Just Down Right Bad

Northwestern was just flat out bad in this game. They couldn’t hit enough shots to stay in the game and they turned the ball over so much they missed chances to get more shots. I’m sure a lot of people will blame Bill Carmody for this loss because that’s just what is done at Northwestern, but it’s not his fault that his players just seemed completely overwhelmed tonight. I’m sure he prepared them for the fact that Washington was going to play pressure defense. They just clearly didn’t get the message.

I think the key to Northwestern’s failure to win in the Big Ten Tournament and in this game was the fact that point guard Dave Sobolewksi was overmatched against very athletic teams. It’s also possible he just burnt out at the end of season after playing nearly every minute of every game, but the fact of the matter is his production when the season was on the line was less than impressive. It’ll be interesting to see if Tre Demps helps put NU on more even footing athletically at the point guard spot when NU faces very athletic competition.

The loss isn’t all on Sobolewksi, though, the fact is believe it or not Northwestern had chances to make a run in the second half, but just missed far too many open looks. Yes, Sobo had some of those, but he wasn’t the only one. Reggie Hearn was so cold I thought on saw icicles on his nose.

To be honest, other than John Shurna I’m not sure Northwestern had a player who looked to have any idea how to put the ball in the basket tonight. Making matters worse, Northwestern actually got some steals and made probably more stops against Washington than I thought they would, but it didn’t matter because they couldn’t even finish on fast breaks. Washington sure could, though.

Washington was far more athletic overall and really just made Northwestern look bad. I still think Northwestern could have hung around if they’d made more shots, but Washington was the better team. They handled Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone really well and NU couldn’t play man-to-man because Washington would have scored at will.

This is disappointing because it ends a season which while tough at moments, was mostly filled with good competitive basketball with a game which was anything but competitive.

As I said above, this game was lost due to turnovers and missed shots. That’s not the fault of the coach, but this might still be Bill Carmody’s last game at Northwestern. This major laying of an egg type performance is the type of game that gets a coach fired. Whatever the case, Jim Phillips needs to make some decision on Carmody’s future because his contract runs out after next season and he can’t coach 2012-13 as a lame duck. That’s not a productive way to run a program. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. I suspect we will hear something on that issue very soon.

I really am sorry the season ended this way for John Shurna, but let's remember his great record setting career and hope that he makes an NBA roster as that would help build the NU basketball brand for young people out there as much as anything besides making the NCAA Tournament.

Same Old Story

This game played out like seemingly countless games during the regular season. It’s a sad story, but it’s the true story of this team. They’re close, but it doesn’t seem like they’re close enough. Maybe being in seventh place in the Big Ten will count for something when Selection Sunday rolls around, but the official rule is the committee can’t consider conference affiliation. Still, I tend to think the seventh place Big Ten is a lot better than some second place team in a lot of mid-majors.

Honestly, Northwestern probably isn’t an NCAA Tournament and I’ve said that before, but they’re about as a good as a team can be without being an NCAA Tournament team and that hurts a lot. I mean they’re basically two plays away. If the proper call is made when Drew Crawford was fouled at Michigan or if Dave Sobolewski hits his runner at the end of this game then the Wildcats are in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, those events didn’t go NU’s way and now things look pretty bleak.

A lot of people will want to blame Bill Carmody for this loss because that’s just what Northwestern fans do, but the fact is the two guys who deserve blame today are John Shurna and Dave Sobolewski. Shurna missed two front ends of 1-and-1 foul shots when the ‘Cats could have extended three point leads to five point leads and Sobolewski looked scared all day leaving shots short against the Gopher pressure all night. I’d also add that since he missed some early shots that Drew Crawford did nothing, but was anyone really surprised by that once his first shot didn’t go down?

Basically, Shurna, Crawford, and Sobolewski choked away this game. Some will say that’s too mean, but it’s a fact. When you front rim as many shots at they did that’s the sign of a choke. That right there tells you they don’t deserve to be an NCAA team. Also, I can’t say Bill Carmody is really blameless because the only player on the NU roster who has proven to actually have some guts is Alex Marcotullio and Carmody sat him for the game’s key moments.

JerShon Cobb did step up and basically he’s now NU’s only NCAA hope. Somehow, NU needs to hope that the committee decides that Cobb would have made a difference in enough losses that NU is better than their record, but the truth is NU is what their record says. After all, Cobb played great today and NU still couldn’t win.

I don’t know what to think right now in terms of looking at a possible NIT berth. I mean odds are NU will be one of the top-4 NIT seeds. That’s huge because the odds are that the first game will be one which NU isn’t actually jacked up for because of the disappointment of not making the NCAAs. At least if in round 1 NU can get an easy win maybe by round two they’ll realize that basketball is basketball and at least they’re playing for something. The Big Ten should get at least three teams in the NIT and so I expect that NIT to be pretty competitive, but if NU focuses they’ll have a great shot because they’ll have home court advantage all the way to NYC.

As for the NCAA Tournament, I’d say NU still has a 10% chance of making it, but I hope that’s not enough for people to actually want to have cameras in Evanston on Sunday. All that’s going to do is make the team more depressed and that’s not what we want right now. We need to get focused on the NIT and a chance to actually win a championship. It’s not the title people want to play for, but for Northwestern it would mean something.

Biggest Win in Program History (Until Thursday)

Northwestern started slow, exploded in the middle, and hung on late, but the end result was positive enough that the ‘Cats escaped with a 70-66 victory in Iowa City which puts NU at 8-10 in the Big Ten for the year and places the ‘Cats as the #7-seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Today’s win combined with a win on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament against Minnesota will give NU a strong case for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. A win on Thursday and Friday in the Big Ten Tournament will likely put NU into the 68-team field for certain.

Today’s win wasn’t easy. The ‘Cats were down 15 early and things looked kind of bleak. A switch to the 1-3-1 zone which continues to confound Iowa brought the ‘Cats back into the game and eventually allowed them to take a seven point halftime lead. That lead shrunk in the second half thanks to some good Iowa defense, but some clutch free throws by Dave Sobolewski and Alex Marcotullio allowed NU to get away with the win.

John Shurna was held in check by the Hawkeyes, but I was really impressed with the way the rest of NU’s team stepped up. Drew Crawford was the headliner as he scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. He also made 6-of-7 free throws after going 1-of-5 from the free throw line on Wednesday night. Crawford really does seem to determine his success based on his first shot and after his first free throw feel in today he had a great day at the line. He also had a career high 5 steals and was one of several Wildcats who was very active in the 1-3-1 zone.

