UPDATE (8:20, Tuesday): via Tom Crean's Twitter: "The surgery was successful and Dr. Ahlfeld feels very good about it. It certainly could have been alot worse. I know alot of you Have been worried about him and We all have been as well. We had a team prayer right at 2 o clock because we knew he was heading into (surgery)."
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It's late, but I thought I'd take a look at the impact of Creek's injury on the team, what might be in store for him in recovery, and who will be the candidates to replace Creek's significant contributions.
Conference blueprint for filling in
You don't even have to go outside of the Big Ten conference this year to get two similar examples of significant injuries to a team leader.
First, the still-trying-to-adapt: Ohio State. The Buckeyes lost Evan Turner, one of the nation's best players, to a broken back earlier this year. Turner will miss several weeks of conference play. In the four games since, OSU lost to Butler and has struggled in a couple other games against weaker opponents. David Lighty is still trying to fill in the role as the go-to guy, increasing his average from 11.3 points per game pre-Turner injury to 18.8 points per game afterward.
Second, the IU-could-only-hope-it-goes-this-well: Northwestern. The Wildcats lost returning leading scorer Kevin Coble to a broken foot before the first game. In his place, a trio of players has led this 10-1 team into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1969. John Shurna, getting almost twice as many minutes (18.5 to 33.5) as he did last season, has also doubled his production in every statistical category. He fit the mold exactly in the "next man up" mode, considering he has the same listed height and weight as Coble. Michael Thompson, meanwhile, has become the "go to" guy as the team's leading scorer, and freshman Drew Crawford has filled in a larger-than-expected role this season as he continues to improve.
I detail that because there might be three parts to filling in for Creek. First, Ohio State and Northwestern both turned to a new "go to" guy. Second, Northwestern had a specific player that attempted to fill the specific role of the injured player, even if the contribution level is different (for Ohio State, part one and two were the same player, Lighty). Third, Northwestern's key freshman stepped up to a larger role.
So how do these three roles get filled for IU? Follow the jump to read some scenarios and to contribute your own thoughts.
Adapting without Creek
Go-to player?
As Creek in the past few games emerged as a potential go-to player for the season (exhibit one: the UK game), that role will have to go to someone else. Which player? The first to turn to might be Christian Watford, currently the team's second-leading scorer at 12.5 ppg. Crean, in an interview posted on his Twitter account over the weekend, said he wants to see Watford improve on rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. If Watford could become an 18 points, 8-9 rebounds guy, he definitely would fill that role. We've seen those numbers (somewhat) in a few games this year. He went 17 and 11 against USC Upstate and posted 18 points in IU's win against Pitt.
Where do Creek's minutes go?
Watford's role as a "go to" guy does not mirror the type of contributions Creek made. He would be a different type of "go to" player. So, who's going to fill in those numbers (scoring, 3-point shooting, ball control) that Creek provided? That's the second part. Two players jump out quickly - both have a certain level of maturity since they played on last year's team. Those guys are Verdell Jones and Devan Dumes. Jones' stats are very similar to last year's, and he's shooting worse than he did last season. From a simple "who's going to play Creek's minutes?" standpoint, Jones will likely get a few of them.
Dumes, on the other hand, was the main player on the depleted 6-win squad. I would not be surprised to see Dumes' minutes quickly increase as he has the ability (although not at Creek's level) to be the 3-point threat and defensive presence needed on the court. It's taken awhile for Dumes to get comfortable in his new role, but he might be looking at an even newer role beginning on New Year's Eve against Michigan.
Freshmen contribution
It's easy to say with a young team that the rest of the freshmen will need to play in possibly larger-than-expected roles without Creek. While that starts with Watford, IU's success this season could depend partly on how much players such as Derek Elston and Jordan Hulls continue to improve. If there is constant improvement throughout the season, then filling in for Creek becomes easier. If not, could IU's conference win total not improve a whole lot from last season?
Creek's injury
Three quick notes on Creek's injury. Obviously, we'll probably learn more about the recovery process after the surgery.
- First, a medical redshirt is out of the question. An athlete has to participate in less than 20 percent of the team's games to qualify. IU has played twice that (40 percent of its schedule) already.
- According to the University of Michigan Sports Medicine Web site, a knee fracture often restricts an athlete to not be able to move the knee for 6-8 weeks and knee pain can recur even after the fracture is healed. Rehab begins when symptoms end.
- This is the same injury that sidelined the NBA's Greg Oden earlier this season. Oden, like Creek, will be out for the season.
What are your thoughts? How does IU fill in for Creek? How well will they do it?
