[NU Sports] rebounding disaster

Mon Feb 13 18:28:26 CST 2012

You guys have provided excellent analysis (something I thought was lacking from the BTN color commentator, especially when he totally blew it with a misguided rant against Davide Curletti's timeout call on a first-half scramble play).   I must admit that I thought NU was going to pull the upset @ Mackey Arena last night - - that's what I get for expecting victory.   Now the Cats are no cinch to make it into the NIT (and making it to another NIT would be a big letdown for this team, anyway).   But they've shown they have much better play in them and that they're capable of bouncing back...they also seem resolute in their commitment to making this "the year," not just for Shurna to become NU's all-time leading scorer, but to make a maiden voyage into March Madness.

It will be very difficult to win in Bloomington, as # 1 Kentucky found out.  But maybe THESE Wildcats will do better than those did against the Hoosiers and will get their fourth win in the last five conference games (a rare feat for NU).   It'll likely take a 4-2 regular season finish to reach the NCAAs - - it's not probable, but it's possible (and that's more than nearly anybody would've predicted after the three excruciating defeats in a 2-6 conference start).  After playing @ IU on Wed., the games are vs. Minn. & Mich. @ Evanston, @ PSU, home vs. Ohio State & @ Iowa.  

Can you imagine if the Cats can somehow win three of the next five and have an 8-9 Big Ten record going into the finale at Iowa, with the Hawkeyes bent on avenging the Cats' rout @ Evanston & on depriving NU of a likely first-ever NCAA bid?    I'd take that scenario in a heartbeat...even if my heart might not survive watching the game in Iowa City.  So an unlikely 4-1 in the next five would be much better. :)

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Roy S. Lamberton
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 4:49 PM
To: 'Beamsley, Jeff'; 'Tom Maycock'; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] rebounding disaster

Perdoo really took Shurna out of his game in the first half, I don't think he got a clean look at the basket for 20 minutes.

They were slapping at Sobo too, and what kind of grease was on the floor under NU's basket in the first half. Hearn and Sobo both slipped trying to cut under there - it cost us some points.

Once again, just like Nebraska, we let PU get up a few baskets on us before we started to score, and nobody seemed to find the range in or outside the arc, in the first 10 minutes.
PU couldn't either, but we could have put that thing away in the first half had we scored when they didn't.

The Cats just have to take it to Indy on Wednesday.

rsl

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Opinions expressed above are mine alone and are not those of any organizations of which I am a member.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate.
Computer Applications & Support Associates Coach Roy's Random Thoughts - http://coachroy.org
--------------------- Also ---------------------- "Commissioner" Delaware American Legion Baseball Director Media Relations - Little League
  Senior League Softball World Series
CTR2 USN (67-70) - CTRCS USNR (Ret) (64-67/70-95) Northwestern University - Speech 1974 - Chi Phi: Pi 1974, KD 1968 Publisher Emeritus: Purple Reign (Fox Sports) =================================================
There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure - Dwight D. Eisenhower =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  = If we become a country in which we say, 'Please, tell me how to live,' We're Doomed!"
                   -- Pete Hamill, "Prohibition"
===========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  ===========

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Beamsley, Jeff
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 2:12 PM
To: Tom Maycock; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] rebounding disaster

Couple of thoughts.

These teams are pretty evenly matched.  The loss at home was close.  Hummel had to make a great shot to win and did.  NU learned from that loss.  Carmody switched to a small lineup and won three games including a big win over Illinois.

NU has to shoot the three well for this small lineup to work.  We didn't do that in the first half (4-11).  Purdude did a good job defending the three, but when we had open looks,  we didn't make 'em.  We also had a tough time finishing around the basket on the sorts of drives that should open up if the D is all out at the three point line.

The good news is that our defense in the first half was just as good as Purdew's, so Purdew shot just as badly as we did.  Other than rebounds, the first half stats were pretty even.

Both teams shot better in the second half but again were pretty close.  NU rebounded much better.

Where this game was won, however, was at the free throw line.  Even though it seemed like they buried us in threes, we actually outplayed them on the floor.  They were 21-28 at the line in the second half to our 7-12.  The final margin of victory was 10.

Bottom line is that Purdid was able to make us play their game (gritty physical grind it
out) and last night, they were better at it.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Tom Maycock
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 12:11 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] rebounding disaster

> I realize the Princeton offense means rebounding can be a weakness

It may limit offensive rebounds, but I don't think it has anything inherently to do with defensive rebounding. And that was the big problem yesterday (and has been in many games).

The 1-3-1 defense certainly doesn't lend itself to strong rebounding. It's just one of the compromises you accept when you play that defense--you're going to give up a few gimmes, and you hope that the turnovers and general mayhem you cause with the 1-3-1 more than offset that. The Cats did play man D for a while in the second half, which I think helped, but then as I recall they had issues staying on 3-point shooters.

Also, the small lineup isn't conducive to strong rebounding either. (Well, at least theoretically--I think the Cats have actually rebounded better overall with their small lineup than with their "big" lineup). But strong rebounding from a small lineup requires extra-big doses of "want".

To be fair, especially in the first half Purdue was really putting up some awful shots that lead to really long rebounds, so there was just some bad luck there. However, rebounding is mostly about thinking ahead, being physical, and working your ass off. The Cats flat out didn't do a great job at those things for large portions of the game.

Too bad, as it was another winnable game, in which the Cats played fairly well, but not great. As the announcers noted, the Cats failed to take advantage of Purdue's cold streak early, which left them no cushion when the Boilers got hot down the stretch.

Mostly, it just makes the loss at home against Purdue all the more painful. The Cats
*could* have won on Sunday, but they *should* have won that game at home. The 0-2 mark against Purdue may haunt them at selection time. Maybe they'll get a rematch in the Big Ten tourney?

Tom

_______________________________________________
nwu-sports site list
nwu-sports at tssi.com
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports

_______________________________________________
nwu-sports site list
nwu-sports at tssi.com
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports

_______________________________________________
nwu-sports site list
nwu-sports at tssi.com
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.