Another Wildcat who was active in that zone was JerShon Cobb who scored 13 points and made several clutch shots. He might not be 100% yet, but his ability to be on the court and in the rotation has been huge as it allows NU to balance playing time a little more and be at least somewhat fresher in the game’s final moments than they were earlier this year.

Cobb combined with effective play from Reggie Hearn and Alex Marcotullio make Northwestern a team which has options and support for Drew and John. That support was there today. It really wasn’t vs Ohio State. If the NU stars get support from the supporting cast, then NU has a great chance to win games. Even David Curletti stepped up today with 7 points his four offensive rebounds helped NU get 11 second chance points which is a stat the ‘Cats rarely are strong in.

So now it’s on to the Big Ten Tournament and Minnesota. It should be a good matchup for NU in the sense that they should be able to employ the 1-3-1 zone thanks to Minnesota’s lack of depth shooting. The Gophers have athletes on the glass, but if NU turns them over and shots decently from three it seems like NU’s got a chance to get another biggest win in program history.

Resume Game

If I were to honestly self-evaluate I’d probably have to admit that my constant harping on the fact that Northwestern isn’t an NCAA Tournament team has been a defense mechanism to prevent myself from once again being disappointed when Selection Sunday arrives. But for better or worse seeing the Wildcats play a fantastic start to finish game in front of a raucous Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday night has started to cause me to crack. I’m looking at the schedule from now until the Big Ten Tournament and I’ve come to the conclusion that with a win Tuesday night against Michigan the Wildcats will have the inside track at being the seventh Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament field. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but the facts support that belief. The Northwestern Wildcats are on the threshold of history.

A little history was made on Saturday night when John Shurna set the NU record for career points. Shurna’s a great player and a great representative of Northwestern University. He’s a humble star who genuinely seems to simply appreciate the chance he’s been given by Bill Carmody and the NU staff to play college basketball. Perhaps it’s because Shurna wasn’t some type of basketball prodigy. He wasn’t a star as a freshman or sophomore in high school, didn’t even become a starter until his junior year, and wasn’t highly recruited by big conference schools other than Northwestern. That’s not the typical track for a guy who might be the Big Ten Player of the Year. The typical track is the one taken by many of the guys Shurna and his teammates face on most nights in the Big Ten.

Tuesday’s opponent, the Michigan Wolverines, bring some of those highly touted recruits to Evanston, but the fact is this is a team Northwestern can match up. The Wildcats lost to UM in overtime the first time the schools met and with a few more made free throws would have been the only team to win at Michigan this season. Part of the reason for this matchup is that Michigan isn’t huge size-wise. Starting center Jordan Morgan is about the same size as John Shurna and Davide Curletti. He’s got some athletic skill, but he won’t tower over the ‘Cats like Myers Leonard did. Along with Morgan the UM front court features 6-8 Evan Smotrycz. He’s a good three point shooter at 41%, but he’s not as athletic as NU’s Drew Crawford, Reggie Hearn, or JerShon Cobb meaning those guys have a shot to guard him man-to-man. I feel the same way about Zack Novack who is another good shooter, but shouldn’t be able to get away from the ‘Cats trio of athletic defenders. Plus, if Michigan wants to play man-to-man they better hope Morgan is in position to block shots because Tim Hardaway Jr. can only guard one of Hearn, Crawford, and Cobb. The other two should have positive matchups for getting into the paint.

Stopping Michigan for Northwestern will be a case of stopping Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke from getting easy baskets at the rim and not letting Michigan get hot from three point range. I’d say that NU will start in the man-to-man and might stay in it much more than they have in past games. It’s possible NU will switch a lot in the man-to-man, but I think it is probably better than the 1-3-1 to contain Michigan. Look for Crawford to guard Hardaway and Hearn or Cobb to guard Burke with the other getting Smotrycz. That’ll leave Dave Sobolewski on Novack, but despite Novack’s height advantage I think he can handle the job.

On offense the key for Northwestern in their recent success has been Sobolewski and the rest of the supporting cast. I’d watch him closely, but I also thought that JerShon Cobb wasn’t that far off on his shots on Saturday. He just had a little bad luck. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cobb becomes the next complimentary scorer for Shurna and Drew Crawford. Both these teams are coming off of big wins, but the ‘Cats have home court advantage in this contest, not to mention the fact that this is essentially a tournament game for NU. Let’s hope the crowd handles it that way as well. I predict: Northwestern, 68 Michigan, 65

Record Setting Win

John Shurna set the NU scoring record on the shot which I believe was the most critical of the game. Minnesota had just cut NU’s lead to seven points, but Shurna’s record setting three from the top of the key put NU back up by ten and seemed to eliminate any chance of a Gopher comeback. It was a big moment for Shurna and this is a big win for Northwestern. Of course, as excited as one might be about this game, which I’ll admit I billed as the biggest of the year, the Michigan on Tuesday now probably replaces this contest with that billing. Playing a Michigan team coming off a win over Ohio State and that will likely be ranked in the top-15 in the nation will give NU the chance to get a win which will boost their resume significantly. I’ve been something of a doubter throughout this year, but I’ll say that if Northwestern beats Michigan on Tuesday they are an NCAA tournament team, however, that’s a tough game which is far from an automatic victory even with a great Welsh-Ryan Arena home crowd like tonight.

Aside from John Shurna’s big shot, I thought the best part of tonight’s game was JerShon Cobb. Back from his injury, Cobb was fantastic at the top or the bottom of the 1-3-1 defense. Even though he didn’t score many points, Cobb’s intense defense netted four steals and disrupted Minnesota all night. If Cobb adds some offense to his game between now and the end of the season he could be the key guy in NU’s run towards that first NCAA berth.

Obviously, once again in a key game Dave Sobolewski stepped up big time. He’s been the key to a lot of NU’s significant wins this season. Tonight, Sobo hit four three pointers and seemed to understand what was just the right time to push the ball and be aggressive. As a result, he led the team with 22 points in 35 minutes and totally out played any of Minnesota’s guards. It was in many ways Sobolewski’s best game all year despite the fact that he only dished out one assist and he’s been listed all year as one of the top assist guys in the NCAA.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the rest of the ‘Cats also contributed to the win as well. Drew Crawford made some key early shots and got a great ally-op dunk on a pass from Alex Marcotullio. Reggie Hearn played good defense and had some nice drives to the hoop and Davide Curletti took a shot and made it and played really good defense all night. This win was team effort and with the NCAA bid on the line that same effort will need to be brought on Tuesday vs Michigan.

