouls.
Creighton can score on anyone; I’m sure of it. But they’re a top 25 team — and need to judged like one. Can they guard their peers come March? Can they get stops in the NCAA tournament? It’s a concern.
For now, they have enough firepower to beat anybody in the Valley, anywhere. The next two months are going to be loads of fun.
* * *
>> I’m short. Always have been. So I’m biased toward guard play. But Doug McDermott is a marvel to watch. He played only 28 minutes Thursday night, but he dominated the game. I tried to keep track of the second-half possessions in which McDermott made the play successful. I lost track. He passes, he rebounds, he tips loose balls to teammates. But most impressive, he scores.
His footwork, quickness and work ethic are phenomenal. Remarkable is his ability to gain position in the post, receive the ball and then immediately get to the rim and finish with touch — with either hand. Had he avoided fouls, McDermott — like Northwestern’s Crawford — would’ve had 40.
McDermott plays below the rim, a rarity for a dominant forward nowadays. But he’s worth the price of admission. He even earned a Thursday night tweet from the smartest man in college basketball, Jay Bilas:
“Creighton’s Doug McDermott is really good. Great footwork, feel and understanding of how to play. And, he fights you. He is the real deal.”
McDermott is third in CBS Sports’ player of the year rankings, behind Jared Sullinger and Thomas Robinson. Not bad company.
>> The Jays moved to 3-0 in Big Ten play. OK, so Northwestern, Nebraska and Iowa are among the five worst teams in the league. I wish we could see Creighton face Nebraska’s two opponents next week, Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Huskers, by the way, MUST win one of those games. Not both, but one.
>> OK, back to football … Bo Pelini still designs, calls and adjusts the defense for Nebraska. So calling John Papuchis the defensive coordinator is a bit misleading. Nevertheless, Papuchis’ job just got a lot more important. At 33, he is surely the youngest defensive coordinator at a top-25 program. Pelini and Papuchis have a tall task this offseason trying to repair a defense that failed at key moments.
>> The most interesting storyline of the NFL’s final weekend might be the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. If the Colts lose to Jacksonville, they’ll get Andrew Luck. If the Colts win their third straight, Luck will likely fall to the Rams or Vikings. Jim Caldwell didn’t get fired for going 0-13. But he might get fired for finishing 3-0.
>> Matt Barkley would’ve been a Washington Redskin (my team!) had he declared for the NFL Draft. I’m almost sure of it. Instead, he’s going back to USC, which just might be the most interesting conference in college football next year. If you don’t enjoy watching offenses designed by Mike Leach, Rich Rodriguez and Chip Kelly, maybe you’ll like seeing another Heisman winner from Troy. I’m not sure the Kiffins have the defense to win a national title, but USC will start the season in the top-5.
>> Will Leitch on how Twitter is making (some of) us more honest — and more crazy. I plead guilty.
>> How Rob Gronkowski and his brothers became star athletes. Dad threw tennis balls at them.
>> The nightmare scenario for the NFL is that Sam Hurd was supplying players across the league with cocaine and marijuana.
>> Mike Caputo, who pleaded guilty to reckless driving (not DUI), will play in the Capital One Bowl. Bo Pelini released a statement saying Caputo was being disciplined internally. I understand the desire to keep things in-house, but considering precedents with drunk driving arrests, I would like to see Bo elaborate on his decision — and why the Caputo case didn’t warrant suspension. (He may have very good reasons).
Caputo is a high-profile player. And anytime a player is behind the wheel when he’s over the limit, it’s a serious incident. I hope Bo addresses the situation further in Orlando.
>> The NFL dominated the Nielsen ratings in 2011. A wild-card game on Fox drew more viewers than the Oscars.
>> Dominic Raiola is on the verge of his career highlight — a playoff berth. It’s been a long road.
>> SI’s Andy Staples calls out schools for voting against multi-year scholarships. The column starts a little slow, but keep reading.
>> Kellen Moore lost three games in four years as Boise State’s quarterback. The first was by one point against TCU at the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl. The second was in 2010, an overtime loss to Nevada. The third was in November, against TCU again by one point. The final two defeats came after Boise’s kicker missed critical field goals.
Not once in Moore’s career did he trail at halftime. Not once did he trail by more than one touchdown. And with Moore at quarterback, Boise went 6-0 against BCS-conference schools. Moore and his classmates deserved better than finishing their remarkable careers at the Las Vegas Bowl. It’s the end of an era in Boise.
>> Carlos Beltran to the Cardinals? It’s a lot easier to hit in St. Louis than in San Francisco. If his knees hold up (and Adam Wainright returns to form), the Cards will be better than last year.
