Thoughts on game (Sanjay, Brown, Doug Collins...) and team

[Medill90]

Why the really low minutes for Sanjay...did I completely miss something (Willy, please don't answer this q.)?

A lot of posts on the obvious heroes, but I thought Isiah Brown played great yesterday. It's a tough, tough transition from having a green light all the time to going into an offense like this. I like his D. Guards don't go right by him. And he seems really dialed in all the time. All year he's had a great handle breaking the press. His TO's this year are not bringing the ball up court. And the free throws are ice cold. He's getting better and better. When the shooting comes, watch out.

When I got home and zoomed through the game, the shots of Doug Collins as Law missed the front end of his free throws embodied by 30+ years as an NU fan.

I would just add this is not a finished team. They are good and might do some damage in the BTT and the NCAA tournament, but they are not nearly as good as they will be next year. Law is decent this year, but I think will take another step in the offseason, along with Brown and Falzon. Next year's cats will be much longer, more more athletic and much more deadly on the offensive end.

 

[FloridAlum]

Why the really low minutes for Sanjay...did I completely miss something (Willy, please don't answer this q.)?

A lot of posts on the obvious heroes, but I thought Isiah Brown played great yesterday. It's a tough, tough transition from having a green light all the time to going into an offense like this. I like his D. Guards don't go right by him. And he seems really dialed in all the time. All year he's had a great handle breaking the press. His TO's this year are not bringing the ball up court. And the free throws are ice cold. He's getting better and better. When the shooting comes, watch out.

When I got home and zoomed through the game, the shots of Doug Collins as Law missed the front end of his free throws embodied by 30+ years as an NU fan.

I would just add this is not a finished team. They are good and might do some damage in the BTT and the NCAA tournament, but they are not nearly as good as they will be next year. Law is decent this year, but I think will take another step in the offseason, along with Brown and Falzon. Next year's cats will be much longer, more more athletic and much more deadly on the offensive end.

To your comments I would just like to add that I am very optimistic about Ivanauskas.

 

[Walker Fan]

Lumpkin scored 0 points and they needed more offense and a bigger body that is why Skelly played more minutes.

Law is a defensive stopper and plays the opposing teams best player that gives him much more value than you are giving him.

Yes, everyone knows NU will be better with 5 talented new players in 4 star forwards Law and Ivaunauksas and Gaines and two other talented players added (hopefully Smith and a 5th transfer big guy who has some width to bang with Ivan Drago of PU)

 

[TejasCat]

There is no doubt Lumpkin is an important piece of this team. But let's be honest, if Skelly or Taphorn could play better D, it would severely limit Lumpkin's minutes. Lumpkin has had a huge drop-off against better competition in the Big Ten. He is just offensively limited (he travels on almost every drive to the basket from the perimeter), but does finish well on cuts to the basket, and can get a few offensive rebounds.

His lock-down D is needed at times, but I think we'll be so much better next year with more offensive threats out there (Rap, Falzon), just hope they can play team D.

 

[mickbula]

It was remarkable how much DCollins is emotionally invested in this Cats team. He was going through the same emotions as me and thousands of other fans all through this game. Doug really is pulling for Chris and the Cats to have success. That is so obvious. I hope that we get a story soon about his close father-son relationship like Isiah Brown and his Dad. I watched the game on cable last nite. When Greenberg was making comments during his time on the air on ESPNU, you could just tell how he was thinking ..."here we go again...." After last nite's game, I became convinced that this team is different than those in the past. A team like that in Carmody's tenure certainly would have lost this game- in O'Neil, Foster, and Birdsong's too. I am not counting my chickens yet, but I am convinced that some day soon that they are going to hatch.

 

[ubercat]

The dvr replay showed Doug going through the full range of intensely purple human emotions while watching the last minute of the game. Opaque he is not, thankfully.

 

[NJCat]

The dvr replay showed Doug going through the full range of intensely purple human emotions while watching the last minute of the game. Opaque he is not, thankfully.

