Not good for a basketball team. Had to shut the game off, it was brutal. What's with our team? The last two years have set us back to the dark ages (Pre Coble/Shurna), yet we have more top 100s on our team.
We can't shoot
- Thread starter Turk_rivals223269
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Sure, we can shoot. As of right now, NU has shot 53 times vs. 49 for Merry Land. NU is out-shooting the Terps.
at this point, I'm not going to be able to discount this by saying that we will be ok when we finally recruit a PG instead of 10 wing guys. I don't think a new PG will make much of a difference. I don't have much hope in any of our players coming back next year other than maybe hoping for a NIT invitation next year. This year we can stick a fork in it. Next year, we have to try to salvage a NIT. Just doesn't look like we belong in this league.
Turner never misses in warmup but he is too soft in games and can't get shots, much less make them. And I'm searching for Ryan Taylor again.
Gaines is going to have to single handedly win us a couple BigTen games next year. If any true freshman are any good then they will start immediately.
Turner never misses in warmup but he is too soft in games and can't get shots, much less make them. And I'm searching for Ryan Taylor again.
Gaines is going to have to single handedly win us a couple BigTen games next year. If any true freshman are any good then they will start immediately.
We're still very much in the mix for the NIT even with today's loss. This is an absolutely brutal stretch in our schedule and I was bemused that there were people seriously suggesting that the schedule is easier now.
The 'Cats still don't have any bad losses. As long as they keep beating the teams they're supposed to beat, even if they lose all the games they're supposed to lose, they'll be in the NIT conversation.
The way the offense has played the last two games, of course, that's a tall order. But it's been a tough road trip. Just regroup and take care of business against PSU and get some momentum back.
Barring a significant grad transfer, next year is going to be brutal. You think NU doesn't belong this season, wait until Pardon and Law graduate. Next year will be a total rebuild job for Collins and staff.
We have 2 top 100 recruits on NU and one of them didn’t suit up. OTOH, Maryland has had 8 top 100 recruits in the last 3 classes.
Ya we are comparing NU now with 3-5 top 100 guys on roster which is amazing compared to the past. But top programs have 8-10 top 100 guys including a couple top 25-40 game breakers. That’s still a big talent differential. One issue is that we are now playing them head on—man defense, conventional offense so we are not trying to gain a schematic advantage by being different. I’m fine with it but we need to keep upgrading talent and stay healthy to win that way consistently year to year. Otherwise it’s once every 5-6 yrs when things come together-health, chemistry, schedule and a little luck.
Wisconsin hardly ever has any and they had made 19 straight tourneys until last year and reached a national title game.
For some reason, our players are shooting worse after joining the Cats from how they performed in High School. Something is not right at the moment. Would be awesome to get a "state of the program" type of conversation with Collins and Phillips. I'm curious what they see as the current challenges, especially with why the players we have been recruiting struggle with shooting after joining the Cats. Taylor, Turner, Greer, Falzon... all big time shooters before becoming Cats.
Agree there's some epidemic of shooting woe that is hard to explain. Also there is absolutely no chance of making the postseason this year and I'm worried that we'll even lose to Penn State next. Next year will be very challenging but one never knows stranger things have happened.
You just figured that out? Actually we can shoot. Just cannot hit anything. Law is only about 25% since getting injured
Sorry not true. Virginia had 4 top 100 recruits in the 2016 recruiting class and all are still on the roster
NU starts 3 seniors, including the top three scorers. Ugh.
This one kind of reminded me of the winless conference season in 1999-2000. Next year, there might be a lot of those.
Not fun!
We aren't the only team having trouble shooting. Nebraska, Ohio State both scored fewer than we did and that Vandy team with all that top talent had a 15 point first half at home.
I think the answer to that is kind of simple. If you watched the game last night, there were very few open looks. All of Pardon's shots were contested by one if not two guys. The three point line was shut down because nobody respects our ability to blow by them with the dribble. Thus, I think our guys take a lot of rushed three-point attempts where they aren't really lined up. Until one or two guys can make teams pay off the dribble, there will be no open shots.
Wisconsin absolutely has top 100 recruits including top 25-50 kids. The team that made the finals had 2-3 5 star kids. They are just big white kids so people assume they are not elite recruits. But I agree that Wisc has long made the most of its talent in both b-ball and football with great coaching and finding guys who fit their system.
Great point how we never seem to have the guys who can slash and finish at the rim is a miraculous. Even Law is not a smooth finisher even when healthy. Greer has been our best slasher the last couple games and that is not good.
Gaines is the only one who can get to the rim by slashing. He moves and horses his way with muscle. Skinny guys who havent put in weight room work arent really going to be strong enough against defenders. I learned this on my High School basketball team.