>> Terry Bowden is returning to the FBS level. He accepted the Akron job Thursday — I’m guessing he won’t retain Kevin Cosgrove as defensive coordinator. Two weeks ago, I interviewed Bowden for a story about the SEC, which will be published next week. He spoke to me on the condition that I not ask about open coaching jobs. Now I know why. It will be fun to have a Bowden north of the Mason-Dixon line.
>> Finally, a side note about that SEC story. I also interviewed Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs, who played for the Tigers in 1982. He recalled the Huskers coming to Auburn that September and beating the Tigers 41-7.
He recalled Roger Craig not being able to play and how his team thought it had caught a break — until they saw back-up Mike Rozier. He recalled Dave Rimington driving defenders 10 yards downfield all day.
After the game, Jacobs and some teammates went out on the town. They ran into a few co-eds and, during introductions, a girl asked his friend what position he played. Defensive line, he said. “But today I played in the secondary.”
>> The Bites will be back next Tuesday. Merry Christmas!
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Both Roger Craig and Mike Rozier were really fun to watch.
As good a 1-2 punch as we ever had!
Merry Christmas, Dirk
Ditto.
I am not sure why you really need to know about Caputo’s situation anymore than what has been reported. The guy paid a $100 fine and it is deemed to be a minor offense. All evidence is that this incident was treated no different by prosecutors that any other similar offense by other non-athletes.
I think Bo does not need to explain further because the actions speak for themselves.
If you can”t figure out why an offense with a $100 fine is different that a DUI conviction, that is your problem.
DesMoines Husker, I tweaked the Caputo paragraph to reflect your point. I understand how the courts treated the case differently, but I’m guessing Bo’s rules aren’t always predicated on what the courts say. Again, in cases like this, I think the more explanation, the better.
Dirk, you should have looked no further than Bo’s remarks on Cook’s daughter to get some insight into his mind. I am also pretty sure that the Unity Council had a lot to do with how Bo decided to handle this case.
Dirk, Bo has already made his decision regarding a $100 fine. Caputo’s lawyer has already pointed out a couple of things: (1) Caputo was not passed out as initially reported as one would not expect a 280 lb man to pass out at .10 BAC; (2) Caputo was texting at the time (this is disputed by police)
You will not get the full story since students still have some rights to privacy and Bo would probably not even be allowed to specifically comment further on the Caputo case.
It is not stonewalling or trying to hide anything if Bo refuses to answer – you simply are not entitled to know everything.
Don’t you understand? Bo needs to beat an SEC team. It will speed up that phone call for the DC job with Slick Pete in Seattle.
Doubtful. Nice thought though.
GBR
Baloney!
Dirk Merry Christmas! Love the Bites everyday. I think your wrong here and there but when you agree with me then your the smartest man at the OWH. Sorry you have to put up with Schick and Nick, we all have crosses to endure
Dear Dirk,
when will you get that fact that Bo doesn’t owe you an explanation on how he runs his program, or why he makes his decisions? He answers to Dr. Tom not you, so get over yourself and stop trying to do what you have been trying to do all along, undermining his decisions and program.
So what would your thoughts be then if it was your kid and he did the same and got charged with a DUI? Seems strange that if it was anyone else they would have got that. I’m curious on an explanation how someone who broke the law and team rules gets rewarded to still play.
I enjoy this blog Dirk, keep it up.
Kellen Moore played six BCS conference teams in four years. Isn’t that great. Four-year QBs who play a legit schedule would play about forty BCS schools in four years.
Wasnt he 6-0 against those schools? Nevada and TCU were not BCS schools
Im sure Taylor is a better quarterback than Kellen. He plays BCS teams every week. NU would kill Boise and LSU. If by kill you mean only lose to them by 40.
In all honesty I am not sure if Bo handled this in the right way or not. I do know that Caputo has given his all for NU. He has poured out his blood, sweat, and tears for the Huskers. I found it interesting the remarks by the DA as to why the charges were lowered. It looks as if he did what he would do for any other citizen with the same basic facts related to the case. I would almost believe if anything he thought long and hard not to offer Caputo the same breaks as any other citizen would have gotten. I am personally glad that he can play but not because the Huskers need him but more because by all accounts except this one incident he has represented this university with honor and noble standards. It would be a shame for this one incident would lead to him losing maybe on of the most memorable memories of his life. Now with that said I also understand the need to not send a wrong message to the public and the public needs to be aware that DUI are a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. Some how I think Caputo is not taking what has happened to him lightly.
Capooto did the right thing. He pulled over to text. Everyone knows texting when you are drunk driving is dangerous. Probably his first beer ever too. He’s lucky, he could have hurt someone. Then he would to have run extra wind sprints.
