This Northwestern team has managed to play more consistently hard than probably any in the Bill Carmoday era since they suffered an embarrassing defeat to Minnesota. However, tonight’s loss to Indiana simply shows that Northwestern just isn’t good enough to realistically expect to beat high level teams other than an occasional miracle upset such as when they beat Michigan State because Davide Curletti, who tonight didn’t attempt a shot, scored 17 points.
I said earlier this season that the only place Northwestern was an NCAA Tournament team was Fantasy Island and though it seemed we all were about to get on a plane to go there when the ‘Cats ran off three consecutive wins, I think I was in fact correct in that pronouncement. Sure, this wasn’t a game Northwestern was expected to win by anyone (myself included) but as it turned out all Northwestern needed to do in order to win it was grad a couple more rebounds, get an occasional stop in man-to-man defense, and not turn the ball over. Of course, those are just basic basketball skills, but Northwestern couldn’t do any of three. The Rivals.com message boards got in an uproar the other day because someone posted about who would replace Bill Carmody as head coach and some of the more ardent Carmody supporters went nuts because NU had won three of fours games. The fact is, though, that in 12 years Bill Carmody hasn’t been able to field a team that can consistently rebound or play man-to-man defense. That’s bad and I challenge anyone to say it isn’t.
What he has been able to do is craft an offense that gives NU the best chance to win games, especially when they don’t turn the ball over. In fact, I’d strongly argue that whoever replaces Carmody (if he’s replaced) keep the Princeton Offense as NU’s primary offense. The trouble over NU’s last two games has been NU has turned the ball over and missed getting shots. Since NU can’t rebound, they can’t afford to have possessions where they don’t get a shot as happens when the ball gets turned over. I put a lot of the blame for that on Davide Curletti. Curletti? You might ask. Yes, Curletti I might respond. There were at least three times tonight (and several in the Purdue game as well) when Northwestern turned the ball over after Curletti passed up a wide open shot. I’m sorry, but he’s a college basketball player. He has to take an open 17 foot shot or just go sit on the bench and we’ll play 6-4 Reggie Hearn at center, at least he’ll shoot the ball. You can’t play 4-on-5 on offense in the Big Ten. That’s killed Northwestern several times. It’s made so much worse by the fact that Curletti was the key offensive weapon in NU’s biggest win of the year. What happened?
Aside from blaming the fact that Curletti can’t play offense, I’m also blaming NU’s man-to-man defense. The 1-3-1 zone was as good tonight as it could have been given the opponent, but the Wildcats couldn’t get a stop in the man-to-man to save their lives (or at least their NCAA Tournament lives). Rebounding? It was bad too. I don’t know what else to say. I know some Indiana guys jump high than some NU guys, but come on Northwestern, at least get in the way of the white jersey on the way to the basket! That was terrible.
The odds are that despite their current 5-8 Big Ten record that Northwestern will somehow scrape together three more Big Ten wins. An 8-10 conference record is probably going to land NU a seed on the #1 or #2 line in the NIT. That’ll position the ‘Cats with several home games and really good shot at the semi-finals in New York. It’s not the NCAA Tournament, but it would be the best postseason spot NU ever entered. I guess that’ll have to be good enough because the problem is that until Northwestern learns to play man-to-man defense and rebound Mr. Roarke and Tattoo will remain the only people likely to see NU play in the NCAA Tournament.
P.S. John Shurna is the best player I've seen at NU by far.
Showing posts with label Indiana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indiana. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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
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
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wildcats Sweep Hoosiers, Get Road Win, Get Fans Back to Talking About Postseason
In this year’s Big Ten no team is bad and really only the top two or three teams are very good. That makes for a lot of exciting basketball and a number of unexpected results. Northwestern has to some extent actually had the most expected results as they still don’t have a loss to a team that is worse than them thanks to their 70-64 victory over Indiana today. With the win Northwestern moves to 16-10 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten this year. The Wildcats next game is at home against their arch nemesis Penn State. If Northwestern beats Penn State and moves to 7-9 in the league I’d say they’ve clearly shown improvement over last season and I think that’s the most important thing at this juncture for the NU program (though I still really want to make the Big Dance).
Realistically NU improves their NIT position with this win and if they can beat Penn State they greatly increase the odds of playing a home game in the NIT as Penn State is a borderline NCAA/NIT team that NU may compete with for a position.
Today’s win also marks NU’s second sweep of Indiana in the last three seasons, their second Big Ten road win of the year, and their second win in IU’s Assembly Hall ever. Those are some good twos and it was NU’s number 22 who led the ‘Cats to victory. Michael “Juice” Thompson scored 22 points while playing all 40 minutes. In the first half he got NU going with three big three point buckets then in the second half he iced the win by making clutch free throw after clutch free throw. For the day Juice made 11-of-11 from the line to lead an NU team that shot 21-of-25 from the free throw line. I think it is very important in the future for NU to start trying to get to the foul line more by driving the ball instead of settling for jump shots. Yes, NU made 11 threes tonight, but most of the game’s key plays that kept the ‘Cats with the lead were layups or pull-ups on drives or foul shots thanks to an aggressive approach.
Juice was supported today by great play from Alex Marcotullio and John Shurna. Marcotullio came off the bench when JerShon Cobb went to the bench early with fouls and responded well. Marcotullio scored 11 points on the day and supported NU’s effort with 4 assists and 4 rebounds as well. He also hustled on defense and did as well as anyone else in trying to defend the Hoosier’s attacks of the basket. John Shurna basically split the first half minutes with Mike Capocci because Coach Carmody wanted Capocci’s superior defense in the game, but when NU needed someone besides Juice to assert themselves on offense in the second half NU stuck with Shurna and he delivered 19 points on the night including three three pointers and also five rebounds. Shurna still doesn’t look 100%, but he is clearly getting better and I like the fact that he didn’t just shoot threes to score. I think NU’s three point shooting opens up after they attack the basket and I’d like to see Shurna, Cobb, and Crawford not settle for bad jump shots as much.
Drew Crawford did score 9 points tonight and made a couple big threes. Luka Mirkovic also hit a timely three (which set off an amusing little interaction between him, the IU fans, and IU forward Tom Pritchard) and finished with 6 rebounds, though, Luka was typical of himself and struggled to convert on a couple other chances. He was 1-of-4 in two point shots and the one he made was a jump shot. Even more worrisome than his inability to make layup was that at times Luka provided no defensive support inside and IU got some easy baskets. Overall, IU actually shot better than Northwestern from the field, but the ‘Cats work from three and free made the difference.
If Northwestern wants to beat Penn State, the whole team will need to play better defense and the shooting we saw tonight his to continue. The ‘Cats are now on something of a winning streak and to finish the year strong would a huge plus on their pursuit of any postseason bid.
Realistically NU improves their NIT position with this win and if they can beat Penn State they greatly increase the odds of playing a home game in the NIT as Penn State is a borderline NCAA/NIT team that NU may compete with for a position.
Today’s win also marks NU’s second sweep of Indiana in the last three seasons, their second Big Ten road win of the year, and their second win in IU’s Assembly Hall ever. Those are some good twos and it was NU’s number 22 who led the ‘Cats to victory. Michael “Juice” Thompson scored 22 points while playing all 40 minutes. In the first half he got NU going with three big three point buckets then in the second half he iced the win by making clutch free throw after clutch free throw. For the day Juice made 11-of-11 from the line to lead an NU team that shot 21-of-25 from the free throw line. I think it is very important in the future for NU to start trying to get to the foul line more by driving the ball instead of settling for jump shots. Yes, NU made 11 threes tonight, but most of the game’s key plays that kept the ‘Cats with the lead were layups or pull-ups on drives or foul shots thanks to an aggressive approach.
Juice was supported today by great play from Alex Marcotullio and John Shurna. Marcotullio came off the bench when JerShon Cobb went to the bench early with fouls and responded well. Marcotullio scored 11 points on the day and supported NU’s effort with 4 assists and 4 rebounds as well. He also hustled on defense and did as well as anyone else in trying to defend the Hoosier’s attacks of the basket. John Shurna basically split the first half minutes with Mike Capocci because Coach Carmody wanted Capocci’s superior defense in the game, but when NU needed someone besides Juice to assert themselves on offense in the second half NU stuck with Shurna and he delivered 19 points on the night including three three pointers and also five rebounds. Shurna still doesn’t look 100%, but he is clearly getting better and I like the fact that he didn’t just shoot threes to score. I think NU’s three point shooting opens up after they attack the basket and I’d like to see Shurna, Cobb, and Crawford not settle for bad jump shots as much.
Drew Crawford did score 9 points tonight and made a couple big threes. Luka Mirkovic also hit a timely three (which set off an amusing little interaction between him, the IU fans, and IU forward Tom Pritchard) and finished with 6 rebounds, though, Luka was typical of himself and struggled to convert on a couple other chances. He was 1-of-4 in two point shots and the one he made was a jump shot. Even more worrisome than his inability to make layup was that at times Luka provided no defensive support inside and IU got some easy baskets. Overall, IU actually shot better than Northwestern from the field, but the ‘Cats work from three and free made the difference.
If Northwestern wants to beat Penn State, the whole team will need to play better defense and the shooting we saw tonight his to continue. The ‘Cats are now on something of a winning streak and to finish the year strong would a huge plus on their pursuit of any postseason bid.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Short Turnaround Means NU has to be Ready for Indiana Fast
Bill Carmody made it clear he doesn’t like the fact Northwestern will go to Indiana with less than 48 hours of rest on Saturday, but the game is happening so both he and his players better be ready. I’m personally not so sure they will be, but it is not because of Carmody’s apparent dislike of the way the Big Ten arranged their schedule. My fear comes from the fact that Northwestern would double their Big Ten road win total of last year if they won this game and that would still only give them two Big Ten road wins. Basically, Northwestern has been a poor road team (never more obvious than last Sunday’s game at Penn State) for the last two seasons and now the future of Carmody and his team may rest on winning in two of the Big Ten’s most difficult environments. Certainly Indiana’s Assembly Hall isn’t the dominate force it once was in Big Ten circles, but Tom Crean’s Hoosiers are improving and for Northwestern to win there (and also double their all time Assembly Hall win total from 1 to 2) it’ll take a well rounded effort and those have been rare for the ‘Cats.
With John Shurna on the mend, Northwestern has to be feeling good, but Indiana got a good game from the recently injured Christian Watford when they played Michigan. Overall Watford’s at 16.8ppg and hits almost 40% of his threes. IU has a 12-3 record at Assembly Hall this year and lot of that has to do with how they shoot in their own building. Much like NU at Welsh-Ryan, the Hoosiers make shots at home and that makes them tougher to beat. NU must defend Jordan Hulls who hits 43.6% of his threes and scores just over 11 points a game along with backup guards Matt Roth and Victor Oladipo who also can hit deep shots. NU also needs to keep guard Verdall Jones III on the perimeter because Jones is the type of player who could terrorize NU getting to the hoop, but who can also be forced into turnovers and isn’t a great outside shooter. Inside, NU had an advantage when these teams first met and Luka Mirkovic had a career game with 20 points and 13 rebounds. It’ll be interesting to see if Indiana does anything differently with big guys Tom Pritchard and Derek Elston to try and contain Luka.
Northwestern wins this game if they to shoot well from three. NU struck early from three vs Iowa, but hasn’t had a real good shooting game in a while. With the short rest NU might be a little tired and not ready to hustle after loose balls and for some reason they only rebound well against Ohio State. Therefore, they’ll need to counter those liabilities (and extra IU possessions) with lots of threes. Juice Thompson needs to have a good full game, Drew Crawford and JerShon Cobb need to hit treys and somehow John Shurna needs to get over his conditioning issues and stay on the floor. If all that happens I think Northwestern will win in a high scoring game. The problem is I don’t think it’ll all happen. I predict: Indiana, 84 Northwester, 72
With John Shurna on the mend, Northwestern has to be feeling good, but Indiana got a good game from the recently injured Christian Watford when they played Michigan. Overall Watford’s at 16.8ppg and hits almost 40% of his threes. IU has a 12-3 record at Assembly Hall this year and lot of that has to do with how they shoot in their own building. Much like NU at Welsh-Ryan, the Hoosiers make shots at home and that makes them tougher to beat. NU must defend Jordan Hulls who hits 43.6% of his threes and scores just over 11 points a game along with backup guards Matt Roth and Victor Oladipo who also can hit deep shots. NU also needs to keep guard Verdall Jones III on the perimeter because Jones is the type of player who could terrorize NU getting to the hoop, but who can also be forced into turnovers and isn’t a great outside shooter. Inside, NU had an advantage when these teams first met and Luka Mirkovic had a career game with 20 points and 13 rebounds. It’ll be interesting to see if Indiana does anything differently with big guys Tom Pritchard and Derek Elston to try and contain Luka.
