Thankfully, Collins was hired

[NJCat]

I think NU will be an elite NCAA team next year, not just an NCAA qualifier. Ranked the entire season between 10 and 20.

With Falzon back, Rap in the fold and BB playing more minutes NU gets more athletic and longer. Equal or better defensively. Better shooting.

Sanjay will be a graduate assistant and then the year after an assistant coach.

I cannot WAIT for next season, for all the reasons you cite. This is going to be an excellent team.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

I should apologize about the age joke. People who live in glass houses....

And I know you, like me, are super excited that it's a hybrid roster of Carmody and Collins recruits making history for NU this year. It just proves we can set aside ill feelings after some years and focus only on the positive.

Sanjay and Tap were Carmody recruits, but they are unquestionably 100% Collins players (by all other standards). Tap never even played for BC, and Sanjay played like 1 game or something for BC. Collins deserves all the credit for these guys' development.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1_rivals]

Sanjay and Tap were Carmody recruits, but they are unquestionably 100% Collins players (by all other standards). Tap never even played for BC, and Sanjay played like 1 game or something for BC. Collins deserves all the credit for these guys' development.

I couldn't agree more. You can also add Demps and Olah if you were to include last year's roster.

That's why I find it baffling that a certain poster regularly disparages one of those players you mentioned. Said player has been regularly praised by both his teammates/coaches and is considered to be a valuable part of this team.

 

[rwhitney014]

You can call him whatever you want but he hasn't shown it on the floor, since the Big Ten season has started.

So, do you prefer your crow fried? Roasted? Perhaps a nice fricassee?

 

[willycat]

So, do you prefer your crow fried? Roasted? Perhaps a nice fricassee?

Got me. Lumpkn played a hell of a game.

 

[Gladeskat]

I should apologize about the age joke. People who live in glass houses....

And I know you, like me, are super excited that it's a hybrid roster of Carmody and Collins recruits making history for NU this year. It just proves we can set aside ill feelings after some years and focus only on the positive.

Willy focusing on the positive? Do bears **** in executive washrooms equipped with bidets?

 

[olsh]

Sanjay and Tap were Carmody recruits, but they are unquestionably 100% Collins players (by all other standards). Tap never even played for BC, and Sanjay played like 1 game or something for BC. Collins deserves all the credit for these guys' development.

Well I think that's common sense. Systems are completely different. Both players were forced to develop in a system that's completely different than what they were recruited for. To me, that says a lot about both players. The willingness to adapt and buy in -- and then be rewarded for that in their final season is really cool.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I think NU will be an elite NCAA team next year, not just an NCAA qualifier. Ranked the entire season between 10 and 20.

With Falzon back, Rap in the fold and BB playing more minutes NU gets more athletic and longer. Equal or better defensively. Better shooting.

Sanjay will be a graduate assistant and then the year after an assistant coach.

Yeah the Carmody holdovers are holding us back.

Jk. Reality is that Sanjay is great, and Tap contributes. To say that Carmody has any real contribution to this team is a massive stretch though. So glad we got rid of him.

 

[EvanstonCat]

You do know Sanjay is a co-captain with BMac, right? Hard call him anything but a leader unless you think Collins (and the rest of the team) are way off base.

Lumpkin is as Collins put it, the heart and soul of the team. His last game against IU speaks volumes of his value. Anyone suggesting he's just some role player and not a leader is not watching the same games I am. CBS just ran a spot that called out the veteran leadership on the team as one of their keys to the success they had. The two leaders they called out: Bryant MacIntosh and SANJAY LUMPKIN. And rightfully so.

Please drop this notion that Sanjay isn't the player that he is for this team. This is bordering on DocCat territory.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1_rivals]

Please drop this notion that Sanjay isn't the player that he is for this team. This is bordering on DocCat territory.

Hey E,

Are you calling me out? I'm having a hard time deciphering this based on the post you responded to.

If it's me, you may be confused and I suggest you reread this thread (as well as many others over the past three years). I've been very supportive of the players on this and previous teams. There is only one poster on this board that has been highly negative on Sanjay's impact.

 

[willycat]

Lumpkin is as Collins put it, the heart and soul of the team. His last game against IU speaks volumes of his value. Anyone suggesting he's just some role player and not a leader is not watching the same games I am. CBS just ran a spot that called out the veteran leadership on the team as one of their keys to the success they had. The two leaders they called out: Bryant MacIntosh and SANJAY LUMPKIN. And rightfully so.

Please drop this notion that Sanjay isn't the player that he is for this team. This is bordering on DocCat territory.

OK, I'll eat crow and admit that Lumpkin made a believer out of me on Sunday. Still I feel that the leaders on this team are Mac and Law.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Yeah the Carmody holdovers are holding us back.