Northwestern Faces Tough Test at Indiana

This probably isn’t a game Northwestern is looking forward to playing. With Indiana’s ability to hit three point shots NU’s 1-3-1 zone becomes a liability. With Luka Mirkovic seemingly relegated to the bench due to a nagging injury, NU doesn’t have a center who can match IU’s Cody Zeller in terms of size. What’s NU going to do? I have no idea.

One might say that the 1-3-1 clogs the paint and so playing it could at least prevent Zeller from getting the ball. However, Indiana is one of the best shooting teams around and with Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, and Matt Roth the Hoosiers could probably tear apart NU’s zone as long as they didn’t make the mistake of tossing the ball away before getting a shot. It I were coaching NU I’d probably start the game in man-to-man. Sure, NU’s big guys might have an issue with Zeller, but the rest of the man-to-man matchups should be at least semi-competitive for the Wildcats. Victor Oladipo is a tremendous athlete who might have an advantage over whoever guards him, but I don’t think he’d be able to totally dominate Drew Crawford. Crawford for all his faults might be the most athletic player Northwestern has ever put on the court.

Really, the key to winning for Northwestern is going to come down to the offensive side of the ball. Indiana is going to get a decent number of points vs NU. They did in both games last year, but the ‘Cats still came away with two wins because they were able to score. It’s a little depressing to note that in one of those two games both Luka Mirkovic and JerShon Cobb scored in double-figures and both seem to be non-factors right now, but NU still has a potent offense. Getting production from behind the three point line from Reggie Hearn, Alex Marcotullio, and Dave Sobolewski is one key to NU winning. The other is Drew Crawford playing a full 40 minute game. I’m assuming John Shurna is playing well enough right now that he’ll do his usual job of getting at least 19 points.

All in all, I have to admit I don’t like how this game breaks down for Northwestern. I think Indiana has too much fire power both inside and out for NU to pull off the W. Especially on the road. I predict: Indiana, 77 Northwestern, 73

Purdue Out Shoots Northwestern in the Second Half

The bottom line on this game is that Purdue out shot Northwestern in the second half and Northwestern didn’t shoot that bad. Purdue just shoot amazingly well. Now, some of that might be a signal that Northwestern still isn’t a great defensive team, but did anyone think they were? If teams don’t turn the ball over vs NU’s 1-3-1 then Northwestern struggles to stop them and Purdue only turned the ball over five times all day. Unlike Iowa who struggled to get passes across the court vs NU’s pressure, Purdue had no problem. I’m going to lay some of that blame on the lack of depth NU has because I thought NU did a better job pressuring the ball in the first half and trailed off in the second. Some of that, though, is Purdue with better talent and more experienced guards than Iowa.

I don’t want to write NU off as I did after the first loss to Purdue because the ‘Cats showed an ability to comeback. However, they’re now in a tough spot and are paying for missing chances early in the year with the close losses at home to Purdue and Illinois and the road loss in OT at Michigan. If NU losses at Indiana (which seems likely to me) then the ‘Cats will have dropped to 5-8 in Big Ten play with five games left. That’ll be a tough spot to make a run to reach the 9-win plateau which many have focused on when talking about postseason expectations.

John Shurna had a really big game tonight with 30 points but he basically got no support. Sure, Drew Crawford had some moments and Reggie Hearn and Dave Sobolewski did scrape into double figures, but none of those three were the constant scoring threat they’ve been during the win streak NU had before today. Also, Alex Marcotullio was a non-factor as he struggled to get shots and take care of the ball and, no shock, Davide Curletti and Nick Fruendt played like they were invisible on offense. Again, some of the credit for that goes to Purdue, but some of the blame has to go to NU just not executing and missing chances to covert at the hoop. Drew Crawford was most guilty of that and then he managed to get himself tossed from the game. Now, the fact is the call made by official Tom O’Neil was wrong, but as I’ve said before, Drew Crawford more than any other NU player seems incapable of handling struggles. Whenever things go wrong for Drew he looks upset and then starts to make poor choices. Today was an extreme example, but I don’t think NU’s in great shape next year (or really the rest of this year) unless Drew matures a whole lot. Can that happen? Sure, but some people are just who they are and Drew doesn’t seem like someone who would respond real well if his coaches pointed out the fact is he’s too emotional. He’d probably just get emotional. I think he’s basically a really nice kid who hasn’t really yet learned to recover when things don’t go right.

As I said above, lot’s of credit to Purdue. They ran offense really well. Now, personally I would have fouled Terone Johnson anytime he tried to drive the lane because he’s like a 41% free throw shooter, but with only a six or seven man rotation maybe that wouldn’t be a good plan. JerShon Cobb played today long enough to shoot a free throw. I don’t know what that means for his future. Luka Mirkovic was ruled out before the tip. I know that’s not good.

Wildcats Looking to Extend Winning Streak in Game at Purdue

Riding a three game winning steak and on the heels of their best game of the season, Northwestern will take on Purdue Sunday evening in a clash of two teams who stand evenly matched in both talent and the Big Ten standings. It is a game which undoubtedly holds significance for the postseason fate of each squad.

When the teams met in Evanston a couple weeks back Purdue came away with a 58-56 win that looked at the time to essentially be the death kneel to Northwestern’s season. Somehow, though, Bill Carmody managed to hold his team together and they’re now on the verge of essentially making a full recovery from that near death experience.

In order to make that recovery at Purdue, Northwestern needs to handle Purdue’s pressure defense far better than they did in Evanston. Purdue, for the most part, has played some of the best defense in the Big Ten this year. They’re consistently aggressive in pressuring the ball and they tend to make life tough for teams that like to toss the ball around the perimeter. On the face of it one can see how this is a tough matchup for Northwestern, however, the truth is that the Princeton Offense is geared towards beating pressure defense. It just seems that sometimes NU forgets this. Hopefully, having seen Purdue recently will give NU some confidence this time around. Key players are Dave Sobolewksi and Reggie Hearn. Both have played great of late, but both seemed a little shocked at the intensity Purdue brought to the game when the teams met the first time. Hopefully, their success over the past few games gives Dave and Reggie some more confidence to stay aggressive and not back down from Purdue when the Boilermaker defense gets tight. In fact, I’d love to see NU consistently spread the floor to create driving lanes for Sobo, Hearn, John Shurna, and Drew Crawford. Once that happens, outside shots should open up. It would also be nice if Luka Mirkovic could play and take advantage of the small Purdue team, but both Luka and JerShon Cobb ought to have their pictures on Milk Cartons because they’ve been missing for a long time.