If my lip reading skills are worth anything, when Law missed a FT he said "Finish the game, Gawd dammit".....

 

[willycat]

The dvr replay showed Doug going through the full range of intensely purple human emotions while watching the last minute of the game. Opaque he is not, thankfully.

Doug was like that when he coached the Bulls. I was lucky enough to get a chance to see and hear it, up close and personal.

 

[hollandnucat]

I am also excited to see the continued development of Pardon and Benson. Pardon is active inside and continues to gain confidence offensively. Benson has a nice touch and with added muscle will contribute much more next year. This staff is great at developing the talent they recruit.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Why the really low minutes for Sanjay...did I completely miss something (Willy, please don't answer this q.)?

A lot of posts on the obvious heroes, but I thought Isiah Brown played great yesterday. It's a tough, tough transition from having a green light all the time to going into an offense like this. I like his D. Guards don't go right by him. And he seems really dialed in all the time. All year he's had a great handle breaking the press. His TO's this year are not bringing the ball up court. And the free throws are ice cold. He's getting better and better. When the shooting comes, watch out.

When I got home and zoomed through the game, the shots of Doug Collins as Law missed the front end of his free throws embodied by 30+ years as an NU fan.

I would just add this is not a finished team. They are good and might do some damage in the BTT and the NCAA tournament, but they are not nearly as good as they will be next year. Law is decent this year, but I think will take another step in the offseason, along with Brown and Falzon. Next year's cats will be much longer, more more athletic and much more deadly on the offensive end.

I felt falzons d was awful last year and almost all of his moves/shots happened past 20 feet out. Not sure where he fits in but im guessing he will be Taphorn 2.0. More interested in the more physical Rap I.

 

[willycat]

I felt falzons d was awful last year and almost all of his moves/shots happened past 20 feet out. Not sure where he fits in but im guessing he will be Taphorn 2.0. More interested in the more physical Rap I.

I say he starts at the 4 next season, unless Collins brings in top notch transfer or a 5*.

 

[CommodoresAndCats]

I felt falzons d was awful last year and almost all of his moves/shots happened past 20 feet out. Not sure where he fits in but im guessing he will be Taphorn 2.0. More interested in the more physical Rap I.

It's true he will need to improve his defense if he is going to switch on ball screens with Lindsey and Law like Sanjay does. However I am very excited about his prospects on the offensive end. While he did have a tendency to take some questionable 3 point shots as a freshman, I believe Collins wanted him to be aggressive since our offense that year was so bad it actually ended up being an OK shot. I think with a more efficient offense that Falzon will tighten up his shot selection a little bit and will be a 40% plus 3 point shooter. He also showed some flashes freshman year taking the ball towards the rim and hitting mid range shots. It's tough to write a kid off as a freshman so I think he'll get much better for the next few years.

I think Rap will probably bring a similar skill set to the table as Lumpkin. It's impossible to know how much of a motor he has but he is very long for his position which usually translates well to the defensive end. Offensively I think he will take a similar role to Lumpkin as well, he has a kind of funky jump shot that I don't imagine is very consistent so he won't be a guy we run off of screens to get a 3 point shot. His high school tape also showed a strong finisher at the rim and in transition, so he could make a lot of the same cuts that Sanjay does to get easy baskets.

 

[mikewebb68]

I don't think that Tap/Skelly/Falzon's D is truly that awful, it just stands out because the rest of our players play D so well. They are average defenders, but average defenders look bad on this team.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

It was remarkable how much DCollins is emotionally invested in this Cats team. He was going through the same emotions as me and thousands of other fans all through this game. Doug really is pulling for Chris and the Cats to have success. That is so obvious. I hope that we get a story soon about his close father-son relationship like Isiah Brown and his Dad. I watched the game on cable last nite. When Greenberg was making comments during his time on the air on ESPNU, you could just tell how he was thinking ..."here we go again...." After last nite's game, I became convinced that this team is different than those in the past. A team like that in Carmody's tenure certainly would have lost this game- in O'Neil, Foster, and Birdsong's too. I am not counting my chickens yet, but I am convinced that some day soon that they are going to hatch.

