pathetic

Aug 5, 2010
4,995
38
0
not the game or the coaching. this board. so ridiculously negative.

awful coaching. poor player decisions. should of played this guy. this guy isn't ready. blah blah blah.

in the first legitimate road/crowd challenge the team went toe to to toe with a very good team in arguably the most hostile environment with most likely an all big ten center and an NBA draft pick. and the team is not fully gelled yet.

were mistakes made? yes were opportunities missed? yes did the team fight like hell? yes did the team show exception fortitude - and potential? yes do our freshman need development?

but what about that isn't competition within sports?

don't like our rotation? laughable - take a look at the box score. minutes were almost identical

i will celebrate this team and their effort, thats the point of competition and building a program- and i am excited to see them compete again
 

Pukecat

Redshirt
Sep 30, 2018
615
0
0
not the game or the coaching. this board. so ridiculously negative.

awful coaching. poor player decisions. should of played this guy. this guy isn't ready. blah blah blah.

in the first legitimate road/crowd challenge the team went toe to to toe with a very good team in arguably the most hostile environment with most likely an all big ten center and an NBA draft pick. and the team is not fully gelled yet.

were mistakes made? yes were opportunities missed? yes did the team fight like hell? yes did the team show exception fortitude - and potential? yes do our freshman need development?

but what about that isn't competition within sports?

don't like our rotation? laughable - take a look at the box score. minutes were almost identical

i will celebrate this team and their effort, thats the point of competition and building a program- and i am excited to see them compete again

I know you have personal ties here but you can’t celebrate a loss. They don’t give out brownie points for ‘better’ losses.
 

Medill90

Junior
Jan 30, 2011
6,910
321
0
I know you have personal ties here but you can’t celebrate a loss. They don’t give out brownie points for ‘better’ losses.

NU played IU dead even. Clear the entire last half it was a 50/50 game. We wanted to measure this team of newbies....this game told us how good NU can be.

One of the biggest things yesterday is that NU was turning it over in the first half....and then stopped. Took care of the ball when it mattered. Great to see.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,326
1,501
113
NU played IU dead even. Clear the entire last half it was a 50/50 game. We wanted to measure this team of newbies....this game told us how good NU can be.

One of the biggest things yesterday is that NU was turning it over in the first half....and then stopped. Took care of the ball when it mattered. Great to see.
Felt good about the game yesterday. That Langford kid is really good. He's going to be special for IU. Hope he's NBA bound after this season!
 
Aug 5, 2010
4,995
38
0
its not about about brownie points. its about being realistic about what i just watched. two teams battled it out. both made mistakes. both made plays. that is competition. one is rebuilding with one of the most storied traditions and one is building with one of the worst. and we played dead even. "flush it" and on to the next. i am happy with where the program is headed.
 

TheC

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
19,095
1,168
62
For once it wasn't me doing the complaining as I missed the game. But from reading over the board, my sense is that people were a bit disappointed at the missed opportunity. There was an apparent path to win that game which some felt was missed. I don't know what is true because I didn't see it. But its ok to be impressed with the effort but ultimately disappointed.
 

Medill90

Junior
Jan 30, 2011
6,910
321
0
We've not watched Taylor all that much...six, seven games. Can't speak for anyone but me, in the last 10 minutes I thought there was a good chance Taylor would explode for 10 or 12 quick points. He's got that going on.

IU put a blanket over Law and Taylor the entire game. It was going to have to happen somewhere else.

mike, I did watch Kobb closely. I have zero complaints about his D. Collins was playing him yesterday against against guys 2-3 inches taller. If IU was able to move him around first his guy could step by, but he did credibly I thought.

He made a couple shots which is great. He's still a little tentative with his shooting so he short-armed a couple that will be automatic later this year/next year. He's an excellent player.

Let's face reality...in the first half Robby Hummel was talking about the fact that NU is undersized against IU. And all we hear from NU coaches is about NU's length. The coaches are not wrong. Indiana is huge. Huge and talented. I was really impressed with how their young guys handled themselves. They do turn the ball over a lot with really stupid passes, though.
 

