Northwestern Post Game Thread

[WiseWillie]

Castle: What a great young man. He was admittedly not great on D until Hurley and the coaching staff worked with him. He is a willing, motivated learner who wants to improve and it shows.

3's: No doubt the 3's have to get a lot better in the upcoming rounds. But let's give Northwestern credit for their defense on the perimeter. Both Karaban and Spencer were continually searching for open shots but there was always someone in their face or preventing them from getting the ball. So it was obvious that NW's defensive strategy was to stop the 3 and slack off near the rim. That is why going into the paint was available the entire first half.

Second Half: Hurley has to be very concerned. Uconn was completely taken out of the game and Northwestern outscored them with great shooting but mostly poor switching and lackadaisical defense. Is this the result of building a big lead and then mentally slacking off? Whatever it is I am sure Hurley is worried about what it means for the next rounds.

I know there will be those that will say, "Hey,relax. The MOV was 23 ,so what's the big deal?" I get it. But I am certain Hurley isn't all that pleased. There are several days to work on what the problems were in the second half so let us hope that they are taken care of by Thursday vs San Diego St.

 

[Sibeerian]

Alex is too good a shooter for this to continue. The 3s will start falling, hopefully for the next four games.

 

[HuskyHawk]

We did NOT stop running the offense. We went cold. We turned the ball over. And they got hot. Hell, Newton even missed the front end of a one and one.

On to Boston.

They stopped running offense and Newton started dribbling up high while guys stood around. It's a bad idea because our normal offense wastes a ton of clock anyway.

 

[Deepster]

Excellent first half without shooting well from deep. 2nd half not enough passion and should’ve been throwing it into the interior much more instead of forcing shots. Also took the air out of the ball way too early it seemed.

Oh well 2 good meh wins….next! Shots are gonna fall!!

To be fair, if you look at the entire season. How many stretches have we really looked sloppy, unfocused, not passionate enough?

You can probably count them on one hand. Being up 25+ for the first game and a half this week probably just let them slip for a few minutes. Not worried.

 

[REB1094]

Friendly reminder that we are undefeated this season when going into clock burning mode

 

[UCMB88]

Barclays is also not a great arena IMO

Agreed. Went to Friday's games. Was not wowed by Barclays. Had seats in the 200's. The concourse up there is narrow! Main concourse wasn't much better with the way they have the queues for concessions. Plus the signage was terrible. Wasn't obvious how to get downstairs. Went through one door that had a sing which read "all exits lead to main floor." A bunch of us started going down the stairs and at the bottom a security guard yelled at us, "you can't get out this way." I know it's the Nets home arena, but it was odd that the entire arena is black - walls, chairs, stairs, railings, etc.

 

[80shusky]

I like that they are going to Clingan hard early. It seems like when they feed him early he has better games and stays out of foul trouble. They had NU torched. The second half was just mop up.

 

[husky429]

Friendly reminder that we are undefeated this season when going into clock burning mode

It's really that simple. The chat (and my father) go absolutely bonkers when we play stall ball, but it has been effective.

 

[REB1094]

It's really that simple. The chat (and my father) go absolutely bonkers when we play stall ball, but it has been effective.

Frustrating to watch sometimes, but with the level of detail that goes into literally everything with this staff (and with our W/L record), I trust that adjustments will be quickly made if it’s setting us up to lose

 

[VA Blue Dog]

Great win!
Great precessioned offense in first half.
Helter skelter in 2nd half.
Defense had trouble switching in 2nd half. Barnhizer and Langborg kept getting opened shots.
As for the 3P shooting.
This is a game and a half anomaly.
Against Stetson we were 9 for 24 for game (37.5%) but only 2 for 10 in 2nd half.
Northwestern, 1 for 11 in both halves. 13.6%.
In the BIG E Tournament we shot 25 for 67 or 37.3 %. No problem.
So I don't think this is anything to worry about,
The shots looked good, just weren't dropping.
We just have too many other scoring weapons especially when we don't have to be encumbered by over zealous refereeing.
On to the BAAASTAN (TD) GAAADAN!!!

 

[uconnyankee]

Start Andre Johnson at SG. LOL! He was the only person that it seemed could make a 3 for us in second half. We have to shoot better from 3 than 14% as the tournament gets harder. Karaban is just off. Love to see Clingagn healthy and dominating. Also, Castle holding their PG to under 10 pts and 2-15 was magnificent d. He is such a great defensive player.

That 3 was pretty critical since line was around 14.

 

[polycom]

The goal isn't to win by 300, the goal is to win. Pounding the rock into the center of the earth when the time is right is likely the analytically correct thing to do. Not to mention it allows the team to rest (in b4: they are young they don't need rest crowd)

 

[Husky25]

3/22 on 3s…that’s why I was rooting for sdsu over auburn and am rooting for isu over Illinois. We can and will loose a shootout if we go cold like that against an elite offensive team.

I guess it was a good thing SDSU didn't play Auburn then.

 

[JohnnyTime]

Agreed. Went to Friday's games. Was not wowed by Barclays. Had seats in the 200's. The concourse up there is narrow! Main concourse wasn't much better with the way they have the queues for concessions. Plus the signage was terrible. Wasn't obvious how to get downstairs. Went through one door that had a sing which read "all exits lead to main floor." A bunch of us started going down the stairs and at the bottom a security guard yelled at us, "you can't get out this way." I know it's the Nets home arena, but it was odd that the entire arena is black - walls, chairs, stairs, railings, etc.

