[NU Sports] blah hoops

[sjtruog at jorsm.com]

> So another mediocre men's basketball season staggers
> to another disappointing close. 12-12 now, we'll be

I'm disappointed with this season, but not disheartened. In fact, I'm even
more optimistic that next year is THE year we break through with everyone
back.

This year, Mike Thompson proved to be more of a problem with adjustment
than originally thought. Hopefully next year he gets his act together (on
the court with our offense and off the court with classes) ... but if not,
the play of Scott is one of the year's few bright spots. He's more of a
Carmody Center in how he shoots outside. He's not bulky or Big Ten rebound
like, though, which is why we'll need Thompson next year to bang with the
big boys.

Injuries also hurt ... but the big adjustment besides Thompson was finding
a leader to fill Jitim's shoes. VV has stepped up lately, but not soon
enough to save this season. Hopefully he takes this confidence into next
year.

> The results are predictable: disastrous non-league
> losses to third-rate teams that cripple any postseason

That's what this team needs to learn the most - GOTTA win the gimmes. If
we'd have beaten Penn State and Ohio State, two games we SHOULD have won,
we'd have been 6-4 in league play and in fourth place after the upset win
at Minnesota. But those losses hurt ... and those preseason gimme losses
just killed us before we even added Thompson.

> So I want to fire the coach, right? Well, no. I think
> Bill Carmody is a good coach. I think he works hard as

Definitely agree. Carmody is definitely building a winner in Evanston.
We're all back next year with a team that's been competitive in Big Ten
play for two straight seasons now. We can and should break through in
2005-06.

> rebuilding plan. Why? Because. Because it's NU. That's
> sufficient when it comes to the hardwood, it would
> appear.

Guess the cloudy weather's really got you down, Brad.:) I didn't think
we'd take this big of a step back this year either, but adding Thompson
and finding a go-to post-Jitim turned out to be a bigger problem than
anticipated. Still no reason to panic too much - we have a great coach, a
solid system and players who will have experience with the system and with
each other next year. We gotta get a mental attitude to win those "gotta
win" games, but that's really all I see between us and the NCAAs next
year.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT