NCAA Basketball: Top 10 most watchable teams throughtout 2019-20 season
By Max Hastings
2. Creighton Bluejays
Snagging the runner-up spot for the most watchable team in the nation, the Blue Jays had one of the most surprising mid-season turnarounds in Division 1. After losing 3 of their first 4 games to start the New Year, seemingly taking them out of tournament consideration, Creighton rallied down the stretch winning 10 of their last 12 games, winning the regular-season championship in the Big East.
They did it by getting back to the modern style of basketball that Coach Greg McDermott has made an extremely successful career out of with the Blue Jays. In an interview with NBC Sports, former Blue Jays star Grant Gibbs said Coach McDermott’s offense has four main focus points: run the floor, set early ball-screens, space the court and let it fly from deep. That mindset emulates exactly what I’m looking for in an offense, and it’s also exactly what Creighton did during their run down the stretch.
The team ended the season inside the top-60 in every single Watchability category, including 14th in Offensive Rating and 15th in Effective FG%. Coach McDermott, like most coaches who produce watchable offenses, deploys a three-guard lineup, all of which are absolute snipers from deep. The three guards, Ty-Shon Alexander, Marcus Zegarowski and Mitchell Ballock all shoot at least 40% from 3 on at least 6 attempts per game.
What’s even scarier than those numbers is that all 3 players should be returning to Creighton next season. Coach McDermott is going to have a great chance to take his school to their first Final Four in the program’s 100-year history.