Game Thread: Northwestern vs. Cleveland State
- Thread starter mshelton33
- Start date
I was just thinking we hadn’t seen Green tonight and he just comes in with a steal, a dunk, a three, and an alley oop pass. That’s one way to get your coach’s attention.
Wow. I know we haven’t played anyone yet, but this team sure seems deep. Collins can play as many guys as he wants without a significant drop-off. All the newcomers look good.
Put a good player in when everyone else is tired and whoops now what do they do?
Now Green is jacking up (and making) Caitlin Clark threes? Wonder what CCC thinks about that.
Green with the biggest heat check sequence since Langborg's March Madness OT.
Green has some swagger, for sure. Probably going to get chewed out for some of it—particularly for high-fiving the student section while Cleveland State was pressing the ball down court the other direction.
The team cheering like crazy for Gus tells you all you need to know about them.
Most points we've scored in front of fans* this century...not bad!
*111 against Chicago State was during the COVID season of 2020-21
*111 against Chicago State was during the COVID season of 2020-21
In addition to being fun, clobbering teams like this will help us in KenPom and the others like it that matter come postseason time. Very impressive.
He is not flashy, just efficient, smooth, and under control.
Hell yeah he was! Guys battling for minutes on this team and the bench is eating it up!
Don’t love:
Reid, Page and Singleton coming up gimpy, though it SEEMS we got out okay.
Want KJ to find his rhythm - Collins has to find his rotation and figure out KJ’s role. We will need him and his shooting sooner or later.
Love:
Everything else. Was enthusiastic about Green in the Langborg mold and it is just so tantalizing.
Reid, Page and Singleton coming up gimpy, though it SEEMS we got out okay.
Want KJ to find his rhythm - Collins has to find his rotation and figure out KJ’s role. We will need him and his shooting sooner or later.
Love:
Everything else. Was enthusiastic about Green in the Langborg mold and it is just so tantalizing.
The last two games CCC has taken Nick out just before the 12 minute media timeout in the first half (tho he went back in tonite because Tre picked up his second foul). If Nick can play fewer minutes per night, he will be fresher and stronger down the stretch against B1G opponents. Last year he was worn out in the last five minutes because he played almost the entire game.
Good discussion between Hall and Morris on that later in the game: keep him at 33 instead of 38 and he can be relied on to be an elite finisher in close games for needed buckets.
Collins was singing Green's praises after the game. He will have a role on this team for sure.
That was my question. Were those shots taken to send a message to the staff?
Had to watch the game on dvr delayed… I am cackling at midnight next to my sleeping wife watching this fun and gun team eviscerate an overmatched Horizon team, remembering needing everything we had to squeak past Montana State and of course the Chicago State loss. Guys who I clocked with a dunk tonight:
Page
Martinelli
Gelo
Gill
Green (like, whoa, with his outburst)
Mullins
Possibly Singleton?
Still haven’t played anyone and CCC typically stops forgiving missed rotations or going under screens when BIG play starts, but fun to daydream about being one of those Izzo teams that plays 11 guys and never stops coming at you.
Felt like every stoppage tonight we were making substitutions. Loved seeing Page, Reid, and Martinelli have a nice long chill on the bench.
West had a really nice blow by layup. Singleton looked smooth in the post and got his hands on a lot of tips toward the rim in the same way Martinelli does. He is going to score a lot of points in his career. I thought Gill looked incredibly fast - I wonder if he gets a lot more run if the defensive lightbulb goes on.
Cannot say enough good things about Page and Reid tonight. They just change everything and take so much pressure off Martinelli. I think a sneaky storyline to follow is how our athletic off-ball guys are clicking. If one of Mullins, Gelo, or Green is going that is a scoring dimension after Mart, Page, Reid, and Windham that other teams will be forced to reckon with. Tonight all three of them got going and it felt like we had no ceiling at all on offense. Once again cannot wait to see this crew against Power conference athletes starting this weekend!
Page
Martinelli
Gelo
Gill
Green (like, whoa, with his outburst)
Mullins
Possibly Singleton?
Still haven’t played anyone and CCC typically stops forgiving missed rotations or going under screens when BIG play starts, but fun to daydream about being one of those Izzo teams that plays 11 guys and never stops coming at you.
Felt like every stoppage tonight we were making substitutions. Loved seeing Page, Reid, and Martinelli have a nice long chill on the bench.
West had a really nice blow by layup. Singleton looked smooth in the post and got his hands on a lot of tips toward the rim in the same way Martinelli does. He is going to score a lot of points in his career. I thought Gill looked incredibly fast - I wonder if he gets a lot more run if the defensive lightbulb goes on.
Cannot say enough good things about Page and Reid tonight. They just change everything and take so much pressure off Martinelli. I think a sneaky storyline to follow is how our athletic off-ball guys are clicking. If one of Mullins, Gelo, or Green is going that is a scoring dimension after Mart, Page, Reid, and Windham that other teams will be forced to reckon with. Tonight all three of them got going and it felt like we had no ceiling at all on offense. Once again cannot wait to see this crew against Power conference athletes starting this weekend!
What this game and this thread really confirmed for me is that there’s going to be plenty of griping about minutes this year. Reid has the lead guard spot locked up. Clayton and West will battle for backup minutes there, which allows KJ to play in his more natural off-ball role. The post is set with Page as the anchor, while Kropp and a small-ball mix of Martinelli and Singleton will round out the rest of those frontcourt minutes. The “large” wing or four spot is primarily held down by Martinelli and Singleton as well.
That leaves the smaller wing positions, the 2 and 3 spots, where Martinelli and Singleton will also soak up some time. From there, you’ve got Gelo, KJ, Mullins, Green, and West all fighting for what’s left. There just aren’t endless minutes to go around. Gelo’s improved all-around game gives him the highest floor right now, and Mullins earned his minutes last night with how well he played. That left Green and KJ in a tighter window for opportunities.
There’s going to be a lot of noise about getting certain guys more time in that 2 and 3 group, but the math is simple. If one of them is playing well and earning minutes, someone else in that group is sitting. That’s what happens when you’ve got real depth.
That leaves the smaller wing positions, the 2 and 3 spots, where Martinelli and Singleton will also soak up some time. From there, you’ve got Gelo, KJ, Mullins, Green, and West all fighting for what’s left. There just aren’t endless minutes to go around. Gelo’s improved all-around game gives him the highest floor right now, and Mullins earned his minutes last night with how well he played. That left Green and KJ in a tighter window for opportunities.
There’s going to be a lot of noise about getting certain guys more time in that 2 and 3 group, but the math is simple. If one of them is playing well and earning minutes, someone else in that group is sitting. That’s what happens when you’ve got real depth.
There’s a lot of athleticism in with Mullins, Gelo, Page, and Reid. That’s where you see the burst, the vertical pop, and the end to end speed that can change the tempo of a game. They bring a different gear to the floor, and when those guys are locked in, it gives Northwestern a real athletic edge they haven’t always had in the past. Defense could be a lot as fun if things tighten up with these guys too.
Wait until we have a game where there is a lid on the basket. The going that Green, KJ, Gelo, West should have got more run will really heat up.
I was saying to my family that they had more dunks in the first half than the 2004 team had the entire season.
For those who care: NU jumped from #51 to #40 on KenPom after last night’s win.