[NU Sports] two steps (sort of) forward, one step back ...

[Brad Wilson]

... same old NU basketball song.

The win over Charlotte was a terrific win, a win over
a team that should be an A-10 contender. True, it is
the kind of a win other BT teams gain regularly, but
it's progress for the 'Cats. Hurrah!

But (and there's always a but with this bunch)...

Beating Lehigh by two points on a neutral court is an
embarrassment. (Beating Lehigh's naionally-ranked
wrestlers by two would be a great win.) BT teams
should beat Lehigh 100 times out of 100 by 20-25
points on a neutral court. Lehigh is a weak Patriot
League team, a league that until this spring had never
won an NCAA tournament game. One made 3-pointer by
Lehigh and NU was staring at an awful, dreadful,
pathetic loss.

Then in the final, with NU on the verge of an
impressive 3-0 start, the same old story. No offense
other than 3s, no perimeter defense, an inability to
seize control of a winnable game, letting an (at best)
equal team dictate down the stretch ... we have seen
this before. Yes, UNC-Wilm. is a nice team, but,
again, I suggest that every other BT team (except Penn
State) would dispatch the Seahawks by 10-15 points.

So I'm not sold. I want to see a December where the
'Cats crush, maul and claw inferior teams by 20-25
points like they should -- no more squeakers against
stiffs, which, when luck goes the other way, turn into
horrendous losses. I want to see NU march into Seton
Hall, a team in disarray with its coach with one foot
out the door, and win by 15.

Unless December ends with double-digit wins and some
blowouts, this basketball season will be just like the
last few, and the list knows what I thought of those.

It's time for this bunch to get the job done every
night on a consistent basis. Losses are not acceptable
to the kind of kitty litter that sprinkles the
non-league slate. Lackluster 57-52-ish wins over
Northern Colorado and its ilk will turn into 77-52 Big
Ten losses. 

I'm with Alan. Time to produce, hoopsters.

Brad Wilson

 







"Entertainment is what which you receive without effort. Art is something where you must make some kind of effort, and you get more than you had before." -- Charles Wuorinen

"Quis ipsos custodes custodiet?" -- Juvenal


		
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