Northwestern makes a statement with 80-68 home win over Nebraska
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Another great write-up from Matt:
Especially liked these lines:
"All gas, no brakes: After some much-needed days off, Northwestern's gas tanks were back to full and they put the pedal to the metal, yet again."
"Martinelli made the offense work: With Berry out, sophomore forward Nick Martinelli poured in 15 second-half points to bolster Northwestern's reeling offensive attack. He used his usual dazzling and befuddling array of moves, starting and stopping, bumping and bruising his way to a career-high in scoring in conference play."
Especially liked these lines:
"All gas, no brakes: After some much-needed days off, Northwestern's gas tanks were back to full and they put the pedal to the metal, yet again."
"Martinelli made the offense work: With Berry out, sophomore forward Nick Martinelli poured in 15 second-half points to bolster Northwestern's reeling offensive attack. He used his usual dazzling and befuddling array of moves, starting and stopping, bumping and bruising his way to a career-high in scoring in conference play."
I love it when a kid from Glenbrook South is playing for the Cats. I don't think that's happened since Jeff Ryan tore his ACL.
The first 15 minutes were a thing of beauty. I think we had like 39 point with 6 minutes to go in the 1st half.
What happens if Berry is not available? Prior to yesterday he was playing 32.5 mpg in B1G play.
1) We hope Martinelli is in shape to play a lot more. He was averaging 22.7 mpg. 13-15 more?
2) Clayton averages 3 mpg. 10-13 more?
3) Mullins plays? Yeesh. Hunger plays 4 for a couple of 2 min stretches?
What happens if Berry is not available? Prior to yesterday he was playing 32.5 mpg in B1G play.
1) We hope Martinelli is in shape to play a lot more. He was averaging 22.7 mpg. 13-15 more?
2) Clayton averages 3 mpg. 10-13 more?
3) Mullins plays? Yeesh. Hunger plays 4 for a couple of 2 min stretches?
Langborg wasn’t making shots, but posted season highs in assists, boards, and free throws attempted. So he stepped up the production.
Martinelli starts, and Clayton plays more, and occasionally NU goes with two bigs.
I hope Ty is okay.
Game was not in doubt so there was not a rush to get him out there. This is what I’ll believe until Sunday. (It was so never-in-doubt that I went to sleep at halftime. I am such a Cats fan that I feared a loss when I checked the phone in the morning. Yahoooo!)
If he came and sat on the bench second half then probably just an ouchie, but he stayed in the locker room. Hopefully just a tweak and miss a game
Niko is turning into an offensive weapon. His trajectory has been pretty steep (he's developing fast). What a recruiting story he is turning into.
They was one switch late in the game with Clayton/lanborg that left and open 3. Clayton got caught watching the ball once, but recovered before any damage.
He did a good job end of game when put on #10, no switching. Same when he got tominanga, irrated him.
He did a good job end of game when put on #10, no switching. Same when he got tominanga, irrated him.
Hunger does not possess the skills and abilities required to be effective as a 4. His defensive performance would be incredibly poor if he were to play in that position. Additionally, his offensive capabilities are not strong enough to make up for his lack of mobility as a wing player at this stage in his career. He is more suited to be a center, he still has a long way to go in terms of becoming a good defender. Hunger tends to get pushed around too easily in the post and is not very quick when it comes to help defense. Moreover, there is often miscommunication and confusion with switches and help defense when he is on the court, especially when compared to the more experienced big men on our team. Defense is the most challenging aspect to adjust to when moving up to higher levels, so we can expect improvement in this area with each offseason. I would much rather see Martinelli play more instead of moving Hunger to the power forward position.
Martinelli is a superior scorer at this stage of their careers and is more agile defensively than Hunger. I dislike the notion that Hunger has “clown feet” as his footwork and positioning have greatly improved compared to last season. However, he still lacks quickness on the defensive end and needs to work on footspeed. While he may not be an outstanding defender, he is not a liability either. He brings a lot of energy and has arguably some of the best touch on the team. He is a natural scorer and has a keen sense for the basketball.
The other hope is that Clayton can contribute some minutes. He doesn't need to score a lot; we just need him to play solid defense and make intelligent decisions with the basketball. It may be a lot to ask of a freshman, but that's how they earn playing time early on.
As for Mullins, his focus should be on playing solid defense and making smart decisions with basketball. I know it may sound repetitive, but it is crucial for early minutes. From what I have seen in limited action, he still has a long way to go in terms of decision-making. He has made some defensive mistakes and turnovers that need to be addressed. However, he has a great amount of natural talent compared to previous athletes from NU.
I'm sure Martinelli is ready to pick up the slack if Berry is out for a while, and you can bet that Clayton will get more minutes too.
Martinelli can replace some of Berry's scoring and definitely his rebounding. But they're really going to miss Berry as a ballhandler. We saw it when Nebraska pressed late in the second half. NU had a couple turnovers and could have easily had a few more. It brought me back in time to the old days, when the press was always harrowing for NU. Is Clayton ready for that? Because teams are going to press and then force the ball out of Buie's hands. And Buie has also fouled out of two of the last four games. If he's not out there, things can get scary in a hurry.
Barnizer seemed very reluctant to pass the ball to Clayton in the press last night, even when Clayton was fairly open. I'm sure the concern is Clayton getting trapped quickly and forcing a turnover.
We'll see more of this if Berry is out. Clayton needs to step up, and the other players need to trust him with the ball.
They did pass it to Clayton once on the press break and it almost led to a turnover. That may have been when they had to call a timeout.
I am hopeful Clayton will figure it out with additional PT.
We have evidence of a guys out of nowhere midseason and making an impact: Pardon and Martinelli. Let's hope Clayton can hit a few buckets and get going.
We have evidence of a guys out of nowhere midseason and making an impact: Pardon and Martinelli. Let's hope Clayton can hit a few buckets and get going.
That’s correct. I saw Jeff at the Illinois game. He’s at WRA quite often as his parents have had season tickets forever. (I was good friends with him growing up. Great dude.)
I really wanted that one 3 he shot to drop, feel like it's the type of thing for him where he needs to see one go in to build the confidence. I imagine he makes that shot all the time in practice, but it's a different thing to do it in B1G play. It's hard to know what he can bring to the table on offense right now because he's not really trying to score, he's just moving the ball around to others. Having a big man who isn't going to take an open 3 is one thing, but if you add a guard who isn't confident in his outside shot then it enables the defense to help a lot more elsewhere.
Hoping that (i) Clayton can make 1 or 2 to build that confidence and take advantage of some extra minutes in this stretch, and (ii) Ty's knee is not a serious injury.
As a conference, the big10 has the worse press breaks.
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NU want to get the ball jn and pass back to Barnhizor, but all the passes are to the corners.
Barnhizor and Boo should screen for each other, it will either cause a switch and Barnhizor gets a smaller guard in him where he can pass over. Boo would get a slower player.
If no switch, the chip in the screen should free up Boo.
After the inbounds a cutter should flow up the middle and take his defender and then rotate the player from mid court kine back to the ball. The movement will open things up for them.
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NU want to get the ball jn and pass back to Barnhizor, but all the passes are to the corners.
Barnhizor and Boo should screen for each other, it will either cause a switch and Barnhizor gets a smaller guard in him where he can pass over. Boo would get a slower player.
If no switch, the chip in the screen should free up Boo.
After the inbounds a cutter should flow up the middle and take his defender and then rotate the player from mid court kine back to the ball. The movement will open things up for them.