[NU Sports] Not the refs

[Evans Schoeman]

One thing that the Cats showed the last two games (particularly last night) was 
the ability to play tough in hostile environments.  Hopefully, this bodes well 
for the future, as I think that we will have to win more than 1 or 2 Big Ten 
road games to get to the Dance.

As many have mentioned, there are lots of positives to take out of the Big Ten 
and NIT tourney games.  Juice's contributions and leadership will be very tough 
to replace, but just about everyone else is back, and a (hopefully) healthy 
Shurna should give us a big lift next year.




________________________________
From: Tom Maycock <tkmaycock at yahoo.com>
To: "nwu-sports at tssi.com" <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Sent: Thu, March 24, 2011 11:51:44 AM
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Not the refs

>  A shame that NU's outside shooting (especially Shurna's) was way off  - - I 
>thought that was the crusher in this game, along with uncharacteristic  
>turnovers, including by Juice T.  There were good adjustments to the WSU  
>pressure, but too many good shots were missed.


My thoughts exactly. A lot things went on during the game, with offensive and 
defensive advantages flipping from one team to the other as they each adjusted 
schemes, attitudes, and intensity levels. 

But down the stretch, NU got open 3 point shots and didn't make them, and 
compounded that with the turnovers. If, say, Juice and John drain just one more 
of their attempts each, the Cats are on their way to New York. I suspect they 
may have been a little gassed. Alex for sure isn't used to playing those 
minutes, and may not be up to "Juice" standards of conditioning (who is other 
than Juice?). 

I think Cobb's injury really ended up hurting us in this game. We could have 
used his ability to create and his on the ball defense, and Alex probably would 
have been fresher down the stretch as well if Cobb could have played more.  

The good thing about the injury is that Alex got a lot of experience as a 
starter the last few weeks, and made the most of it. That will pay dividends 
next year. 

>  I consider him the most compelling player and leader I've seen  in 30+ years 
>of following and supporting the Wildcats.

Yep, and he did it all with a smile too.

Tough ending, but what a thrilling game, and a thrilling ride at the end of the 
year. 

I was pretty harsh on these guys at times, and I feared a total collapse after 
the first few minutes last night. I was really impressed by the ability of the 
Cats to fight their way back into it in a hostile environment. Also, I think we 
are seeing from the NCAA tourney just how tough the Big 10 was this year. 

Tom

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