Purdue is going to try to win with their defense and by, as they did last time, getting just enough offense. D.J. Byrd is coming off a career game vs Ohio State and Ryne Smith and Robbie Hummel have already shown NU their ability to hit big shots. The biggest offensive key for Purdue, though, will probably be how well guard Lewis Jackson does at breaking down Northwestern’s zone defense. NU was far more intense than they usually are defensively on Thursday vs Iowa and if they bring that same intensity to Purdue then Jackson is going to really have to step up for Purdue to win.

This should be another very close game in the Big Ten. Of course, it seems about 90% of the games in the Big Ten go down to the wire so maybe that shouldn’t be a shock. Purdue’s advantage is they’re at home and they’ve had some extra rest. NU’s advantage is they’re the hot team right now with a three game winning steak compared to Purdue’s two game losing streak. Purdue did play two good teams in Ohio State and Indiana to get those losses, but in both cases the usually solid Purdue defense struggled. If those struggles continue Northwestern has a chance to do some damage with their small spread court offense. I predict: Northwestern, 73 Purdue, 69

Best Game of the Year

Tonight’s 83-64 win over Iowa was the best game Northwestern has played so far this year. If the ‘Cats had been a little better from the free throw line I might say it was as good as they were capable of playing. Regardless, I thought Northwestern ran their offense to perfection and played very strong defense getting their hands on passes in the 1-3-1 and making life equally difficult for Iowa to score when in man-to-man.

This win is NU’s third in a row and that winning streak correlates with the emergence of other scorers for the ‘Cats beside John Shurna and Drew Crawford. The most significant to me is freshman guard Dave Sobolewski. Sobo stepped up tonight with 23 points and 7 assists (against 3 turnovers) in 40 minutes of action. He also recorded four steals. It’s tough replacing what Juice Thompson did last year for NU when he played as well as any Wildcat I’ve seen in his final 10 or so games, but Sobolewski seems to be now where Juice was when Juice was a sophomore or junior. Juice led both those teams to the postseason and Sobolewski seems to be leading this team in the same direction and maybe even to a more prestigious spot in the postseason.

Another non-star who stepped up for NU was Reggie Hearn who followed up his 20 point game versus Illinois with 16 points tonight vs Iowa. Alex Marcotullio started slow, but pretty much ended the game himself when he went on an individual 9-0 run that put a stop to any Iowa hopes for a comeback.

As far as NU’s stars, Drew Crawford, like did vs Illinois, wasn’t as significant as some other guys in the scoring column (11 points tonight), but he makes an impact on defense and on the glass and tonight dished out four assists. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drew have a huge game Sunday at Purdue as Drew tends to be a streaky player and the percentages say his outside shot will fall more Sunday after two games where he’s struggled from distance.

John Shurna was his solid self on offense with 17 points. He needs to make more of his free throws, but actually the play that impressed me most with Shurna was a rebound. He tapped the ball up to himself then controlled it in the midst of a couple Iowa players. The getting that 50/50 ball just seemed to show the intensity with which Shurna was playing and I’ve seen the same focus the last few games. If Shurna and his teammates keep that focus up they’ve got a real shot to pull off a couple upsets in the next week.

Finally, I have to give some credit to Nick Fruendt who saw some action tonight. He knows what’s going on and while he hasn’t scored in this game or the win over Michigan State, he saw significant action in both games and with Luka Mirkovic and JerShon Cobb still on the bench; Fruendt is an important player for Northwestern.

Where Are We? What Does It Mean? Are the Questions to ask as Northwestern Plays Host to Iowa.

I said before the Purdue game that I thought I’d be better able to evaluate Northwestern after their next three games. The Wildcats went 2-1 in those games and could have gone 3-0. They actually outrebounded teams and played with as great a sense of urgency as a Bill Carmody team ever has. What does that all mean? It means that somehow Northwestern now stands at 4-6 in the Big Ten. That’s not great, but it also means that the ‘Cats have a very good chance at winning at least four, if not five, more games before the end of the season as long as they continue to play with the same focus and intensity they have brought to their last three games.

Northwestern still has some issues related to defense and depth has been a problem, but they’ve gotten better efforts from their supporting cast, especially guard Dave Sobolewski in the scoring column, these past two games and that has been enough to push NU into position to earn another shot at playing their way into the NCAA Tournament. And that’s what it really comes down to at this point. The ‘Cats have eight regular season games left. No doubt if the season ended today the ‘Cats wouldn’t make the Big Dance, but unlike past seasons where it seemed NU was just prepping for a late season collapse, this year’s team seems to be positioning themselves at a spot where a good stretch run could play themselves into the history books. The first step is to beat an Iowa team that NU seems to matchup with favorably.

Iowa’s 5-6 Big Ten record is obviously similar to Northwestern, but Iowa seems to be a far less consistent team than Northwestern. As depressing as most of NU’s losses have been, they’ve really only been out of three games all season. Iowa has had some great wins, but they also have days where they simply don’t play defense. While defense isn’t a strong point for Northwestern either, offense is a strong point for the Wildcats and if Iowa doesn’t step it up on defense it’ll be a big day for John Shurna, Drew Crawford, Sobolewksi, and Reggie Hearn. Also, Iowa doesn’t start a player over 6-8 so if Luka Mirkovic can return from his injury this and the Sunday game at Purdue (who also doesn’t have a starter over 6-8) could be two games in which Luka could make his presence known on offense and really regain his confidence.

Iowa’s offense starts with Matt Gatens who is an excellent shooter and someone NU can’t afford to let get his feet set against the zone. The Hawks also have guard Roy Devyn Marble who has shown the ability to score in a number of ways. If NU goes man-to-man look for Marble and Bryce Cartwright to try to force Sobolewski guard them on drives to the hoop. Inside Iowa freshman Aaron White has hit the glass well during Big Ten season, NU can’t allow the freshman to give Iowa second chances. Hopefully, that’s where NU’s size advantage plays a role.

I’m counting on NU’s offense in this game. I think Iowa will score some points, but from watching the Hawkeyes this season, I don’t think they’ll stop Northwestern. I predict: Northwestern, 88 Iowa, 74

Finally! A Worthwhile Road Win!

