2nd place

Sec_112

Junior
Jun 17, 2001
6,600
202
63
Here's another first.

In the modern era, has NU ever been in second place this late in the season? Hell, have they ever been in fourth or fifth place this late?
 

CappyNU

Junior
Mar 2, 2004
5,164
346
83
Tourney year we were in 4th place after we beat conference leader Wisconsin at the Kohl on Feb 12th. Also, 2004, the year Carmody won coach of the year, we were in a 4-way tie for 4th after beating Penn State on Valentine's Day.
 

Styre

Senior
Oct 14, 2004
7,732
403
83
Tourney year we were in 4th place after we beat conference leader Wisconsin at the Kohl on Feb 12th. Also, 2004, the year Carmody won coach of the year, we were in a 4-way tie for 4th after beating Penn State on Valentine's Day.

In 2001-02, Carmody's second year, we were in a 3-way tie for 4th if you look at everyone's record after 13 conference games, which was deep into February. I can't find daily standings, though, so I'm not sure if the actual standings ever reflected that.

Those are the only three examples, though. I think you have to go back to the 1950s for the next one.
 

CappyNU

Junior
Mar 2, 2004
5,164
346
83
In 2001-02, Carmody's second year, we were in a 3-way tie for 4th if you look at everyone's record after 13 conference games, which was deep into February. I can't find daily standings, though, so I'm not sure if the actual standings ever reflected that.

Those are the only three examples, though. I think you have to go back to the 1950s for the next one.
Looks like we would've been in 6th place on Feb 20th when we were 7-6. IU was 10-3, Wisconsin was 10-5, OSU was 9-4, Illinois was 8-5, Minnesota was 7-5.
 

Styre

Senior
Oct 14, 2004
7,732
403
83
Looks like we would've been in 6th place on Feb 20th when we were 7-6. IU was 10-3, Wisconsin was 10-5, OSU was 9-4, Illinois was 8-5, Minnesota was 7-5.

Yeah, I figured that might have been the case. The schedule was really unbalanced back then because of the odd number of teams.
 

rwhitney014

Sophomore
Dec 5, 2007
5,246
180
27
Suffice to say, a W tomorrow places a strong hold on 2nd with what will be 5 games to go, as we’d be a game up on IU with the tiebreaker in hand.

Eventually some of these teams bunched together with 8 wins are going to have to drop some games. On the flip side, if they all track to 10-10, then obviously we only need to get to 11 to finish ahead of that pack.

All of these moving pieces, the poll snub, Kopp/Woodson’s comments about him, it all makes me think we’ll come out ready to play versus what would naturally be a letdown spot for a lot of teams.
 

CappyNU

Junior
Mar 2, 2004
5,164
346
83
Suffice to say, a W tomorrow places a strong hold on 2nd with what will be 5 games to go, as we’d be a game up on IU with the tiebreaker in hand.

Eventually some of these teams bunched together with 8 wins are going to have to drop some games. On the flip side, if they all track to 10-10, then obviously we only need to get to 11 to finish ahead of that pack.

All of these moving pieces, the poll snub, Kopp/Woodson’s comments about him, it all makes me think we’ll come out ready to play versus what would naturally be a letdown spot for a lot of teams.
Woodson should get better at analogies, it's a little different when a player forces a trade than when he's traded against his will.
 

rwhitney014

Sophomore
Dec 5, 2007
5,246
180
27
Woodson should get better at analogies, it's a little different when a player forces a trade than when he's traded against his will.
Bizarre comment, and counterproductive for his player and team.

Kopp may want to bring some earplugs. I usually worry that it just fires guys up - they’re used to it and often welcome it. But it should be interesting. This game last year was by far our best environment and performance. And now we’re actually good.
 

hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,281
1,094
113
Here's another first.

In the modern era, has NU ever been in second place this late in the season? Hell, have they ever been in fourth or fifth place this late?
Second place feels like first to me
 

hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,281
1,094
113
I wouldn't either. Big plums is da man.

Yet, who knows if Simmons does not transfer if we would be seeing Barnhizer at all.
Did you see how he pulled up to let that long breakaway pass bounce so he would not have an issue handling it?
 

drewjin

Redshirt
Nov 27, 2017
371
0
0
Barney is a fantastic three-dimensional player, LxWxH, great court presence! He's been having a little trouble with the fourth dimension, though. Needs to be aware of the clock and game situation at the end of halves. As far as correctable problems go, that's a pretty minor one that will probably be corrected in short order.
 

SmellyCat

Junior
May 29, 2001
7,290
340
83
Rutgers lost to Nebraska tonight, falling into ninth place. A week ago, they were in second. The middle of the Big Ten standings is tight, so let’s put some distance between NU and the rest tomorrow.
 

phatcat_rivals223240

All-Conference
Nov 5, 2001
18,867
1,035
113
Rutgers lost to Nebraska tonight, falling into ninth place. A week ago, they were in second. The middle of the Big Ten standings is tight, so let’s put some distance between NU and the rest tomorrow.
Yes it's a tightly packed group. Need a couple more wins.
 

SimpsonElmwood

Sophomore
Nov 20, 2004
1,821
141
63
PSU did NU a solid tonight whuppin' the Illini tonight.....
From a NET perspective we want teams we’re playing twice beat all the teams we only play once.

We also want as high quality wins as possible. For the rest of the year, rooting for Illini, Indiana and even Wisconsin to win as much as possible.
 
Last edited:

hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,281
1,094
113
From a NET perspective we want teams we’re playing twice beat all the teams we only play once.