The dvr replay showed Doug going through the full range of intensely purple human emotions while watching the last minute of the game. Opaque he is not, thankfully.

If my lip reading skills are worth anything, when Law missed a FT he said "Finish the game, Gawd dammit".....

Doug was like that when he coached the Bulls. I was lucky enough to get a chance to see and hear it, up close and personal.

For those who stayed up to watch ESPN's College basketball game day wrap up, when they talked about our game the whole focus was on Doug Collins showing his emotions as that FT was missed. Thankfully the displayed scoreboard showed us ahead. The commentary included references to "there go the Tournament hopes" to how tough it is for the the talking heads to watch their own kids play. I don't recall that they even mentioned that we went on to hang onto the lead.

 

[Medill90]

I say he starts at the 4 next season, unless Collins brings in top notch transfer or a 5*.

I think Willy's correct. Falzon goes back to his spot from last year. He played decent D and rebounded well. I realize I'm a broken record on this, but he has some toughness others do not.

Agree with Commodore on his distance shooting going up into the 40's. Also think that Brown goes up into the high thirties. I just feel that with more weapons, and more lethal weapons on the floor the looks are going to be more open. Sanjay gets a lot of space and that isn't going to be a smart strategy next year. You can't really replace Sanjay on defense because what he does is so unique, though.

 

[hollandnucat]

The beauty is the team probably needs only one more win to make the tourney (planning on more). The upside for the team next year is something to be really excited about. The depth will help in case of any injuries. Look forward as 4 solid starters return and a lot of depth is added. The staff and players hard work has shown great development from year to year.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

We will be exceptional next year!

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Brown is doing very well! Bas *** backcourt next year!

 

[JournCat]

I'm really excited to see Benson after an offseason in the weight room. He can be one of the best backup centers in the confrerence as a sophomore and maybe even close out games against bigger guys who give Pardon trouble.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

I say he starts at the 4 next season, unless Collins brings in top notch transfer or a 5*.

I agree that he starts. And he certainly has the potential to be 40%+ at treys.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

I'm really excited to see Benson after an offseason in the weight room. He can be one of the best backup centers in the confrerence as a sophomore and maybe even close out games against bigger guys who give Pardon trouble.

He has been impressive.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

The beauty is the team probably needs only one more win to make the tourney (planning on more). The upside for the team next year is something to be really excited about. The depth will help in case of any injuries. Look forward as 4 solid starters return and a lot of depth is added. The staff and players hard work has shown great development from year to year.

The depth will be excellent AND experienced. Brown will push for more minutes. Not sure where he will get the minutes from. Mac should be at 32 or 33 minutes. Brown may be good enuf next year to start over lindsey. His talent is phenomenal.

 

[benoitdenizetl]

The depth will be excellent AND experienced. Brown will push for more minutes. Not sure where he will get the minutes from. Mac should be at 32 or 33 minutes. Brown may be good enuf next year to start over lindsey. His talent is phenomenal.

Brown will not start over Lindsey.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Brown will not start over Lindsey.

You know that absolutely? I guess lindsey cant move over and chances are that you are correct but Brown's progress this year has been interesting so it isnt difficult to see him overtaking Lindsey minutes with continual progress. It will be more competitive than I think many may realize.

 

[Gladeskat]

Someone commented on the Iowa board that we may be the favorite to win the conference next year with nearly everyone returning from this year's team.