Northwestern wins this game if they to shoot well from three. NU struck early from three vs Iowa, but hasn’t had a real good shooting game in a while. With the short rest NU might be a little tired and not ready to hustle after loose balls and for some reason they only rebound well against Ohio State. Therefore, they’ll need to counter those liabilities (and extra IU possessions) with lots of threes. Juice Thompson needs to have a good full game, Drew Crawford and JerShon Cobb need to hit treys and somehow John Shurna needs to get over his conditioning issues and stay on the floor. If all that happens I think Northwestern will win in a high scoring game. The problem is I don’t think it’ll all happen. I predict: Indiana, 84 Northwester, 72
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Wildcats Survive “Defenseless” Second Half to Halt Losing Skid
Luka Mirkovic posted a career high 20 points and added 12 rebounds Sunday night.Northwestern’s now into the victory column in Big Ten play and John Shurna showed the ability to overcome his injury in posting 24 points and 5 assists to lead the Wildcats to victory. Those facts both have to bring a smile to the face of NU fans and Wildcat Head Coach Bill Carmody.
The biggest positive from this game from my point of view actually wasn’t Shurna. John was great, but the play of Luka Mirkovic really stood out for me as a key to NU’s success on the offensive end of the court. Luka finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds (5-offenseive 7-defensive). NU’s early efforts to get the ball inside to Luka against the smaller Indiana big men set a tone for the night which resulted in NU controlling the paint early (NU had 20 first half points in the paint) and getting a number of easy baskets so NU didn’t have to become overly dependent on threes. I’ve noticed now for a couple years that Luka actually has very good moves in the post. The problem has been his struggles in finishing at the hoop. Luka has probably led the Big Ten in missed point blank shots the last couple years. Tonight, though, when Luka got to the hoop he was able to use his size and finish. A couple times he not only finished, but finished and drew the foul as well. On Wednesday night Northwestern plays an Iowa team that like Indiana has big men who Luka is going to have a height advantage against. Luka hasn’t traditionally been a great road player, but if NU gets him involved early it could once again set the tone for the game.
A couple other Wildcats who stepped up in tonight’s win were Michael “Juice” Thompson and Mike Capocci. I thought Mike and Mike both in their own ways were key contributors to NU’s win. Juice scored 16 points and added a career high-tying 8 assists. Capocci came off the bench and along with Alex Marcotullio added some much needed energy for the Wildcats. In 14 minutes Capocci scored 8 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, blocked a shot and made 4-of-5 free throws. Marcotullio had 5 rebounds, 4 assists (only 1 TO) and scored 6 points. I would love to see Marcotullio get a little more consistent with his three point jump shot, but right now he is still a valuable player off the bench because he is a good defender and excellent passer who rarely puts the ball in the wrong place.
The Wildcats finished today 10-of-20 from three point range making the minimum 10 threes coach Bill Carmody says they need to hit in order to be successful. Shurna made 4-of-5, but credit also goes to freshman JerShon Cobb who made 3-of-4 and continues to look more and more comfortable as the season moves along. NU also got two huge threes from Drew Crawford when Indiana was making their comeback. Crawford still is struggling with inconsistency, but it was good to see him show up in the clutch.
As can be seen above most of NU’s positives were on offense. Defense is another matter. I will say that I was very impressed with the way Northwestern played defense in the first half. They hustled and tipped balls and did a great job fighting through screens. Then in the second half the regular Northwestern defense showed up. Indiana was able to get whatever shot they wanted in the paint and went from shooting 36% in the first half to 54.5% and 53 points in the second half. I think Northwestern simply needs to get more physical on defense, especially inside. NU has some strong athletic guys like Mike Capocci and Drew Crawford who I think could make life tough for the opposition in the switching man-to-man if they were a little more physical when guys try to drive on them. Improving the defense will be key as the season continues. Today the Wildcats were good enough (mostly in the first half) in the matchup/switching man-to-man that never resorted to the 1-3-1. That’s to me part of the reason why a good three point shooting Indiana team only hit six threes in the game.
I think if NU can duplicate their first half defense and play offense like they did for this entire game they still have a chance to win 10 conference games despite their poor start. The key will be beating weaker teams even on the road. That has to start Wednesday when the ‘Cats face the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Indiana @ Northwestern: Trying to Find Answers to a Myriad of Questions
Northwestern’s performance (or lack of performance) at Illinois on Thursday left fans shaking their heads and asking a number of questions. Where did that great three point shooting team go? Where did the disciplined offense disappear to? What happened to the turnover causing 1-3-1 zone? Why does Drew Crawford often disappear? Why can’t Luka Mirkovic make a layup? Why do the Wildcats constantly switch whenever the offense screens? What would have happened if Kevin Coble hadn’t quit and Kyle Rowley hadn’t transferred? Should John Shurna be playing with his injured ankle? Is this team still listening to Bill Carmody? Will Carmody keep his job if NU doesn’t post a few wins in the next two weeks? Those are just a few of the questions fans were asking. They aren’t the only ones. Sunday’s game against Indiana isn’t going to answer them all, but the game could answer a few or present more.
Having watched the Illinois game in person I think the questions foremost on my mind are about Shurna’s ankle and whether the team is still focused on implementing Carmody’s game plan. John at Chicago College Basketball offered his opinion that Shurna should sit and I’m leaning towards agreement. Northwestern’s offense is predicated on making hard cuts and making open shots. Shurna’s injury makes it difficult for him to cut and to push off on his shot. I also think because Shurna’s shot release is so strange he has a very small margin for error and his ability to push off is forcing misses because it has pushed Shurna’s release outside that margin for error. No question exists that Shurna is a great player, but he’s not a great player while hurt. Putting him on the bench will allow him time to heal and will hopefully force other players to step up because they will now know that Shurna isn’t going to be used in the game.
The bigger question, though, is the team’s focus on the game plan. Early in the year Carmody said his team didn’t have any knuckle heads, but against both Michigan State and Illinois the Wildcats disobeyed their coach’s game plan and sure looked like knuckle heads. For a long stretch against Michigan State NU stopped running their offense and instead forced bad shots. As it turned out that was a huge stretch because once NU returned to doing what they were coached to do they got a number of open shots and almost won the game. If they’d done so all night they would have beaten MSU as Penn State did today. Against Illinois, Bill Carmody specifically said he told his players not to help in the post, that allowing Mike Tisdale to score two points was worth it to not give up “Sunday shots” to McCamey and Richardson yet on the first two possessions of the game NU guards left McCamey and Richardson to help on Tisdale and the two Illini guards hit wide open threes. That’s bad because it means either NU’s players have horrible basketball IQs (which as I’ve said before is a must have when you’re less physically talented as a team) or the players are just blatantly ignoring their coach because they think they know better which is knuckle head behavior. Either way it looks bad.
The good news, though, is Indiana has their own struggles, especially away from home. The Hoosiers haven’t won a road game all year and like NU are 0-3 in the Big Ten. This is a big game in the sense that neither squad wants to go 0-4. Northwestern will probably try to play their matchup zone/switching man-to-man first because every IU regular with exception of Jeremiah Rivers shoots at least 32% from three point range. If point guard Jordan Hulls and his nearly 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio can find passing lanes the Hoosiers could pick the 1-3-1 apart. Therefore, I suspect NU will play the matchup, but they better listen to their coach and be willing to give up some inside points and not leave Hulls (51% 3PT), Christian Watford (39% 3PT), and the rest of the hot shooting Hoosiers open on the perimeter. NU also desperately needs to play some defense without switching. If they switch large athletic Hoosiers like Watford and Maurice Creek will be very poor matchups for a number of Wildcats. I’m also really worried about how easily Verdell Jones III will be able to get to the basket if Luka Mirkovic ends up guarding him on a switch.
I find it really hard to predict this game. In part because I don’t know Shurna’s status and in part because I think a large part of this game for Northwestern is going to be mental. How do Michael “Juice” Thompson and Drew Crawford respond to their poor play? Do they sulk and point fingers or do they respond with authority? Watch Crawford early. He usually reveals what type of game he is going to have fairly quickly. If NU can pull themselves together I think they win simply because Indiana is a pretty poor road team. If they can’t I think the book of questions people have about this program gets an extra chapter or two added. I look for Northwestern to actually slow down their offense a bit in order to resist the temptation to force shots and get solid looks for Crawford and to try and incorporate Mirkovic into the game more early which generally makes him play better. I predict: Northwestern, 71 Indiana, 68
Having watched the Illinois game in person I think the questions foremost on my mind are about Shurna’s ankle and whether the team is still focused on implementing Carmody’s game plan. John at Chicago College Basketball offered his opinion that Shurna should sit and I’m leaning towards agreement. Northwestern’s offense is predicated on making hard cuts and making open shots. Shurna’s injury makes it difficult for him to cut and to push off on his shot. I also think because Shurna’s shot release is so strange he has a very small margin for error and his ability to push off is forcing misses because it has pushed Shurna’s release outside that margin for error. No question exists that Shurna is a great player, but he’s not a great player while hurt. Putting him on the bench will allow him time to heal and will hopefully force other players to step up because they will now know that Shurna isn’t going to be used in the game.
The bigger question, though, is the team’s focus on the game plan. Early in the year Carmody said his team didn’t have any knuckle heads, but against both Michigan State and Illinois the Wildcats disobeyed their coach’s game plan and sure looked like knuckle heads. For a long stretch against Michigan State NU stopped running their offense and instead forced bad shots. As it turned out that was a huge stretch because once NU returned to doing what they were coached to do they got a number of open shots and almost won the game. If they’d done so all night they would have beaten MSU as Penn State did today. Against Illinois, Bill Carmody specifically said he told his players not to help in the post, that allowing Mike Tisdale to score two points was worth it to not give up “Sunday shots” to McCamey and Richardson yet on the first two possessions of the game NU guards left McCamey and Richardson to help on Tisdale and the two Illini guards hit wide open threes. That’s bad because it means either NU’s players have horrible basketball IQs (which as I’ve said before is a must have when you’re less physically talented as a team) or the players are just blatantly ignoring their coach because they think they know better which is knuckle head behavior. Either way it looks bad.
The good news, though, is Indiana has their own struggles, especially away from home. The Hoosiers haven’t won a road game all year and like NU are 0-3 in the Big Ten. This is a big game in the sense that neither squad wants to go 0-4. Northwestern will probably try to play their matchup zone/switching man-to-man first because every IU regular with exception of Jeremiah Rivers shoots at least 32% from three point range. If point guard Jordan Hulls and his nearly 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio can find passing lanes the Hoosiers could pick the 1-3-1 apart. Therefore, I suspect NU will play the matchup, but they better listen to their coach and be willing to give up some inside points and not leave Hulls (51% 3PT), Christian Watford (39% 3PT), and the rest of the hot shooting Hoosiers open on the perimeter. NU also desperately needs to play some defense without switching. If they switch large athletic Hoosiers like Watford and Maurice Creek will be very poor matchups for a number of Wildcats. I’m also really worried about how easily Verdell Jones III will be able to get to the basket if Luka Mirkovic ends up guarding him on a switch.
I find it really hard to predict this game. In part because I don’t know Shurna’s status and in part because I think a large part of this game for Northwestern is going to be mental. How do Michael “Juice” Thompson and Drew Crawford respond to their poor play? Do they sulk and point fingers or do they respond with authority? Watch Crawford early. He usually reveals what type of game he is going to have fairly quickly. If NU can pull themselves together I think they win simply because Indiana is a pretty poor road team. If they can’t I think the book of questions people have about this program gets an extra chapter or two added. I look for Northwestern to actually slow down their offense a bit in order to resist the temptation to force shots and get solid looks for Crawford and to try and incorporate Mirkovic into the game more early which generally makes him play better. I predict: Northwestern, 71 Indiana, 68
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Juice and the Bench Lead Wildcats to 73-58 Victory over Indiana
Northwestern’s bench has basically been MIA since Alex Marcotullio scored 16 points against Michigan State on January 2nd, but Marcotullio and his friends Mike Capocci and Davide Curletti stepped up today in order to help Juice Thompson lead the ‘Cats past Indiana. Numbers wise Curletti led the three bench contributors with 12 points, but all three provided needed energy to a team which lacked any semblance of life in the first half.
NU only trailed 30-27 at half time, but the way they played that was pretty much due to luck and poor play by Indiana. In the first half Northwestern looked totally lost against Indiana’s 2-3 zone and let the Hoosier offense drill 4-of-8 threes, despite the fact that I’m sure Bill Carmody made it clear the defense wasn’t suppose to allow open looks. Really, the ‘Cats stayed in the game thanks to John Shurna making 5-of-5 inside shots while he and his teammates shot only 2-of-18 from three in the first half. To be honest, it wasn’t so much the 18 three point attempts that bothered me as much as the fact it looked like all NU could do against the IU zone was the pass the ball around the perimeter and then jack up a three.
