Close, tough losses harden young players

[freewillie07]

Really wanted a win tonight.

I will take comfort in the fact that BMac, Lindsey and Law lost a massive amount of close games as young Wildcats before breaking through to the NCAA Tournament. Especially with BMac on the bench now, I think that message will come through loud and clear to the guys.

Pound. The. Rock.

 

[Cat Fan in Buckeye Land]

I remember with the first group Collins had, during a string of tough losses, he said something along the lines of losing should hurt, I want my guys hurting after losses, I want them to hurt so much, that they’ll do whatever they have to to win.

 

[torque-cat]

I remember with the first group Collins had, during a string of tough losses, he said something along the lines of losing should hurt, I want my guys hurting after losses, I want them to hurt so much, that they’ll do whatever they have to to win.

ya we want these guys with a chip on their shoulder going into the off-season. That’s part of what I meant when I wanted to caution that Buie is covering up flaws and I don’t want the team to believe improvement and winning is inevitable. Talent is there on the roster but it will have to improve every day for the next year to be a good big ten team next season.

 

[IdahoAlum]

I just wish Collins and his staff would learn how to win a few of these close games. Last year was the same story. You can only ride the, "we're young and inexperienced" train for so long. Eventually you gotta figure out how to win some of these "winnable" games.

 

[NJCat]

I just wish Collins and his staff would learn how to win a few of these close games. Last year was the same story. You can only ride the, "we're young and inexperienced" train for so long. Eventually you gotta figure out how to win some of these "winnable" games.

You can ride the "young and inexperienced" train as often as you are young and inexperienced.

 

[freewillie07]

I just wish Collins and his staff would learn how to win a few of these close games. Last year was the same story. You can only ride the, "we're young and inexperienced" train for so long. Eventually you gotta figure out how to win some of these "winnable" games.

They were not young and inexperienced last year. Having fifth-year Law and fourth-year Pardon alone was more experience than they have this year, to say nothing of Ryan Taylor and A.J. Turner. Heck, even Aaron Falzon, Barret Benson and Jordan Ash were "veterans," at least by school year.

This year it's often four underclassmen on the court at one time, sometimes with a guy who was playing lacrosse at this time last year.

 

[IdahoAlum]

1-9 over the last two seasons in games decided by 5 points or less. Old or young, experienced or inexperienced....gotta find a way to win close games.

 

[torque-cat]

1-9 over the last two seasons in games decided by 5 points or less. Old or young, experienced or inexperienced....gotta find a way to win close games.

Last year we had underperforming veterans like Turner and Taylor plus Law struggling in part due to injuries. This year it’s remarkable that we’re even competing against excellent teams. The fact that we’re in close games is promising. That excellent veteran teams beat us is not just experience, they are actually better than us and amp up their play late in games. Other than hoping Buie goes off we don’t have that next level of play yet. Young guys need to build their physical skills as well as their experience.

 

[hdhntr1]

Really wanted a win tonight.

I will take comfort in the fact that BMac, Lindsey and Law lost a massive amount of close games as young Wildcats before breaking through to the NCAA Tournament. Especially with BMac on the bench now, I think that message will come through loud and clear to the guys.

Pound. The. Rock.

Well, we are doing plenty of hardening

 

[Katatonic]

This is far cry from those excruciating close losses to top ranked dOSU.

Remember when the 'Cats didn't lose to a team w/ an RPI above 100?

Now, I'm certainly not expecting that (at the present), but these guys can get hardened winning close games against lesser foes.

 

[go cats go_rivals310290]

1-9 over the last two seasons in games decided by 5 points or less. Old or young, experienced or inexperienced....gotta find a way to win close games.

That one win came when AJ Turner knocked down the game-winning three pointer with about 10 seconds left against the Illini off a missed three pointer (also by Turner) and offensive rebound by Pardon. And then Illinois missed a decent look from 3 at the buzzer. So, the team made a winning basketball play and got a little lucky when it mattered.

Against Hartford, the coaching staff actually ran a really nice set play with a backdoor pass to Kopp for an open layout to go up 66-61 with just under 2 minutes to go. That should have put Hartford away... But then, we couldn't manage to get a single stop or score again. Instead, we gave up 3 made two-point buckets in the paint on 3 Hartford offensive possessions. Way too easy. Meanwhile, our offensive possessions over the last 2 minutes resulted in:
* Kopp missed 3
* Buie missed jumper
* Buie turnover (bad play and questionable call)
* Ryan Young missed 3 at the buzzer

Collins and company clearly need more set plays or go-to plays to dependably manufacture points when it matters... And we also simply need the players and the team on the floor to execute: get a stop, get a steal, get an offensive rebound to create a second chance on offense, don't turn it over, make free throws and so on.

If it were just one thing, it would be easier to fix. That said, we need Turner and Gaines to get healthy because Greer matched up against the opposing guard is a recipe for disaster and is one thing that will get us beat time and again against Big Ten teams.

 

[TheC]

You can ride the "young and inexperienced" train as often as you are young and inexperienced.

Young and inexperienced is a fine thing when you're battling Michigan State to a close loss. It is not much consolation when the opponent is Hartford.

 

[docrugby1]

NU should not be losing games when NU's talent is far superior to their opponent !!!!

 

[GatoLouco]

The tough losses logic only applies to losing to good teams.

Young and inexperienced is a fine thing when you're battling Michigan State to a close loss. It is not much consolation when the opponent is Hartford.

I pretty much agree with that statement.

Tough losses against decent opponents might be good for learning how to win. Doesn't even need to be MSU. A Pittsburgh level of team would do (even if that was not a tough loss, we were not that close to winning that one).

Losses to bad teams don't do diddly other than demoralize the group.

 

[DaCat]

Add tonight's Indiana loss to the tally. Up by 10 in the second half, then we go scoreless for what seems like forever.

 

[IdahoAlum]

NU now 1-11 in games decided by 5 points or less over the last two seasons. And the beat goes on....

 

[cedricmelons]

Need a lot of hardening. We are S-O-F-T.

Especially Nance- his weak passes which become bad turnovers are the worst part of his maddening, feeble play and something he has no excuse for (shouldn't need another year in the weight room to throw a crisp pass)!

 

[PurpleFaze]

I just wish Collins and his staff would learn how to win a few of these close games. Last year was the same story. You can only ride the, "we're young and inexperienced" train for so long. Eventually you gotta figure out how to win some of these "winnable" games.

A coach can only do so much, at some point the players need to show better decision making down the stretch. Once the game got tight I thought our shot selection was really poor and that resulted in our scoring drying up. Both Kopp and Nance took some really poor very low % shots. I have a hard time believing Collins was asking Nance to jack up 3’s at the end as his preferred option.

 

[Cat Fan in Buckeye Land]

Let’s not pretend that this is a just a recent thing that just started happening, this has been Northwestern basketball for 30 years!