After seemingly eons (or at least three years) of waiting for Northwestern get a road win over an opponent who was respectable, Northwestern pulled out a very solid 74-70 win over Illinois on Sunday. For the record, I want to note that if you check my prediction while I thought it would be a lower scoring game, despite my feelings about how disappointing NU has been this season, I did predict that the Wildcats would win this contest. Now as to the team itself, this was a great win for NU and it was critical that NU got solid production from all six players who played meaningful minutes. It wasn’t always in points as David Curletti got one point and Alex Marcotullio got two, but those guys impacted the game on defense and with rebounding while John Shurna, Reggie Hearn, Dave Sobolewski, and Drew Crawford combined to score enough points to push the ‘Cats to victory.

I think Illinois did NU something of a favor in not subbing all that much and thus not gaining any significant advantage due to NU’s lack of depth and by not giving the ball to Myers Leonard every time down the court. However, NU took advantage of that much more than they might of in the past and ran the offense with total perfection in the second half which resulted in many easy looks for John Shurna who finished 11-of-15 from field and moved into second place on NU’s all-time scoring chart. It also caused NU to avoid any prolonged scoring drought which stretched for 5-10 minutes as we saw the first time these teams played.

The well run offense also led to some chances for Dave Sobolewski to get to the basket and aside from missing a couple free throws I actually thought this was his most assertive offensive game since NU’s big win over Michigan State (I’d note that him being so assertive and NU winning big games probably isn’t a coincidence). He not only drove the lane late in the shot clock but in fact tried to make things happen by attacking the goal at many times in many ways. As a result, Reggie Hearn benefited with some open threes which he knocked down in the first half and with some very nice backdoor layups as well. I also thought that Drew Crawford played a pretty good overall game. He didn’t seem to force as many shots and he led NU with four assists in the game.

In the end, though, I think this game was won on defense. Yes, Illinois might have won if they’d given Leonard more shots, but the ‘Cats coaching staff did nice job calling switching defenses which at times seemed to confuse Illinois. I also thought that for the most part NU at least made it difficult for Illinois to get the pass they wanted. Yes, sometimes they got that pass, but it wasn’t easy and they were forced to really work. That paid off once NU made them work equally hard on defense and is part of the reason for the late backdoors. Those backdoors and Shurna’s attacking the glass also led to NU scoring more points in the paint despite Leonard’s dominate performance. That’s huge and it shows that Northwestern can be more than a three point shooting team. That’s a good lesson for NU long term and while this game isn’t the type of win that makes NU as nationally relevant as the Michigan State win, it is a game that will keep NU fans interested and hopefully help fill Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday when Iowa comes to town.

Wildcats Get Much Needed Win

It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but the end result was just what Northwestern needed. A ten point win over Big Ten rival Nebraska offers the ‘Cats a chance to relax and feel like they ended the first half of the Big Ten season on a positive note. While overall the first half didn’t totally go as NU planned with just a 3-6 record, tonight’s result offers hope that the second half of the year can be better.

The key to NU winning games is getting a third scorer beyond just John Shurna and Drew Crawford. Tonight that third scorer was Dave Sobolewski who posted 15 points, 5 assists, and a team-high 6 rebounds. Consistent play from Sobolewksi on offense could help stabilize Northwestern as they go through the second half of the Big Ten and face several teams that they probably should beat.

Another key factor tonight was the fact that John Shurna showed a willingness to take over the game. I was impressed with how Shurna used both his outside game and his ability to attack the hoop. His end result of 28 points featured both a nice inside and outside game and he made almost all his free throws which was an issue in NU’s close losses earlier this season.

Drew Crawford also did a nice job attacking the hoop today and not forcing as many unnecessary off balance shots, though, there were still a few. The end result was 21 points and several huge baskets when Nebraska started to try to make a comeback. I was also impressed with Crawford making an effort on defense in NU’s 1-3-1.

Issues which existed in this game were the fact that NU still doesn’t have consistently solid defense and as a result will allow teams to go on scoring runs such as when Nebraska made 10-of-11 shots to start the second half. Also, the ‘Cats don’t get any production from the center spot as Davide Curletti finished tonight with just four points. Starting John Shurna at center seems to be an option, but NU’s lack of depth means that Shurna can’t stay at that spot all game. Therefore, at some point the ‘Cats need to get Curletti or Luka Mirkovic to have a positive impact on a game.

NU could certainly use more healthy players for the next part of the season, but so far Luka and JerShon Cobb remain hurt and Nick Fruendt seems unlikely to crack the lineup for any length of time despite having some success in limited action over the last two years.

Northwestern Basketball: It’s Like Groundhog Day

Hmmm. This looked a lot like the Illinois game. Northwestern played hard and even outrebounded their opponent, but lack of offensive punch outside of Drew Crawford and John Shurna ended up costing the ‘Cats the game.

The positive today really was the hustle and rebounding that Northwestern showed. The negative was the fact that the center position with Davide Curletti was a non-factor and the ‘Cats really didn’t get much offense from Reggie Hearn or Dave Sobolewski either. Also, Northwestern missed some free throws early in the game and those misses are an issue in a two point game as they were in one point games vs Illinois and Michigan. The free throws and the number of silly turnovers were perhaps my biggest issue today as I thought that this wasn’t a very fundamentally sound game for NU. Sadly, that seems to have been the case since the loss to Illinois which was also the result of missing chances due to stupid turnovers and missed free throws.

Also like the Illinois game I’m shocked at NU’s last play. What the hell was that? Once it was clear that it was going nowhere with one timeout remaining I’m not sure why NU didn’t call one. It was pretty clear after Purdue switched when Sobolewski drove past a Crawford screen that whatever was planned wasn’t going to work. At that point a timeout needed to be called.

The lack of fundamental play from this team really has me frustrated and that last play looked so freaking stupid that I just want to throw things. Northwestern is now going to play Nebraska on Thursday to see who isn’t the worst team in the Big Ten. In a year when some people thought Northwestern was an NCAA Tournament team. That’s really bad.

Whether you agree or not it seems pretty clear that Bill Carmody will be fired at the end of this season. Personally, if I were Jim Phillips and I knew I was going to make that decision, I would seriously consider firing Carmody now. You’d get a look at what Tavaras Hardy, who by all reports is NU’s main recruiter as a coach, can do as a game coach and you’d also be able to start making subtle inquires for a national coaching search. At this point to sit through 11 more games where Bill Carmody is a lame duck in every way except an official announcement is just stupid. Let’s do something that actually makes it look like we want to move the program forward.