In the second half, NU made 5-of-13 threes. That percentage isn’t great, but it’s certainly better. Even better than the numbers, though, is the fact those shots were mostly open and setup because NU wasn’t afraid to try and get in the lane. After he made two floaters in the lane, IU’s defenders backed off of Juice Thompson a bit and he then drilled three straight threes. Thompson finished the day 4-of-10 from three point range (6-of-15 overall) with 3 assists and 2 steals. Aggressively attacking the basket also resulted in some baskets and free throw opportunities for Jeremy Nash. Those were critical as Nash went 0-for-5 from three, yet he still scored 13 points thanks to make 4-of-5 twos and 5-of-6 free throws.
It wasn’t just Thompson and Nash who did good work in the second half, though. Davide Curletti had an all around good game, but he really stepped up at the 10:43 mark of the second half when Luka Mirkovic fouled out. Curletti played excellent defense, got a steal and a block, didn’t turn the ball over, and converted 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch. Joining Curletti as a late game reason for NU’s success was Mike Capocci. Drew Crawford really struggled and Alex Marcotullio played great, but needed a rest. As a result, Coach Bill Carmody turned to Capocci. Right off the bench, Capocci scored off an in-bounds play. He then proceeded to play some of the most aggressive defense NU has played all season helping the Wildcats to a 24-7-game deciding run. Numbers wise Capocci had 4 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and a block, but he contributed to by simply playing more aggressively in the 1-3-1 in order to contest shots than Drew Crawford had been earlier in the game.
Before looking ahead to Purdue, I also want to praise Alex Marcotullio and NU’s commitment to the 1-3-1 in the second half with both Marcotullio and Nash at the top. Both players did a great job at the top of that defense causing turnovers and getting breakaways. Nash had a nice slam early and Marcotullio had a critical layup in NU’s big run. The 1-3-1 might not be the right defense for tomorrow, but it was the right defense today and I’m glad NU fully committed to using it in half number two. I also have to praise Marcotullio for not shying away from shooting even after missing early today. I ripped into him a bit for his play on Saturday, but I did so because I believe he’s a tough player who showed a lack of toughness when NU traveled to Bloomington. Today he demonstrated great toughness both mentally and physically. He finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 0 turnovers. The bounce back performance from him and his teammates after a tough game should be commended.
Vs Purdue…So the Wildcats now take on Purdue. The game is tomorrow at 5:30 PM CT and will be telecast on the Big Ten Network. Obviously, the Purdue team NU will see tomorrow is not the team that Northwestern beat on January 16th. The good news for Northwestern fans is that doesn’t necessarily mean the team is better. Purdue is without All-Big Ten 1st teamer Robbie Hummel who posted 20 points against the Wildcats. Of course, Purdue still has guard E’Twaun Moore who has exploded on NU in the past as well as defensive pest Chris Kramer. What might work in NU’s favor, though, is that the 6-3 Kramer might have to guard John Shurna. To be honest, I don’t think Purdue has a better option for defense on the Wildcat forward. Shurna’s play today wasn’t his best as he struggled to 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting, but mostly he was missing threes. I don’t care how physical Kramer gets, the 6-8 Shurna needs to take the 6-3 Kramer inside. No way exists for Kramer to stop Shurna’s post moves without fouls. Shurna has proven he can score on smaller players nearly at will when all things are fair and equal. If the officials don’t call fouls, then Bill Carmody needs to get T-ed up early to ensure they do. Defensively, I’m not sure I want NU in the 1-3-1 versus Purdue, but their matchup has been so bad of late I’m worried about that as well. NU played the matchup well the first time these teams met, but Purdue now has point guard Lewis Jackson who will quickly drive to hoop if he finds Luka Mirkovic on him after a switch. NU might also be able to play 1-3-1 because without Hummel Purdue won’t shoot as well.
NU only trailed 30-27 at half time, but the way they played that was pretty much due to luck and poor play by Indiana. In the first half Northwestern looked totally lost against Indiana’s 2-3 zone and let the Hoosier offense drill 4-of-8 threes, despite the fact that I’m sure Bill Carmody made it clear the defense wasn’t suppose to allow open looks. Really, the ‘Cats stayed in the game thanks to John Shurna making 5-of-5 inside shots while he and his teammates shot only 2-of-18 from three in the first half. To be honest, it wasn’t so much the 18 three point attempts that bothered me as much as the fact it looked like all NU could do against the IU zone was the pass the ball around the perimeter and then jack up a three.
In the second half, NU made 5-of-13 threes. That percentage isn’t great, but it’s certainly better. Even better than the numbers, though, is the fact those shots were mostly open and setup because NU wasn’t afraid to try and get in the lane. After he made two floaters in the lane, IU’s defenders backed off of Juice Thompson a bit and he then drilled three straight threes. Thompson finished the day 4-of-10 from three point range (6-of-15 overall) with 3 assists and 2 steals. Aggressively attacking the basket also resulted in some baskets and free throw opportunities for Jeremy Nash. Those were critical as Nash went 0-for-5 from three, yet he still scored 13 points thanks to make 4-of-5 twos and 5-of-6 free throws.
It wasn’t just Thompson and Nash who did good work in the second half, though. Davide Curletti had an all around good game, but he really stepped up at the 10:43 mark of the second half when Luka Mirkovic fouled out. Curletti played excellent defense, got a steal and a block, didn’t turn the ball over, and converted 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch. Joining Curletti as a late game reason for NU’s success was Mike Capocci. Drew Crawford really struggled and Alex Marcotullio played great, but needed a rest. As a result, Coach Bill Carmody turned to Capocci. Right off the bench, Capocci scored off an in-bounds play. He then proceeded to play some of the most aggressive defense NU has played all season helping the Wildcats to a 24-7-game deciding run. Numbers wise Capocci had 4 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and a block, but he contributed to by simply playing more aggressively in the 1-3-1 in order to contest shots than Drew Crawford had been earlier in the game.
Before looking ahead to Purdue, I also want to praise Alex Marcotullio and NU’s commitment to the 1-3-1 in the second half with both Marcotullio and Nash at the top. Both players did a great job at the top of that defense causing turnovers and getting breakaways. Nash had a nice slam early and Marcotullio had a critical layup in NU’s big run. The 1-3-1 might not be the right defense for tomorrow, but it was the right defense today and I’m glad NU fully committed to using it in half number two. I also have to praise Marcotullio for not shying away from shooting even after missing early today. I ripped into him a bit for his play on Saturday, but I did so because I believe he’s a tough player who showed a lack of toughness when NU traveled to Bloomington. Today he demonstrated great toughness both mentally and physically. He finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 0 turnovers. The bounce back performance from him and his teammates after a tough game should be commended.
Vs Purdue…So the Wildcats now take on Purdue. The game is tomorrow at 5:30 PM CT and will be telecast on the Big Ten Network. Obviously, the Purdue team NU will see tomorrow is not the team that Northwestern beat on January 16th. The good news for Northwestern fans is that doesn’t necessarily mean the team is better. Purdue is without All-Big Ten 1st teamer Robbie Hummel who posted 20 points against the Wildcats. Of course, Purdue still has guard E’Twaun Moore who has exploded on NU in the past as well as defensive pest Chris Kramer. What might work in NU’s favor, though, is that the 6-3 Kramer might have to guard John Shurna. To be honest, I don’t think Purdue has a better option for defense on the Wildcat forward. Shurna’s play today wasn’t his best as he struggled to 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting, but mostly he was missing threes. I don’t care how physical Kramer gets, the 6-8 Shurna needs to take the 6-3 Kramer inside. No way exists for Kramer to stop Shurna’s post moves without fouls. Shurna has proven he can score on smaller players nearly at will when all things are fair and equal. If the officials don’t call fouls, then Bill Carmody needs to get T-ed up early to ensure they do. Defensively, I’m not sure I want NU in the 1-3-1 versus Purdue, but their matchup has been so bad of late I’m worried about that as well. NU played the matchup well the first time these teams met, but Purdue now has point guard Lewis Jackson who will quickly drive to hoop if he finds Luka Mirkovic on him after a switch. NU might also be able to play 1-3-1 because without Hummel Purdue won’t shoot as well.
Wildcats, 73 Hoosiers, 58
A full recap will come later tonight after the Penn State vs Minnesota game, but thanks to Juice Thompson (16 points) finding his range in the second half and huge day from the bench trio of Alex Marcotullio (8 points), Mike Capocci (4 points), and Davide Curletti (12 points) Northwestern toughed out a victory over Indiana for their first Big Ten Tournament win since 2005.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Game 32: Indiana Hoosiers vs Northwestern Wildcats
The Matchup: Indiana (10-20) vs Northwestern (19-12)
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianaoplis, IN)
TV: ESPN2 (3:30 PM March 12th, 2010)
Radio: WGN AM 720
Fun Fact: Northwestern and Indiana have never met in the Big Ten Tournament.
About the Game
I’m not really sure I can offer any insight in this post that I didn’t provide in the pregame post for Saturday’s game or the postgame Saturday evening. I think we all understand that Indiana beat Northwestern on Saturday because the Wildcats played no defense, especially against IU guard Jordan Hulls, and because NU starting playing play ground basketball and chucked up 42 threes. I swear at times some of NU’s players seem like the guys you would dread having on a rec league team because all they want to do is shoot threes.
To be honest, though, as poor as NU’s offense was from a basketball fundamentals standpoint on Saturday, it was good enough to win. When a team scores 69 points in regulation, and 80 points overall, they should win a game. The problem is the Wildcats didn’t play defense. I’ve explained repeatedly my problem with the way NU plays their matchup zone or man-to-man. Basically, NU switches all the time and makes no effort to fight through screens. I think this leads to lazy play which is apparent when players drive the lane or make entry passes with no pressure. My gut tells me NU is better off playing 1-3-1 because that often at least starts to fire the team up. Jeremy Nash can be out front and start tipping passes and before you know it the Wildcats have caused a boatload of turnovers. Of course, if NU can’t convert on TOs, as they couldn’t Saturday, it doesn’t matter how many they cause. The other thing is that if NU does play 1-3-1, they MUST find Hulls. After what he did the other day, he’ll probably be so excited to see NU’s zone that he won’t be able to sleep on Wednesday night. I also wouldn’t forget about Devan Dumes and Derek Elston from deep if I was NU’s coaching staff, but Hulls did account for eight of IU’s ten made threes on Saturday.
Aside from playing defense for 40 minutes, NU needs to get a good inside effort on both ends of the floor if they are to win. Luka Mirkovic needs to score points, as he did when NU beat IU in Evanston, and he and his teammates must stop IU for crashing the offensive glass. Indiana is second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding, so it isn’t a shock they managed to outrebound Northwestern, but that still doesn’t make it acceptable. NU has quality players inside with Mirkovic and Shurna. Also, Jeremy Nash and Drew Crawford can rebound as well. There is no reason other than effort for Indiana to totally dominate the glass.
On offense, I already said NU needs a good effort for Mikrovic. They also need a good effort from either Drew Crawford or Alex Marcotullio. Both freshmen have really struggled of late, but need to setup now. Crawford has been hurt, but Marcotullio is simply a headcase. He made shots against Chicago State when their wasn’t pressure, but he choked on two chances to give NU the win in the final minute Saturday. To be frank, I expected more from the guy who buried threes to seal wins against Notre Dame (when he was supposed to pass) and N.C. State (moments after he got T-ed up). If Marcotullio or Crawford “flushes” their troubles and plays to their ability NU will win.
Prediction:
This game will be a test of mental toughness more than physical toughness for Northwestern. The Wildcats are the better team and if they can focus on just playing basketball they will win. However, to this point NU hasn’t impressed me as a mentally tough team, especially away from home. They certainly don’t follow the mantras of NU football coach Pat Fitzgerald and “flush” mistakes and concentrate on W.I.N or What’s Important Now. Instead, they seem to let every little mistake fester into disaster. Sometimes they get things together after trouble, but often times it is too late. That was the case in losses at Minnesota and Wisconsin. Will Thursday afternoon be different? I actually think it will be. NU might see a lot of red in Conseco, but it isn’t a true road game. It’s a neutral site game played at an odd time. Hopefully as a result NU’s attitude will be similar to the way they played in the Chicago Invitational Challenge when they left the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena and won two big games. Northwestern, 66 Indiana, 60
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianaoplis, IN)
TV: ESPN2 (3:30 PM March 12th, 2010)
Radio: WGN AM 720
Fun Fact: Northwestern and Indiana have never met in the Big Ten Tournament.
About the Game
I’m not really sure I can offer any insight in this post that I didn’t provide in the pregame post for Saturday’s game or the postgame Saturday evening. I think we all understand that Indiana beat Northwestern on Saturday because the Wildcats played no defense, especially against IU guard Jordan Hulls, and because NU starting playing play ground basketball and chucked up 42 threes. I swear at times some of NU’s players seem like the guys you would dread having on a rec league team because all they want to do is shoot threes.