NUera

Redshirt
May 29, 2001
6,387
31
35
not the game or the coaching. this board. so ridiculously negative....

i will celebrate this team and their effort, thats the point of competition and building a program- and i am excited to see them compete again

I expected us to get destroyed. Turns out, a couple bounces here and there and we could have won this game. Given how I felt after the Wooden Classic, I'm surprised. There was real growth. That bodes well for the rest of the season.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,326
1,501
113
I expected us to get destroyed. Turns out, a couple bounces here and there and we could have won this game. Given how I felt after the Wooden Classic, I'm surprised. There was real growth. That bodes well for the rest of the season.
Speaking of the Wooden, La Salle gave Nova all they could handle yesterday. They led at the half only to lose by about 7. Gotta be the best winless team in America.
 

freewillie07

Sophomore
Aug 22, 2017
5,240
100
33
not the game or the coaching. this board. so ridiculously negative.

awful coaching. poor player decisions. should of played this guy. this guy isn't ready. blah blah blah.

in the first legitimate road/crowd challenge the team went toe to to toe with a very good team in arguably the most hostile environment with most likely an all big ten center and an NBA draft pick. and the team is not fully gelled yet.

were mistakes made? yes were opportunities missed? yes did the team fight like hell? yes did the team show exception fortitude - and potential? yes do our freshman need development?

but what about that isn't competition within sports?

don't like our rotation? laughable - take a look at the box score. minutes were almost identical

i will celebrate this team and their effort, thats the point of competition and building a program- and i am excited to see them compete again

Great post. I was disheartened after the Fresno State loss but this was a solid effort. I hope they can keep up this level of play.

My concern is that for all the talk of the team’s “depth” this year, we effectively have a short rotation yet again. It’s going to be Turner-Taylor-Law-Pardon, with Kopp and Gaines coming in and out. Hopefully the team plays well and these guys can get some breathers in parts of the noncon slate.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,326
1,501
113
My concern is that for all the talk of the team’s “depth” this year, we effectively have a short rotation yet again. I
NU only has 12 scholarship players and Young is red shirting. With Falzon out for the foreseeable future, NU only has 10 bodies. Ash seems still recovering from his injury and Greer is very green, so at best NU just has an 8 player rotation. The only good news is come the new year when B1G season is in full effect, at most NU plays just 2 games a week so there will be more recovery time for the 8 rotation players. This will be the last week of the grind with games Tuesday and Saturday capping off a very tiring 3 weeks of hoops.
 

scru

Redshirt
Sep 4, 2005
2,388
8
0
This team is good, fellas. That was a heck of a game deep in enemy territory yesterday. In my opinion, if not for a bit of homer (or tradition bias) refereeing down the stretch, Cats win that game.

The D was quite good and the improvement from the start of the season is clearly evident. The offense is still finding itself, but it seems like it is coming together. I'm excited for this season.

Michigan game is probably gonna be rough, but they are final four good again.
 

NJCat

All-Conference
Mar 7, 2016
21,326
1,501
113
Michigan game is probably gonna be rough, but they are final four good again.
That new European player for UM is dang good. Hard to believe that they lose Wagner and are a better team this year.
 

Pukecat

Redshirt
Sep 30, 2018
615
0
0
its not about about brownie points. its about being realistic about what i just watched. two teams battled it out. both made mistakes. both made plays. that is competition. one is rebuilding with one of the most storied traditions and one is building with one of the worst. and we played dead even. "flush it" and on to the next. i am happy with where the program is headed.

So am I but I don’t believe in moral victories. We had decades of occasional moral victories. Win the game.
 

Pukecat

Redshirt
Sep 30, 2018
615
0
0
NU only has 12 scholarship players and Young is red shirting. With Falzon out for the foreseeable future, NU only has 10 bodies. Ash seems still recovering from his injury and Greer is very green, so at best NU just has an 8 player rotation. The only good news is come the new year when B1G season is in full effect, at most NU plays just 2 games a week so there will be more recovery time for the 8 rotation players. This will be the last week of the grind with games Tuesday and Saturday capping off a very tiring 3 weeks of hoops.

Poor us. Who penalized the team that way? Oh yeah, poor awarding of scholarships in the past.
 

mikewebb68

Senior
Oct 24, 2009
9,811
501
113
Hmmm, wonder who put you in charge. Need to fire that guy.
Actually, the mods are in charge last time I checked. But if Haywood leaves this board, things get a lot less intereting, imo. So Pukecat trolling him, not the greatest of ideas...
 

mikewebb68

Senior
Oct 24, 2009
9,811
501
113
We've not watched Taylor all that much...six, seven games. Can't speak for anyone but me, in the last 10 minutes I thought there was a good chance Taylor would explode for 10 or 12 quick points. He's got that going on.

IU put a blanket over Law and Taylor the entire game. It was going to have to happen somewhere else.

mike, I did watch Kobb closely. I have zero complaints about his D. Collins was playing him yesterday against against guys 2-3 inches taller. If IU was able to move him around first his guy could step by, but he did credibly I thought.

He made a couple shots which is great. He's still a little tentative with his shooting so he short-armed a couple that will be automatic later this year/next year. He's an excellent player.

