[NU Sports] carmody, etc.

[Brad Wilson]

I've had my say on this in the past: more or less, I
believe BC is the best NU can do and it probably still
isn't and won't be good enough.

I must object, however, to the "boring" comments. I
have been watching Princeton basketball for over 30
years as a student and a fan (I knew Carmody at
Princeton) and to me, games that come down to the last
 shot or last minute are not boring. Close games are
not boring. Playing an "uptempo, exciting" game and
losing 87-48 to Michigan State or Ohio State IS
boring. 

NU's style can keep games close when the talent gap is
as yawning as it is these days. That's not boring.
Blowouts are boring -- and this NU team playing
straight-up against Illinois, Wisconsin or OSU would
be roadkill by 30 points every time.

So, you say, get better players? Well, duh. I am sure
BC wants to and tries to. Who wants to lose? But, as
has been proven for 50 years, better players don't
want to come to NU no matter who the coach is. 

I suppose trying another coach is an option, but why
would that be any different? And which coach in the
right mind would take the job? You have to compete
against at least six schools -- MSU, OSU, Minnesota,
Iowa, Michigan and most of all Illinois -- who have
zero standards for admission for basketball players
while maintaining Ivy-level standards yourself with
iffy facilities and the worst history in major college
basketball. Good luck. Who needs it? It's a suicide
mission for a coach.

But most baffling here is how NU can attract top-shelf
talent in almost every other sport (football, soccer,
swimming, wrestling, softball, golf, tennis, lacrosse)
and not in hoops (men's or women's).

Carmody is classy, does his best, and keeps NU
moderately competitive. I despair of anything better.
Making a change could well result in worse (the
foulmouthed O'Neill, Ricky Byrdsong dancing with Goofy
Gopher in Minneapolis).

We await a Barnett of the hardwood. 

Brad Wilson















 

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular." -- Edward R. Murrow, 1954.

"Quis ipsos custodes custodiet?" -- Juvenal


 
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