Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Mo Watson Blues

During Monday's MLK Big East marathon, Creighton PG Mo Watson tore his ACL against Xavier and was lost for the season. It's a devastating blow for a team with Final 4 aspirations.

Before we get too far, I'll say Creighton was going to need some luck to be a Final 4 team. Defensively, they're 54th in AdjustedD. They do have a dynamic offense capable of running anyone off the court.

As for Watson, he was the Bluejays lead dog. A point guard in the truest sense, he scored 13ppg to go along with 8.4apg. He lead the team in minutes played and was 5th in the nation in assist rate.

Despite those gaudy numbers, I believe Creighton can still be as effective without him. Isaiah Zierden, a senior guard will see more time. While not as dynamic as Watson, he does have a higher offensive rating. He's definitely not as prolific an assist man but he's deadly from deep. He doesn't attack the rim like Watson, so a team that didn't get to the line that much, will suffer even more in that regard.

The player I think that needs to be more involved will be sophomore guard Khryi Thomas. Thomas already plays a lot of minutes but doesn't have a high usage rate. He's 60th in the nation in offensive rating. He's 46th in effective fg% (64% from 2, 40% from 3). He's also 47th in turnover/steal rate & nearly 10% better in turnover rate than Watson. He is a much better rebounder as well. I won't be surprised if Khyri Thomas becomes a household name sooner than later.

Mo Watson was a great player. He was going to be second team All-American at worst. It's a huge blow to the Creighton psyche and rotation but they have guys that can replace a lot of what he could do. Can they? That's the million dollar question but don't be surprised if Khyri Thomas and Marcus Foster form a back court to be reckoned with come March.

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