To be honest, though, as poor as NU’s offense was from a basketball fundamentals standpoint on Saturday, it was good enough to win. When a team scores 69 points in regulation, and 80 points overall, they should win a game. The problem is the Wildcats didn’t play defense. I’ve explained repeatedly my problem with the way NU plays their matchup zone or man-to-man. Basically, NU switches all the time and makes no effort to fight through screens. I think this leads to lazy play which is apparent when players drive the lane or make entry passes with no pressure. My gut tells me NU is better off playing 1-3-1 because that often at least starts to fire the team up. Jeremy Nash can be out front and start tipping passes and before you know it the Wildcats have caused a boatload of turnovers. Of course, if NU can’t convert on TOs, as they couldn’t Saturday, it doesn’t matter how many they cause. The other thing is that if NU does play 1-3-1, they MUST find Hulls. After what he did the other day, he’ll probably be so excited to see NU’s zone that he won’t be able to sleep on Wednesday night. I also wouldn’t forget about Devan Dumes and Derek Elston from deep if I was NU’s coaching staff, but Hulls did account for eight of IU’s ten made threes on Saturday.
Aside from playing defense for 40 minutes, NU needs to get a good inside effort on both ends of the floor if they are to win. Luka Mirkovic needs to score points, as he did when NU beat IU in Evanston, and he and his teammates must stop IU for crashing the offensive glass. Indiana is second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding, so it isn’t a shock they managed to outrebound Northwestern, but that still doesn’t make it acceptable. NU has quality players inside with Mirkovic and Shurna. Also, Jeremy Nash and Drew Crawford can rebound as well. There is no reason other than effort for Indiana to totally dominate the glass.
On offense, I already said NU needs a good effort for Mikrovic. They also need a good effort from either Drew Crawford or Alex Marcotullio. Both freshmen have really struggled of late, but need to setup now. Crawford has been hurt, but Marcotullio is simply a headcase. He made shots against Chicago State when their wasn’t pressure, but he choked on two chances to give NU the win in the final minute Saturday. To be frank, I expected more from the guy who buried threes to seal wins against Notre Dame (when he was supposed to pass) and N.C. State (moments after he got T-ed up). If Marcotullio or Crawford “flushes” their troubles and plays to their ability NU will win.
Prediction:
This game will be a test of mental toughness more than physical toughness for Northwestern. The Wildcats are the better team and if they can focus on just playing basketball they will win. However, to this point NU hasn’t impressed me as a mentally tough team, especially away from home. They certainly don’t follow the mantras of NU football coach Pat Fitzgerald and “flush” mistakes and concentrate on W.I.N or What’s Important Now. Instead, they seem to let every little mistake fester into disaster. Sometimes they get things together after trouble, but often times it is too late. That was the case in losses at Minnesota and Wisconsin. Will Thursday afternoon be different? I actually think it will be. NU might see a lot of red in Conseco, but it isn’t a true road game. It’s a neutral site game played at an odd time. Hopefully as a result NU’s attitude will be similar to the way they played in the Chicago Invitational Challenge when they left the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena and won two big games. Northwestern, 66 Indiana, 60
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Hoosiers Beat Wildcats 88-80 in Overtime to end Losing Streak and Deny NU 20 Wins
Northwestern struggled in several areas in Saturday’s loss to Indiana, but once again the obvious problem was NU’s defense which allowed 88 points. Yes, IU had an extra session to score, but throughout the game Northwestern displayed a total lack of understanding about who and where they needed to defend. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the vast majority of the time Northwestern is a lazy defensive team. Every once and awhile they get fired up to play defense, usually while in the 1-3-1, but overall the Wildcats are not actively seeking to deny passing lanes and fight through screens. I can’t stand how much Northwestern switches when attempting to play man-to-man. I know that some of the concepts of the way NU plays are based on switching, but the fact you get to pass off your guy to someone else whenever the slightest rub screen comes by is ridiculous. All that does is make players not have to play hard, because they don’t have to fight through any screens, and create mismatches like Michael Thompson on a center in the post or Luka Mirkovic on a guard outside. Northwestern’s players are not so physically weak or slow that they can’t fight through a screen every once and while. Maybe such a defense would be necessary if NU played Kansas (though I wouldn’t even advocate it them), but against an Indiana team that hadn’t hit double digit wins until today it sure isn’t. Today’s 1-3-1 did help NU record 10 steals, but against the 1-3-1 Indiana was able to hit 10 threes. Of course, eight were by guard Jordan Hulls who was the only Hoosier starter with a relatively decent three point percentage. For some reason, though, Northwestern refused to find him and guard. If Northwestern would have simply started defending Hulls on the perimeter they likely would have won the game with ease.
Last week I commented that Bill Carmody should fire either Mitch Henderson or Ivan Vujic and bring in a man-to-man defense expert. It was intelligently pointed out to me by several readers that for a number of reasons (loyalty, pride, etc.) Carmody probably wouldn’t be willing to do so. I agree, but I would then ask for the sake of all NU fans that Northwestern A.D. Jim Phillips to make Carmody do so. Phillips has publically said he is going to negotiate a contract extension with Carmody following this season. If I were Jim Phillips, I would tell Carmody that part of the deal was he needed to bring in someone who could teach his team to play man-to-man defense without switching whenever two offensive players run by each other. Carmody’s visceral reaction would probably be to object to Phillips sticking his nose into Carmody’s staff, but I would hope that an intelligent man like Carmody would see the logical outcome would actually be his team getting better and his job getting more secure. Despite some people’s objections, nothing is wrong with NU’s offense. If the Wildcats could play even passable defense, I believe they would have 24 wins right not and be headed for a Big Ten Tournament bye and a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they probably will need to turn the tables of Indiana in Indianapolis on Thursday just to make the NIT.
Part of the problem with defense is probably Drew Crawford can’t play it right now. In fact, he can’t do much of anything right now. That’s way he played only 18 minutes, and in truth those were probably 18 more minutes than he should have played. Right now Crawfor simply can’t move on defense and he is getting way to self-centered on offense when he doesn’t score. I think it probably has to do with being frustrated with how the injury limits him, but a couple times today Crawford fired up what I’ll call, “Me First” three-pointers, basically he took bad shots because he wanted points in the scorebook. I know the kid is hurt and I understand that might impact his play, but if he’s as hurt as his play indicates he shouldn’t be on the floor. He probably should have rested earlier in the year. Now, if he gets benched it’s basically too late to do any good, which is way I think he’s trying to play through his pain.
Of course, Crawford wasn’t the only Wildcat to fire up a dumb three. NU got back into a game they were trailing by getting the ball inside to score or setup a good three. In the end, though, the ‘Cats took 42 threes, and many were not good shots. Thompson himself tried 16 (he did make 7) and John Shurna tried 9 (he made just 3). Shurna did record a double-double (31 points, 12 rebounds), however, because he made 9-of-12 shots inside as well. If he’d attacked a little more instead of shooting some of those threes it might have been a different game. It also would have helped if Shurna and Luka Mirkovic hadn’t missed 5 total free throws at key times. Both should be better free throw shooters than they have been of late. Clearly some sort of mental block exists for them.
Actually, a huge mental block exists for all of NU’s team. They can’t play away from home. This loss, bad as it was, was actually one of NU’s best road performances. That’s scary as NU won’t be hosting a home game if they make the NIT (also, a bid to the NIT is certainly not a guarantee at this point). NU also runs the risk of playing Indiana in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Tournament. That could seem a road environment as well, but at least the Hoosiers won’t be that much more familiar than NU with the playing conditions at Conseco Fieldhouse.
So Northwestern ends the regular season with a record of 19-12. From the point of view of history that’s pretty good. In fact, it’s a school record for wins. From point of view of November 12th (a.k.a right after Kevin Coble got hurt), it’s also pretty good. In fact, it might be considered remarkable, most teams don’t set school records without their best player. From my point of view today, though, I’m somewhat disappointed. Watching and evaluating team as honestly as possible after every game, I feel the Wildcats didn’t achieve to their potential. Wins over Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, and Notre Dame showed what this team was capable of doing. Unfortunately, a collection of games like the December 30th contest at Illinois, the game at Iowa, and today’s loss at Indiana are sprinkled amongst the great games mentioned above. On some days this team played with the best of the Big Ten and the nation, but on others they played worse than the worst. That inconsistency isn’t the fault of Coble’s injury or history. Responsibility (both good and bad) for what happened from November 13th to March 6th rests with those who played and coached the games which occurred between those dates.
As the Wildcats prepare for the Big Ten Tournament, I hope the players and coaches take confidence from the games they played well, but I hope even more so that they learn lessons from the games they didn’t, because if NU can’t improve in several areas (such as defense) a season which once stood on the verge of being the fulfillment of many people’s dreams will quickly, and unceremoniously, come to an end. If they do learn from their mistakes, Northwestern could be playing basketball well into the month of March.
Last week I commented that Bill Carmody should fire either Mitch Henderson or Ivan Vujic and bring in a man-to-man defense expert. It was intelligently pointed out to me by several readers that for a number of reasons (loyalty, pride, etc.) Carmody probably wouldn’t be willing to do so. I agree, but I would then ask for the sake of all NU fans that Northwestern A.D. Jim Phillips to make Carmody do so. Phillips has publically said he is going to negotiate a contract extension with Carmody following this season. If I were Jim Phillips, I would tell Carmody that part of the deal was he needed to bring in someone who could teach his team to play man-to-man defense without switching whenever two offensive players run by each other. Carmody’s visceral reaction would probably be to object to Phillips sticking his nose into Carmody’s staff, but I would hope that an intelligent man like Carmody would see the logical outcome would actually be his team getting better and his job getting more secure. Despite some people’s objections, nothing is wrong with NU’s offense. If the Wildcats could play even passable defense, I believe they would have 24 wins right not and be headed for a Big Ten Tournament bye and a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they probably will need to turn the tables of Indiana in Indianapolis on Thursday just to make the NIT.
Part of the problem with defense is probably Drew Crawford can’t play it right now. In fact, he can’t do much of anything right now. That’s way he played only 18 minutes, and in truth those were probably 18 more minutes than he should have played. Right now Crawfor simply can’t move on defense and he is getting way to self-centered on offense when he doesn’t score. I think it probably has to do with being frustrated with how the injury limits him, but a couple times today Crawford fired up what I’ll call, “Me First” three-pointers, basically he took bad shots because he wanted points in the scorebook. I know the kid is hurt and I understand that might impact his play, but if he’s as hurt as his play indicates he shouldn’t be on the floor. He probably should have rested earlier in the year. Now, if he gets benched it’s basically too late to do any good, which is way I think he’s trying to play through his pain.
Of course, Crawford wasn’t the only Wildcat to fire up a dumb three. NU got back into a game they were trailing by getting the ball inside to score or setup a good three. In the end, though, the ‘Cats took 42 threes, and many were not good shots. Thompson himself tried 16 (he did make 7) and John Shurna tried 9 (he made just 3). Shurna did record a double-double (31 points, 12 rebounds), however, because he made 9-of-12 shots inside as well. If he’d attacked a little more instead of shooting some of those threes it might have been a different game. It also would have helped if Shurna and Luka Mirkovic hadn’t missed 5 total free throws at key times. Both should be better free throw shooters than they have been of late. Clearly some sort of mental block exists for them.
Actually, a huge mental block exists for all of NU’s team. They can’t play away from home. This loss, bad as it was, was actually one of NU’s best road performances. That’s scary as NU won’t be hosting a home game if they make the NIT (also, a bid to the NIT is certainly not a guarantee at this point). NU also runs the risk of playing Indiana in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Tournament. That could seem a road environment as well, but at least the Hoosiers won’t be that much more familiar than NU with the playing conditions at Conseco Fieldhouse.
So Northwestern ends the regular season with a record of 19-12. From the point of view of history that’s pretty good. In fact, it’s a school record for wins. From point of view of November 12th (a.k.a right after Kevin Coble got hurt), it’s also pretty good. In fact, it might be considered remarkable, most teams don’t set school records without their best player. From my point of view today, though, I’m somewhat disappointed. Watching and evaluating team as honestly as possible after every game, I feel the Wildcats didn’t achieve to their potential. Wins over Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, and Notre Dame showed what this team was capable of doing. Unfortunately, a collection of games like the December 30th contest at Illinois, the game at Iowa, and today’s loss at Indiana are sprinkled amongst the great games mentioned above. On some days this team played with the best of the Big Ten and the nation, but on others they played worse than the worst. That inconsistency isn’t the fault of Coble’s injury or history. Responsibility (both good and bad) for what happened from November 13th to March 6th rests with those who played and coached the games which occurred between those dates.
