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ricko654321 said:

Nice indicator of the quality of our defense in the second half - we gave up the same number of points in 25 minutes after the break as we did in the first 20 minutes! Of course, one could make the same point about our offense... we are way too prone to having those 4-5 ish minute stretches where we just get stagnant and fail to get quality looks, and once we stretched the lead out to 10 that naturally happened again right on cue.

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This team needs to play in the 50s and 60s to win. There’s just not enough consistency in the offense right now. So much 1x1 and isolation.

The two isolation guys are uniquely good, but there’s lots of standing once they get in position.

I’d like to see Leach with the ball just a little more.

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Purple Pile Driver said:

I don’t get this perception that Fitz is a rim protector. I actually think this is a shortcoming. He’s tall enough to get a few blocks usually by chasing a smaller player that went right around him. We know our guards can’t stop penetration of quicker PG. Fitz doesn’t get in position fast enough to use his size. This is where Big Matt excels. Fitz best attribute is keeping balls alive with the back tap on missed shots.

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I think what Fitzmorris might bring as an intangible is that his role is essentially just like Nicholson's.
So his teammates know what he's supposed to do - and he can watch tape of Nicholson and compare it to his own play.
With Hunger its a different style - and it seems to me that Lowery prefers that big guy in the paint.
There are times when we play better with Hunger out there - usually against smaller, mobile centers.

Fitzmorris is easier to dislodge than Nicholson, thats for sure.

I was surprised to see Reese pull Nicholson close and say something in his ear in the handshake line. Seemed like an acknowledgment of respect.

Hungry Jack said:

That was a fantastic sequence. Hopefully it means the game is slowing down a bit for him.

Blake Barkley looked like the cave man in Quest for Fire out there.

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Solid reference.

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"Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts originally had been slated to host the championship but due to the facility being named a host for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, it became necessary to look at other sites."

Just being logical, it is really hard to argue that NU's talent the last 3 years has been below the middle third of the conference.
It is easy enough to argue that this year's team is less talented than last year's team.
We lost Buie and Langborg. We got Leach. (Preston vs Fitzmorris is TBD I guess)
Admittedly we picked up two talented freshmen in Windham and Ciaravino, but you can only play 5 at a time.
The current team probably has better depth than last year, in my opinion.

SDakaGordie said:

So all those decades of frustration of NU losing - our success now is just that we have way more talent? (Buie developed into our best player ever, of course - but imagine if he could have shot a pull-up jumper as well as a floater)?

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You need BOTH a good Coach and strong players to have the relative success we have had. This isn’t all CCC. This isn’t all the players. The recent issue with NU has been the lack of depth compared to the very top programs.

SmellyCat said:

Ok, maybe this only matters to me, but I liked this:

Martinelli made a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the first half to give NU a 38-37 edge at halftime. Then he hit a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the OT to give the Cats a 38-37 edge after halftime.

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Nice indicator of the quality of our defense in the second half - we gave up the same number of points in 25 minutes after the break as we did in the first 20 minutes! Of course, one could make the same point about our offense... we are way too prone to having those 4-5 ish minute stretches where we just get stagnant and fail to get quality looks, and once we stretched the lead out to 10 that naturally happened again right on cue.

loyolacat said:

Having a shot blocker/rim protector is a real bonus.....seems they may regret not having gotten him more experience during the non-con

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I don’t get this perception that Fitz is a rim protector. I actually think this is a shortcoming. He’s tall enough to get a few blocks usually by chasing a smaller player that went right around him. We know our guards can’t stop penetration of quicker PG. Fitz doesn’t get in position fast enough to use his size. This is where Big Matt excels. Fitz best attribute is keeping balls alive with the back tap on missed shots.

SDakaGordie said:

Agree with everything except that we were the more talented team. Imagine if we had Julian Reese or guards as fast as theirs…

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Agree to disagree. They are the more athletic team for sure. Doesn't mean they are the more talented or better basketball team.

Reese is a great player for sure, and he's really improved his FT stroke that was impressive. Gillespie 0 is also very quick and tough to guard. I wasn't terribly impressed by Queen last night he seemed sort of like a bull in a china shop at times but clearly he's had better games when you look at his season stats. I still am not convinced they are a better team than us. But obviously our 2-4 conference record thus far would suggest that we have a lot of work to do haha.

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loyolacat said:

Having a shot blocker/rim protector is a real bonus.....seems they may regret not having gotten him more experience during the non-con

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Fitzmorris needs more experience? He has the most on the team.

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Having a shot blocker/rim protector is a real bonus.....seems they may regret not having gotten him more experience during the non-con

Yeah the West side was what it should be, I'm not sure what the deal is with the East side students, especially given the great example they had across the court. At first I thought it was because MD was shooting at the west side in the 1st half, but they never got that loud in the 2nd either...I was in 101, so had great views of the students really giving it to Queen, made my heart all warm and fuzzy.

SDakaGordie said:

So all those decades of frustration of NU losing - our success now is just that we have way more talent? (Buie developed into our best player ever, of course - but imagine if he could have shot a pull-up jumper as well as a floater)?

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Buie was an All-American level guard, he could go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country. Audige? Arguably the best perimeter defender in the nation. Then there's Barnhizer, the most complete player I’ve seen in a Northwestern uniform. Berry, when he's healthy, is one of the purest shooters in the Big Ten, can light it up from anywhere. Langborg was a darn good scorer as well. And don’t sleep on Martinelli has got a natural touch around the basket and a nose for the ball that you can’t coach. Now, I’m not sitting here telling you NU is the most talented team in the Big Ten, but there’s been some serious talent on this roster these last few years. You don’t rack up wins like we have over the last couple years without talent, period. It’s a different level of basketball under Collins and different caliber of players brought to campus.

Without stepping on PWB's toes:

1st half
Fitzmorris was -4 in his first segment, with Reese going 0-1 and scoring 2 points,
+4 in his second segment, with Reese going 2-3 and scoring 4 points.
Barkley was +2 in his 2 minutes with Reese going 0-1 and scoring 2 points.

2nd half
Fitzmorris was -2 with Reese going 1-1 for 2 points
Then from the start of the 13-0 run until he was subbed out, Fitz was +10 with Reese going 0-1 for 0 points.
His last segment, he was -3 with Reese taking no shots.

Well it was Retro Night - and apparently retro means the 80s and 90s...

so the "Queen You Suck" chants from the west student section took me back to my NU days, when that sort of tactic was a regular occurrence.