[NU Sports] hoops post mortem

[Roy Lamberton]

>From the WGN postgame show - when asked what he'd say to Jeremy Nash after the
game....

"I don't know what I'm going to say to him, I mean he did great, kept the ball
away from Neitzel , then he boxed out really well down there, got the rebound. 

"Its probably my fault because I didn't tell him at the time out, if you get it
to call a time out because I don't always do that , because most times I like to
run it up the court, but in this case I knew I wanted to get Timmy back in there
so I probably should have told him, but 

"It was fine, it was a good effort, the guys hung in there, I was happy with our
play all - except maybe in that 7 minutes in the first half "

If you actually watched the game, you were taken with how well the 3 different
MSU centers absolutely dominated under the basket on defense. They blocked 5,
and broke up several layups that would have been nice to have, but were definite
defensive breakups.

MSU has ALWAYS had trouble shooting in the United Center - Neitzel obviously
made the best use of the time, but even Michael Jordan didn't like playing in
there because it was hard to judge distance to the basket. [something that ol'
alum Brett pointed out]

Anyway, our offense is designed to work, ie score, when we pull the opponents
away from under the basket with our long range shooting - the point is to negate
superior inside athleticism and size.

One of the great things about hiring Hardy, besides his knowledge of the Chicago
recruiting scene, is his calming influence on the younger players. After Nash
and Moore didn't connect up, Hardy was right there, along with Johnson, patting
him on the shoulder. Hardy sits in the middle of the NU bench instead of next to
BC with Johnson & Co. which is where Robinson used to sit. 

Anyway, its easy to vent after reading the message boards. I'm sorry I had to
leave as soon as the game was over and didn't get the postgame stuff posted
until this morning, but I had a slight family emergency to deal with right after
the game ended.

Onward to LAX/Softball Excellence

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
============================================

> The loss to Michigan State strikes me as an acceptable
> effort against a superior team, even given the final
> brain cramp (though perhaps a timeout was called for)?
>