Too bad Carl had to spoil the Mrs. Nebraska talent pool. We could have gotten Lil’ Terry as DC. Thats not nice. Sorry. OK I will say something nice. Tmart is not the worst QB in the nation. There must be someone worse, I just haven’t seen him yet. Oops. Barney is Bo’s Cosgrove. Damn, did it again. Last chance. NU will land some great recruits. Then not play them. I give up.
Double Baloney!
I agree with Dirk about Creighton BB being fun to watch. I too miss the 80′ and 90′s, Danny Nee’s teams were inconsistent at times, but they could shoot and make baskets, there’s a reason they call it “basket”ball. Doc’s teams are, frankly, painful to watch most of the time.
I am wondering why Creighton BB is on a Husker blog and not being a game the Huskers are playing. Do they not have their own blogs to cover this.
Charles,
Dirk’s Brunch Bites are a roundup covering multiple topics from Creighton basketball to Husker football and pro sports. They apply to multiple blogs in one day. Due to the way the blogs are set up, they will always show up with “Big Red Today” as the banner, but obviously cover many topics.
The Cardinals will be better without the best hitter in baseball (maybe even in the history of the game), because they signed Carlos Beltran and an aging starter may come back? Ah… no. Sorry. Somebody slip some Bailey’s in your coffee this morning Dirk?
I wish CU could play Michigan State and Wisconsin, also.However, the CU – Wichita State, Indiana State, Northern Iowa games will be just as exciting. I wish we could see Nebraska play those teams, also.(I guess they did play Wichita State in their last game last season.) Both leagues will be good this year. You have to play who’s on your schedule.
Are you REALLY implying that the Valley and Big Ten are of commensurate strength?
I said both leagues will be good this year. I guess you can interpret that anyway that YOU want.
I have no problem with how the DA handled the situation. If he says that’s how he normally charges those cases then OK. Also last year I remember 2 Huskers getting charged with DUI so I don’t want to hear that NU players got special treatment. I believe the DA punished the crime. I also want to say I have no problem with the DA giving a 21 year old kid a break, as long as the young PERSON learned the lesson. Now me as a grown man with a wife, kids, and a career I should know better. I don’t believe a 21 year old college kid should be held as accountable for his actions as me….
So Kev, I guess its ok for young kids to drive drunk. Im young, no kids, no career. Ill be drunk by 4pm. Can I drive.around your hood? At what age will I know better? Sad that some of us college kids are more adults than the upstanding “wife, kids, career” age group.
Did I say that ? what part did I say it was OK for a young person to drive drunk ? Do you think at my age 50 I understand responsibility better then a 21 year old ? do you think a 21 year old you wasn’t charged with DUI should never be given a break, and if all the parts to the puzzle don’t fit allow them to plea to a lesser charge… I wonder have you’ve ever been given a break in life, or has everybody / thing just dumped on you ?
Kevin, you kind of did say that. The college student is right and sounds much more mature. We all need to stop drunk driving at all ages. I would prefer my daughter get charged with any crime she commits. As a society we have to take the punishment with the action. Athlete, grandpa or housewife.
becky guess you’re not real familiar with the criminal justice system ? didn’t have enough evidence to convict for a DUI. It was plea bargain down. Also Becky growing up did you ever get a break on a mistake you made ? I always find it interesting how others stand outside the glass house and throw the stone, instead of looking in the mirror. Again I’ve made mistakes and got breaks, thank God otherwise it could’ve impacted me professionally. The DA mention the charges like this have been reduced on others not just Caputo, research it and let us know. I tend to believe the DA.
There were serious cracks in the Caputo case or the DUI would have been filed. The bargain was done to cover everyones behinds.
I think the “cracks” were the ones in The Pipeline. Great job developing talent Bo. Next years center will have zero game reps. That tells you something about how long a coach is planning to stay. Win right now or build a long term plan. Bo is a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Merry holidays huskers. You are officially the Missouri of the Big Boring 10.
You have no clue as to what you are talking about and should stop before you hurt yourself. EVERY decision Bo has made since his hiring has been geared toward the long-term stability of the program. This has only been reiterated in the coaching search where he made no effort (of which we are aware) to get a “big name” ringer that would only run the Defense for a few years. Instead, he brought in a coach familiar with the new conference and promoted from within — kind of like Devaney and Osborne, but those guys never won anything, I suppose.
Boise is everything NU used to be and is not anymore. Smart, disciplined, motivated, and fundamentally sound. They would beat Nebraska by 21 points—minimum.
Maybe, but the next week they would lose to somebody because they would be flat playing the schedule we do.
I agree Boise could not survive the BIG schedule as a 1 or 2 loss team.
right. the B10 is pathetic.
Did anyone notice that Greg McDermott (#3) and Harrison Barnes (#6) were high school teammates? How often does that happen?
And it wasn’t at some stupid basketball “academy.”
Thanks Dirk, have a Merry Christmas!