Went to all four games on Friday. Barclays was a little “scary” for lack of a better word. All black, very dark (did like how court was lit”, and very steep up top. I never did find the escalator to go up, used the stairs several times.

 

[auror]

Second Half: Hurley has to be very concerned. Uconn was completely taken out of the game and Northwestern outscored them with great shooting but mostly poor switching and lackadaisical defense

Very concerning.

 

[UCann]

They stopped running offense and Newton started dribbling up high while guys stood around. It's a bad idea because our normal offense wastes a ton of clock anyway.

I could see the case where the thought process was that we had the game won, which is all that matters. Given how intense our offense is in terms of all the running around, is it worth: A) Increasing the level of fatigue on the team given how long a season it's been and what lies ahead, and B) risk injury? I'm guessing the calculation was that it was that these two factors were more important. Otherwise obviously the coaching staff would have called different plays.

 

[inWV]

Castle: What a great young man. He was admittedly not great on D until Hurley and the coaching staff worked with him. He is a willing, motivated learner who wants to improve and it shows.

3's: No doubt the 3's have to get a lot better in the upcoming rounds. But let's give Northwestern credit for their defense on the perimeter. Both Karaban and Spencer were continually searching for open shots but there was always someone in their face or preventing them from getting the ball. So it was obvious that NW's defensive strategy was to stop the 3 and slack off near the rim. That is why going into the paint was available the entire first half.

Second Half: Hurley has to be very concerned. Uconn was completely taken out of the game and Northwestern outscored them with great shooting but mostly poor switching and lackadaisical defense. Is this the result of building a big lead and then mentally slacking off? Whatever it is I am sure Hurley is worried about what it means for the next rounds.

I know there will be those that will say, "Hey,relax. The MOV was 23 ,so what's the big deal?" I get it. But I am certain Hurley isn't all that pleased. There are several days to work on what the problems were in the second half so let us hope that they are taken care of by Thursday vs San Diego St.

It seemed that the guys started dicking around after amassing the huge lead and were trying to set Clingan up to get a couple of more blocks to get the triple double. NW decided against humiliation and kept playing and hence the lead narrowed. I doubt SDSU will give them to opportunity slip into sloppy play.

 

[WiseWillie]

Castle: What a great young man. He was admittedly not great on D until Hurley and the coaching staff worked with him. He is a willing, motivated learner who wants to improve and it shows.

3's: No doubt the 3's have to get a lot better in the upcoming rounds. But let's give Northwestern credit for their defense on the perimeter. Both Karaban and Spencer were continually searching for open shots but there was always someone in their face or preventing them from getting the ball. So it was obvious that NW's defensive strategy was to stop the 3 and slack off near the rim. That is why going into the paint was available the entire first half.

Second Half: Hurley has to be very concerned. Uconn was completely taken out of the game and Northwestern outscored them with great shooting but mostly poor switching and lackadaisical defense. Is this the result of building a big lead and then mentally slacking off? Whatever it is I am sure Hurley is worried about what it means for the next rounds.

I know there will be those that will say, "Hey,relax. The MOV was 23 ,so what's the big deal?" I get it. But I am certain Hurley isn't all that pleased. There are several days to work on what the problems were in the second half so let us hope that they are taken care of by Thursday vs San Diego St.

Mea culpa. MOV - 75-58 - is not exactly 23. OK, so those of you who took advanced calculus and mathematical theory analysis instead of basic math should understand. LOL.

 

[Waquoit]

At least people aren't crying about free throws. I think playing with a different ball is a factor with shooting 3's and that will mitigate with familiarity. Also, a poor % this game probably means we'll be good the next. These guys didn't turn into lousy shooters overnight, I'm sure they will revert to the mean.

 

[NJHusky]

At least people aren't crying about free throws. I think playing with a different ball is a factor with shooting 3's and that will mitigate with familiarity. Also, a poor % this game probably means we'll be good the next. These guys didn't turn into lousy shooters overnight, I'm sure they will revert to the mean.

Different ball? I heard something about that somewhere...

 

[bendm]

I guess it was a good thing SDSU didn't play Auburn then.

it's clear what i mean. that's who i had in my bracket.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Marquette won by 4 in a game they were favored by 4.5 and Creighton won by 13 in a game they were favored by 3.5. Everyone left in the tournament is good, they were definitely not seeded too high

Ehhhh, the Creighton game was double OT and anyone who had them -3.5 is thanking their lucky stars (conversely, anyone with Oregon +3.5 was pulling their hair out). (Not making a point about the BE being under or overrated, just about the gambling aspect.)

 

[Tenspro2002]

Friendly reminder that we are undefeated this season when going into clock burning mode

I love the "we're so bad when we try to drain the clock!" takes.

It's not supposed to be attractive basketball. It's doing exactly what it's supposed to do!

If you're concerned about carryover to subsequent games, has that ever happened where we take it easy in a second half and then have a poor first half? We were so-so in the second half against Stetson and then stifled Northwestern out of the gate.

 

[NJHoops]

Love this first picture. The winning helps (obviously), but these teams the last few years are just so easy to root for.

 

[GotNets?]

Questions for folks at home and at Barclays. I was in the 200s and saw a lot of NU fans. They bought up lots of good tickets in the 100s. Were they louder than us?

I was screaming at the top of my lungs so I couldn’t tell very well. What did it sound like on TV?

Think we all need to shell out for Boston.