Sunday, December 21, 2008

'Cats must learn to win on the road

This loss is not nearly as big a deal as some have stated. The fact is Northwestern is 7-2 this year and has a chance to make the postseason this year. The key, though, is playing better on the road. NU is 1-2 this year on the road. Their only win was at Brown and more or less occurred because Craig Moore was unconscious during the game’s first half and single handily put the game away. NU’s freshmen, especially key man John Shurna, have seriously struggled on the road. This needs to change because if NU wants to make the postseason they need at least three wins (out of nine) on the road in conference play. Their best chances are the opener at Penn State, at Iowa, and at Indiana. That’s not to say NU can’t pull off a road upset, but those are the best chances. To win any road games, though, NU needs Shurna and his teammates to get more comfortable. As I stated before this game, good teams don’t worry about the team they are playing or where they are playing. They simply play basketball. When the Wildcats get on the road they seem to let the environment get to them. This cannot happen. Shurna and his teammates need to trust their skills and concentrate and doing their jobs. The offense you run at home against Central Arkansas is no different than the one you should run on the road against Wisconsin. Let’s hope the ‘Cats learn that lesson sonner rather than later.

2 comments:

macarthur31 said...

True. I agree that they need 3 road wins to have a viable shot at any postseason.

I do think as the 'Cats get into the Wednesday-Saturday flow of the regular season, they'll figure the road out. They'll only have 3 road games in this non-con slate (out of 10).

I'd love for us to pick off that roadie at Bryce Jordan to kick off the season. That would assuage any concerns I have about us being able to play our game on the road.

Rowley and Shurna are going to end up being very important. If they can both stay out of foul trouble, and be enough of a factor inside -- that should free up Moore to do his thing from the perimeter.

Unknown said...

I think that we need to learn how to capitalize when our opponent shoots 3-10 from the stripe down the homestretch. Responding with such pitiful execution on our end is unacceptable, no matter how "bad" a team may be.