Crispin's Take

[NJCat83588]

A pretty upbeat assessment from a former PSU player. Sees a potential NCAA bid.

http://btn.com/2015/10/21/jon-crispin-northwestern-has-something-special-brewing/

 

[spartcat]

Looking at the stats page from last year, there are two keys to improvement on offense. One is rebounding, where Olah was about 7 per game Law 4.8, and everyone else with very few. With the year in the weight room we've heard about, that is an area where we should see some improvement. The other is 3 pt. fg. pct. Other than Olah (low) and Taphorn (50%) everyone was in the 35 to 37% range. That's decent but not outstanding. There is a lot of reason to think that a majority of the returners have a chance to be better. Law improved a lot in the last half of the conference slate, as did Demps. McIntosh had a strong start, and may be more likely to sustain a strong season to the end. Falzon should be great here, perhaps as good as Taphorn was. If we stay healthy and these areas improve, I could see us sneaking into the top half of the conference, maybe even 5th or 6th.

http://www.nusports.com/cumestats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2014&

 

[Walker Fan]

Our defense needs to improve. We also need to create some steals and turnovers which last year's team did not do which will lead to some easy buckets. Agreed about the need also to improve from three point range, but if you factor in Falzon and subtract some of the guys who could not hit open shots and threes from last year's squad (SL and second half BMac when he was fighting illness and running into the freshman wall), I think we will do much better.

 

[haywood jahblowme]

i think our offense is really really good and i think we will have lots of options on that end. the real missing piece is getting back to playing defense the way we did in CCC first year. that defense was a terror and no one wanted to play us.

 

[shakes3858]

Looking at the stats page from last year, there are two keys to improvement on offense. One is rebounding, where Olah was about 7 per game Law 4.8, and everyone else with very few. With the year in the weight room we've heard about, that is an area where we should see some improvement.

I think bringing in JVZ at 6-10 230, Pardon 6-8 230 and Falzon 6-8 200 should help on the rebounding end.

 

[IdahoAlum]

My concern with our defense is that we seem to be schizophrenic. Collins keeps saying he wants to be a man-to-man team, and he starts the season out that way, but quickly discovers what he's really recruited is a zone defensive team. Will that change this year? Well, as long as Olah is on the floor, and unless our guards got magically quicker in the off-season, I don't see us being able to play primarily man defense. So will Collins embrace that reality early on and come up with, and practice, some different zone looks? Or will we be practicing a lot of man defense until December, and then making that desperate transformation back to the 3-2 once conference season starts?

 

[and_go_cats]

My concern with our defense is that we seem to be schizophrenic. Collins keeps saying he wants to be a man-to-man team, and he starts the season out that way, but quickly discovers what he's really recruited is a zone defensive team. Will that change this year? Well, as long as Olah is on the floor, and unless our guards got magically quicker in the off-season, I don't see us being able to play primarily man defense. So will Collins embrace that reality early on and come up with, and practice, some different zone looks? Or will we be practicing a lot of man defense until December, and then making that desperate transformation back to the 3-2 once conference season starts?

Disagree slightly. I'd replace recruited with inherited. I think Sobo, Tap, and most importantly Olah (as you mentioned) are the main reason CC went zone so often. While BMac may fall into that group, he was a skinny frosh....he's already added muscle and may yet be able to guard man-to-man.

Lumpkin (playing 3 now), Law, Lindsey, JVZ, Skelly, Ash, and hopefully Pardon and Falzon (almost all of CC actual recruits) should be well-equipped to play his style. I waver on Demps' defensive prowess, but even if he's suited more for zone, he's got one year left. Benson, RI, and Brown look to have pretty good size and athletic ability...would think they can man up too, like the majority of CC actual recruits.

 

[CommodoresAndCats]

Depth helps defense almost always, even if some of the new guys play less than 10 minutes a game, those minutes do a lot to help the starters make an impact on defense as well as offense.