Dan Shattil a.k.a. "woody"
After CU
I got my MBA in newspaper management at University of Illinois. I then managed a group of weekly newspapers in Columbus, Ohio for three years. In 1982 I became the general manager of the Daily Nebraskan at University of Nebraska. It's the equivalent of the Colorado Daily. I've been there since. I married Emily in 1987 and we have a 14-year-old high school student, Matthew.
CU Connections
In the 1980s, Nebraskans would feel sorry for me when I'd cheer for CU at football games. That stopped when CU became better. Matthew is a Nebraska fan (oh, well). We sometimes bet on the game. One year I bet that I would dye my hair red if Nebraska won. If Colorado won, Matthew would have to wear a Nebraska shirt to school. Luckily, Colorado won that year.
We attended the first CU Alumni family camp west of Ft. Collins. They took a group photos of the attendees in front of a large Ralphie balloon. That photo was used in the next two CU Alumni calendars. If you had a magnifying glass, you could have seen us.
A couple of years ago we went on a Mediterranean cruise to see the solar eclipse. It was led by the head of CU's Fiske Planetarium, who we had met at the CU family camp. We're going to see the next eclipse in July in China. Let me know if you want to join us. It's partially sponsored by CU alumni.
If you haven't heard the news already, it appears men's basketball coach Dana Altman has taken the head coaching job at Arkansas. We'll have breaking coverage following the press conference this afternoon and more coverage throughout the coming weeks as the University searches for a new coach (and maybe a new Athletic Director - more on that in a moment).
Indeed this is a Black Monday in Bluejayland with the loss of a great coach that helped make the program the success that it is today. And, if the rumors are proven to be true, he might be bringing Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen with him. The loss of those two could be a huge blow for the program and could make for an interesting few weeks. How do you hire a coach without an AD? And how do you hire an AD when the previous one, and preview coach of the main sport, left in such a hurry. Again, this is pure speculation, but if Rasmussen leaves, things could be grim for the Jays.
We will be providing updates throughout the process, visit http://press.creighton.edu for breaking coverage and The Blog for any thoughts that staff members have on the search process and where this will leave the program.
Teams are out warming up ... three minutes until tip.
CU ball to start.
Jays up 4 with 15 minutes left. Funk missed a layup, about the only way his seems to be able to miss, but Watts followed with a tough put back. Watts still is off with his shot. Tolliver was out, Gakou put in some strong minutes by denying Fazekas the ball. If Creighton can stop the Nevada guards from making some great shots, then the lead might expand here in the next few minutes.
47-43 Creighton, 13 left. Funk is just on fire, 16 points now.
47-45 Creighton, 11:45 left, timeout. Funk is playing very well for Creighton but they lack another offensive weapon with Tolliver on the bench with three fouls. Watts has not shot well at all so far, which has been trouble for Creighton. Funk should still be able to create his own shots, but the rest of the team will need to get things in gear if Creighton is going to pull this one out.
50-49 Nevada, 8:32 left. Both Tolliver and Fazekas have four fouls each, Watts got the fourth on Fazekas with a great charge. Fazekas appeared to be coming alive, this is a big break for Creighton. Watts has not played well on offense but has done well on defense on the boards, with seven. This one looks like it will go down to the wire.
52-51 Nevada, 7:49 left. Porter should be strong for the Jays down the stretch without Fazekas down low for Nevada. When will Tolliver and Fazekas check back in? That is the question resting on everyone's mind right now with both big men in foul trouble.
57-52 Creighton, 6 left. Three straight turnovers for Nevada results in a five point Jays lead. Credit Miles with strong defense on that one, grabbing two steals and making two layups in the process. A huge swing for the Jays. Tolliver and Fazekas back in.
59-57 Creighton, 3:14 left. Watts had two open threes but continues to be off the mark. Tolliver and Fazekas are both still around. Kemp is matching Funk with 18 points, he is the only thing keeping Nevada in at this point.
59-59, 1:37 left. Fazekas got open for an easy runner. Three seconds on the shot clock for the Wolf Pack. Nerves of steel are needed right now, it's going to be a close one to the end it appears. Funk is trying to get open but the Nevada guards have held him in check and he has forced a few shots. We'll have post game coverage either way.
