[NU Sports] Wildcats out of the Dance

[Dennis W. Brandt]

> All they did [against Wisconsin] is watch the track of the ball, with no 
> apparent effort to put a body
> on someone at the same time. To say that was disheartening is a massive
> understatement.

I do not agree that lack-of-effort was the issue.  Luka Mirkovic gets as 
much out of his skills as he can, but the Good Lord did not provide him with 
a deep well of physical ability.  We have no good big man and never have had 
one during Carmody's tenure.  But why make him unique?  Other than Evan 
Eschmeyer, Northwestern never has had a quality center.  Power forward Don 
Adams may be the best rebounder in NU history (and the longest tenured in 
the NBA albeit as a journeyman), but he graduated in 1970 and, at a "mere" 
6' 6", might not be as good today.

> It was a real head-scratcher of a performance. Wisconsin plays extremely 
> well on
> both ends of the court and has some very talented players. But this is not 
> a
> team that dominates us athletically, so the blowout can only be attributed 
> to a
> lack of effort in my opinion.

It's no head-scratcher.  We got licked by a much better team.  Their guards 
and forwards were also better than ours, although I think we can match up on 
the outside reasonably well with many teams.  But we are consistently last 
or close to it every year in Big Ten rebound stats, and put-backs are what 
other teams do to us.  If the three doesn't fall, we're screwed because we 
have no other offense to fall back on.

We're hearing calls for Carmody's ouster, and maybe that is valid.  However, 
I do not believe that Xs and Os are his problem - at least not his biggest 
issue - nor is it his choice of offensive scheme.  The fundamental problem 
is, as it always has been, the continuing absence of talented big men. 
While he has improved the guard and small forward play, until we get players 
who can hold their own on the boards and play interior defense, all we'll 
ever get is "wait 'til next year."  I've experienced 47 "next years," and 
I'm damned tired of it.

Is Carmody limited by the same rules that Fitz wants to eliminate?  If so, 
defecation-container them.