But he is far from a great finisher. It’s a crapshoot when he drives but at least he plays unafraid.
Yep, double Pardon if he gets it low, stay on the 3 point line and give up the mid range 2 and NU is in trouble. We get awful looks from inside the arc and when we get one we miss more often than not. I would like to see Gaines drive to the hole 3-4 more times a game, even if he misses. At least it opens up the outside some.
Didn't Penn State win the NIT last year? And they lost only two starters? Now they are 0-9 in the BIG. How about Ohio State who was a ranked team a few weeks ago and are 1-6 in January. Nebraska was also ranked and are now 3-7 in the BIG. We beat the second place team in the Pac-12, mid-pack ACC and Big East teams and should have beaten a Big12 mid-pack team. This is a very tough league so let's not overreact. Team is in a shooting slump. Hopefully 6 of last 10 at home will help fix things. We'll see.
Seems to me its more of a crapshoot because Gaines mostly drives to draw the foul rather than to score, so he is often in an actually bad shooting position when it comes time to get whacked on the arm.
I think many HS players do have their shooting % decline in college. Better Ds and better opposition
Taylor took over 40% of his teams shots at Evansville. Not so much here. Closer to 10%.
Law has not been himself since the beginning of Jan. During that stretch which includes the injury supposedly against IA, his O has been MIA. Makes me think something was wrong even before the injury. He went from averaging about 2-ppg to less than half of that. Shooting % has gone from about 45% to around 25% and from a career 35% shooter from 3 to about 10%. He still rebounds well and can play pretty descent D but based on his play especially O over the last month, I am not sure how much he will be missed. Now if he gets back to form...
Pardon will definitely be missed
ill be interested in seeing how things shake out to end the year for the cats. of the 10 B1G games, 6 have been on the road at basically the toughest places to play outside of purdue
@ indiana (believe top 25 team was playing well at historically a top place to play)
vs michigan #5 team in nation at the time
@ msu #8 at the time (have not lost in B1G 2 years at home in B1G)
vs illinois
vs iowa (was top 25 when we played a tough game)
@ michigan #2 on the road
@ rutgers
vs indiana
@ wisconsin ( top 25 a very tough place to win)
@ maryland (top 20 a top team/place to win)
yes - we have slowly played worse and worse but we are underestimating how brutal this stretch was, and how those games piled on top of each other
by no means is any game in the B1G easy, but outside illinois, 6 out of 10 games have been teams that are solidly in the top half of the conference.
hoping this second half of B1G can bring confidence and we can finish the second half winning some games
@ indiana (believe top 25 team was playing well at historically a top place to play)
vs michigan #5 team in nation at the time
@ msu #8 at the time (have not lost in B1G 2 years at home in B1G)
vs illinois
vs iowa (was top 25 when we played a tough game)
@ michigan #2 on the road
@ rutgers
vs indiana
@ wisconsin ( top 25 a very tough place to win)
@ maryland (top 20 a top team/place to win)
yes - we have slowly played worse and worse but we are underestimating how brutal this stretch was, and how those games piled on top of each other
by no means is any game in the B1G easy, but outside illinois, 6 out of 10 games have been teams that are solidly in the top half of the conference.
hoping this second half of B1G can bring confidence and we can finish the second half winning some games
for instance. Rutgers just won 3 in row since - first streak since joining the big ten after we beat them.
win #1 - against a struggling nebraska
win #2 - against winless penn state
win #3 - against indiana who has now lost 7 in a row
we have had nothing similar in any fashion from a scheduling standpoint during the first half of our big schedule
I suppose it depends on what recruiting service you look at. According to 247 Sports, Wisconsin has had 10 Top 100 recruits since 2000, which I will say is slightly better than I'd thought. The finals team, again according to 247, would have had one five-star recruit, Sam Dekker, one of two five-stars 247 listed for Wisconsin since 2000. The other was Brian Butch, Class of 2003. Ethan Happ, the current Badger all-everything, was rated No. 152 and a three-star coming out of high school by 247. Wisconsin has had respectable recruiting, and it picked up as Bo Ryan established his program, but it's not like the Badgers have ever been awash with four-star or better recruits. Duke probably gets as many four- and five-stars in a season as Wisconsin and many other teams get in 10.
Koenig was a 5-star on some services who picked wiscinson (home state) over going to UNC, kansas, and duke
If you could change nothing about this season so far except that Taylor's shot goes in against Michigan ... we'd be among the last four in with a clear road to seal a bid.
OK, then he wasn't a transfer from NC. Scout, Rivals and ESPN had him listed as a four-star. I'd have to check on 247 and some others.
Update: Just saw that he was rated a high three-star by 247.
Speaking of shooting, I know some people ridiculed them when our student section wore them, but it might be time to bring the "Make Shots" shirts back. 