Game Thread for NU vs. Michigan
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
Not. They made shots (criticize our defense if you want) and we missed free throws.
And basketball games are lost by teams that have a loser mentality and just don’t know how to win. It’s a disease.
Not down the stretch. Young added to his incredible number of missed 2 footers.
They made 2 three pointers in quick succession. True. But we went from min 5 to min 2 clearly intimidated. We snapped out of it once MI got back into the game.
Who was intimidated? Not Buie or Greer. Heavens not Young. If anyone, it was Nance. Are you going to blame Collins for that?
Everyone on the court was. And that’s why I thought Young coming back in was 100% the right decision. We were not even attacking the basket. Who’s fault it is? I did not state any opinion on it. I just pointed out what I was seeing.
There’s a problem with the culture when a team folds over and over and over in close games. That’s on the coaching staff.
The pressure to win when we know every game means we might not make the tourney might have something to do with it. So, let’s just try another coach because our current one could not make his guys make shots and free throws in crunch time.
It’s not an isolated incident. It has happened over and over and over again in the Collins era. The fact that he has them in all of these games is a credit to him but he obviously has not found a way to instill confidence in his groups. Teams that pucker so often either need a great team psychiatrist or they need a new culture.
Might have something to do with their talent level not being as high as others. That would explain a recurring trend.
That’s why the Tap-to-Pardon play was so huge (and sadly so long ago), because for once when the pressure was on it was NU who made the amazing clutch shot to win and not the other team. It was so cathartic.
The talent level is just fine against many of these teams. It’s mental. The teams they play don’t get more talented in the last 5 minutes and we don’t get less talented.
This group plays hard. But it’s really weird to see you sell them as basically over achievers because they manage to have competitive games.
But the game is 40 minutes. We don’t come out on top after all of it is played, not just the last 5 minutes. We miss countless opportunities during the game to avoid getting into the mess we find ourselves in so often at the end.
I am sure the current team’s goals are higher than their achievements. My point was relative to prior NU teams. It’s not ”weird”.
Overall Nance is a huge disappointment. This was supposed to be the year he finally stepped up. The guy continues to fold up when the pressure is on. He was supposed to be a leader. Basically a 6’-10” outside shooter with no balls. Can’t have him in the game at the end because he can’t make clutch free throws. Ready for him to move on.
Well Nance is still our best player, but he is on a personal 8 game losing streak.