 

[backdoorpass]

Yes, everyone knows NU will be better with 5 talented new players in 4 star forwards Law and Ivaunauksas and Gaines and two other talented players added (hopefully Smith and a 5th transfer big guy who has some width to bang with Ivan Drago of PU)

There is undoubtedly a ton of potential for a really good team next year. Of course, what people never account for in advance is that there will probably be 2 of our players out most of the season with injuries, illness, personal issues or some kind of ineligibility. It's just par for the course. Look at basically every other team in the B1G--or NU any given year. It would be a wildly lucky season if all our scholarship players on the roster play the full season.

One thing to like about the expected roster for next season is that there is a lot of depth and experience. We should be able to take a few personnel losses...but, of course, the loss of some players would hurt more than others.

In general, beware of counting chicken before they hatch--especially when you start counting high school recruits who aren't even committed to play for us.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Someone commented on the Iowa board that we may be the favorite to win the conference next year with nearly everyone returning from this year's team.

As far as next year, do we auto.atically play away in the ACC challenge since we were home this year? Id love to get NC or Duke in Rosemont.

 

[Medill90]

You know that absolutely? I guess lindsey cant move over and chances are that you are correct but Brown's progress this year has been interesting so it isnt difficult to see him overtaking Lindsey minutes with continual progress. It will be more competitive than I think many may realize.

Um, no.

Huge fan of Brown but no one on this team and no one joining this team in the next eighteen months is taking a second of Scottie's time.

 

[Medill90]

I'm really excited to see Benson after an offseason in the weight room. He can be one of the best backup centers in the confrerence as a sophomore and maybe even close out games against bigger guys who give Pardon trouble.

Benson in space from twelve or fifteen feet is money.

Next year add Rap as another guy with similar length who can score from medium distance.

Both move well for their size.

 

[TejasCat]

You know that absolutely? I guess lindsey cant move over and chances are that you are correct but Brown's progress this year has been interesting so it isnt difficult to see him overtaking Lindsey minutes with continual progress. It will be more competitive than I think many may realize.

Lindsey may be all-Big Ten next year. There is no chance Brown starts over him at the 2. But hopefully Brown will make the leap that Linsdey made this year. Brown is a great spark plug off the bench, and he'll need to back up BMac for 6-8 minutes at the 1.

I'm high on Brown, I think he'll be the starting PG in 2 years when BMac graduates.

Starting Brown at the 2, with BMac at the 1, really takes away from our length on defense as well. Its not gonna happen. I think Brown gets 15ish minutes a game as the backup PG and some 2. He will improve next year, but so will everyone else that we are returning (or coming back from injury).

 

[hollandnucat]

Brown will not start over Lindsey.

Brown does not have any chance of taking the starting spot from a healthy Lindsey. This is not taking anything away from Brown but Lindsey is the best scorer and one of the best defenders on the team.

 

[Username Not Available]

Given no injures and a general improvement of the kids already on the team, I see Brown coming off the bench to jump start the offense, or bringing a little extra speed against traps that are bothering BMac. On those days when Scottie or BMac are killing themselves on D, he can give them rest without losing the offense (again assuming he continues to develop past the freshman errors).

I like Falzon to fill Tap's shoes and more. Fallon's D last year was not good, mostly he was a hole on switches but played his man decently. I expect that hole will be mostly gone by next year and he is faster and more agile than Tap. He might start the four and then share it with the Energizer Bunny.

I don't know anything about Rap, but I hear things, good things, about him.

All in all, this might be the first year I've been optimistic about next year with just the team we already have, without having to dream about the next freshman recruit who everyone knows is the final piece we need to elevate the team. The guys we have are great already.

 

[hdhntr1]

Why the really low minutes for Sanjay...did I completely miss something (Willy, please don't answer this q.)?

A lot of posts on the obvious heroes, but I thought Isiah Brown played great yesterday. It's a tough, tough transition from having a green light all the time to going into an offense like this. I like his D. Guards don't go right by him. And he seems really dialed in all the time. All year he's had a great handle breaking the press. His TO's this year are not bringing the ball up court. And the free throws are ice cold. He's getting better and better. When the shooting comes, watch out.

