It's time to give Collins an extension

[TheC]

I will admit to being totally shocked by that game last night. After seeing all the old bad habits back against Pitt, last night was a revelation. We played confidently with the lead. We battled for loose balls and rebounds. We maintained our poise when MSU made their runs. We actually kept our foot on the gas pedal for a change. And we hit free throws!

It is only one game, but it was a big game. The kind of game that helps a young team really grow. Let's see how they respond against Indiana next. That is a winnable game, but will require another effort like last night.

The one thing I'll say about Collins that makes him very different from Carmody... it seems like his players love him and want to play hard for him. By the end of the Carmody era, it felt like a very fractured team and I never sensed that he inspired much passion in his guys. Collins clearly inspires these guys. Watching Boo come over and hug Collins and say something in his ear late in the game was a pretty strong image.

(P.S.... I was also delighted to see Collins lose his **** when Audige took that terrible step back three midway through the second half. The shot slammed off the backboard and Collins was pissed. He took Audige right out of the game and let him have it. Hopefully they can reign that kid in, because he does have some talent.)

 

[docrugby1]

I thought Nance was the player of the game. He rebounded like a "big man" He was a presence on "D" and moved to the basket ,instead of looking for 3 pointers. If you want to look at the negatives, the inability of the "O" to create open shots for Kopp and Beran continues to be a problem. Buie and Audige still can be reckless offensively

Greer, Young , Gaines and Berry all were positive contributors.

NU has to develop offensive consistency. The zone defense takes advantage of our length and provides a nice change of pace

The B1G is tough-there will be some surprising wins and disappointing losses. Shoot 50/40/80 and good things will happen

 

[hdhntr1]

I thought Nance was the player of the game. He rebounded like a "big man" He was a presence on "D" and moved to the basket ,instead of looking for 3 pointers. If you want to look at the negatives, the inability of the "O" to create open shots for Kopp and Beran continues to be a problem. Buie and Audige still can be reckless offensively

Greer, Young , Gaines and Berry all were positive contributors.

NU has to develop offensive consistency. The zone defense takes advantage of our length and provides a nice change of pace

The B1G is tough-there will be some surprising wins and disappointing losses. Shoot 50/40/80 and good things will happen

Likely MSU targeted Kopp as someone that they needed to shut down. But what is good with this team is that there are other options we have not really had in the past. Buie had his 30 points this year vs 26 last year but his overall game was so much better and more complete.

We have a much more complete complement of guards this year. We have not had that in a while and it should help considerably

 

[VBCat97]

I will admit to being totally shocked by that game last night. After seeing all the old bad habits back against Pitt, last night was a revelation. We played confidently with the lead. We battled for loose balls and rebounds. We maintained our poise when MSU made their runs. We actually kept our foot on the gas pedal for a change. And we hit free throws!

It is only one game, but it was a big game. The kind of game that helps a young team really grow. Let's see how they respond against Indiana next. That is a winnable game, but will require another effort like last night.

The one thing I'll say about Collins that makes him very different from Carmody... it seems like his players love him and want to play hard for him. By the end of the Carmody era, it felt like a very fractured team and I never sensed that he inspired much passion in his guys. Collins clearly inspires these guys. Watching Boo come over and hug Collins and say something in his ear late in the game was a pretty strong image.

(P.S.... I was also delighted to see Collins lose his **** when Audige took that terrible step back three midway through the second half. The shot slammed off the backboard and Collins was pissed. He took Audige right out of the game and let him have it. Hopefully they can reign that kid in, because he does have some talent.)

 

[Titanium999]

I thought Nance was the player of the game. He rebounded like a "big man" He was a presence on "D" and moved to the basket ,instead of looking for 3 pointers. If you want to look at the negatives, the inability of the "O" to create open shots for Kopp and Beran continues to be a problem. Buie and Audige still can be reckless offensively

Greer, Young , Gaines and Berry all were positive contributors.

NU has to develop offensive consistency. The zone defense takes advantage of our length and provides a nice change of pace

The B1G is tough-there will be some surprising wins and disappointing losses. Shoot 50/40/80 and good things will happen

Nance played well in the paint! That is what we need.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I will admit to being totally shocked by that game last night. After seeing all the old bad habits back against Pitt, last night was a revelation. We played confidently with the lead. We battled for loose balls and rebounds. We maintained our poise when MSU made their runs. We actually kept our foot on the gas pedal for a change. And we hit free throws!

It is only one game, but it was a big game. The kind of game that helps a young team really grow. Let's see how they respond against Indiana next. That is a winnable game, but will require another effort like last night.

The one thing I'll say about Collins that makes him very different from Carmody... it seems like his players love him and want to play hard for him. By the end of the Carmody era, it felt like a very fractured team and I never sensed that he inspired much passion in his guys. Collins clearly inspires these guys. Watching Boo come over and hug Collins and say something in his ear late in the game was a pretty strong image.

(P.S.... I was also delighted to see Collins lose his **** when Audige took that terrible step back three midway through the second half. The shot slammed off the backboard and Collins was pissed. He took Audige right out of the game and let him have it. Hopefully they can reign that kid in, because he does have some talent.)

Don't tell that to Corbi. He thinks the players don't play hard for Collins and that we are struggling. Of course, he knows more about basketball than he does football, but then that's not saying much either.