March in December: Northwestern's Brutal Stretch (and what it means in the long run)

This was discussed a little bit on the other thread. I, like everyone else, hopes that NU plays well gets strong home and a few road wins, but this is where our tournament resume will be determined. While beating Neb, PSU, Iowa, and even Minnesota produces a Big Ten win, those wins are somewhat irrelevant, b/c the NCAA tournament emphasizes wins vs top 50/top 100 opponents. It is nice to see LSU and Seton Hall on the uptick helping NU’s SOS, quality wins, etc, but it is all about the Big Ten season.

My concern/thought is this: I believe NU beats bad teams, but it is been a LONG time since I’ve seen a high quality win. I know people keep pointing to the close losses to OSU last year, but that does nothing except keep people who want ‘competitive’ games happy. I think the game I’m pointing to is home against Illinois, my thought is that NU will be 1-1 in the Big Ten at that point, but that is the game that means a lot, even if it is VERY early in the Big Ten schedule. Home, in-state rival, team that we play relatively well, ranked opponent, etc, so this will be huge.

So huge in fact that Herman and I are getting together at Blackfinn DC (near White House) on January 4th to watch the game. Drinks on me if anyone wants to join.

http://jimromenesko.com/2011/12/19/syracuse-named-best-j-school-in-tvweek-comnewspro-poll/

because I am both stubborn and delusional.

is a good one

you’re right that Shurna’s 3 point looks on Saturday were similar to the ones he got on Sunday. actually I’d say the ones he got Sunday were tougher, largely because he took one ridiculous heat check on Sunday, and i dont remember him doing anything like that on Saturday.

Michigan State is home; Wisconsin is on the road.

Some of the online yahoos are going to come after you for writing such a reasonable analysis. However, i appreciate it.

Your analysis about the three-point shot is on the money. Unfortunately, it’s not really a new phenomena for the Cats. S.S.D.Year.

On the other hand, the inconsistency concerns me for different reasons.

1) Drew Crawford as an outside threat – When he drops threes, I’m starting to think this is a completely different team. It forces teams to concentrate on someone besides Shurna and opens things up. If he’s just a pedestrian player as he has a tendancy to be, the Cats are much easier to defend.

2) Defense – I don’t think this team has played with nearly the defensive intensity that it did in Charleston.

But really, the reasons don’t matter. Somebody needs to get it through to this group that it is not NEARLY talented enough to be inconsistent in any phase of the game. They can do a bit of damage, but not unless they are on top of their game every night.

Considering the recent past with Penn State, I’d be pretty happy with three wins in the next seven games – Creighton, Sandusky State and one of the other ranked teams. I think that gives the Cats a fighting chance.

I’m scared as hell about the 0-for.

(a.k.a. low-rent Pardon the Interruption)

He was his dry self, and seemed disappointed with the defensive energy during the Rand McNally Directional Schools Christmas Classic. Hopefully he can figure out a way to get these guys locked in for this next 9 games.

I’m on board with Sec — Crawford is the key here. If he can hit 3s, and get that slash going, then it’s going to free space up for everyone. As much as I’d like to get Shurna goin’ early, part of me hopes that we decoy him to see who else we can establish. If they press Shurna at the arc, that opens it up for Mirkovic inside. Yes, we can snark all we want, but I like getting the ball into him on the block 1 on 1.

Overall, on offense, we have to keep moving it inside and then kick out. We love chuckin’ threes, but I’d rather have those after moving it inside or off of dribble penetration. Hopefully Sobo can keep making good decisions.

One of the things I’ve learned from the non-con, we can trust Hearn. With Marco and Jershon coming on, that gives us 4 guys to rotate at the 2/3, as well as give spot rest to Sobo. Shurna’s gotta stay healthy, and if Mirkoletti can keep pulling down double-doubles, we’re going to be on the good side of 5-4 or better.

On defense — we gotta just junk it up, and hope that our mixing styles will frustrate our opponents. I think our man to man can potentially be the best its ever been (which is like a 4 out of 10), but we’re going to need the 1-3-1 to gum up the works.

And if we do that well, I promise Loretta to continue to refrain from commenting on Carmody’s courtside body language.

Any less than the four wins, though …

Drew is the key. When he’s fully engaged — when he’s The Good Drew — the whole team is better. Focused. Moving. Flowing.

But at those (increasingly rare) times when he seems half there — The Bad Drew — it’s like the engine is clunking through a gear.

Let’s go, Good Drew!