Rebound. Yes!

They finally did it. The Wildcats rebounded both in basketball terms and mentally to get their second quality win of the year. It’s easy to look at today’s game and then look back and really be frustrated by the losses NU suffered to Illinois and Michigan, but you can’t do that. You need to focus on today’s success and use that as a potential jumping off point for a sustained run of success.

The Wildcats still ran into some old problems such as their continued struggles at the free throw line and they seem to have issues at times recognizing that they are being doubled teamed and as a result miss getting the ball to open shooters. However, some of the other major issues the Wildcats have had such as turnover trouble and rebounding were taken care of today. The ‘Cats turned the ball over just seven times compared to MSU’s 14 and while Michigan State did outrebound NU by 12, the Spartans didn’t have many three or four shot possessions which just cut the heart out of NU’s effort to sustain momentum. I truly believe if NU plays as well on the glass as they did today and shoots free throws as well as they can that Northwestern will have a chance in virtually any game they play.

Part of Northwestern’s success on the glass today came as a result of finally getting production from the center spot. Davide Curletti ended the day with a team high six rebounds but it wasn’t just the number. It was that twice he turned offensive rebounds into points. It was that his hustle keep the ball alive and seemed to inspire NU’s other guys to hit the glass.

Thanks to Curletti getting 17 points and finally giving NU a center who was willing to take and make an outside shot, the game seemed to open up for NU’s other players to drive the lane. Dave Sobolewski found his way to the hoop several time as did John Shurna, Drew Crawford, and Reggie Hearn. While Shurna and Crawford were, as one would expect, the big scorers in the game, you can’t discount the performance from the other guys on NU’s team. Especially when you consider that Shurna, Crawford, Curletti, Hearn, and Sobolewski basically played the entire second half thanks to Luka Mirkovic’s ineffectiveness and JerShon Cobb and Alex Marcotullio’s injuries. Those issues also caused Nick Fruendt to get off the bench for seven minutes today and while he really didn’t go anything on offense or get a rebound, he wasn’t abused by superior athletes as so many people have feared he would end up being if he played.

I mentioned NU still struggled from the free throw line, but John Shurna did make 10-of-11 which was huge because he wasn’t hitting a ton from the field. This once again brings up the question why he wasn’t allowed to shoot the technical against Michigan, but I’ll try my best not to dwell on that fact. The guy who did shoot that technical was Drew Crawford and he had a nice day today as well (though only made 1-of-2 free throws) making some nice drives to the basket, mid-range shots, and hitting three threes. Dave Sobolewski took care of the ball with seven assists and only one turnover.

I’m not sure NU can go a real long winning streak without getting healthier, but it was good to see that even without Marcotullio to sub for him in the second half that Reggie Hearn kept making plays. He pulled down some key rebounds and made a couple nice baskets around the hoop which were in key in NU’s ability to hold the lead.

Overall this was a great and much needed win for the mental state of not only this team but the NU fans as well.

If the 'Cats can win at Wisconsin next week then I'll be willing to get back to talking tournament.

Oh yeah, and if the Big Ten is willing to let us wear those black jerseys at home I say we wear them every game until we lose. They've got to be okay on the road becasue they're a dark color and I guess based on the fact we wore them, that we're allowed to wear them at home too.

Game vs Illinois Might Answer Some Questions For NU

I have no idea what to make of this Northwestern team and based on the various comments I’ve read from fans and the media neither does anyone else. Right now Northwestern is 11-3 through 14 games. They’ve played 10 teams they were almost certainly better than and won those 10 games. They’ve played two teams (Ohio State and Baylor) who they were almost certainly worse than and lost those games. And they’ve played two teams (Creighton and Seton Hall) who they were probably about even with and split those two games. Being able to consistently beat teams they are better than is a good step in the right direction for NU and losing to teams that are better is no shame, but the key to making the NCAA Tournament is going to be posting a better than .500 record against teams who NU matches up with evenly. The best way to that better than .500 mark is to win the contests at Welsh-Ryan and steal a couple on the road. In the end that would probably give NU 9 or 10 Big Ten wins and the result would be the NCAA Tournament.

The above paragraph becomes important because Illinois is one of those teams that NU is pretty even with. Sure, Illinois might have more flat out talent, but when the teams hit the court (especially in Evanston) the combination of a home court advantage and a more fine-tuned offensive system should even it out for NU. That means as Glenn said in the comment to the picture below, this really is a must-win game for NU!

The 12-3 Illini enter this contest coming off a road loss to Purdue and holding just a 3-3 record away from home. In other words, the Illini have been strong at Assembly Hall, but average away. NU holds that strong 46-3 record versus unranked opponents at home since 2008.
This is a pressure game for Illinois as well with them losing to Purdue and barely beating Minnesota at home. Their once promising could slip away if they drop this contest to the ‘Cats. It’s also a big game for Bruce Weber who despite his 205-89 career record is taking a lot of heat from Illinois fans for the team’s lack of postseason success and inability to compete for the league title in recent years. If Illinois is going to compete for anything this year they need to focus on getting 7-1 center Myers Leonard the ball. Leonard puts up 13.4ppg and 8.3rpg, but he shoots 61% from the floor. If he got the ball more he could average 20ppg with ease. The problem is it seems at times Illinois isn’t sure what type of team they are. Are they inside team with Leonard scoring in the post and Brandon Paul (12.3ppg) driving the lane or are they a jump shooting team with D.J. Richardson (40.6% 3PT) and Paul taking outside jump shots? What they should probably be is an inside-outside team that gets Leonard going early and then kicks to ball outside for open looks because aside from Richardson nobody on the Illini has much success shooting from the arc. The numbers look like this for the rest of Illinois’s projected starters:
Paul…28.4%
Leonard…25%
Sam Maniscalco…30.4%
Tyler Griffey…28.6%

To me that means NU should start in the 1-3-1 until Illinois proves they’re going to have an above average shooting game. The ‘Cats need to pressure the ball in that 1-3-1 and clog driving lanes, but a solid 1-3-1 that forces outside shots from people not named D.J. Richardson could be a recipe for success.


On offense I think we can probably assume Luka Mirkovic isn’t going to have a ton of success scoring on the block versus Leonard. That’s fine. Move Luka to the high post and let him distribute the ball to Shurna and Crawford who can attack the basket matched up on Griffey and Richardson respectively. If that works Illinois will have to sag into the lane and then the Wildcats can look again to Dave Sobolewski and Alex Marcotullio to boost the scoring from behind the arc.


