Northwestern Wildcats, 76, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 60, Postgame Thread
by Rodger Sherman on Nov 29, 2011 8:15 PM CST
in 2011-12 Northwestern Wildcats Basketball
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Northwestern won their fourth consecutive Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup on the road in Atlanta in somewhat comfortable fashion, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and never relinquishing it. At one point Georgia Tech cut the lead to three and the game was only five points at halftime, but John Shurna came out and scored the team's first eight points of the second half en route to 25 points. Drew Crawford and Luka Mirkovic - ! - followed up with 14 and 13 points and NU led by double digits for the majority of the second half.
NU won all three games of the Charleston Classic, but none of the games were easy. Tonight, NU had two minutes of solid garbage time, featuring the debut of NU's Omar Jimenez - OMAR COMIN - who I didn't know was on the team, but scored a bucket. Jason Morris sorta lit NU up with 21 points, after registering a career high in the first half, but NU got 11 steals and shot 55 percent against a team that had allowed 35 percent thus far in the season.
Solid performance, and NU has now won three games against power conference teams. Mississippi Valley State is next, but all eyes are on Baylor Sunday.
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Positives/Negatives
Positives:
- Best NU offense has looked this season. Not overly three point heavy.
- Shurna.
- Sobo.
- NU’s defense looks more together and diverse. I agree w/Chad’s logic, we might not be great at one defensive scheme, but if the team diversifies the amount of defenses it can be a solid defensive team.
- Solid road win (despite empty house).
Negatives
- We saw this last season and got excited.
- A few too many turnovers, especially by Crawford.
- GT is bad. They are transitioning into a new system and are clueless on offense.
- Curletti is just bad, not much discussion needed.
- Cobb’s injury.
Overall a win against a bad team on the road. But, this nonconf has always been about two games, Baylor and Creighton.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Nov 29, 2011 8:26 PM CST reply actions
yeah, you were right on this one
i expected a game.
by Rodger Sherman on Nov 29, 2011 8:28 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah...
Were you the one that predicted an NU loss on the GT blog?
nope
i predicted a win here. that was loretta.
by Rodger Sherman on Nov 29, 2011 8:48 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah, I get that they're doing arena construction
But it’s a downtown campus, no? I don’t know my ATL geography, but isn’t Phillips Arena downtown, too?
Really sad attendance from an ACC school. (and yes, state your punchline for NU attendance as a B1G school …. now.)
Okay, now you're weirding me out.
I started to get all excited about a 6 – 0 start and then had the same thought – this happened last season after we started 8 – 0. Still, seems like we’ve faced better competition so far this year so hopefully we won’t see the same movie all over again. Maybe it’s my imagination but this team seems more resilient.
'11 vs '10
In 2010, our first games were NIU (317), UTPA (343), UAPB (324), Creighton (118), then GT (161). Only UTPA was a road game.
In 2011 our first games were UTPA (249), LSU (141), Tulsa (108), Seton Hall (40), Stony Brook (193), and then GT (205). LSU, Tulsa, Seton Hall were Neutral court, and GT was a road game.
The parenthesis refer to RPI according to statsheet.com. And, of course, the RPI for 2011 is subject to change. However, given that we had to replace arguably a “Ring of Honor” type player, played more games away from home, and we’re playing arguably better competition — it’s fair to be a bit more confident about this year’s edition.
www.massivecreativity.com
we also played much of last year
with Shurna not at full health.
Mac is right, NU Alum
I thought the online rah-rah, leading up to last year’s St. John’s game was ridiculous also.
This year’s record has a bit more meat to it. This isn’t a Michigan State schedule that the Cats are playing. Some of these teams are pretty mediocre.
However some of these teams the Cats have already played have true big conference talent. I think we could only say that about Creighton and St John’s last year.
And there was no top ten team on the schedule last year.
I’m not ready to ask for time off in March quite yet. But if these guys go into the OSU conference opener winning the games they should win with a win over Baylor on their resume, this is a different discussion than last year.
I'm w/you.
If NU beats Baylor, then it is a complete different discussion.
I’m not making a judgment on this team one way or the other, but after last year’s GT game, I thought NU was a top 20 caliber team and we saw how that turned out. That was my only point about it.
Beauty of basketball, we’ll be able to make some good judgments on this team after Baylor and Creighton.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Nov 30, 2011 7:33 AM CST up reply actions
that said
don’t write off NU just based on a loss to Baylor. They’re, uh, good.
by Rodger Sherman on Nov 30, 2011 12:56 PM CST up reply actions
Good point.
I agree, if NU gets blasted by Baylor that doesn’t mean anything if Baylor continues their current path of being an elite team.