When I got home and zoomed through the game, the shots of Doug Collins as Law missed the front end of his free throws embodied by 30+ years as an NU fan.

I would just add this is not a finished team. They are good and might do some damage in the BTT and the NCAA tournament, but they are not nearly as good as they will be next year. Law is decent this year, but I think will take another step in the offseason, along with Brown and Falzon. Next year's cats will be much longer, more more athletic and much more deadly on the offensive end.

The views of Doug Collins are why I don't think CCC is going anywhere They are beginning to bleed for this program.

 

[hdhntr1]

I don't think that Tap/Skelly/Falzon's D is truly that awful, it just stands out because the rest of our players play D so well. They are average defenders, but average defenders look bad on this team.

Skelly's D is pretty good. Falzone was a Frosh. And Tap's D has gotten much better in the last year or two.

 

[ricko6543211]

I don't think that Tap/Skelly/Falzon's D is truly that awful, it just stands out because the rest of our players play D so well. They are average defenders, but average defenders look bad on this team.

I actually think Skelly is a plus defender. He defends the 4 quite well. Against teams with 2 bigs that's why he tends to see more minutes, sometimes at the expense of Sanjay (case in point Rutgers). It's his offense that has been a biiig problem of late, until those huge 3s.

Incidentally, I haven't seen him play, but I get the impression that Rap may fit into / subvert a bit of the Skelly role, cause it seems like he does a lot of similar things but may do some of the them better and have a slightly wider range of skills. Though I'm quite hesitant until I see that actually show up on the floor given how people tend to hype prospects.

I do agree with you and others on Tap and Falzon's D. I do think Falzon was slightly less bad at D than Tap, and he'll have more time to develop it. While Tap's D is still a liability, he has improved his lateral quickness some, and he's certainly gotten stronger - which helps him be able to match up against the bigger guys down low and gives us more options for how to deploy him. Hopefully Falzon continues to make his shot more consistent.

Since we have been toeing around this topic, my biggest worry for next year is that we don't have someone to take the Sanjay defensive role - like who can guard the 3's & 4's who are quick and rangy but too strong for Vic / or on teams that he needs to shut down a perimeter guy? I'm thinking Nigel Hayes, Malcolm Hill, Miles Bridges type players... outside of Vic I'm not sure we'll have a F that is quick enough to stay in front of them.

 

[JournCat]

Depending on how much Brown improves, we could see him at the 2, with Lindsey and Law at the forward spots.

 

[mickbula]

Does anybody know how Rap's rehab is going? Is he able to practice with the team yet? How much time will it take for him to be 100%? He seems a bit thin- when can he start lifting weights with the team? I live in Palatine, IL. Barrington is our neighbor to the nwest. I saw him play his junior year in person. From what I saw, I think he is the real deal. IMO, he will average at least 10-15 points a game for the Cats if he can get/stay healthy. He will either start or be one of the first off the bench when healthy. Go ahead and quote me!

 

[ubercat]

He will either start or be one of the first off the bench when healthy. Go ahead and quote me!

You got it.

 

[catfans5]

Skelly, despite his long shooting slump, has improved his offense. I think Falzon will join the starting 5. I looks at Skelly spelling Falzon and Law since he rebounds well and can provide scoring.

I simply do not understand the criticism of Mr. Brown. He is a Vinnie Johnson offensive force. He and Mac are the only consistent players who can put the ball on floor and get by opponents. My goodness, he really has unlimited potential.

I do not think it will happen, but Mac, Scott, Vic, Dererk and Barret would be a really long line up with Barret at the high post. Can switch Mr. Brown and you have wing shooters with good rebounding,

 

[Username Not Available]

I think Brown is great. My criticism of him is that he is making lots of freshman mistakes that remind me of Tre at his youngest/worst.

Which is really what I expect from a talented freshman guard.

That he also does great things and shows off some real sweetness demonstrates where I think he is headed. He has already improved a great deal since the fall imho.