Finally, I’ll say that the last key to this game for NU is intensity. That’s why Alex Marcotullio has to be a big factor. Without referees Big Ten basketball would basically be a street fight (it almost is anyway) and Alex is the only NU player who when you look at him has a facial expression that looks as if he just stepped off the set of Rocky V. If Alex can get the rest of the ‘Cats to have the same intensity on defense and the glass that he has I expect to see a Northwestern win. I predict: Northwestern, 70 Illinois, 65

Wildcats Pickup First Win Over Penn State in Five Years

A solid second half which saw Northwestern shoot 71.4% and outscore Penn State by 15 was enough for NU to beat Penn State 68-56 for their first Big Ten win of the season. The win was the Wildcats first over Penn State in their last seven tries and moved the Wildcats record in their last 46-3 in their last 49 games against unranked opponents. The game didn’t start great as Penn State led 26-23 at the half and NU got outrebounded by 11 in the first half and looked sluggish. Thankfully, the ‘Cats rebounded in the second half thanks to some hot shooting and a stronger defensive effort keyed by Alex Marcotullio’s effort off the bench.

Aside from Marcotullio who I will talk about more a little later, I think Drew Crawford stood out above the rest of the Wildcats tonight. Drew played very strong defense on Tim Frazier helping hold the Penn State star to 16 points and forcing 4 turnovers. In addition, Crawford led the Wildcats in scoring 21 points and being assertive towards the hoop, but within the offense. The result was him taking just two threes, but making both and converting going towards the hoop on several occasions early in the second half. When Drew plays within the offense and plays with confidence he can be a special player.

I was also once again impressed with Dave Sobolewski. He played hard and early on seemed to be the only Wildcat who was focused on the game. For the day Sobolewski scored a career high 20 points and I was pleased he did so in a variety of ways. Yes, he was notable as a three point shooter, but he also found several routes towards the hoop to drive and score. Adding that skill to his game will make Sobo a better threat throughout the Big Ten season.

John Shurna was the third Wildcat in double figures with 17 points. It was a solid game. However, it was clear Penn State was very focused on stopping him. As a result, I’m starting to think Coach Carmody needs to go into his files and find some of his set plays which are geared towards getting one guy a shot. The Princeton Offense is great, but it is truly an offense which is set to get an open shot for whoever is open. At times you need to get your best player a shot and those special plays can make that happen when the defense is overly focused on him.

As promised earlier I want to talk about Alex Marcotullio. I thought it was notable that Northwestern played harder when Marcotullio was on the floor. His hustle on defense and his effort to fight for rebounding despite his small size seemed to motivate Luka Mirkovic and some of the bigger Wildcats to fight on the boards as well. I’m leaning towards starting Marcotullio if I’m Bill Carmody, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The major areas of concern for Northwestern continue to be free throw shooting and rebounding. Luka Mirkovic did grab 11 rebounds for NU, but Penn State still outrebounded the Wildcats by nine. Free throw shooting was simply bad with the center position going 2-for-9. I know Luka and Davide can play better and I hope we see that at the free throw line and all over on offense on Wednesday.

Wildcats Finish 3 Games in 4 Days Stretch at 3-0

Okay, everyone can relax now. John Shurna still knows how to make three pointers. After an abysmal performance against Central Connecticut State, Shurna rebounded just over 24 hours later today to score 32 points total and make 9-of-12 threes. The performance left him one made three short of the Big Ten record for made threes in a game and officially tied for the NU record (NU did have Kenneth “Dion” Lee hit 10 threes in a game but NU voided Lee’s record when he was involved with a gambling scandal). Perhaps the most impressive thing about Shurna’s day was he clearly came into the game still confident even after his poor game yesterday. Shurna took shots early and although he missed his first, once he caught fire he seemed unstoppable. I feel like the only reason he didn’t hit a 10th three was that he didn’t get another shot. He also dished out 5 assists and found a number of teammates for open looks which helped the Wildcats make 54.2% of their shots.

Really, it seems like NU has a number of players who can step up and make big shots. Yesterday’s hero Reggie Hearn only attempted one shot (and missed) but Shurna got scoring support from Luka Mirkovic, Drew Crawford, and Dave Sobolewski who all scored in double figures.

Mirkovic is a player who we all agree can be frustrating, but he’s also critically important to Northwestern’s success. Today, Luka played one of his best games scoring 18 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists. Yes, the competition from Eastern Illinois wasn’t spectacular, but Luka has the potential to play at a high level. He just somehow needs to find consistency. Can he do that in next 20-some games of his career when he hasn’t in three-plus years? I don’t know, but I’m holding out hope he can. You never really know what is going to cause someone to change their outlook and approach and I think we all agree Luka’s biggest issues are in his head. Yes, he’s not Jared Sullinger, but he’s still a Big Ten center. Somewhere along the way between now and the final game of his career in purple maybe he’ll realize that.

Drew Crawford is another player who NU needs to get consistent and unlike Mirkovic it seems Crawford has made it to a point in his career where he can be a consistent threat to score the basketball and help run offense even if his three point shot isn’t falling. Today despite making just one three, he scored 14 points and provide 6 assists against 0 turnovers. He also stuffed the stat sheet with 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 7 rebounds.

Another NU player who consistently plays well is guard Dave Sobolewski. Taking over for Juice Thompson is not an easy task, but so far Sobolewski has been up to the task. Today he scored 12 points and tabulated 3 assists while only turning the ball over once.

The biggest issues I leave this game with are related to defense and free throw shooting. With all the shooters Northwestern has they should be a good free throw shooting team. Therefore, I’m hoping they’ll step up that aspect of their game very soon. The bigger concern has to be defense. Northwestern has success with using the 1-3-1, but they can’t become overly reliant on that defense. Early in the year NU’s man-to-man was somewhat better, but it seemed to slack at bit recently. Against Baylor it was talent issue and perhaps the last couple days it was simply exhaustion. Nonetheless, the way NU plays man-to-man needs to be better quickly because the ‘Cats have two tough road games in the next 10 days, but those tough games also make for great opportunities. As I wrote a couple days ago, change may be a process and not an event, but at some point in that process one needs to take advantage of the chances the events along that process present.

