After last season I made a wish list for 2009-10, I thought it would be fun to see what wishes came true. At some point soon I'll make a similar list for next year. My comments about the results of these wishes are in bold.
- Kyle Rowley to use his size to his advantage. It seemed too often this year despite being 7-0, Rowley played like he was 5-11. Okay, so this clearly didn't happen, though, Kyle had some moments like getting a couple post baskets vs Purdue. In the end, though, I think he really needed a redshirt season.
- Jeremy Nash to hit at least 2 threes a game. If Nash can hit threes he can then drive to the hoop and give NU another threat on offense. This did happen at the start of the year and NU won 10 of 11 games. It happened some in the Big Ten and NU won those games. When it didn't happen NU didn't win.
- Drew Crawford to provide NU with a player who cannot only score off the dribble, but who can guard other players who can score off the dribble. Crawford needs to work on defense, but some does everyone on the NU roster. He did score off the dribble and rebound and might be better on defense if he avoids injury next year.
- Alex Marcotullio to have Craig Moore like range. It didn't always show, but he's got it.
- Luka Mirkovic to consistently hit 15-18 foot shots. Didn't happen consistently, but Luka did do so once and a while.
- Kevin Coble to be first team All-Big Ten. N/A - This moves to 2010-11.
- The Wildcats to win at least 7 Big Ten home games. Should have happened, but you can't drop games to Penn State.
- The fans to fill Welsh-Ryan Arena for a non-conference game which NU wins. I don't know if it was full, but NU did have nice crowds for NIU and Stanford.
- The Wildcats to win on the road against an ACC team. Check. NU bests NC State.
- John Shurna to average at least 10 ppg and 5 rpg. Check and Check. Shurna more than met those marks.
- Northwestern finish games in which they have large leads. Overall not bad when the chance came. The problem was NU didn't get a lot of leads. The 'Cats ended up playing for down far to often in fact.
- Kevin Coble shoot 42% or better from three. N/A - Also moving this to 2010-11
- Ivan Peljusic to find a role where he can bring his excitment to the floor for at least 5-8 minutes a game. Sadly, this might never happen.
- Juice Thompson to hit 45% of his threes and be the best point guard in the Big Ten. He was at 41% and the second part is subjective. He was without a doubt the point guard who was most important to his team in the Big Ten. If he gets a real backup next year and only has to play 30 minutes he might make 55% of his threes with the extra rest for his legs.
- Northwestern to once again will all non-conference home games. NU lost to Butler. Butler lost to Duke for the NCAA Title. I suppose I can live with that loss.
- Northwestern to win at least two games in the Big Ten Tournament. Didn't happen, but should have. NU played poorly in the round two loss.
- Northwestern to play in the NCAA Tournament. Needs to happen next year.
- Northwestern to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Needs to happen next year.
- Bill Carmody to win National Coach of the Year. The first coach who takes NU to the NCAA Tournament has got to win this award. Needs to happen next year.
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2 comments:
The only problem with the last one is that simply making the tournament will not be much of an achievement if the field is expanded.
Any word on how the surgery went to remove the screws from Kevin C's foot?
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