The Creighton men’s basketball program lost a lot of firepower from its 2024 Sweet 16 team with the departures of Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander to the NBA. Adding a playmaker to the backcourt was a priority for the coaching staff in the portal. Enter Pop Isaacs.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard entered the portal after two season at Texas Tech and chose Creighton over BYU and St. John’s. He averaged 11.5 points and 2.7 assists while shooting 37.8% from 3 in 2022-23, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman team. As a sophomore, he upped his production to 15.8 points and 3.5 assists per game to earn a spot on the All-Big 12 Third Team, though his efficiency cratered as he played through a hip labrum injury all season. Isaacs said the injury limited his mobility significantly and affected every part of his game, but he’s feeling good now and expects to feel even better by the midway points of the season.
“We recruited him out of high school,” Coach Greg McDermott said. “He made an official visit here when he was in high school, so I’ve known him and his family a long time. I’ve always been impressed with his toughness and, the guy absolutely hates to lose. He’s an incredible competitor, and he was All-Big 12, and we think we can help him in our offense be a little more efficient. We’re already starting to see the dividends of that as he understands that our offense will create some open shots for him.”
Why did Creighton men’s basketball make Isaacs a priority and what will he bring to the Jays? I took a deep dive into his freshman and sophomore tape and statistics with the help of Synergy Sports Technology to find out.
Overall, Isaacs was average in offensive efficiency (0.873 points per possession, or PPP, ranked in the 46th percentile) as a freshman and a tick below that as a sophomore (0.834 PPP, 32nd percentile). However, Creighton is betting on McDermott’s system getting more out of Isaacs than we’ve seen thus far, and there are certainly some impressive skills to build off of within his game.
Shooting
Isaacs’ best weapon is his jump shot. As a freshman, he ranked in the 76th percentile on all jump shots, shooting 35.2% with almost all those shots coming from beyond the arc. He shot 38.1% and ranked in the 73rd percentile on catch-and-shoot jumpers (41.7% and 71st percentile while unguarded, 35.1% and 66th percentile while guarded). The numbers weren’t as encouraging last season — 41st percentile and 30.8% on all jumpers, 35th percentile and 20.9% on catch-and-shoot looks. He still sank 40.3% of his unguarded catch-and-shoot looks (59th percentile), but those only made up less than 40% of his attempts as Texas Tech had a tough time creating space for him.
What stands out most about Isaacs, however, is his ability to hit shots off the dribble. As a freshman, he ranked in the 77th percentile in efficiency, shooting 39.3% from 3. That fell off to 27.9% from 3 as a sophomore, though he added a mid-range jumper to his arsenal, shooting 37.5% on 2-point pull-ups and ranking in the 53rd percentile overall on pull-ups despite playing through pain.
Isaacs has struggled significantly to score at the rim thus far in his college career, ranking in the 13th percentile as a freshman and 18th percentile as a sophomore while shooting 47% across the two seasons, though his attempts nearly tripled in year two (58-of-120). Steven Ashworth only attempted 42 layups all season last year (fourth percentile), which makes the backcourt fit between the two interesting.
Spot-Up
Isaacs was a combo-guard for Texas Teach as the Red Raiders had him share a backcourt with former Iowa point guard Joe Toussaint last year. Just over a quarter of his possessions came in spot-up situations playing off Toussaint and others. He was terrific in that role as a freshman while playing next to De’Vion Harmon, scoring 1.11 PPP (86th percentile) while shooting 44.3% on spot-up 3s and 5-of-11 on 3s off the dribble. However, his efficiency fell precipitously as a sophomore to 0.878 PPP (45th percentile). He shot just 32.6% on spot-up 3s and 3-of-12 on pull-up 3s, though he tripled his 2-point attempts while attacking closeouts (11-of-41, 26.8%).
Isaacs’ shot prep is consistent as he does a good job of setting his feet and squaring his shoulders, and he has a compact shooting motion. He moves well off the ball to find shot opportunities and has no problem launching from well beyond the college line. He can hit tough 3s off the dribble if chased off his spot, though he didn’t create much separation or show much burst to the rim when attacking. It seems the hip injury he played through as a sophomore impacted his shot significantly as the same kind of looks he made as a freshman went in at a much lower rate last year despite a similar process. He’s shot the ball at near-50% clip in live action situations in practice at Creighton thus far.
Pick-and-Roll Ball-Handler
On the ball, Isaacs is a proficient pick-and-roll player. Including passes, pick-and-rolls made up just over half of his offensive possessions as a freshman and nearly 40% as a sophomore. He produced 0.949 PPP (76th percentile) in 2022-23 and 0.945 PPP (69th percentile) last year. He was nearly perfectly balanced between scoring and passing possessions both years.
