[NU Sports] Carmody

[Jonathan Hodges]

What has been typical of NU the past few years was evident again today
- NU picks up a big win (usually at home) over a top Big Ten school
then follows up with a poor performance.  This has happened 2 times
this year against PSU.  First, the 'Cats had a chance to go 3-0 in the
Big Ten and dropped one at home to PSU.

Now, after beating the Badgers handily at home, they drop a big road
game that could have put them well into NIT consideration.  Instead,
Seacat was the only offensive spark for the 'Cats - Vukusic was once
again well covered and esentially shut down, Hachad went back to his
old inconsistent self (possibly due to PSU's zone).  The only way to
break the zone they were running was to hit 3's, and Seacat did that,
although it was too late.  The 'Cats were within 6 points until they
couldn't knock down a shot and watched PSU build a 19 point lead at
the end.

A couple observations:

- The 'Cats can never seem to put together a long enough winning
streak to push into the postseason.  They can pick up a few wins, a
couple marquee wins, but they can never build a long winning streak -
even in nonconference play.  The teams that make it to the tourney get
hot - in the conference tourneys or during conference play in order to
pick up those needed wins.  NU must overcome this in order to reach
the postseason in any form.

- Possibly a cause for the first point, NU rarely has multiple players
step up in a game.  Also, NU has lacked depth almost all of Carmody's
tenure (this year it was due to Parker leaving and Thompson's
unfortunate situation); he rarely has a bench full of players he could
confidently put on the court.  This leaves the starting 5 worn down as
the season goes on, and one big loss puts the brakes on any progress. 
Today we saw that Seacat was the only one stepping up at the end -
Hachad and Vukusic were quiet.  If NU had that deep bench, maybe they
could run off a long win streak, but we haven't had that deep bench
recently.

- Style of play: When executed well from the beginning of the game, NU
can put up big wins.  When the other team tries to play our style, the
'Cats succeed.  When the other team uses the fast break and size to
outplay the 'Cats, they get beat (like today - when they mostly did it
by size).  The 'Cats 1-3-1 defense has worked well, as long as the
other team can't get it inside to the big guns.  The offense worked
well with Wisconsin who tried to beat us at our own game, but against
PSU's zone it fizzled.  Also, if the outside shot gets cold, it is
doomsday.

Despite these observations, I think Carmody is a quality coach and has
implemented a system that can succeed (some sort of consistency by
finishing around .500 every year and pulling off a decent conference
record while doing a great job defending the home court). 
Unfortunately, he has had to deal with many untimely injuries and/or
players leaving.  There is hope, though, seeing the freshmen this year
(Williams, Moore) who are very solid.  Hopefully Carmody can build the
team with more players like these (and get some good big men) and see
continued improvement.  Remember that he didn't have much left when he
arrived (outside of Jitim Young) after the mass exodus during/after
O'Neill's tenure.

Jonathan


On 2/25/06, Jim Bendat <thehaze at earthlink.net> wrote:
> We lost another one today, 68-55 to Penn State.  We're now at .500,
> still having a possible chance at the NIT.  For NU, I guess that's an
> accomplishment in basketball.
>
> A number of people on the list -- people whose opinions are worth
> respecting -- have indicated their belief that Carmody is the right man
> for the job at NU, some calling him a "perfect fit."
>
> Can you explain why you feel this way about him?  He seems like a good
> guy, the players are graduating, our teams play decent fundamentals.
> But he's been here for six years.  With our style of play, we have
> difficulty recruiting good players.  He's had to find players from other
> countries to fill our roster spots.  How are things going to improve?
>
> Jim B.
>
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--
Jonathan W. Hodges
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