[NU Sports] Future of NU basketball

[Roy Lamberton]

I don't want to return to being a "doormat" but I'm realistic enough to accept
that we have to become a consistent .500 team to recruit the next level of kid
to move to .750.

The need to be respectible in the big 10 was something that Walker understood,
maybe more than Barnett since RW expected to stay in Evanston for another few
years and continue what he had started. He knew that to get to the next level,
he had to get the present kids playing over their collective heads so we could
recruit more players like this year's football class.

Basketball is a lot tougher in that there are only 5 players on the court with
nowhere to hide when things start to go south. Any team can improve by 30% with
a single player, but it still takes 2, sometimes 3 exceptional talents to play
into the post game tourneys.

I am also not ready to write off 2006-07. The league has figured out how to
interrupt NU's attack, but we still can play defense with the better teams. We
were back door cutting Saturday until they doubled up on Vince Scott. The 3
point shooters on both sides couldn't seem to get the balls to drop and that was
the difference in the game.

At least that's how I saw it....

rsl

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
Computer Applications & Support Associates
and Publisher of Purple Reign, 
The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
(http://www.purplewildcats.com)
AIM Handle: CoachRoy74
======== Go Cats -  Beat 'em All ===========
"You have a Republic Madam --
     If you can keep it" - Benjamin Franklin
============================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com 
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Dennis W. Brandt
> Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 2:30 PM
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Future of NU basketball
> 
> 
> < I'm no recruiting expert, but it seems to me that looking into 
> Georgetown's program
> > could be instructive.  Their academic standards are on par 
> with ours, 
> > and
> > they play successfully in a major conference.  Who are they 
> getting, and 
> > how is their system working?  That's what I'd like to know.
> >
> Observation leads me to believe that academic standards are 
> much relaxed for 
> the basketball team at Georgetown.  I am positive, for 
> example, that Allen 
> Iverson would never had gotten into Northwestern.  John 
> Thompson took him on 
> as a "project" and was reasonably successful off the court 
> and fabulously so 
> on court.  On the other hand, he will not be missed in Philadelphia.
> 
> <My memory is a bit sketchy, but in 2001-02, we went 7-9 in 
> conference. . 
> .In 2003-04, we went 8-8 in <conference . . .  Northwestern 
> never had it so 
> good.
> 
> That's the problem I have with what you're saying.  You are 
> ecstatic about 
> going .500.  That would have been great if and only if they 
> had followed up 
> with 10 - 6, then 11 - 5, etc.  You are content with an 
> occasionally peak at 
> mediocrity and then the inevitable return trip to 
> Doormatville.  I'm not, 
> and the continuing ineptitude of the basketball program is 
> inexcusable. 
> Maybe this freshman and sophomore-laden team will be 
> something in a few 
> years.  But haven't we said that before?  Perhaps our 
> facilities turn off 
> recruits; perhaps the absence of a phys-ed degree turns more 
> away.  The 
> history of losing doesn't help.  Whatever is wrong, we ain't 
> fixin' it. 
> 
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