Let's face reality...in the first half Robby Hummel was talking about the fact that NU is undersized against IU. And all we hear from NU coaches is about NU's length. The coaches are not wrong. Indiana is huge. Huge and talented. I was really impressed with how their young guys handled themselves. They do turn the ball over a lot with really stupid passes, though.
Agree to disagree on Kopp I guess. There were two times yesterday where he literally got in the way of Law, leading to Langford baskets...
 

Katatonic

Sophomore
Oct 23, 2004
86,854
134
0
Really don't see a problem w/ some grumbling about not getting the ball to Pardon (who was in beast-mode) down the stretch.

That game was there for the taking and depending on how the rest of the season goes, could be a difference-maker.
 

Kat burglar

Redshirt
Sep 5, 2017
231
8
18
Wow, this is great!

I have been a cats fan since the 70s.

Back then you were happy with a single digit loss.

While I agree with haywood, that the team and program is improving and is outperforming its expectations for this year, I'm also glad to see that Wildcat fans are no longer satisfied with a close loss. They want and expect victories.

As an old time fan, this shows how far the program has come.
 
Aug 5, 2010
4,995
38
0
again - its not about being happy with losing. its about being realistic that we were competing in a hard fought battle and didn't come out on top.
 

Kat burglar

Redshirt
Sep 5, 2017
231
8
18
again - its not about being happy with losing. its about being realistic that we were competing in a hard fought battle and didn't come out on top.

you are right, it's not about being happy with losing, I guess I'm trying to point out the passion that people have for the team and the expectation level is so much higher now, whether realistic or not. While I agree that many of the expectations are not realistic and therefore frustrating, I'm glad to see that people care enough to have unrealistic expectations.
 

Pukecat

Redshirt
Sep 30, 2018
615
0
0
Actually, the mods are in charge last time I checked. But if Haywood leaves this board, things get a lot less intereting, imo. So Pukecat trolling him, not the greatest of ideas...

Yeah I should never disagree with anybody on a message board. Let’s keep everybody in agreement about everything. That’s definitely interesting and productive.
 

Pukecat

Redshirt
Sep 30, 2018
615
0
0
again - its not about being happy with losing. its about being realistic that we were competing in a hard fought battle and didn't come out on top.

Sure it’s good they played hard but the L isn’t going to mean anything toward the NIT or NCAA. Maybe it was a character building loss, right? I’d prefer they learn from winning. If you think they learn from losses, I guess we are definitely the smartest basketball program in the conference historically. Course, we are Northwestern so we are supposed to be anyway.
 

harkesnu

Redshirt
Jan 27, 2004
354
9
13
Some perspective on the Fresno St. game...

I guess I wasn’t thinking very well during the Wooden Classic as I am reasonably familiar with the Mtn West having grown up in San Diego and cheering for SDSU all my life (except if they ever play NU!).

Anyway, Fresno St has a new coach this year who came from...San Diego St. He was a long time assistant under Steve Fisher and was the defensive game plan coach for many years. If you look up SDSU since about the turn of the century, they have hung there hat on defense and it brought them a lot of success. He is also a great recruiter and took another defensive minded GA (from Fresno) with him from SDSU. So, while Fresno St. may be a team we would all expect to beat initially, IMO Coach Hutson is a very good coach/game planner and very likely has that team headed in the right direction, so I bet that loss won’t end up being much of a mark against us at all.

It took a while to click in my head. I was trying to reconcile why Fresno St. was sounding (minor) alarms in my head, because I was thinking them beating us wasn’t a huge surprise while also knowing they haven’t really been a great program recently...I blame it on my 2 yr old son...
 
Sep 15, 2006
12,698
996
0
That new European player for UM is dang good. Hard to believe that they lose Wagner and are a better team this year.

They made one of the great hires when they got Beilein away from West Virginia. That guy can flat-out coach and is great at adjusting his scheme to fit his personnel. He's been successful with three-point bombers, but this year his team is winning with defense.
 

Mr Wickerpark

Redshirt
Dec 28, 2016
2,864
33
0
So am I but I don’t believe in moral victories. We had decades of occasional moral victories. Win the game.
we have to move beyond the "we played our hearts out" moral victory mentality.
We have to move into the bigtime because the program was given over $100 million for the best arena, and fans are dropping up to $2,000 a seat.
Gone are the moral victories and "Lets hope for the NIT".
With the facilities, if Collins cant get us back to the big dance by March 2020 then he needs to go. Bottom line. Not saying he has to win a championship but par for a Bigten team has to be goin to the dance.

We lost at indy. Nothing good. Lets hope we dont have another "we tried hard" but finished 8-12 in the Big.
 

Mr Wickerpark

Redshirt
Dec 28, 2016
2,864
33
0
asking fans to drop thousands, yearly, and a crap ooc schedule due to not having confidence, then stinking up the Big, is unacceptable.