Northwestern Starts Busy Stretch With Easy “W”

This game was pretty much what we expected. Texas Southern struggled on offense and NU used a balanced attack which put four players into double figures to cruise to an 81-51 win. I think NU fans had to be impressed with the athletic skill shown by NU tonight as Drew Crawford had two dunks (one off an ally-op pass from John Shurna), Shurna put down a dunk, and Reggie Hearn slammed one home as well. Those dunks came off of fast breaks which NU created due to getting some steals using their athletic skill. Overall, it was a good day for the ‘Cats and while I won’t say this erases the Baylor loss, at least that’s not the last thing that happened for NU.

One of the guys who certainly needed to rebound from the Baylor game was Luka Mirkovic. Luka’s play tonight still won’t get him listed amongst college basketball’s elite centers, but he was far more solid than he was versus Baylor. Was Baylor much better than Texas Southern? For sure. But getting good play from Luka is so key for NU that I’m thankful whenever he plays well. Tonight, I was thankful to see Luka demonstrate skill as a passer with five assists, though, I wish he’d have scored a bit more.

NU’s leading scorer was John Shurna who certainly stepped up his game in the second half as did JerShon Cobb. Shurna’s 20 points and 5-of-7 made threes were a nice bounce back from the Baylor disaster. Cobb finished with 10 points and looked really rusty early on in the first game back from a concussion. In the second half, though, he seemed to relax and let the game come to him a bit more. As a result, he ended up hitting some open shots and looking more comfortable on the floor. He’s a big player for NU especially while Alex Marcotullio battles a foot injury. At some point I’d like to see Marcotullio and Cobb both healthy at the same time for NU, but it seems as though that hasn’t happened at all in the last year and a half.

I think when people talk about this game and look at the stats they’ll wonder how NU could hit 13 threes in this game and not even make five versus Baylor. Obviously part of the answer is who the ‘Cats were playing, but it’s still good to see NU once again show the three point touch. I really liked seeing Dave Sobolewski hit the high-point of his young career with five made three pointers. Sobolewski was 5-of-8 shooting for the night with all the attempts from three point range.

NU’s other double figure scorer was Drew Crawford with 17 points. Perhaps even more impressive than his points, Drew had 5 assists and 0 turnovers and recorded two steals.

NU only gets one day off now before playing a decent Central Connecticut State team. I’m excited to see NU play that game because it should provide an increased competition level from tonight and will give us a little more insight into what this NU team really has. Of course, we might have to wait until the tough road tests in late December against Creighton and Ohio State to really know.

Northwestern is Back in Action Versus Texas Southern

I fully intended to post more thoughts between the end of the Baylor game and now, but I just never found the time. I was, as we all were, upset with the way the ‘Cats played versus Baylor, but I haven’t given up hope for the NCAA Tournament just yet. Still, I do think NU needs to improve from where they are now if they want to make the Big Dance. Especially as the rest of Big Ten looks strong with the possible exception of Penn State and Iowa.

1-6 Texas Southern shouldn’t present much of a challenge to NU and that’s probably a good thing after the loss to Baylor. The Tigers are a team that lost 62-46 to Denver in their last game so they clearly are not an offensive powerhouse. In fact, they’re pretty much the antithesis of that. They rank second to last in the NCAA in points per-game as a team with only 50.9 on average. Omar Strong is their leading scorer with 13 points per which does mean he averages more points per-game than anyone on the roster of the Stony Brook team NU almost lost to earlier this season, but I’m not worried about the Wildcats in this contest.

NU will be without guard Tre Demps who elected to have his season ending surgery and redshirt this year. He’ll most likely join fellow freshman Mike Turner as a guy who will watch all this season and then have the opportunity to step into a larger role next season. I think this is the right move as Demps was never 100% and guards Reggie Hearn and Dave Sobolewski have handled things just fine as NU’s starting backcourt. The concussion injury to JerShon Cobb has been an issue for NU, but he should return to action in the future much closer to 100% than Demps would ever have been this year. Hopefully, we’ll see Cobb on the court if not tomorrow at least at some point over this weekend stretch of three games in four days.

It really is important for NU to get off on the right foot in this game and get their confidence back. The effort against Baylor was so poor that even those who have been so beaten down by watching Northwestern basketball over the years had to leave Welsh-Ryan feeling like they’d been somehow wronged by the cosmos. Personally, I think my mistake was I confused my understanding of the concept of change. I’ve waited for years to be able to see NU get a big upset win and then say, “That’s it! That’s the win that’ll change what Northwestern basketball is.” It’s a nice dream and I’d convinced myself the Baylor game would see that dream given form. The problem is that in fact change isn’t an event it is actually a process. What we all need to believe as NU fans is that the process of change for Northwestern basketball is ongoing. It’s hard to believe when watching a game like NU played versus Baylor that such an event could in anyway be part of that process, but in fact it can be. In the end that process has to take Northwestern to the NCAA Tournament sometime in the future (preferably before my death). Will that happen this season? Honestly, I have no idea and beating on Texas Southern isn’t in anyway going to answer that question. Nonetheless, winning big ought to feel pretty good. I predict: Northwestern, 88 Texas Southern, 47

NU Embarrassed in High-Profile Loss to Baylor

I don’t know what to say. I really thought the wheel had turned enough that this Northwestern team would be able to handle the pressure of a big game and compete and win. They couldn’t. This team in fact really looked worse than last year’s squad in big games. Dave Sobolewski was outmatched by Baylor’s quick guards and Luka Mirkovic was as clueless as he’s ever been and that’s really saying something. Luka’s had some nice games, but when he plays his last game for NU in March I seriously doubt NU will have a major drop off at center next year no matter who plays it.

I’d also say that this game pretty much shows John Shurna isn’t an NBA player, though, I’m not sure anyone ever thought he was. Shurna will probably still get drafted in round two and play in the preseason, but if he wants to make money in basketball long term it’ll be overseas against players who play a game that isn’t as based on athletic skill and that feature more finesse.

I was also really disappointed in Drew Crawford and his lack of assertiveness, but I think some of that was simply proving the concept that while Drew Crawford is “Northwestern-athletic” he’s not really athletic.

The worst part, though, was every player on the court for NU looked intimidated by Baylor. That’s awful and something that needs to change if Northwestern ever wants to be anything. Other teams will be better, but at some point NU needs to be mentally ready to play a big game. Aside from seeing Juice Thompson do that last year, I can’t think of another NU player who clearly showed mental toughness.

At least the crowd was good, though, too bad they didn’t see anything from Northwestern which will make them want to come back.

NU now takes time off for finals and that’s maybe not a bad thing. They still have a shot at a big win when they play at Creighton, but that’ll be a tough game as well.