First, we’ll focus on his scoring. He ranked in the 51st percentile as a freshman and in the 56th as a sophomore, shooting 43.3% overall including 34.6% from 3 last year. He likes to catch defenders off guard by refusing screens or attacking before the screener arrives, and when he does use the screen he does so methodically, looking to force a switch or snake it and put his defender in jail. If defenders go under the screen, he’ll pull up from 3 and make them pay. He isn’t great at finishing at the rim, but he has a reliable floater or push shot and can hit the mid-range step-back as well.
Isaacs’ pick-and-roll playmaking is probably my favorite part of his game. He’s a live-dribble passer that can distribute the ball on the money with either hand. He does a great job of patiently manipulating the defense to create opportunities, delivering the ball where it should go based on how the defense reacts. Isaacs makes difficult skip passes consistently and is an adept lob passer. He anticipates the slip from his screener and delivers the ball on time when it’s open, and he also makes pocket passes or hits the big on a short roll when appropriate. He doesn’t shy away from trying to thread the needle at times with passes through incredibly tight windows.
Transition
Isaacs’ transition efficiency was dreadful as a freshman (8th percentile including passes). He improved significantly as a sophomore, but his 1.219 points per possession plus assist still only ranked in the 37th percentile, largely because of his own scoring struggles. Individually, he scored 0.830 PPP (16th percentile) and shot 33.8% from the field,
One thing McDermott has already praised about Isaacs is his speed, and he showed that plus his craftiness in the open floor at times, even if his lack of explosiveness hurt him as a finisher. He shot just 9-of-35 from 3 in transition, which is a combination of shot selection and shot-making as he both took some tough ones and missed too many open ones. He was also overly aggressive at times, attacking without a real advantage and forcing the action.
Despite the occasional tunnel vision, you can still see Isaacs’ ability to find teammates in the open floor, whether he’s leading the break himself or playing off the ball. He looks up the floor after a change of possession and is adept at taking advantage when his team has numbers on the break.
Handoffs/Isolation
Handoffs and isolation made up a combined 19.4% of his possessions last year, and although he showed some promise, consistency was lacking as he scored in the 32nd percentile in both.
Just like with spot-ups, he does a good job of setting his feet and squaring up coming off handoffs, but he only hit 10 of his 33 3-point attempts last year. He also made just three of his 16 2-point attempts as he rarely got downhill and created clean looks. At times, he commits himself and gets stuck in between, throwing up lob passes the defense was ready to take away.
Similarly, he didn’t create much separation in ISO situations outside of step-back jumpers. He’s capable of hitting some tough shots, but when tough is all you take, the end percentages aren’t going to look good in most cases.
Still, here’s a look at some of his best plays in both handoff and ISO situations.
Off Screen
The final offensive area in which he showed promise at Texas Tech is coming off screens. It only made up 8% of his possessions but he scored 1.040 PPP (68th percentile). He shot 10-of-19 on 2s and 8-of-25 on 3s; he knocked down a handful of long 2s off screens that shifted those numbers a bit. Isaacs does a good job running his defender off multiple screens then setting his feet on the catch to get off a good shot. He’s capable of re-setting after a fly-by and still making the shot or getting into the mid-range area off the bounce for floaters.
Isaacs is a good pick-and-roll player and is a much better shooter off the ball than he showed last season. Sharing a backcourt with Ashworth will allow Creighton to take advantage of both players’ skill sets on and off the ball. Both guards will have a terrific pick-and-roll partner in Ryan Kalkbrenner and we know McDermott has plenty of plays in his book to generate open looks for shooters. Isaacs has the skills the Creighton staff looks for in a Bluejay guard; the key for him will be shot selection and buying into the way Creighton plays on offense.
Defense
On defense, Isaacs lacks the ideal physical tools you’d like to see from someone sharing a backcourt with another small guard, but he competes on that end and comes from a program that really preaches defense. This is another area where the hip injury could have had a significant impact on his game as well.
Isaacs seems to have a good feel for where he should be on the floor in help situations and gives good effort on closeouts and rotations. That being said, he tends to fly out at shooters more than closing out under control and chopping his steps, and his lack of length limits how impactful his contests can be.
In screen situations both on and off the ball, he gets clipped more than you’d like to see and doesn’t really have the quickness to recover or the length for effective side or rear contests once he does. If he manages to get over or through the screen, however, he works hard to move his feet and stay in front of his man. A quick first step can give Isaacs problems in isolation situations, and there are times where he stays with his man but is just too small to affect the shot in the end. Teams weren’t able to take advantage of him in the post, however, as he showed strength and good technique in holding his ground.
Isaacs doesn’t have the length of Alexander or the quickness of somebody like Shereef Mitchell, and a backcourt of Ashworth and Isaacs is quite small. However, he’s willing to work hard on defense and generally knows what he should be doing, and having the best rim protector in the country waiting in the paint will make things easier for him as well.
Kalkbrenner’s presence will likely establish Creighton’s floor this season, but Isaacs could go a long way towards raising its ceiling. He’s a terrific pick-and-roll player and has the potential to be a knock-down 3-point shooter, traits that give him a chance to be a star in McDermott’s offense.