Jk. Reality is that Sanjay is great, and Tap contributes. To say that Carmody has any real contribution to this team is a massive stretch though. So glad we got rid of him.

Let's be kind and thank BC for putting himself out of a job. I think his fleeting tastes of success (an NIT win; a 20-win season; getting guys like Shurna and Crawford) created a belief that it could be done here---build a consistent winner that might challenge for a conference title and get regular tourney berths. But BC just was not the guy to do it--wrong system, not the transformational recruiter, etc. But he took over a train wreck and gave the institution a vision that things could improve significantly. I think he and CCC basically convinced the admin that the capital renovations would be worth the expense as the program could be competitive.

 

[NJCat]

Let's be kind and thank BC for putting himself out of a job. I think his fleeting tastes of success (an NIT win; a 20-win season; getting guys like Shurna and Crawford) created a belief that it could be done here---build a consistent winner that might challenge for a conference title and get regular tourney berths. But BC just was not the guy to do it--wrong system, not the transformational recruiter, etc. But he took over a train wreck and gave the institution a vision that things could improve significantly. I think he and CCC basically convinced the admin that the capital renovations would be worth the expense as the program could be competitive.

I don't think BC's system was the problem. His inability to recruit enough quality Big 10 players held the program back. Which is odd, because he could get high level players (Crawford, Shurna, Cobb, Swopshire, etc.) just not enough of them at one time to get over the hump.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Hey E,

Are you calling me out? I'm having a hard time deciphering this based on the post you responded to.

If it's me, you may be confused and I suggest you reread this thread (as well as many others over the past three years). I've been very supportive of the players on this and previous teams. There is only one poster on this board that has been highly negative on Sanjay's impact.

No not calling you out at all. I was actually agreeing with you. I was really speaking to Willy who keeps on talking about Sanjay as if he's a role player that is seeing diminishing minutes because of limited contributions. Or at least that was my interpretation of his posts. Apologies to Willy if I'm misreading.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Let's be kind and thank BC for putting himself out of a job. I think his fleeting tastes of success (an NIT win; a 20-win season; getting guys like Shurna and Crawford) created a belief that it could be done here---build a consistent winner that might challenge for a conference title and get regular tourney berths. But BC just was not the guy to do it--wrong system, not the transformational recruiter, etc. But he took over a train wreck and gave the institution a vision that things could improve significantly. I think he and CCC basically convinced the admin that the capital renovations would be worth the expense as the program could be competitive.

I'll never be confused with a Carmody hugger, and this may be harsh, but the only thing I will thank BC for is a) Sanjay Lumpkin and b) keeping the seat warm for Chris Collins while keeping the program clean. Who knows, had he been fired when he should have been, maybe Collins wouldn't have been ready to come to NU and we would have gotten him.

The NIT may be something you want to thank him for, but for me it isn't really what we bargained for when we paid him millions of dollars over 13 years of employment.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I don't think BC's system was the problem. His inability to recruit enough quality Big 10 players held the program back. Which is odd, because he could get high level players (Crawford, Shurna, Cobb, Swopshire, etc.) just not enough of them at one time to get over the hump.

I thought his system was a complete joke. Surely, there were elements like passing the ball and shooting when you're open that is just good sound basketball. And it may have kept us competitive at times like the cute gimmick Princeton teams did back in the day in the NCAAs, but it was never going to get us to where we needed it to be on it's own. It wasn't so much the offense as it was the complete lack of emphasis on defense and especially rebounding. Watching today's NU team board (Pardon with 22 boards!) and the outstanding defense that Collins brought over from Duke, is such a refreshing change.

Oh, and of course, if you have no interest in recruiting and can't even make the time to show up when a recruit like Henry Ellison shows up on your doorstep, you really have no business coaching college ball.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1_rivals]

It wasn't so much the offense as it was the complete lack of emphasis on defense and especially rebounding...

The offense was one of the best in the conference toward the end of BC's tenure. I have, and still feel, it was an advantage. The defense, however, was way up and down. The 1-3-1 could completely throw opponents off at times (especially with the right personnel at the top - Nash, Cobb, Hachad), but often quality teams would decimate it with good passing leading to wide open corner 3s or dunks. The base man defense we ran was never that effective, partially due to recruiting/physical development of the players. To his credit, Carmody did try to implement a variety of different strategies to counter this issue over the years. (1-3-1 ameba variant and even a 2-3 zone).

Rebounding, to put it lightly, wasn't good.

...when a recruit like Henry Ellison shows up on your doorstep, you really have no business coaching college ball.

Pretty sure you're referring to Frank Kaminsky. Perhaps, BC didn't think he was a good fit, but it turned out that was a massive mistake and furthermore, not a good look for the program.

I believe BC was on Ellenson early with Hardy as the lead recruiter up to the point of his departure for Georgetown.