Where is Benson?
- Thread starter LansingCat_rivals315357
- Start date
My take is that Skelly just offers more at the backup center position right now.
Also, Taphorn over Falzon might surprise people...but CC mentioned in one press conference that Falzon is nursing a knee injury. Something to watch...
1. The first guy off the bench was Skelly who I have heard might be NU's most improved player;
2. The second primary ball handler was Isiah Brown who had at least three amazing drop off passes that led to easy baskets. The kid has serious talent. He is muscular and is 6'0" tall
and 5'10";
3. Falzon is fighting through some physical issues and his minutes are being controlled in the early season. Tap is a seasoned backup to pick up the slack. Hopefully, his minutes will pick up as we move through the non-conference
4. Lindsey is developing well and will be a double digit scorer;
5. Vic Law is an excellent all around player with a solid jump shot and his defense led to a steal and a dunk that electrified the crowd. His issue is that he is still is turning it over trying to create his shot. He will learn and correct this through the season. Hopefully, he lowers the TOs by the Butler and UT game;
6. Problems with the team is Pardon is a work in progress with good raw skills but still needs to develop down low game. I love Skelly's game and he appears to have grown to 6'9" but is more comfortable with working the high post with Pardon. They will have problems with teams that have size at PF and C like Purdue and OSU with athletic size at more than one position.
It is obvious that Benson is very raw and will brought along slowly;
7. Positives from tonight is that UT struggled with Incarnate Word and Maryland barely beat American and Albany beat PSU which shows me that these are teams that might be teams that struggle early on and that might mean that NU has a shot against no. 21 UT and NU might finally be able to beat Maryland and PSU is overrated.
8. Other positive is that the team is more athletic, quicker than last year's team which can lead to creating TOs and easy fast break points which we have not done well at NU.
2. The second primary ball handler was Isiah Brown who had at least three amazing drop off passes that led to easy baskets. The kid has serious talent. He is muscular and is 6'0" tall
and 5'10";
3. Falzon is fighting through some physical issues and his minutes are being controlled in the early season. Tap is a seasoned backup to pick up the slack. Hopefully, his minutes will pick up as we move through the non-conference
4. Lindsey is developing well and will be a double digit scorer;
5. Vic Law is an excellent all around player with a solid jump shot and his defense led to a steal and a dunk that electrified the crowd. His issue is that he is still is turning it over trying to create his shot. He will learn and correct this through the season. Hopefully, he lowers the TOs by the Butler and UT game;
6. Problems with the team is Pardon is a work in progress with good raw skills but still needs to develop down low game. I love Skelly's game and he appears to have grown to 6'9" but is more comfortable with working the high post with Pardon. They will have problems with teams that have size at PF and C like Purdue and OSU with athletic size at more than one position.
It is obvious that Benson is very raw and will brought along slowly;
7. Positives from tonight is that UT struggled with Incarnate Word and Maryland barely beat American and Albany beat PSU which shows me that these are teams that might be teams that struggle early on and that might mean that NU has a shot against no. 21 UT and NU might finally be able to beat Maryland and PSU is overrated.
8. Other positive is that the team is more athletic, quicker than last year's team which can lead to creating TOs and easy fast break points which we have not done well at NU.
It's pretty obvious BB needs work. But Collins also said on his postgame show that MVSU plays mostly guards and he didn't want to put Benson out there with the poor matchups.
I might buy that if NU didn't enjoy a 20-point lead throughout most of the game.
OTOH, Hall and Malnati didn't see one second of time during this blowout, so maybe that's where CC was going.
I might buy that if NU didn't enjoy a 20-point lead throughout most of the game.
OTOH, Hall and Malnati didn't see one second of time during this blowout, so maybe that's where CC was going.
Allow me to piggy back these thoughts.
Let me start with this: With the additions of Law and Brown on offense, stronger play at two defensive spots as well as even the slightest improvement that we're seeing from a couple other players, I think it's very reasonable to say this team is at least as good as last year's team. For now, I don't know how good they will be but I think this is a good foundation.
1. I can see Skelly as the most improved player. He's obviously stronger and I think his game is more under control. There were a few minutes tonight with Skelly at the 4 and Pardon at the five.
2. Everything that's being said about Brown is true. He's a legitimate backup for BMac with a good shot, good decisionmaking and good activity on defense. I wonder how his size is going to translate against bigger B10 guards.
3. I hope Falzon's health problems are true because he was deeeeeeep on that bench tonight.
4. Nobody has said anything about Lindsey's size!! I think he's gotten huge!! He's grown AND put on muscle. He's still listed at his 6-5 freshman size, but I swear he's 6-7. Look at him next to Pardon.
His shot looked confident tonight, but we've seen this before. So excuse me if I reserve judgement.
But if he continues to shoot the three anything close like he did tonight, this is a different team.
OTOH, tonight it was pretty evident by his reaction to calls on other players that he still doesn't know what a foul is. Watch out for that to creep up at some point.
5. Vic Law looked as good as advertised also. Watching him, Pardon and Skelly/Lindsey go after rebounds is a different dimension to this team that I think may translate well to B10 play. Also, these guys have no problem laying a body on someone. Teams may be bigger than them, but I don't think they will be muscled out.
6. I agree Pardon and Skelly may have problems with bigger front lines. But NU may be able to make up for that a bit with a bigger BMac, Law and hopefully an improved Lindsey. That has the potential for tough matchups.
