Collins' first few teams seemed to have that. The last several have not. I don't know what it will take for this group to break through or if they even can after having seen losses like Wake Forest, Penn State, and Maryland, outcomes which should not have come as surprising but for some reason ended up feeling that way. Maybe it's a law of averages thing but throw that out the window when talking NU hoops.
There's something about watching NU basketball that is like watching bad NBA basketball. There's talent out there, but the guys just don't play smart ball down the stretch and the things that make or break you are so much harder for NU than their opponents. It's like shooting a contested 15 footer or making a free throw. For NU, seems like they end up having to make the contested 15 footer, although tonight, they only needed one more free throw. I blame a lot of that on the schemes that they run and the lack of flow in the offense. Too often, there's a lot of iso/one on one action and not team basketball, making that extra pass to get someone a really good shot.
There's something about watching NU basketball that is like watching bad NBA basketball. There's talent out there, but the guys just don't play smart ball down the stretch and the things that make or break you are so much harder for NU than their opponents. It's like shooting a contested 15 footer or making a free throw. For NU, seems like they end up having to make the contested 15 footer, although tonight, they only needed one more free throw. I blame a lot of that on the schemes that they run and the lack of flow in the offense. Too often, there's a lot of iso/one on one action and not team basketball, making that extra pass to get someone a really good shot.