[NU Sports] NIT here we come

Thu Jan 14 11:58:44 CST 2010

We seem to have this conversation around this time of year in the
basketball season every year.

I think that we ARE seeing year to year improved talent.  Coble,
Thompson, Shurna, and Crawford representing the best players of each
class.  As others have already posted, other coaches regard Crawford as
the best athlete we've had in recently memory.  Shurna was one of the
stars on the USA's U19 World Championship team.  I think that is due to
the addition of Hardy to the staff two years ago.  As the smart Bball
players in the Chicago area see the sort of exposure and success Shurna
and Crawford are getting at NU, it is only going to make Hardy's job
easier.

It shows in the record too, particularly in BT play.  

2008-2009 8-10 17-14
2007-2008 1-17 8-22
2006-2007 2-14 13-18

Jeff

________________________________

From: cherron604 at aol.com [mailto:cherron604 at aol.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:35 AM
To: Beamsley, Jeff; hakirsch at aol.com; e-west at northwestern.edu;
nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] NIT here we come

Jeff makes the larger point here:

"The season will ultimately depend on NU learning how to play the last
eight minutes or so of close games when the talented teams (italics
added) will almost
always make a run."

Implying that we are NOT a ta H lented team (i.e. our talent level is
consistently lower than that of our conference mates). A sentiment with
which I think most of us would probably agree.  Meaning that since the
conference is a large part of our season, we either need to a) get
comparable talent, or b) find a different conference.

Gary Barnett, Randy Walker and Fitz have all shown that getting
comparable talent to our conference mates is possible in football, it
appears to be possible in a lot of our other sports as well.  Clearly we
cannot (yet) get boatloads of football talent like Penn State or Ohio
State, but it appears that we can get talent that is at least
competitive with top-tier programs (Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State).

So the question turns to Men's Basketball - either we can get comparable
talent, or we can't.  If we can't get comparable talent, then being in
the Big Ten dooms us to decades of failure.  If we are capable of
landing (and/or developing) comparable talent, then why haven't we done
so ?  Do we believe as a group that Bill Carmody has recruited or
developed sufficient talent to compete succesfully in the Big Ten ?

I know that we have had injury problems, but injuries are a fact of
life, all programs deal with them.  We have to answer the following
questions:

1. Can Northwestern men's basketball obtain or develop talent that is at
least comparable to that of its conference opponents ?  If the answer is
'yes',

2. Has Bill Carmody obtained (or developed) sufficient talent to compete
in the Big Ten ?  If that answer is 'yes',

3. Why have we not competed succesfully in conference ?  If the answer
to question 2 is 'no',

3. When do we expect Carmody to start obtaining and developing
sufficient talent to compete succesfully in the Big Ten ? 

Winning all or almost all of your n-c games, and hoping for a few wins
at home in conference, is no way to build a D-1 men's basketball
program.  If we can't compete succesfully in the Big Ten (competitive
with every team that we face), then we have to ask why are we trying to
do it.  If the program is capable of Big Ten competitiveness, then we
have to ask why hasn't it happened ?

Chuck Herron   Tech '85

-----Original Message-----
From: Beamsley, Jeff <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
To: hakirsch at aol.com; Eric West <e-west at northwestern.edu>;
nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Thu, Jan 14, 2010 9:51 am
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] NIT here we come

Seems to me that this team is still finding itself.

We demonstrated that we have the ability to ride a hot hand, but as the
game against Wisky demonstrated, we don't seem to be able to find a plan
B on offense when the outside shots and free throws aren't falling.  We
also don't seem to be able to adjust our defense to react when someone
on the other side heats up.

The big risk to our strategy of slow low scoring close games is that the
other team gets hot at the end, and we are unable to respond.

The season will ultimately depend on NU learning how to play the last
eight minutes or so of close games when the talented teams will almost
always make a run.

Jeff

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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
<mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com?> ]
On Behalf Of hakirsch at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:33 AM
To: Eric West; nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] NIT here we come

Well I can say I'm hopeful,but not optimistic about making the tourney

We are losing the games we thought we would lose but I worry that we
won't win the ones we thought we would win. As Eric pointed out anything
can happen in hoops and to assume that we have any gimme wins in
conference is a stretch. We will likely lose some of those and since our
internal projections have us on the bubble we will definitely need some
that we haven't penciled in for wins

Harry
------Original Message------
From: Eric West
Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] NIT here we come
Sent: Jan 14, 2010 7:10 AM

And the ridiculous roller coaster continues. Not the team, but the
reactions of the fans.

Preseason...we're going to make the tournament!
Coble injured...we'll be lucky to win any games at all.
After non-conference...we're ranked and on top of the world!
A few losses to RANKED teams...we're the worst team ever, and somehow
making the NIT would be a disappointment.

Seriously, just last night UConn lost at home by ten to a ranked team,
and their record is worse than ours. Are they similarly doomed to the
NIT?

It's college basketball, people. Multiple losses happen, even to great
teams. I've no idea how NU will end up, but don't you think it would
make sense to wait and see how we fare against the middle of the league
(not to mention in rematches)? Or is it just more fun to give up? (At
least until the next win, after which we'll be OMG SOOOO GREAT....)

Emotional responses are fine, but let's not pretend there's anything
analytical or insightful going on here. I remain glad that no one on
this list is in a position to make decisions for our athletic
department.

Eric West
e-west at northwestern.edu

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