As the Wildcats prepare for the Big Ten Tournament, I hope the players and coaches take confidence from the games they played well, but I hope even more so that they learn lessons from the games they didn’t, because if NU can’t improve in several areas (such as defense) a season which once stood on the verge of being the fulfillment of many people’s dreams will quickly, and unceremoniously, come to an end. If they do learn from their mistakes, Northwestern could be playing basketball well into the month of March.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Game 31: Northwestern Wildcats @ Indiana
The Matchup: Northwestern (19-11) @ Indiana (9-20)
Location: Assembly Hall (Bloomington, IN)
TV: Big Ten Network (11:00 AM CT Saturday March 6th, 2010)
Radio: WGN AM 720
Fun Fact: Northwestern is looking for the program’s first 20 win season.
About the Game
In some ways it seems and lifetime ago and in some it seems just yesterday, but it has been 4 months since the 2009-10 college basketball season started. This Northwestern squad has been through a lot this season from the low of losing Kevin Coble for year to the high of beating #6 Purdue. Now, the Wildcats regular season portion of 2009-10 will come to a close in Bloomington, Indiana. Their postseason portion will begin Thursday about a half hour north in Indianapolis.
If the Wildcats can beat the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday they will make history in a number of ways. NU will win 20 games for the first time and will have 4 straight wins over Indiana for the first time since the early 1930s. In addition, the Wildcats are trying for their second straight win inside Assembly Hall. That might not seem as significant a mark, but before last season Northwestern had never beaten IU in that building.
In order to get the victory, NU must play defense. Their defense has been questionable overall, but it has been particularly atrocious on the road in the Big Ten. NU played primarily the 1-3-1 zone on Wednesday against Chicago State which makes me think they’ll play the same to start on Saturday. If that is the case, NU must extend out and get into passing lanes. If they do not pressure the Hoosier guards between the rings, then Indiana will be able to easily enter the ball inside to forward Christian Watford (12.0ppg, 5.9 rpg). Penn State took advantage of soft NU defense to score inside almost at will. Even Chicago State got some early easy looks which couldn’t have pleased Head Coach Bill Carmody. Perhaps the best news for Northwestern is that Indiana isn’t loaded with great inside players. However, it’s not just post players that can score if NU’s zone gets soft and lazy (as it has much too often). Quick guards can take advantage and get into the lane as well. Indiana has guard Verdall Jones III (14.7 ppg, 27.3% 3PT) who scored 28 points in the two teams’ last meeting and is very good getting inside off the dribble. If NU is in the 1-3-1, I think Indiana will work both Watford and Jones inside using their various skills.
If NU’s zone is good enough that IU must shoot from the outside, that should help NU. Indiana makes only 33.6% of their three pointers as a team. For what it’s worth, the Hoosiers will look primarily at guards Jordan Hulls (37.3% 3PT) and Devan Dumes (31.3% 3PT) when they need threes. Both are streaky three point shooters, but NU must close out on them. They cannot let these guys get their feet set. IU also has forward Derek Elston who while he doesn’t shoot many threes, can knock them down. Right now, the big man makes 36.4% of his treys.
On offense, Northwestern must reestablish their inside game. This has disappeared recently, but when the ‘Cats are successful they get baskets from Luka Mirkovic in the post and John Shurna sets up his own outside by attacking the basket. NU would also get a boost if Drew Crawford were healthy as he can also serve as an inside option both off the dribble and posting smaller guards. If NU does find someway to get an inside game, they have a great chance to equal their convincing win over the Hoosiers recorded February 7th.
Prediction:
Northwestern is the better team in this matchup, but I think anyone who has watched the Wildcats has to be wary of picking them to win on the road. Northwestern just hasn’t been a good road team since the 1st of December. If NU wants to win in the postseason, though, they must win on the road. They’ll be at a neutral site in Indy, but unless NU falls to the CBI they’ll be playing true road games in the NIT. Therefore, NU needs to learn to win on the road. I think this is as good of time as any to do so, because if they can’t win this one I have my doubts about them winning a game in the Big Ten Tourney. Northwestern, 71 Indiana, 68
Location: Assembly Hall (Bloomington, IN)
TV: Big Ten Network (11:00 AM CT Saturday March 6th, 2010)
Radio: WGN AM 720
Fun Fact: Northwestern is looking for the program’s first 20 win season.
About the Game
In some ways it seems and lifetime ago and in some it seems just yesterday, but it has been 4 months since the 2009-10 college basketball season started. This Northwestern squad has been through a lot this season from the low of losing Kevin Coble for year to the high of beating #6 Purdue. Now, the Wildcats regular season portion of 2009-10 will come to a close in Bloomington, Indiana. Their postseason portion will begin Thursday about a half hour north in Indianapolis.
If the Wildcats can beat the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday they will make history in a number of ways. NU will win 20 games for the first time and will have 4 straight wins over Indiana for the first time since the early 1930s. In addition, the Wildcats are trying for their second straight win inside Assembly Hall. That might not seem as significant a mark, but before last season Northwestern had never beaten IU in that building.
In order to get the victory, NU must play defense. Their defense has been questionable overall, but it has been particularly atrocious on the road in the Big Ten. NU played primarily the 1-3-1 zone on Wednesday against Chicago State which makes me think they’ll play the same to start on Saturday. If that is the case, NU must extend out and get into passing lanes. If they do not pressure the Hoosier guards between the rings, then Indiana will be able to easily enter the ball inside to forward Christian Watford (12.0ppg, 5.9 rpg). Penn State took advantage of soft NU defense to score inside almost at will. Even Chicago State got some early easy looks which couldn’t have pleased Head Coach Bill Carmody. Perhaps the best news for Northwestern is that Indiana isn’t loaded with great inside players. However, it’s not just post players that can score if NU’s zone gets soft and lazy (as it has much too often). Quick guards can take advantage and get into the lane as well. Indiana has guard Verdall Jones III (14.7 ppg, 27.3% 3PT) who scored 28 points in the two teams’ last meeting and is very good getting inside off the dribble. If NU is in the 1-3-1, I think Indiana will work both Watford and Jones inside using their various skills.
If NU’s zone is good enough that IU must shoot from the outside, that should help NU. Indiana makes only 33.6% of their three pointers as a team. For what it’s worth, the Hoosiers will look primarily at guards Jordan Hulls (37.3% 3PT) and Devan Dumes (31.3% 3PT) when they need threes. Both are streaky three point shooters, but NU must close out on them. They cannot let these guys get their feet set. IU also has forward Derek Elston who while he doesn’t shoot many threes, can knock them down. Right now, the big man makes 36.4% of his treys.
On offense, Northwestern must reestablish their inside game. This has disappeared recently, but when the ‘Cats are successful they get baskets from Luka Mirkovic in the post and John Shurna sets up his own outside by attacking the basket. NU would also get a boost if Drew Crawford were healthy as he can also serve as an inside option both off the dribble and posting smaller guards. If NU does find someway to get an inside game, they have a great chance to equal their convincing win over the Hoosiers recorded February 7th.
Prediction:
Northwestern is the better team in this matchup, but I think anyone who has watched the Wildcats has to be wary of picking them to win on the road. Northwestern just hasn’t been a good road team since the 1st of December. If NU wants to win in the postseason, though, they must win on the road. They’ll be at a neutral site in Indy, but unless NU falls to the CBI they’ll be playing true road games in the NIT. Therefore, NU needs to learn to win on the road. I think this is as good of time as any to do so, because if they can’t win this one I have my doubts about them winning a game in the Big Ten Tourney. Northwestern, 71 Indiana, 68
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wire to Wire Win: Balanced and Consistent Offense Gives NU 78-61 Victory Over IU
Northwestern took the lead on the game’s first possession with a dunk from Drew Crawford. They extended their lead at halftime to 40-29 with a dunk from Mike Capocci. They finished with a 78-61 victory when Ivan Peljusic hit a fade-away. The win keeps NU undefeated at home against unranked opponents and gives the ‘Cats their first three game winning streak over Indiana since 1932. The victory was also NU’s second double-figure win in a row against a conference team. NU’s next game is on the road in Iowa City and this victory makes that contest even more critical for NU’s potential tournament hopes.
How did NU manage to grab today’s lead and hold it the entire game? I believe NU got one their best all around efforts of the season. The ball movement on offense was crisp which set up 10 made threes and a number of other open looks which just missed. The defensive effort was solid overall too. NU blocked 9 shots (John Shurna with 3), grabbed 26 defensive rebounds (Jeremy Nash with 10 rebounds overall), and forced Indiana to 35.3% shoot overall and 11.8% from three. If NU hadn’t committed a ridiculous number of fouls, which allowed IU to get 23 points from the line, Indiana might not have broken 50 points in the game. Aside from the fouls (most of which I thought were good calls if the officials wanted to strictly enforce the rules) Northwestern played outstanding defense. The Wildcats helped and hedged on screens very well, they contested virtually every three point look (which resulted in Jordan Hulls and Devan Dumes going 0-for-8 total), and switched to the 1-3-1 at the exact right time in order to protect against fouls and force Indiana to run off a lot of clock before getting a shot. Indivudally, Luka Mirkovic had 2 steals and overall played well in man-to-man defensive against some on Indiana’s athletic players. He got beat a few times, but forced some bad shots from the Hoosiers as well.
On offense, NU had great balance. All five starters were in double figures. John Shurna lead with the way with 16 points on 5-of-8 made threes and dished out 6 assists as well. Shurna looked remarkably comfortable shooting the ball today. Even some of his misses seemed right on the money. Hopefully, he’ll bring the same accuracy to Iowa City as against the slowdown style of the Hawkeyes, every possess counts.
Luka Mirkovic was mentioned above for defense, but he also scored 14 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished out two assist. One of those assists was a key drop-down pass to Drew Crawford at a time when NU’s three point range went a little south and the ‘Cats needed a basket.
Drew Crawford finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds. He had some foul trouble and missed all his three point attempts, but it was good to see Crawford still make a difference even when his shot wasn’t falling.
Michael “Juice” Thompson scored 12 points and had 6 assists in 37 minutes today. Thanks to some foul trouble, Thompson’s 37 minutes actually were slightly below his average giving him a couple mini-rests. When he was on the bench, though, you could tell how NU wasn’t as comfortable on offense. When he came back into the game, NU seemed to stabilize. Thompson had, I think, one of his best assists of the year when he found Jeremy Nash on a sideline cut to setup an and-1 play from Nash.
Speaking of Nash, he was without a doubt the game’s MVP. He recorded his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He made a couple big shots both from three point range and going to the rim. Nash still isn’t exactly 100% at going to the hoop, and I’d love to see him try to dunk in order to draw more fouls, but he’s become a real threat with the ball both inside and outside which makes him a serious matchup problem for NU opponents. In addition, he had two blocks on amazing plays where it looked like Indiana would have sure open shots, but Nash’s hustle said otherwise.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning NU got 13 bench points today. Some of those came late, but Alex Marcotullio did hit a key early three and Mike Capocci scored 4 of his 6 points when NU needed something to happen in the first half. Kyle Rowley also added 2 points and 3 rebounds to NU’s bench totals.
NU now takes on Iowa in Iowa City. If the ‘Cats can get that victory it will setup a key showdown a week from today in Evanston against Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Golden Gophers.
How did NU manage to grab today’s lead and hold it the entire game? I believe NU got one their best all around efforts of the season. The ball movement on offense was crisp which set up 10 made threes and a number of other open looks which just missed. The defensive effort was solid overall too. NU blocked 9 shots (John Shurna with 3), grabbed 26 defensive rebounds (Jeremy Nash with 10 rebounds overall), and forced Indiana to 35.3% shoot overall and 11.8% from three. If NU hadn’t committed a ridiculous number of fouls, which allowed IU to get 23 points from the line, Indiana might not have broken 50 points in the game. Aside from the fouls (most of which I thought were good calls if the officials wanted to strictly enforce the rules) Northwestern played outstanding defense. The Wildcats helped and hedged on screens very well, they contested virtually every three point look (which resulted in Jordan Hulls and Devan Dumes going 0-for-8 total), and switched to the 1-3-1 at the exact right time in order to protect against fouls and force Indiana to run off a lot of clock before getting a shot. Indivudally, Luka Mirkovic had 2 steals and overall played well in man-to-man defensive against some on Indiana’s athletic players. He got beat a few times, but forced some bad shots from the Hoosiers as well.
On offense, NU had great balance. All five starters were in double figures. John Shurna lead with the way with 16 points on 5-of-8 made threes and dished out 6 assists as well. Shurna looked remarkably comfortable shooting the ball today. Even some of his misses seemed right on the money. Hopefully, he’ll bring the same accuracy to Iowa City as against the slowdown style of the Hawkeyes, every possess counts.
