What About Next Year?

It’s national signing day for football and that gives me a reason to look to the future of the basketball program as well. I know this season is far form over and it is even possible that Northwestern could post a four game winning streak and be back at .500 in the Big Ten and ready for late February/early March push towards the NCAA tournament if they learn from their near upset of Ohio State as they face a favorable portion of the schedule. However, I think in this lag between games thinking about next year isn’t unreasonable.

One of the popular frustrations I hear from NU fans is that if this year isn’t “the year” then we’re in big trouble because next year is going to be terrible without Juice Thompson. Let me say I’m a big fan of Juice and I very much wish NU would have put the ball in his hands with 40 some seconds left in the Ohio State game, but I also don’t think losing him instantly means NU is going to revert to the bottom of the Big Ten. Sure, the point guard is a key position in college basketball, but a close look at the Princeton Offense reveals it isn’t as dependent on a point guard as other offensive systems. NU won six Big Ten games with former walk-on Michael Jenkins as the starting point guard in the 2005-06 season. The reason the PO can work without a great point guard is because every player on the court in the PO must be a good passer/distributor and be able to set up teammates for baskets. In other systems, the point guard is the only the player who does this. Certainly, Juice is valuable when teams press NU, but the Big Ten doesn’t have a ton of teams who press and I don’t think that’ll change next year. In fact, if you look closely, Juice has at times this season handed off point duties against non-pressure teams to JerShon Cobb and Alex Marcotullio. This has probably allowed Juice to get more shots, but it has also given JerShon and Alex good experience which they might need next season. Both of those players have shown a good understanding of how the Princeton Offense works and both will no doubt improve from the heavy minutes they have played this year. Also, both have shown the ability to get to the hoop which is the major aspect of Juice’s game that I’d be worried about losing. What will need to happen for next year is that Alex and JerShon will need to learn from Juice’s aggressiveness when an opening presents itself or the shot clocking is running down. Actually, with his quickness, I’d like to see JerShon Cobb starting to get more aggressive to the hoop right now.

Another reason why I think NU will be just as good next year is that I’m banking on John Shurna staying healthy. Last year, Juice was my MVP for NU because he really made NU function. This year, John Shurna will most likely get the nod for that award because it was clear how NU’s entire season changed when he got hurt. Shurna has become one of the best all around scorers in the Big Ten and one of the deadliest shooters in the nation when he’s 100%. If he’s 100% next year, I think NU will work to get him 15 shots a game or more. That means that the team’s point guard will likely have to take less of a scoring role and therefore someone like Marcotullio or one of NU’s two guard recruits Tre Demps or David Sobolewski can likely handle that responsibility.

I also have to say I have a lot of confidence in Demps and Sobolewski. Yes, NU’s big man recruiting has been hit or miss under Bill Carmody, but NU’s consistently brought in solid guards. T.J. Parker, Craig Moore, and Juice all played well as freshmen. No reason exits to think either Demps or Sobolewski won’t be able to do the same.
Plus, those two will benefit from not only having Shurna on the court, but Drew Crawford who is a multi-year starter and Cobb who has started every game he has been physically able to play and Luka Mirkovic who will also have years of starting experience under his belt. Basically, next year’s team will be one of NU’s most experienced. In college basketball experience isn’t an automatic ticket to success, but for a team like Northwestern where talent has to be developed over time, experience generally does help.

Simply stated, I think this year’s Northwestern team and next year’s Northwestern teams are going to be very similar. I’d logically expect about five more Big Ten wins and an NIT bid from this year’s group and I think an 8-10 Big Ten record next year with Shurna and Mirkovic as seniors is logical expectation as well. Now, will four years of the NIT and no NCAA tournament be acceptable to the NU fan base at large—maybe not. But I think to assume NU is going to go back to winning just a handful of Big Ten games next year isn’t correct either.

What does everybody else think? Do you see progress next year or will NU drop back to the bottom of the Big 1o (12)?

Top NU Hoops Games of the 2000s - Part 1

As we come to the end of decade of the 2000s I’ve seen lists for the best movies of the decade, the best TV shows of the decade, the best books of the decade, and many more. What I want to offer starting today, and finishing later in the week, are best NU basketball games of the decade.

This list will be premiered in two parts. Today we’ll start with some honorable mention games (contests not quite in the top 10) and games #10-6. Later in the week I’ll reveal games #5-1. The list was compiled by going through every NU win for the last decade and having an expert panel (okay, just me) review those wins for excitement, player performance, and meaning for the program.

Let’s start with a few games which were just short of making my top ten.

November 28th 2006 – Northwestern 61 Miami 59 (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)

Craig Moore scored 24 points and tied a then school record with 7 three pointers and the Wildcats got their first Big Ten/ACC Challenge win against a team other than Florida State. This probably would have been higher on the list if NU had played better that season.

February 25th 2009 – Northwestern 75 Indiana 53

NU breaks a 35-game losing steak at Indiana behind Craig Moore’s 17 points and Juice Thompson’s 16 points. The win was historic, but misses in part due to how bad Indiana was last season.

March 3rd 2004 – Northwestern 51 Iowa 49

Vedran Vukusic hits a buzzer beater with 0.7 seconds left to lift NU over Iowa. With the win NU sweeps Iowa for the first time since 1959. I went back and forth with this game, but it missed the list as the opponent in game #10 was of high quality.


Now let’s move onto games #10 thru #6. We start early in the decade…

#10 December 27th 2000 – Northwestern 63 #16 USC 61

Ben Johnson (who should never have left NU) hit a baseline jump shot with 1:23 left and two free throws in the final seconds the seal Bill Carmody’s first big win as NU’s head coach. A lot of NU faithful missed this game as they were already in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl, but it was a great contest.

#9 February 5th 2003 – Northwestern 74 Indiana 61

Northwestern dominated the Hoosiers for the first win over the perennial Big Ten power in 15 years. NU was led in the game by freshman Mohamed Hachad who had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 steals. The game was put out of reach on a three pointer by Winston Blake which also ended up as the basket on which Blake scored his 1,000th career point.

#8 February 9th 2005 – Northwestern 55 Minnesota 53

In the days before the Big Ten Network not all the games NU played were on TV. I remember listening to this one on the radio. The Wildcats came back from down double digits with less than 4 minutes left and won after Vince Scott hit a three to tie the score and T.J. Parker delivered the last of four career buzzer beaters to give NU the win.

#7 March 13 2003 – Northwestern 76 Minnesota 64 (Big Ten Tournament)

This game makes the list because NU hasn’t had a lot of success in the Big Ten Tournament, but in 2003 NU was seeded 10th yet hammered the 7th seeded Golden Gophers. Jitim Young scored 20 points in the game to lead NU to victory.

#6 March 4th 20009 – Northwestern 64 #19 Purdue 61

The most recent game on the list, NU used great defense from a number of reserves and some unlikely baskets by Sterling Williams to push past Purdue in West Lafayette for the team’s 17th win of the season. That tied the school record for regular season victories.


The rest of this list will come out later in the week. Feel free to offer you comments and thoughts on what you agree with, disagree with, and what you think might be #1.