59-59, 36.3 left. Nevada got two offensive rebounds to keep it alive. Creighton has been strong on defense but can't get to the rebounds. Fazekas missed an open shot from the top of the key that could have put the Wolf Pack up.
59-59, 1.4 left. Burleson threw it away, Creighton had a chance with Funk but he lost his handle, threw up a poor shot and Tolliver missed a put back attempt. Long three attempt by Shiloh is no good, we are going to overtime. I'll keep it in this one for OT.
OVERTIME:
66-62 Nevada, 3:06 left. Fazekas just fouled out ... huge for Creighton. Funk missed a FT earlier, has a chance now. Porter had a good drive and got the foul to keep CU in.
70-66 Nevada, 1:16 left. Creighton looks out of sync on offense, as they have a lot of the game. They took the shot clock down to under five two possessions ago, didn't get a basket. Nevada's guard are playing very strong on offense, barring a quick turnover here, the Jays could be in trouble.
72-69 Nevada, 31.1 left. Getting some good looks on offense, Funk nails a three to keep the game alive. They need a D stop now.
76-71 Nevada, .8 left. Jays are gonna lose. We'll have post game coverage at press.creighton.edu.
The score is 19-14 Nevada with 11:35 left in the first half.
Anthony Tolliver just picked up his first foul, oddly enough it was without Fazekas in the game. Tolliver had played well so far for the Jays, getting a few buckets from the elbow.
Jays have looked a little lost on offense.
Tolliver picked up his second foul, with a little under eight minutes left in the second half. This was something that the Jays did not want to happen. Manny Gakou will need to have some strong minutes for the Jays.
Creighton seems to be picking things up on defense but have missed some open shots offensively. Dane Watts is scoreless so far with three missed threes. And Nick Porter, considered the Jays "X-factor" by many, has two points but has not been able to drive to the basket, which is his biggest strength. The two of them will need to pick up the pace with Tolliver on the bench. 23-18 with 7:56 left.
Pierce Hibma tied the game with a three. If Watts isn't stepping up Hibma will need to have some big minutes for the Jays. The score is 25-25, 3:31 left in the first half.
Although neither team has looked strong offensively, the pace seems to favor Creighton, which is known for playing a slower more defensive minded game. Nevada would like to pick things up.
HALFTIME: Jays up 1 at the half, 32-31. This is the first halftime lead for Creighton in the NCAA tournament under coach Dana Altman. Both teams have looked rusty at times but have also made some unbelieavable shot, including Kyle Shiloh's shot-clock beater with 4 seconds left in the half. That three cut the Jays lead from four points to 1.
Notes of the first half: Funk has 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting compared to Ramon Sessions 9 points on 4 of 6 shooters for the leading scorers. Both big men, Tolliver and Fazekas have two fouls and have seen somewhat limited action. Tolliver has six points and three rebounds while Fazekas has four points and three rebounds. He also has three blocks, his defensive presence throwing of the Jays down low.
Looking at the box score, Creighton shot 43 percent from the field but only 18 percent from beyond the arc. Nevada has shot 41 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. The rebounding edge goes to Nevada by four points, but Creighton wins the turnover advantage with only two.
More to come in a separate post about the second half.
Update: Swing in favor of the Jays, CU leads 32-28 with 38.3 seconds left in the half. Nate Funk leads with 10 points, 6 of 7 from the field. Fazekas has four points and three boards with two fouls. He has looked winded and out of it this half. Much like Randal Falker of the Salukis did in St. Louis. With that said, he still has the talent to get hot here soon.
NEW ORLEANS - Memphis finally showed some strength in the second half by pulling away from the 15the seeded Mean Green. But on the whole, I really don't know if Memphis is a top eight team in the country. The team that I just saw was not a top eight team. They played well, have some athleticism but also have plenty of flaws.
About 20 minutes to tip off here at the New Orleans Arena. Michael Stacy and I are courtside with updates.
The already half-full Arena has cleared out following Memphis' win, so the crowd will be sparse for the Nevada-Creighton matchup. This crowd will pale in comparison to the full Scottrade Center of a few weeks ago. 22,000 pack that house but today will be under 10,000. The New Orleans Arena holds 19,000 but is not a sellout.