Luka Mirkovic was mentioned above for defense, but he also scored 14 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished out two assist. One of those assists was a key drop-down pass to Drew Crawford at a time when NU’s three point range went a little south and the ‘Cats needed a basket.
Drew Crawford finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds. He had some foul trouble and missed all his three point attempts, but it was good to see Crawford still make a difference even when his shot wasn’t falling.
Michael “Juice” Thompson scored 12 points and had 6 assists in 37 minutes today. Thanks to some foul trouble, Thompson’s 37 minutes actually were slightly below his average giving him a couple mini-rests. When he was on the bench, though, you could tell how NU wasn’t as comfortable on offense. When he came back into the game, NU seemed to stabilize. Thompson had, I think, one of his best assists of the year when he found Jeremy Nash on a sideline cut to setup an and-1 play from Nash.
Speaking of Nash, he was without a doubt the game’s MVP. He recorded his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He made a couple big shots both from three point range and going to the rim. Nash still isn’t exactly 100% at going to the hoop, and I’d love to see him try to dunk in order to draw more fouls, but he’s become a real threat with the ball both inside and outside which makes him a serious matchup problem for NU opponents. In addition, he had two blocks on amazing plays where it looked like Indiana would have sure open shots, but Nash’s hustle said otherwise.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning NU got 13 bench points today. Some of those came late, but Alex Marcotullio did hit a key early three and Mike Capocci scored 4 of his 6 points when NU needed something to happen in the first half. Kyle Rowley also added 2 points and 3 rebounds to NU’s bench totals.
NU now takes on Iowa in Iowa City. If the ‘Cats can get that victory it will setup a key showdown a week from today in Evanston against Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Game 23: Indiana @ Northwestern Wildcats
The Matchup: Indiana (9-12) @ Northwestern (15-7)
Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)
TV: Big Ten Network (1:30 PM Sunday February 7th, 2010)
Radio: WGN 720AM
Fun Fact: Indiana’s roster features two players who played high school ball in Illinois (Verdell Jones III and Matt Roth) and NU’s roster features two players who played high school ball in Indiana (Luka Mirkovic and Reggie Hearn).
About the Game
Indiana is coming off a very close loss to Purdue on Thursday. Verdell Jones III had a shot at the buzzer which would have tied the game, but he missed. Jones said he thought he was right on, and he was very close, but it wasn’t enough. After watching IU play that game and their game against Illinois (also a last second loss), I feel that Indiana has improved significantly over the course of the Big Ten season.
Indiana’s offense features Jeremiah Rivers (son of Doc Rivers) who plays guard and is very good at setting up his teammates. Rivers only scored 6.4ppg and is a bad shooter (no made threes, and 53.9% from the line), but he has 86 assists against only 62 turnovers and is very good at driving the lane and kicking to shooters. NU needs to try and prevent drives from Rivers and Verdell Jones III (14.3 ppg, 24.5% three), who is a good finisher at the basket, but also a less than outstanding shooter. Indiana’s good shooters are guards Jordan Hulls (5.7ppg, 38.4% 3PT) and Devan Dumes (7.2ppg, 35.1% 3PT). NU fans might recall Dumes had a big game at Welsh-Ryan last year. Dumes isn’t a starter this season, but if NU decides to play zone he’ll no doubt see the court quickly. If NU doesn’t play zone, aside from stopping Rivers and Jones attacking the basket, the Wildcats will also need to stop 6-9 forward Christian Watford. Watford will be among Drew Crawford’s stiffest competition for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Right now, the Alabama native averages 12.2ppg and 6.0rpg. Those rebounding numbers lead his team. At 6-9, Watford is smaller than either Luka Mirkovic or Kyle Rowley. However, he is more athletic. That’s why I believe John Shurna should get the defensive assignment on him if NU goes man-to-man. If NU does go man-to-man, I like the matchups they’ll have. Michael “Juice” Thompson can guard Hulls. Jeremy Nash can guard either Rivers or Jones with Drew Crawford taking the other one. Mirkovic will take the 6-9 248-pound forward Tom Pritchard and Shurna gets Watford. Some of those matchups might be even, but I don’t see one where NU is at a disadvantage.
On offense, I’d like to see NU get the ball inside like they did Tuesday night. Just like he did against DeShawn Sims, Luka Mirkovic has a height advantage over Watford and Pritchard. If he gets inside position, he should be able score easy baskets like he did against Michigan. Rowley should also be able to take advantage as long as he can finish at the hoop. From the IU defensive point of view, Tom Crean has a tough choice. Who will he use to guard Juice Thompson? Rivers seems a good choice, but that forces Jordan Hulls to guard either Nash or Crawford which isn’t favorable for IU. This might lead Crean to playing zone, but with NU’s shooters that might not be a good choice either.
Prediction:
It is that defensive conundrum for IU which I believe gives NU the game’s best on court advantage. Another advantage for NU should be playing at home. IU is 1-3 on the road while NU has defeated every non-ranked team they’ve played in Welsh-Ryan this year. Still, I hope NU gets a little more fan support than they did Tuesday. Although the Hoosiers haven’t been playing well, you can beat their rather large Chicago-alumni base will have a number of fans in Evanston Sunday afternoon. It would help if NU’s fan support neutralized any psychological lift a large red-clad crowd gave IU. Because the game is Sunday and well before Super Sunday pregame really starts, I do think the NU fans and students will show up. NU also gets the often overlooked advantage of playing Tuesday while IU played Thursday. This often gives teams a little extra life, but it's an even bigger advantage here because the IU freshmen get less time to prep for playing defense against the Princeton Offense for the first time. Northwestern, 68 Indiana, 60
Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)
TV: Big Ten Network (1:30 PM Sunday February 7th, 2010)
Radio: WGN 720AM
Fun Fact: Indiana’s roster features two players who played high school ball in Illinois (Verdell Jones III and Matt Roth) and NU’s roster features two players who played high school ball in Indiana (Luka Mirkovic and Reggie Hearn).
About the Game
Indiana is coming off a very close loss to Purdue on Thursday. Verdell Jones III had a shot at the buzzer which would have tied the game, but he missed. Jones said he thought he was right on, and he was very close, but it wasn’t enough. After watching IU play that game and their game against Illinois (also a last second loss), I feel that Indiana has improved significantly over the course of the Big Ten season.
Indiana’s offense features Jeremiah Rivers (son of Doc Rivers) who plays guard and is very good at setting up his teammates. Rivers only scored 6.4ppg and is a bad shooter (no made threes, and 53.9% from the line), but he has 86 assists against only 62 turnovers and is very good at driving the lane and kicking to shooters. NU needs to try and prevent drives from Rivers and Verdell Jones III (14.3 ppg, 24.5% three), who is a good finisher at the basket, but also a less than outstanding shooter. Indiana’s good shooters are guards Jordan Hulls (5.7ppg, 38.4% 3PT) and Devan Dumes (7.2ppg, 35.1% 3PT). NU fans might recall Dumes had a big game at Welsh-Ryan last year. Dumes isn’t a starter this season, but if NU decides to play zone he’ll no doubt see the court quickly. If NU doesn’t play zone, aside from stopping Rivers and Jones attacking the basket, the Wildcats will also need to stop 6-9 forward Christian Watford. Watford will be among Drew Crawford’s stiffest competition for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Right now, the Alabama native averages 12.2ppg and 6.0rpg. Those rebounding numbers lead his team. At 6-9, Watford is smaller than either Luka Mirkovic or Kyle Rowley. However, he is more athletic. That’s why I believe John Shurna should get the defensive assignment on him if NU goes man-to-man. If NU does go man-to-man, I like the matchups they’ll have. Michael “Juice” Thompson can guard Hulls. Jeremy Nash can guard either Rivers or Jones with Drew Crawford taking the other one. Mirkovic will take the 6-9 248-pound forward Tom Pritchard and Shurna gets Watford. Some of those matchups might be even, but I don’t see one where NU is at a disadvantage.
On offense, I’d like to see NU get the ball inside like they did Tuesday night. Just like he did against DeShawn Sims, Luka Mirkovic has a height advantage over Watford and Pritchard. If he gets inside position, he should be able score easy baskets like he did against Michigan. Rowley should also be able to take advantage as long as he can finish at the hoop. From the IU defensive point of view, Tom Crean has a tough choice. Who will he use to guard Juice Thompson? Rivers seems a good choice, but that forces Jordan Hulls to guard either Nash or Crawford which isn’t favorable for IU. This might lead Crean to playing zone, but with NU’s shooters that might not be a good choice either.
Prediction:
It is that defensive conundrum for IU which I believe gives NU the game’s best on court advantage. Another advantage for NU should be playing at home. IU is 1-3 on the road while NU has defeated every non-ranked team they’ve played in Welsh-Ryan this year. Still, I hope NU gets a little more fan support than they did Tuesday. Although the Hoosiers haven’t been playing well, you can beat their rather large Chicago-alumni base will have a number of fans in Evanston Sunday afternoon. It would help if NU’s fan support neutralized any psychological lift a large red-clad crowd gave IU. Because the game is Sunday and well before Super Sunday pregame really starts, I do think the NU fans and students will show up. NU also gets the often overlooked advantage of playing Tuesday while IU played Thursday. This often gives teams a little extra life, but it's an even bigger advantage here because the IU freshmen get less time to prep for playing defense against the Princeton Offense for the first time. Northwestern, 68 Indiana, 60
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Football: Wildcats Notch Another Comeback Win
When Northwestern wins football games they really do seem to win ugly, but I’ll take ugly wins over no wins anytime. Northwestern’s 26 unanswered points to beat Indiana today moved the ‘Cats to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. Most importantly, the 5th win moved the ‘Cats ahead of 4-4 Indiana and Minnesota in the quest for a bowl breath. While I know many fans might not be in love with fighting it out for a bid to the Motor City Bowl, for this NU team any bowl would be great. A postseason game would be just the second time ever NU made back to back postseason appearances. That type of stat makes any bowl worthwhile. I’d also point out that NU actually still has a chance to make any number of bowls depending on how the rest of the year goes.
What I believe made the difference in this game and in past NU wins, was the willingness of NU’s Mike Kafka to use his legs. Kafka showed his ability to scramble and make plays when nobody was open today. This has been missing for a great deal of this season. NU also got some nice running help from Scott Concannon. There are a number of NU fans who say Concannon is too small or too slow to be effective, but the fact is that many times a fresh tailback can rip off yards late in the season when facing defenses which are somewhat banged up. By virtue of the numerous injuries Concannon has suffered, Concannon is relatively fresh having only carried the ball 16 times before today. Considering the limited success NU’s other backs have had, including Arby Fields today, I think Concannon deserves a shot next week as well.
I also have to give credit to Mick McCall for attempting the downfield passing game. Although Kafka’s inconsistency with the deep ball sometimes makes these plays frustrating and dangerous, The ‘Cats MUST attempt the deep pass in order to at least make the defense respect that possibility. If not NU’s receivers will constantly get jammed at the line and knocked by linebackers when running across the middle. Also, when NU does make a big play, such as the 51-yard TD to Andrew Brewer, it is a huge momentum swing.
NU needed several momentum swings after the 28-3 Indiana start (Is NU that limited in the Kickoff and Punt game?). Somehow and someway NU must not get down when they play Penn State and Iowa the next two weeks. Both those teams will make the ‘Cats pay if they aren’t ready for the opening whistle. In some ways, the football ‘Cats remind me of NU’s hoops squad late last year. We all remember how NU failed to finish big comebacks against Ohio State, Minnesota, and Tulsa because they stated too slow. This can’t happen the next couple weeks. Penn State and Iowa have better teams than NU. If the ‘Cats want to pull the upset they have to be ready to play. Maybe Coach Fitz should just till his players the Big Ten has decided to give Penn State a 21-0 lead before they take the field.
What I believe made the difference in this game and in past NU wins, was the willingness of NU’s Mike Kafka to use his legs. Kafka showed his ability to scramble and make plays when nobody was open today. This has been missing for a great deal of this season. NU also got some nice running help from Scott Concannon. There are a number of NU fans who say Concannon is too small or too slow to be effective, but the fact is that many times a fresh tailback can rip off yards late in the season when facing defenses which are somewhat banged up. By virtue of the numerous injuries Concannon has suffered, Concannon is relatively fresh having only carried the ball 16 times before today. Considering the limited success NU’s other backs have had, including Arby Fields today, I think Concannon deserves a shot next week as well.
I also have to give credit to Mick McCall for attempting the downfield passing game. Although Kafka’s inconsistency with the deep ball sometimes makes these plays frustrating and dangerous, The ‘Cats MUST attempt the deep pass in order to at least make the defense respect that possibility. If not NU’s receivers will constantly get jammed at the line and knocked by linebackers when running across the middle. Also, when NU does make a big play, such as the 51-yard TD to Andrew Brewer, it is a huge momentum swing.
