Columbia

[NJCat]

Might be tricky game this afternoon. The Lions have played some power teams tough, losing to Rutger's in OT and to BC by 9. They beat a Bryant team by 22, and Bryant gave Iowa all they could handle last night . They are a small team with no one over 6'7", which means BB probably won't get much PT. I hope to see some solid minutes in each half from Falzon to get his conditioning back.

 

[haywood jahblowme]

very tricky - CCC and squad need to bring a high level game

 

[mikewebb68]

very tricky - CCC and squad need to bring a high level game

Agreed with you and Fitz. I'm worried about just about ANY opponent after seeng a few BIG opponents come out very flat in their post-Holiday break games; Iowa was actually tied with #335 Bryant late last night, Michigan was tight with Binghamton (a team that we all know is awful) up until about halfway through the second half before pulling away), and Wisconsin flat-out lost to the BIG equivalent of Illinois-- Western Kentucky.

And Columbia is not just any opponent (far better than the Bryant and Binghampton teams listed above), though losing their leading scorer for the season a few games ago (former Fenwick guard Mike Smith, who would have had the added incentive of playing back home) does make me feel a bit better about this game. Columbia plays a lot of close game, but rarely wins them (2-15 over the last two seasons in games decided by 6 pts or less, the worst in the country over that span). I actually thought we would have a good shot of losing this with Smith in a lineup in our first game back after a layoff, but I think we win a close one with Columbia easily covering the 14 pt spread).

But if we look past them we have an excellent short of losing. Conversely, if we do blow them out, I think we will have passed a solid test of our maturity...

 

[NUCat320]

Probably the best 3-8 team NU will play this year. Yuuuuge win.

 

[scru]

Watched the highlights on BTN. Hard to tell what really happened just from highlights, so some questions for anyone who did watch...

With the height advantage NU had over Columbia, how did they manage to give up so many points in the paint? What is going on with interior defense?

Does the team seem to struggle on the break / pushing the ball up court in transition? I'd have expected this to actually be a strength given the athleticism overall, but perhaps it is a lack of ball handling skill which is limiting them?

How was the level of effort on D tonight? Does this team have another level they can take it to than what was on display tonight?

 

[NJCat]

Watched the highlights on BTN. Hard to tell what really happened just from highlights, so some questions for anyone who did watch...

With the height advantage NU had over Columbia, how did they manage to give up so many points in the paint? What is going on with interior defense?

Does the team seem to struggle on the break / pushing the ball up court in transition? I'd have expected this to actually be a strength given the athleticism overall, but perhaps it is a lack of ball handling skill which is limiting them?

How was the level of effort on D tonight? Does this team have another level they can take it to than what was on display tonight?

I can't comment on the points in the paint. Columbia kept it close by hitting 3's, the one guard was on fire.

NU struggled again against the press in the second half. Collins lost his mind on one trip when either Turner or Gaines got stripped around half court on a double team.

The NU defense was lock-down. Cats were cold shooting for the first 10 minutes but really clamped down on Columbia, who came into the game averaging 77 points a game. Vic asserted himself and took over the game and was far away the best player on the floor. He's going to have to do that to win B1G games this year.

 

[Catreporter]

Columbia had a very smooth post player who had a nice touch and was about the same size as Pardon. They also did a nice job of getting him the ball in good position to score. NU came out a bit lethargic but stepped it up in the second half and Taylor finally delivered some solid offense.

 

[Sec_112]

To answer a few questions+ ...

1) How did they give up points in the paint? NU doesn't have much interior defense. They have Pardon and that's it. This isn't a one-game problem.

2) I'd actually argue one of the team's strengths is in transition. They are good in open court. It's how they came back against DePaul.

The questions arrive in the half court. If a fast break is stopped and there are no opportunities in the secondary break, then you see the painful killing of the shot clock as they get their act together in the backcourt.

3) The effort on D is fine. They just aren't a great defensive team. It helps when Law, Gaines and Pardon are out there, but then you have other weaknesses.

On other topics, I find it maddening the way this team comes out of the gate. There's been too many games where they start poorly. I assume that's the cost of starting Kopp, but I'm really not sure. I see some good things from him.

Nance and Greer took good steps yesterday toward having a few more rotational minutes. Nance is missing some really easy shots. That little jumper in the lane will drop at some point. I assume he's still "holding the ball too tight."

To simplify, it's going to be a tough B10 season. Get ready to celebrate the small victories.

 

[Catreporter]

To simplify, it's going to be a tough B10 season. Get ready to celebrate the small victories.

I agree with this. Not seeing where the Seth Davis love is coming from, other than the fact we played Michigan, Indiana and Oklahoma "close."

 

[7th Cir. Cat]

I agree with this. Not seeing where the Seth Davis love is coming from, other than the fact we played Michigan, Indiana and Oklahoma "close."

Saying we played "close" is an understatement. We had a chance to win both games at the buzzer. I think the reason people are not writing us off is because we passed the eyeball test in those games, i.e., we looked like a tournament team. There were no flukes or random bench players catching fire, it was just two good teams going at it. Also, I think Vic Law's start has started to impress people.

 

[ricko6543211]

To answer a few questions+ ...

1) How did they give up points in the paint? NU doesn't have much interior defense. They have Pardon and that's it. This isn't a one-game problem.

2) I'd actually argue one of the team's strengths is in transition. They are good in open court. It's how they came back against DePaul.

The questions arrive in the half court. If a fast break is stopped and there are no opportunities in the secondary break, then you see the painful killing of the shot clock as they get their act together in the backcourt.

3) The effort on D is fine. They just aren't a great defensive team. It helps when Law, Gaines and Pardon are out there, but then you have other weaknesses.

On other topics, I find it maddening the way this team comes out of the gate. There's been too many games where they start poorly. I assume that's the cost of starting Kopp, but I'm really not sure. I see some good things from him.

Nance and Greer took good steps yesterday toward having a few more rotational minutes. Nance is missing some really easy shots. That little jumper in the lane will drop at some point. I assume he's still "holding the ball too tight."

To simplify, it's going to be a tough B10 season. Get ready to celebrate the small victories.

I agree with most of this, though I think we are a solid defensive team overall. At #32 in KenPom. The D isn't our issue, I think it's solid step better than last year. Our bigger issue is halfcourt offense (as you state above), particularly against teams that have the ability to frustrate us with pressure D.

I would guess ~ 8-12 in conference season at this point. but who knows!