There have been a number of threads talking about the difficulty/ease of recruiting point guards, the quality of Chris Collins' recruiting, and the difficulty of recruiting at NU overall. There have also been some comments about the quality of player development during his tenure.
Let's assume that due to academic standards and historical reputation, it is harder to recruit to NU as compared to almost all other power 5 teams (there are arguments against this, but I want to put those aside for now).
If that is the case, it would seem to me that you would want to build a successful team around what you could reasonably recruit to Northwestern. Carmody did this by using the Princeton offense and 1-3-1. He did not really emphasize recruiting. An alternative view of how to do this would be to consider what areas players have the most potential for development during their collegiate years assuming good coaching, training and facilities.
To me, and I may certainly be way off base, the top areas where players develop in a good collegiate program are:
1. Physical strength. A good training. diet and weight regimen helps players to build muscle and size without losing agility
2. Shooting: The mechanics of shooting, including using your legs, release point, discipline of vision, are within the scope of learning that can be acquired in a few years with good coaching and dedication
3. Sound defensive skills: within defined schemes, players can be taught how to recognize movement on the floor and how to shorten their reaction time in response to given situations
Conversely, the areas that would seem hardest to develop would be:
1. Speed. It is an old cliche, but you can't teach speed. You can marginally improve speed and quickness through training similarly to that which adds physical strength, but the improvement really is marginal
2. Using the dribble to create opportunities: I may be way off, and there are exceptions relative to post players, but the ability to own the ball on the dribble has always seemed to me to be similar to that of learning a language. Players who can take an explosive first step and drive to the basket learned how to control the ball when they were really young; getting your eyes, brain and hand to work in tandem to do so is not easily taught, and the older you are, the harder.
3. Agility/coordination. Like speed, marginal gains can be made, but the improvements are not as great as those relative to strength. The biggest gains are generally made by post players, and can be seen in the development of drop steps many players show.
In short, I believe teams that are at a disadvantage in recruiting can best perform by:
1. Finding overlooked big players who will improve by adding strength and skill training
2. Playing offensive and defensive systems that slow the game down. On offense, emphasize passing and 3 point shooting, as an offense can be learned and shooting ability developed.
3. Fill in the position between post and point with guys who have really good speed and can defend.
To my thinking, Collins and his staff have developed players pretty well within the bounds defined above.
He has done an ok job with Pardon and Benson, though Benson hasn't come along as well as you would hope (point 1).
I think he has dove an excellent job at point 3. The wings he has brought the Cats are better than I could have hoped for under almost any other scenario.
Finally, I do think his general offensive and defensive schemes have not made best use of the talent available (or theoretically available) which was point 2. I really do think it is tougher to recruit a top notch point guard, and it is harder to develop the skills of a PG from raw talent than it is to develop a post player or ace defender.
Here's hoping the recruits of the next 2 years plug some of the gaps, and as others have wished, that the younger players on the team develop.
I still think, absent a really charismatic, skilled coach (which I hope Collins grows into), the best way to build a successful team at NU is to copy Wisconsin's ascent, using physical interior defense and good shooting to get a handhold on success, and then selectively getting a few high skill players to elevate the team from good to excellent.
Let's assume that due to academic standards and historical reputation, it is harder to recruit to NU as compared to almost all other power 5 teams (there are arguments against this, but I want to put those aside for now).
If that is the case, it would seem to me that you would want to build a successful team around what you could reasonably recruit to Northwestern. Carmody did this by using the Princeton offense and 1-3-1. He did not really emphasize recruiting. An alternative view of how to do this would be to consider what areas players have the most potential for development during their collegiate years assuming good coaching, training and facilities.
To me, and I may certainly be way off base, the top areas where players develop in a good collegiate program are:
1. Physical strength. A good training. diet and weight regimen helps players to build muscle and size without losing agility
2. Shooting: The mechanics of shooting, including using your legs, release point, discipline of vision, are within the scope of learning that can be acquired in a few years with good coaching and dedication
3. Sound defensive skills: within defined schemes, players can be taught how to recognize movement on the floor and how to shorten their reaction time in response to given situations
Conversely, the areas that would seem hardest to develop would be:
1. Speed. It is an old cliche, but you can't teach speed. You can marginally improve speed and quickness through training similarly to that which adds physical strength, but the improvement really is marginal
2. Using the dribble to create opportunities: I may be way off, and there are exceptions relative to post players, but the ability to own the ball on the dribble has always seemed to me to be similar to that of learning a language. Players who can take an explosive first step and drive to the basket learned how to control the ball when they were really young; getting your eyes, brain and hand to work in tandem to do so is not easily taught, and the older you are, the harder.
3. Agility/coordination. Like speed, marginal gains can be made, but the improvements are not as great as those relative to strength. The biggest gains are generally made by post players, and can be seen in the development of drop steps many players show.
In short, I believe teams that are at a disadvantage in recruiting can best perform by:
1. Finding overlooked big players who will improve by adding strength and skill training
2. Playing offensive and defensive systems that slow the game down. On offense, emphasize passing and 3 point shooting, as an offense can be learned and shooting ability developed.
3. Fill in the position between post and point with guys who have really good speed and can defend.
To my thinking, Collins and his staff have developed players pretty well within the bounds defined above.
He has done an ok job with Pardon and Benson, though Benson hasn't come along as well as you would hope (point 1).
I think he has dove an excellent job at point 3. The wings he has brought the Cats are better than I could have hoped for under almost any other scenario.
Finally, I do think his general offensive and defensive schemes have not made best use of the talent available (or theoretically available) which was point 2. I really do think it is tougher to recruit a top notch point guard, and it is harder to develop the skills of a PG from raw talent than it is to develop a post player or ace defender.
Here's hoping the recruits of the next 2 years plug some of the gaps, and as others have wished, that the younger players on the team develop.
I still think, absent a really charismatic, skilled coach (which I hope Collins grows into), the best way to build a successful team at NU is to copy Wisconsin's ascent, using physical interior defense and good shooting to get a handhold on success, and then selectively getting a few high skill players to elevate the team from good to excellent.