NU needed several momentum swings after the 28-3 Indiana start (Is NU that limited in the Kickoff and Punt game?). Somehow and someway NU must not get down when they play Penn State and Iowa the next two weeks. Both those teams will make the ‘Cats pay if they aren’t ready for the opening whistle. In some ways, the football ‘Cats remind me of NU’s hoops squad late last year. We all remember how NU failed to finish big comebacks against Ohio State, Minnesota, and Tulsa because they stated too slow. This can’t happen the next couple weeks. Penn State and Iowa have better teams than NU. If the ‘Cats want to pull the upset they have to be ready to play. Maybe Coach Fitz should just till his players the Big Ten has decided to give Penn State a 21-0 lead before they take the field.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Memorabilia: More Schedule Cards
Two events inspired this post in which I want to take a look at some more NU memorabilia. First, I picked up a new schedule card for NU’s 2009 football season. Second, reader Jon Solomon from princetonbasketball.com sent me a couple old NU schedule cards he found from the late 90s and 2001 (Thanks, Jon).
If you remember my last post on schedule cards I discussed what I believed made for a good schedule card and what did not. I think overall what you’ll see today are good examples of schedule cards—this year's football card included. However I do have on major issue with the 2009 football schedule card and I will be fascinated to see if others are share my feelings.
First off you see both men’s and women’s basketball schedule cards from the 98-99 season. For the men’s team, of course, this was a successful year with an NIT qualification. Aside from positive memories, what I like about these two schedule cards is they show actions shots. Both feature photos which I think would catch someone’s eye if the walked by these cards as they entered a restaurant.
Next up, we have football schedule cards. First from the 2001 season and then from this upcoming season. The 2001 card features a semi-action shot as Zak Kustok is looking to pass, but I’m not sure it’s as exciting as the shot of Evan Eschmeyer going to the hoop. Still, I really like the fact the 2001 football card featured a slogan, “Chicagoland’s Big 10 Show” while that campaign wasn’t super-successful, it was nice to see NU trying to brand itself in Chicago.
As you can see below, this year’s schedule card features the “Play Smart - Play with Integrity” slogan which has started to show up on NU football merchandise recently. I like that slogan as to me it represents the ideals of Northwestern athletics very well. This year’s schedule card also continues the trend which started in the last couple years of indentifying the player on the card. I think this is a great improvement over the past schedule cards which did not do this. Sure, if you were an NU fan in 2001 you knew Zak Kustok on sight, but it is possible some casual sports fans in Chicago might know a players name, but not be able to put a jersey number to that name. Indentifying the player helps those casual fans make more of a connection with NU. It’s even better when the picture shows the player making an eye-catching play. In that regard, the picture of Corey Wotton on this year’s card isn’t bad. It shows him stopping and ball carrier and gives the viewer a sense of Corey’s size and strength. However, I do have one major issue with the picture featured. Corey Wotton played in 13 football games last fall. Of those football games, Northwestern won 9 and I think Corey made big plays in all 9 of those wins. Therefore, I really have to ask why of all the pictures to use was one of the Indiana game selected (Does this bother anyone else?). Yes, I know it’s just a picture and really makes no difference, but loyal readers can probably tell I spend a lot of time thinking about past NU games. I really enjoy remembering the great wins, but I try to block out the really painful losses. Indiana was the most painful and disheartening loss of last season and personally I’d like to keep blocking that out. Wasn’t there a picture of Corey sacking the SIU QB in the rain that could have been used? The Big Ten Network sure enjoyed running clips of those sacks during Fitz’s press conference during media day.
Still, overall the new schedule card isn’t bad. The picture does, I’ll admit, catch your eye and I like how the new three-fold style allows for more information. I also like how the 2010 schedule is listed as well, though, it would help a lot if NU could find a 12th game so the schedule was actually complete. Hopefully we’ll know that soon, but before we worry about 2010, let’s hope that new schedule card helps get some people out to games in 2009.
If you remember my last post on schedule cards I discussed what I believed made for a good schedule card and what did not. I think overall what you’ll see today are good examples of schedule cards—this year's football card included. However I do have on major issue with the 2009 football schedule card and I will be fascinated to see if others are share my feelings.
First off you see both men’s and women’s basketball schedule cards from the 98-99 season. For the men’s team, of course, this was a successful year with an NIT qualification. Aside from positive memories, what I like about these two schedule cards is they show actions shots. Both feature photos which I think would catch someone’s eye if the walked by these cards as they entered a restaurant.
Next up, we have football schedule cards. First from the 2001 season and then from this upcoming season. The 2001 card features a semi-action shot as Zak Kustok is looking to pass, but I’m not sure it’s as exciting as the shot of Evan Eschmeyer going to the hoop. Still, I really like the fact the 2001 football card featured a slogan, “Chicagoland’s Big 10 Show” while that campaign wasn’t super-successful, it was nice to see NU trying to brand itself in Chicago.As you can see below, this year’s schedule card features the “Play Smart - Play with Integrity” slogan which has started to show up on NU football merchandise recently. I like that slogan as to me it represents the ideals of Northwestern athletics very well. This year’s schedule card also continues the trend which started in the last couple years of indentifying the player on the card. I think this is a great improvement over the past schedule cards which did not do this. Sure, if you were an NU fan in 2001 you knew Zak Kustok on sight, but it is possible some casual sports fans in Chicago might know a players name, but not be able to put a jersey number to that name. Indentifying the player helps those casual fans make more of a connection with NU. It’s even better when the picture shows the player making an eye-catching play. In that regard, the picture of Corey Wotton on this year’s card isn’t bad. It shows him stopping and ball carrier and gives the viewer a sense of Corey’s size and strength. However, I do have one major issue with the picture featured. Corey Wotton played in 13 football games last fall. Of those football games, Northwestern won 9 and I think Corey made big plays in all 9 of those wins. Therefore, I really have to ask why of all the pictures to use was one of the Indiana game selected (Does this bother anyone else?). Yes, I know it’s just a picture and really makes no difference, but loyal readers can probably tell I spend a lot of time thinking about past NU games. I really enjoy remembering the great wins, but I try to block out the really painful losses. Indiana was the most painful and disheartening loss of last season and personally I’d like to keep blocking that out. Wasn’t there a picture of Corey sacking the SIU QB in the rain that could have been used? The Big Ten Network sure enjoyed running clips of those sacks during Fitz’s press conference during media day.
Still, overall the new schedule card isn’t bad. The picture does, I’ll admit, catch your eye and I like how the new three-fold style allows for more information. I also like how the 2010 schedule is listed as well, though, it would help a lot if NU could find a 12th game so the schedule was actually complete. Hopefully we’ll know that soon, but before we worry about 2010, let’s hope that new schedule card helps get some people out to games in 2009.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
History Making Win: Wildcats top Hoosiers 75-53 for first win in Bloomington since 1968
Craig Moore led NU with 17 points in tonight's win at Indiana. Northwestern got their 15th win of season tonight at Indiana making history in two ways. First, Northwestern won at Assembly Hall for the first time ever. Second, with their 15th win this means Northwestern will at least finish .500. The .500 record means NU has a great chance to make a postseason tournament of some variety for the first ten in 10 years as long as they post at least one more win. Tomorrow Welsh-Ryan Ramblings will assess NU’s postseason chances in detail.
As far as tonight’s game, the Wildcats placed four players in double figures and used a strong second half performances from the star trio of Craig Moore, Kevin Coble and Michael “Juice” Thompson to turn a five point half time lead into a 22-point victory. Although Indiana isn’t a strong team, NU’s ability to turn a big lead into a bigger lead is a huge step forward for a team who has struggled to hold leads. The fact it happened on the road makes it even more important. The game seemed to turn when IU cut the NU lead to 2 points, but Tom Crean then decided to play zone after his team was beat backdoor by Kevin Coble (10 points overall, 8 second half) twice. When that happened, NU found the gaps in the zone and Craig Moore (17 points, 5-of-7 threes) started drilling threes. NU’s ability to hit threes against the zone has helped the ‘Cats in their last two wins. It also gives NU hope to beat Ohio State on the road, unless Thad Matta does what he did against Penn State and surprises the world by coming out in a man-to-man defense.
As noted above Kevin Coble scored 8 points in the second half. Coble’s eight points in the second half seemed to complement John Shurna who scored 11 points, but got the majority of his points in the first half. Speaking of Coble, what he did even better than score in the second half was pass When surrounded by two and three guys in the post, Coble needs to pass out to the open shooters. At times he struggles with this because he is a score first type of player. However, his ability to find Juice Thompson on the perimeter for open shots helped NU end multiple Hoosier runs. Thanks to Coble’s great passing Thompson hit 2-of-3 treys and scored a total of 16 points, including 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch. He also had 5 assists.
Another NU player who deserves note is Luka Mirkovic. Luka seemed fully recovered from his illness tonight. He made 4-of-7 shots scoring 8 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and dishing out 2 assists. He displayed a nice touch on several jump shots and made a nice up and under move on which he showed great feet. Kyle Rowley was the bright spot in NU’s loss at Minnesota, but Mirkovic is by far the best option for NU at center right now. Rowley is fantastic when he doesn’t think, but tonight he reverted to the form where he has to over think his moves and reacts a step slow. Luka was the opposite. He almost seemed to be a step ahead of people at times tonight. His pass on an over the top backdoor to Coble was as good as any pass by a guard. It seems Northwestern hasn’t had Rowley and Mirkovic play well at the same time this year. Hopefully, they will surprise and play well at the same time down the stretch. NU will face solid inside talent against Purdue and Ohio State and Iowa dominated NU on the boards in Iowa City despite their relative lack of size.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Game 26: Indiana @ Northwestern
This is Welsh-Ryan Rambling's preview for Wednesday's Northwestern at Indiana game. Following the game, Welsh-Ryan Rambling's will have its usual postgame wrap up, however, be sure to check back on Thursday for an analysis of NU's postseason chances. As the game at IU is critcal in forecasting NU postseason chances, I did not want to discuss those possibilities too soon.
The Matchup: Northwestern (14-11) @ Indiana (6-20)
Location: Assembly Hall (Bloomington, IN)
TV: Big Ten Network (5:30 PM CT)
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Fun Fact: 5 of Indiana’s 6 wins this season have come at home.
About the Game
The first time Indiana and Northwestern matched up this season a battle of outside shooting finished with Craig Moore sinking two free throws and Kevin Coble stealing IU’s last gasp pass to give NU the win. The game was a great example of the effort put forth each night by Head Coach Tom Crean’s Hoosiers. Despite their poor record, the Hoosiers play as hard, or harder, than any team in the conference. That effort has to be respected and both Crean and his players deserve praise. Another group that deserves praise is the IU fans who have packed Assembly Hall regularly despite seeing some, at times, downright terrible basketball from their home team. Although they have only a 1-13 record in the Big Ten, Indiana is clearly getting better. It has been clear recently that Indiana will come out very aggressive against any opponent. As a result, IU has hung tough against even the Big Ten’s top squads for at least a half. Generally, their undoing is turnovers. TOs were also the difference the first time they played Northwestern. In a 77-75 loss, IU shot 50% from the field, but turned the ball over 22 times. A key to pulling a home upset over NU will be reducing that turnover total. Playing at home might help, but it is no guarantee. Coach Crean’s squad is very young and does make mistakes. Although Northwestern has moved away from exclusively using the 1-3-1, Bill Carmody should remember how Devan Dumes and his teammates got off to a hot start in Evanston against the 2-3 zone. Dumes will be a key player to watch in this matchup. He leads IU in scoring with 13.4 points per game, but since returning from a suspension his shot has been off.
Another item which could decide the game is NU’s health. NU’s recent struggles with the flu have kept starters on the bench or made them ineffective. It was a shame the flu hit when it did, because at Minnesota was a winnable game looking strictly at the matchup on paper. However, the fact is the flu isn’t an excuse. Besides, except for one obvious expectation, NU has played like they were sick every time they’ve gone on the road this year. If Northwestern wants to make an impact in any postseason tournament they need to show the ability to win on the road. Getting a win at Indiana would go a long way to proving this. However, if NU’s top players are still ill it will be tough. It is especially important Luka Mirkovic and Kevin Coble improve their health. NU needs to pull Indiana center Tom Pritchard out of the lane. Also, if Tom Crean wants to play man-to-man his team will have trouble with a healthy Coble. His taller players (Pritchard and Taber) aren’t as quick as NU’s star and his quicker players (Dumes and Verdall Jones III) are several inches shorter. If IU plays zone, NU needs Craig Moore and Coble both to play like they did vs OSU.