But, this is a home game, and it will be interesting to see how they play.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Nov 30, 2011 1:01 PM CST up reply actions
Bummed that I missed the in-game thread...
This was a good win in that we executed our offense from the start. When we get up three possessions it does two things: 1)we can run our sets more deliberately, which forces them to expend more energy on defense, and 2) it forces our opponents to have to be perfect on the offensive end. As GT isn’t a great offensive team, this played even more to our strengths. The only way for them to get back into the game was to force tempo with pressure and force transition buckets. However, because we had the lead, we were able to settle down and have a response.
Where are the Mirkovic haters? He had a great game tonight (and it was on the road, no less). As much as y’all rail on him, I’d gladly take him instead of that poor mule he abused. Hopefully he can keep parlaying this confidence for the next few games.
I haven’t seen the box yet, but we probably had terrific offense with get-me-over defense. That will be the formula this year, like it or not. We also missed a bunch of buckets inside tonight — this could’ve been 85-90 points tonight.
Finally, I hate seeing our guys hit the deck. Maybe because of what happened to Mbakwe, but our season is built on Shurna and Crawford. I’ve got votive candles lit for both of them.
www.massivecreativity.com
Per Rivals Box Score: 4 Factors
66.6 possessions. Round it up to 67 possessions.
Our Offense: 1.13
Our Defense: 0.90
eFG:
NU: 59.8%
GT: 44.4%
Our OREB:% 30.7
GT OREB%: 33.3
Our TO%: 19.4%
GT TO%: 25.4
FT Factors (FT/FGA)
NU: 25%
GT: 35.1%
That’ll do pig, that’ll do.
www.massivecreativity.com
beating a real team comfortably making only five threes
very encouraging.
also i just looked at the box score and that was the first i’d heard of omar jiminez. i watched the game on DVR and didnt hear the announcers mention him, but i was a bit confused because there seemed to be multiple james montgomery iii’s on the court.
Announcers
Yeah, they couldn’t be bothered describing what was going on in the game over the last 2:00. They were still babbling about the angry dunk in defeat.
OT: Buy MSVS tix and get Texas Southern Free
Okay, boys. I’m trying to get my tickets into the hands of a good fan, and I’m pricing them to get some asses in my seats.
I have three seats – smack dab at mid-court – section 112, fifth row in the bleachers. I’ll sell you three seats to the Mississippi Valley St game this Friday for $40 (the price of two tickets at the box office).
Buy those tickets and I’ll also throw in my three tickets to the Texas Southern game on the 15th for free.
What better excuse do you need to get out to a couple games? And what better way is there to start a Friday? My suggestion: bring a flask. It wouldn’t be the first time someone sitting in those seats brought an adult beverage.
Contact me at u_go_t@yahoo.com.
Good Luck
I’m not sure you’ll have any takers, but appreciate the effort to keep WR purple.
I have to admit that I’m somewhat tempted to get Baylor tix, but I just can’t bring myself to witness season expectations get crushed in person – if that is the outcome. Much easier to cry (and drink) in the privacy of the home. I hope that I regret that decision come Monday.
if i buy two tickets to baylor
i’ll give you one and we can be depressed together. how’s that sound?
Not a bad offer!
Still, I’m not quite ready to go the Sec.112 flask route, and that alcohol does need to be in easy reach…
We don't need to be great
We don’t need to beat Baylor; a decent showing will do. In fact, I’d say the same about Creighton. If we win the rest of non-conference, go 9-9 in the B1G as KenPom predicts and win a game in the B1G Tourney, we dance.
Simple as dat.
'dat'
sounds exactly the same as last year. we need to be careful, though. if we don’t be /anyone/ of note, then we may very well be left behind.
This.
If we lose to both Baylor and Creighton, I don’t think 9-9, alone, cuts it. We would need to be either 10-8 or better, or 9-9 and make some serious noise in the B1G tournament.
Dennis Green won Big Ten Coach of the Year. Pat Fitzgerald hasn't. Therefore, D-Green > Fitz. QED, motherf***ers.
by Foxhole Atheist on Nov 30, 2011 10:14 PM CST up reply actions
But
Going 9-9 in the B1G means we will have beaten someone of note. We only play Nebraska and Indiana once. Even if we win those — and Indiana scares me — and sweep PSU and Iowa, that means we need three more from quality conference teams.
by SeattleCat on Dec 1, 2011 1:37 AM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
Creighton
Just went to SDSU and won – that’s looking increasingly like a tough game. They have wins on the road now at SDSU and UAB, and blew out Iowa at home (though that’s losing some currency). They look legit.
yeah the sdsu win is good
uab is awful though, theyre 1-5 with some terrible losses. the fail is strong in mike davis coached teams
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