We also want as high quality wins as possible. For the rest of the year, rooting for Illini, Indiana and even Wisconsin to win as much as possible.
Except against us. We still need to play IN and IL
 

hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,281
1,094
113
Yeah, really, 2 more wins ought to do it,.regardless of KenPom etc,, but, perhaps winning 2 then losing five might hurt.
If we beat IN and IA, that should have us in pretty good position regardless. Wouldn't really want o tose to PSU here but otherwise, win those next two and we are in really good shape. Then to lose the 5th game it would have to be in BTT
 

GatoLouco

Sophomore
Nov 13, 2019
5,636
116
63
Rutgers lost to Nebraska tonight, falling into ninth place. A week ago, they were in second. The middle of the Big Ten standings is tight, so let’s put some distance between NU and the rest tomorrow.
They basically used 1 bench player before Mag got injured. They are stretched thin. Why I often chuckle at mentions of us being short handed. When the reality is those comments are relative to having everyone available. Not relative to other teams.
 
Jun 18, 2005
4,040
135
0
Here's another first.

In the modern era, has NU ever been in second place this late in the season? Hell, have they ever been in fourth or fifth place this late?
Any long time NU hoops fans have to be pinching themselves. It doesn’t seem real.

If the ‘Cats can pull the upset tonight, a double bye in the Big Ten tournament starts becoming a realistic possibility, even taking into account the tough closing conference slate.

Not in my wildest dreams did I think that conversation would be taking place. Incredible.
 

Rebel II1

Redshirt
Dec 7, 2021
1,771
1
0
We actually led the Big Ten into February that season before fading. It was our last good team before the big DROP. We were very competitive in the late 50s and early to mid 60s.
We lead Alcindor UCLA 42-28 at the half in the neutral court game at Chicago Stadium. Got annilated in the second half when they got the wake up call.
 

CappyNU

Junior
Mar 2, 2004
5,164
346
83
Last night we were favored by 0.5, so a 3 point swing either means that 1) IU fans are absolutely nuts, or 2) Race Thompson, Xavier Johnson, or both are going to play tonight.
 

PurpleWhiteBoy

Redshirt
Feb 25, 2021
5,303
0
0
They basically used 1 bench player before Mag got injured. They are stretched thin. Why I often chuckle at mentions of us being short handed. When the reality is those comments are relative to having everyone available. Not relative to other teams.
Mag's injury was crippling to Rutgers. It was pointed out on this board that they were going to struggle. They have almost no bench.

Contrast that with NU, who loses Luke Hunger, who wasn't playing for us, but would certainly have been playing for a lot of Big Ten teams. Then we lose Roper, who was a starter last year, and the team actually starts playing better because Barnhizer (who has yet to start a game) starts getting more minutes and Martinelli ("useless" to some on this board) falls into the rotation and immediately makes positive contributions.

We are a relatively deep team - 10 guys on the roster who belong in the Big Ten (in one role or another).
 

CappyNU

Junior
Mar 2, 2004
5,164
346
83
Martinelli ("useless" to some on this board)
Come On Please GIF by NBA
 

PurpleWhiteBoy

Redshirt
Feb 25, 2021
5,303
0
0

"Not ready to contribute" = useless (this year).
We had some geniuses saying he was obviously being redshirted for that reason.

Sorry if you disagree ,but that sentiment was common on this board, based on no evidence whatsever other than the fact that Martinelli wasn't playing.
 
Sep 9, 2015
1,986
342
83
"Not ready to contribute" = useless (this year).
We had some geniuses saying he was obviously being redshirted for that reason.

Sorry if you disagree ,but that sentiment was common on this board, based on no evidence whatsever other than the fact that Martinelli wasn't playing.
He would have benefited a lot from a red shirt year. He’s shown a lot flashes but as a freshman most of the weak parts of his game require time and work in the off-season and time in the program. The biggest benefit in season to a player’s development from redshirting is they can hit the gym without worry of preserving themselves for games. This allows a lot strength growth. He needs to learn to play within the flow of the offense still and needs to improve defensively. These are all things pretty much every freshman needs to work on jumping up to D1 basketball.

That’s not to say he isn’t/wasn’t able to contribute but Roper contributes more and while Martinelli has had some great flashes he’s still the 9th man in a healthy 8 man rotation.

There’s little to no development from playing 5 min a game. It’s done in practice mainly the off-season. Unless a player has a huge mental hurdle it won’t be solved in game.

When the teams identity is defense and the coach is defense first, players that are better at defense tend to play more. Freshman are typically not as good at defense as players that have a year or 3 in the weight room and system.
 
Sep 9, 2015
1,986
342
83
Mag's injury was crippling to Rutgers. It was pointed out on this board that they were going to struggle. They have almost no bench.

Contrast that with NU, who loses Luke Hunger, who wasn't playing for us, but would certainly have been playing for a lot of Big Ten teams. Then we lose Roper, who was a starter last year, and the team actually starts playing better because Barnhizer (who has yet to start a game) starts getting more minutes and Martinelli ("useless" to some on this board) falls into the rotation and immediately makes positive contributions.

We are a relatively deep team - 10 guys on the roster who belong in the Big Ten (in one role or another).
Start Berry and Beran. They’re streaky offensively, give the min to the hot hand + Barnhizer.
 

NUThump

Redshirt
May 29, 2001
1,321
21
38
Last night we were favored by 0.5, so a 3 point swing either means that 1) IU fans are absolutely nuts, or 2) Race Thompson, Xavier Johnson, or both are going to play tonight.
Race Thompson has been playing for the last few games.