NEW ORLEANS - The Tigers have been capitalizing on many UNT mistakes and now have a 14 point lead.
One thing that has bothered me about both teams is their carelessness on fast breaks. Both teams have missed multiple opportunities on fast breaks that have been blown with attempts at dunks. For UNT they have just missed straight dunks, while Memphis has tried, unsuccessfully, for alley-oops. It hasn't been a great display of basketball and, you would hope, that most teams would finish with the easy lay-up instead. I know that nothing fires a crowd up like a crazy dunk, but nothing hurts a player's or team's momentum then a dunk off the back of the rim.
Back to the action. Keith Wooden, the big man for the Mean Green, is having a great game, keeping his team in it. And Joey Dorsey is a load down low for Memphis. He had 10 boards in the first half alone and has changed the game when in there, UNT has a hard time getting rebounds with him in there.
If you are looking for coverage of the Jays, we will be here with updates throughout the game. And you can read our pregame and post game coverage by visiting http://press.creighton.edu and clicking on the NCAA tournament coverage button.
NEW ORLEANS - I'm sitting courtside in a half-full (at best) New Orleans Arena for the North Texas-Memphis team. The UNT crowd is into this game and is at least equal to the Memphis crowd. The Mean Green are defintely quite mighty. Memphis has struggled from the field on their first two positions, but their defense appears to be overwhelming the Eagles, unless they get out on the break.
I will be interjecting my own, random thoughts throughout the game as we make our way towards the very important Creighton-Navada game.
A few thoughts on the trip so far:
-New Orleans is a proud and vibrant city that is slowly rebuilding. Bourbon Street is very much alive and should be hopping with college kids all weekend.
-The city really isn't ready for this type of event. Compared with other arenas there just isn't much demand for the NCAAs here. In comparison, the Qwest will be hosting the first and second round next year and the event is already sold out, here there are plenty of seats still available.
Also, as a side note, I have to pull for UNT in this game. Denton, the home of the Eagles, is not far from my house and it is always fun to see a 15 seed upset a 2. They are leading 12-9 right now and are playing great. Edit: 14-11.
UPDATE: Tigers on a big run, 35-28 Memphis with 2 minutes left in the half. The crowd is really in Memphis' favor, this place is nuts, UNT keeps turning it over, they have gotten too sped up, just aren't getting into their offense. Credit the Memphis defense, which as really come alive here to end the half.
No matter what, this Memphis team looks beatable for either Nevada or Creighton, whoever might face them in the next round.
A few notes on the teams:
-Both teams are very athletic and play a very up-tempo style but turn the ball over when they get moving too fast. There have been some strong fast break dunks so far to get the crowd into it.
-The big men for the Mean Green started strong and were dominating early, but Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey have come alive for the Tigers, which has helped spur their run.
-Don't be shocked to see UNT come out on a run to start the half, Johnny Jones is a good coach and will find a new attack to get big men Keith Wooden and Quincy Williams back into the game.
As I sit near gate G15 in the Minneapolis airport waiting for my flight to Memphis where I will then catch another flight to New Orleans, I thought I would post and let everyone know that we will have two reporters (Michael Stacy and I) and two photographers (Colin Conces and Courtney Wittmann) in New Orleans to cover the tournament. Visit our main page, http://press.creighton.edu, for complete tournament coverage.
As long as Internet access will allow, we plan on posting game previews and recaps as well as columns about our thoughts on the tournament and our experiences courtside at the New Orleans Arena, as well as plenty of photos. Check back often for our updates. And feel free to e-mail me at my Creighton account if you have any questions or suggestions for us, we are heading to New Orleans to provide you with the best coverage possible. I will even try and provide my thoughts on the Jays potential second round opponents, Memphis and North Texas, following their game tomorrow.
I will spare you a projection of the first game as my predicition for the Jays' seed certainly flopped, but at the very least tomorrow's game with Nevada should be a good, exciting game between two strong "mid-majors." It's defintely worth watching, to say the least. And both teams should have a shot at making it past Memphis and into the sweet sixteen in San Antonio.