I'm sure I'm quibbling here, but I'm not sure I agree Pardon is as far behind back as to be qualified as "a work in progress." He's got his weaknesses, but I think he always will. OTOH, I think those great hands and aggressive play make up for a lot.
I'm interested to see if he can stay out of foul trouble.
Last cheap observation: I can't remember when the Cats ran so much as they did tonight. I'm not sure that will translate to B10 play. However, Law, Lindsey and Brown looked confident with the ball, and there were a lot of good decisions tonight as well as nice ball movement. They were also well-prepared for a few traps tonight. They were broken easily with good, well-executed strategy - not just athletic jump passes.
Skelly has grown, right? His passing and rebounding have always been good. He has said how he wants to make the 3 a part of his game, and he hit one tonight. He's going to be a major part of the rotation and could maybe even start at PF or C.
Law had some turnovers that seemed to come from rust more than anything. If he can be a 10 ppg scorer and add up another 8-10 in rebounds, assists and steals, we could be very good this year.
It seems like Collins has a tentative top seven for the rotation, including Brown and Skelly off the bench. Falzon should be a factor once he gets healthy.
Law had some turnovers that seemed to come from rust more than anything. If he can be a 10 ppg scorer and add up another 8-10 in rebounds, assists and steals, we could be very good this year.
It seems like Collins has a tentative top seven for the rotation, including Brown and Skelly off the bench. Falzon should be a factor once he gets healthy.
I was surprised at just how quick Law is on defense. His ability in a nanosecond to move from the paint out to the perimeter and square up on an opponent is new for NU. He puts himself in the right place all of the time.
I get the sense that this team will rebound like no NU team in the last thirty years. I'm told that rebounding is important in basketball and difficult in the big ten.
I was watching Brown. He just throws the ball up which is hard to defend. And if you guard him he puts the ball on the floor. He's fine getting defensive attention. He looked ok guarding faster players. These crappy teams usually have their best talent at guard so I'm optimistic that what we're seeing from Brown we'll see all year.
I'm always optimistic about NU basketball. But I'm starting to get a little excited at what I'm seeing. Think we're small in the post. A little too small.
I get the sense that this team will rebound like no NU team in the last thirty years. I'm told that rebounding is important in basketball and difficult in the big ten.
I was watching Brown. He just throws the ball up which is hard to defend. And if you guard him he puts the ball on the floor. He's fine getting defensive attention. He looked ok guarding faster players. These crappy teams usually have their best talent at guard so I'm optimistic that what we're seeing from Brown we'll see all year.
I'm always optimistic about NU basketball. But I'm starting to get a little excited at what I'm seeing. Think we're small in the post. A little too small.
Brown reminds me of Billy McKinney when he shoots a jumper. Same kind of hanging leg kick. Not saying he is as good as Billy C yet, but man the kid is a baller.
Is there any way to count how many dunks the team averaged in like, the Shurna years? I remember anytime I'd see a dunk I'd laugh and think to myself, "ha that doesn't ever really happen." Now they're putting back rebounds with authority and throwing ally oops. Crazy how much the athleticism has improved since CCC took over.
If this team stays healthy they're playing in the post season. 2018 they're going dancing
If this team stays healthy they're playing in the post season. 2018 they're going dancing
Dunks are probably the biggest change in NU hoops since I've been watching starting in 1974. This team is very athletic. Shurna was a great dunker but few other guys had hops. I think everyone but BMac and Brown can dunk on this team.
I guarantee BMAC can dunk in practice. He's 6'3''. I have a college buddy who has a dad bod who's 6'2''ash who can dunk
I'm 6'2" and could dunk in my driveway when I was young. But doing it in a game is a different deal. Until he does it, he can't do it. Heck, even Jordan Ash has thrown one down....
Thanks for all the comments from those who watched the game, I unfortunately missed it.
- I heard good things about Law and Lindsey's play from other sources too, that's exciting. It would be great if BMac didn't need to carry so much of the scoring and playmaking load on offense this year, in both of his first two seasons he seemed to lose a bit of his zip as the conference season wore on.
- Interesting that Skelly seems to be penciled in as the #2 center. Not surprising, as I think a lot of us were impressed with how he's improved the last two years - in particular his passing skills, bulking up to have a B1G body on D, and developing a decent 3 pt shot. Hopefully Benson competes hard and develops because I'm sure we'll need him - either because of fouls, matchups with big teams, or (hopefully not) injuries. In any event though, at least part of it means Skelly has progressed more, so that's exciting for him.
- Brown should be fun to watch this year, and may be like a young Demps in that he provides a score-first spark off the bench.
- This is reiterating, but really would like to keep BMac's legs fresh and get others playing time on the occasional easy wins that we have OOC.
Excited to watch tonight and see more for myself. Let's Go Cats!
More Walker love...
1. Nope, try Lindsey.
2. That didn't last
3.No, I'm afraid he didn't get to the season. Maybe next year.
4. Yea! You nailed one!
5. Solid jump?Well, his O was never really around this season but for a game or two. So, no.
6. I think we beat OSU. But anywho, I don't see Pardon as a project. Maybe not a finished player, but he had a very respectable sophomore season, so no. And Benson was alright for his age and experience level.
7. Yes, we did - that is two for you.
8. Ok, I will give you this layup.
3 out of 8 - I think you should call CBS and ask to interview for Nance's position.
Please refrain from dragging up old threads that imply that there is currently a game on TV. I didn't read past this sentence until I almost went into cardiac arrest thinking I had somehow gotten my days and time zones mixed up and that the Cats were playing right now.