Prediction:
This game is tough to predict based on NU’s health. I don’t want to use illness as an excuse, nevertheless we have to acknowledge that it is hard to play basketball if you have an upper respiratory infection. Breathing is important to running around the court. If will be especially important if Kevin Coble is the game’s key player as I expect him to be. NU needs Coble to deploy his full arsenal of shots (especially 3s), however, to do that Coble needs his legs. If this illness lingers with Coble like it did with Luka Mirkovic NU’s star might not have those needed legs. For IU, Devan Dumes needs to get back on track. I don’t think there is really anything wrong with Dumes, but perhaps he has been putting extra pressure on himself since coming back for his suspension. I’m predicting a narrow NU win, but with the number of variables in play Wednesday night I acknowledge this game could really go either way. Northwestern, 68 Indiana, 67
The Matchup: Northwestern (14-11) @ Indiana (6-20)
Location: Assembly Hall (Bloomington, IN)
TV: Big Ten Network (5:30 PM CT)
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Fun Fact: 5 of Indiana’s 6 wins this season have come at home.
About the Game
The first time Indiana and Northwestern matched up this season a battle of outside shooting finished with Craig Moore sinking two free throws and Kevin Coble stealing IU’s last gasp pass to give NU the win. The game was a great example of the effort put forth each night by Head Coach Tom Crean’s Hoosiers. Despite their poor record, the Hoosiers play as hard, or harder, than any team in the conference. That effort has to be respected and both Crean and his players deserve praise. Another group that deserves praise is the IU fans who have packed Assembly Hall regularly despite seeing some, at times, downright terrible basketball from their home team. Although they have only a 1-13 record in the Big Ten, Indiana is clearly getting better. It has been clear recently that Indiana will come out very aggressive against any opponent. As a result, IU has hung tough against even the Big Ten’s top squads for at least a half. Generally, their undoing is turnovers. TOs were also the difference the first time they played Northwestern. In a 77-75 loss, IU shot 50% from the field, but turned the ball over 22 times. A key to pulling a home upset over NU will be reducing that turnover total. Playing at home might help, but it is no guarantee. Coach Crean’s squad is very young and does make mistakes. Although Northwestern has moved away from exclusively using the 1-3-1, Bill Carmody should remember how Devan Dumes and his teammates got off to a hot start in Evanston against the 2-3 zone. Dumes will be a key player to watch in this matchup. He leads IU in scoring with 13.4 points per game, but since returning from a suspension his shot has been off.
Another item which could decide the game is NU’s health. NU’s recent struggles with the flu have kept starters on the bench or made them ineffective. It was a shame the flu hit when it did, because at Minnesota was a winnable game looking strictly at the matchup on paper. However, the fact is the flu isn’t an excuse. Besides, except for one obvious expectation, NU has played like they were sick every time they’ve gone on the road this year. If Northwestern wants to make an impact in any postseason tournament they need to show the ability to win on the road. Getting a win at Indiana would go a long way to proving this. However, if NU’s top players are still ill it will be tough. It is especially important Luka Mirkovic and Kevin Coble improve their health. NU needs to pull Indiana center Tom Pritchard out of the lane. Also, if Tom Crean wants to play man-to-man his team will have trouble with a healthy Coble. His taller players (Pritchard and Taber) aren’t as quick as NU’s star and his quicker players (Dumes and Verdall Jones III) are several inches shorter. If IU plays zone, NU needs Craig Moore and Coble both to play like they did vs OSU.
Prediction:
This game is tough to predict based on NU’s health. I don’t want to use illness as an excuse, nevertheless we have to acknowledge that it is hard to play basketball if you have an upper respiratory infection. Breathing is important to running around the court. If will be especially important if Kevin Coble is the game’s key player as I expect him to be. NU needs Coble to deploy his full arsenal of shots (especially 3s), however, to do that Coble needs his legs. If this illness lingers with Coble like it did with Luka Mirkovic NU’s star might not have those needed legs. For IU, Devan Dumes needs to get back on track. I don’t think there is really anything wrong with Dumes, but perhaps he has been putting extra pressure on himself since coming back for his suspension. I’m predicting a narrow NU win, but with the number of variables in play Wednesday night I acknowledge this game could really go either way. Northwestern, 68 Indiana, 67
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Coble Steals Pass, Wildcat Win 77-75
The Wildcats are now 11-7 overall, 3-5 in the Big TenWith 5.2 seconds on the clock Wednesday night every Northwestern fan feared the Wildcats would fail to hold another double digit lead, but Kevin Coble swooped into the passing lane and denied Indiana a final shot. Coble scored 19 points and during the game’s final four minutes put together a highlight film of shots which rivaled his game at Michigan State. I find it hard to believe there is a more natural scorer than Coble anywhere in the Big Ten. The only criticism which can be levied at Coble is he shot only 5-of-8 from the free throw line. Coble wasn’t the only Wildcat who struggled from the charity strip. As a team Northwestern shot 13-of-20 from the line. This is an area to target for improvement if the Wildcats want to battle for a postseason birth in any of the myriad of tournaments which are suddenly appearing.
Perhaps the key factor in tonight’s game was Jeremy Nash, Nash has been a key factor on defense this season, but tonight he excelled on offense. Nash converted both his three point attempts and totaled 10 points, including a nice one handed slam. He also had three steals as did Moore and Coble.
Northwestern was again outrebounded, this time 30-19, but forcing 22 turnovers and converting 12-of-23 threes was enough to counter the Hoosier dominance on the boards. Craig Moore was the ‘Cats leading three point shooter (5-of-9), but he got great support from Juice Thompson (3-of-5), Coble (2-of-5), and Nash (2-of-2). I’ve heard rumors that Nash is one the team’s best shooters in practice, today that seemed to transfer into the game. If Jeremy shoots somewhere in the neighborhood of 35% from three, he might become one of the Big Ten’s best players.
Aside from the already mentioned issues at the free throw line, the Wildcats also need to reduce turnovers against Wisconsin. The 19 turnovers forced by the Hoosiers will be far too many to beat the Badgers. The man who handles the ball the most, Juice Thompson, will be one of the keys, he had 7 TO’s tonight. Coble’s 4 and Ivan Peljusic’s 3 were also far too many.
Northwestern’s next game is Saturday against Wisconsin. The Badgers come having lost five straight and will be hungry for a win. The Wildcats will look to once again hold their home court, and jump the Badgers in the standings. It will be a seriously intense game. Hopefully, Luka Mirkovic, who missed tonight’s game with a sprained ankle, will be back.
Perhaps the key factor in tonight’s game was Jeremy Nash, Nash has been a key factor on defense this season, but tonight he excelled on offense. Nash converted both his three point attempts and totaled 10 points, including a nice one handed slam. He also had three steals as did Moore and Coble.
Northwestern was again outrebounded, this time 30-19, but forcing 22 turnovers and converting 12-of-23 threes was enough to counter the Hoosier dominance on the boards. Craig Moore was the ‘Cats leading three point shooter (5-of-9), but he got great support from Juice Thompson (3-of-5), Coble (2-of-5), and Nash (2-of-2). I’ve heard rumors that Nash is one the team’s best shooters in practice, today that seemed to transfer into the game. If Jeremy shoots somewhere in the neighborhood of 35% from three, he might become one of the Big Ten’s best players.
Aside from the already mentioned issues at the free throw line, the Wildcats also need to reduce turnovers against Wisconsin. The 19 turnovers forced by the Hoosiers will be far too many to beat the Badgers. The man who handles the ball the most, Juice Thompson, will be one of the keys, he had 7 TO’s tonight. Coble’s 4 and Ivan Peljusic’s 3 were also far too many.
Northwestern’s next game is Saturday against Wisconsin. The Badgers come having lost five straight and will be hungry for a win. The Wildcats will look to once again hold their home court, and jump the Badgers in the standings. It will be a seriously intense game. Hopefully, Luka Mirkovic, who missed tonight’s game with a sprained ankle, will be back.
Game 18: Indiana @ Northwestern
The Matchup: Indiana (5-13) @ Northwestern (10-7)
Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)
TV: Big Ten Network (7:30 PM CT)
Radio: www.wgnradio.com and WNUR 89.3FM
Fun Fact: Indiana has done 5-on-7 in practice this wee to simulate Northwestern’s pressure zone.
About the Game
Northwestern starts a stretch which features six of their next seven games at home tonight. After a split in the state of Michigan, Northwestern has to see this stretch as their chance to make a move towards the postseason. Tonight’s opponent, Indiana, has struggled mightily this year record wise, but has shown steady improvement. First year Head Coach Tom Crean (195-109 overall) is a proven winner who Hoosier fans assume will get Big Red back on track very soon. It seems Crean believes the key to tonight’s game will be handling the Northwestern pressure as he stated he has not had the Hoosiers practice 5-on-5 all week. They have either seen 6 or 7 defenders whenever they practiced offense. This is an impressive complement from Crean to Northwestern and in particular Jeremey Nash who leads Northwestern’s pressure attack. Nash sometimes does seem like multiple people on the court, so it will be interesting to see how the Hoosiers handle him.
The Hoosiers have done a good job taking care of the ball this year (+3.2 TO margin), but they start two freshmen and three first year players in their backcourt. Although Crean’s practice strategy makes good sense, Northwestern traditionally can exploit teams who have not played against Bill Carmody’s unique offense and defense before.
Personnel wise, the Hoosiers leading scorer is junior college transfer Devan Dumes Dumes averages 12.9 ppg and has the ability to knock down the outside shot. If Indiana tries to follow the same game plan as Michigan in order to beat the ‘Cats, they will try to penetrate the zone with guards Verdell Jones III and Nick Williams then kick to shooters on the outside such as Dumes and Washington, IL native Matt Roth. Inside, the Hoosiers best players is freshman Tom Pritchard. After NU’s poor performance against DeShawn Sims, some are very nervous about Pritchard who scores 12.3 points per game and grabs 7.2 rebounds per contest. The key will be getting a body on him at all times. He is less athletic than Sims, so perhaps Kyle Rowley can use his superior size to NU’s advantage.
Prediction: I’m not a big believer in must win games other than postseason games where a loss ends your season. However, I will say this is a significant game for Northwestern. A loss to Indiana and much of the good will generated from the Michigan State upset will disappear. I believe after the loss to Michigan, Northwestern now has a better idea of how teams will attack the 1-3-1 and should be prepared to counter that. I also believe, for the first time in a long while (ever?), Northwestern is more talented than Indiana. I think those two factors will be enough for a Wildcat victory. Northwestern, 75 Indiana, 68
Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, IL)
TV: Big Ten Network (7:30 PM CT)
Radio: www.wgnradio.com and WNUR 89.3FM
Fun Fact: Indiana has done 5-on-7 in practice this wee to simulate Northwestern’s pressure zone.
About the Game
Northwestern starts a stretch which features six of their next seven games at home tonight. After a split in the state of Michigan, Northwestern has to see this stretch as their chance to make a move towards the postseason. Tonight’s opponent, Indiana, has struggled mightily this year record wise, but has shown steady improvement. First year Head Coach Tom Crean (195-109 overall) is a proven winner who Hoosier fans assume will get Big Red back on track very soon. It seems Crean believes the key to tonight’s game will be handling the Northwestern pressure as he stated he has not had the Hoosiers practice 5-on-5 all week. They have either seen 6 or 7 defenders whenever they practiced offense. This is an impressive complement from Crean to Northwestern and in particular Jeremey Nash who leads Northwestern’s pressure attack. Nash sometimes does seem like multiple people on the court, so it will be interesting to see how the Hoosiers handle him.
The Hoosiers have done a good job taking care of the ball this year (+3.2 TO margin), but they start two freshmen and three first year players in their backcourt. Although Crean’s practice strategy makes good sense, Northwestern traditionally can exploit teams who have not played against Bill Carmody’s unique offense and defense before.
Personnel wise, the Hoosiers leading scorer is junior college transfer Devan Dumes Dumes averages 12.9 ppg and has the ability to knock down the outside shot. If Indiana tries to follow the same game plan as Michigan in order to beat the ‘Cats, they will try to penetrate the zone with guards Verdell Jones III and Nick Williams then kick to shooters on the outside such as Dumes and Washington, IL native Matt Roth. Inside, the Hoosiers best players is freshman Tom Pritchard. After NU’s poor performance against DeShawn Sims, some are very nervous about Pritchard who scores 12.3 points per game and grabs 7.2 rebounds per contest. The key will be getting a body on him at all times. He is less athletic than Sims, so perhaps Kyle Rowley can use his superior size to NU’s advantage.
Prediction: I’m not a big believer in must win games other than postseason games where a loss ends your season. However, I will say this is a significant game for Northwestern. A loss to Indiana and much of the good will generated from the Michigan State upset will disappear. I believe after the loss to Michigan, Northwestern now has a better idea of how teams will attack the 1-3-1 and should be prepared to counter that. I also believe, for the first time in a long while (ever?), Northwestern is more talented than Indiana. I think those two factors will be enough for a Wildcat victory. Northwestern, 75 Indiana, 68
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