Ok, that was fun last night. The day started with a thread on here asking whether we should be worried about Lehigh who was one game from making the NCAA tournament last year and had some guys returning. Those worries were put to rest right quick!
1) Nick is the man. He just looked like a man among boys out there. We've all gotten used to his goofy push shots and incredible footwork in the paint. Now I just feel super confident every time he has the ball. And so does he apparently! That three point stroke looks 100X smoother than last year. If that is for real..... (Homer Simpson salivating noises here). He also has the quickest footwork that legitimately isn't traveling. I watched him take off with the ball at the top of the key and thought for sure he'd be called for traveling because he cut so fast, but when you watch the replay, he was absolutely not traveling. He just has great footwork.
2) Leach can play. He has such a nice mix of athleticism and size for a guard. His three pointer may be streaky. But what really did it for me was in the second half when he drove the ball toward the elbows and knocked down two mid-range jump shots off the dribble. Those shots were silky smooth. That could be fun to watch this year if that's for real.
3) Not one, but two fearless freshman. One key thing about our recent top contributors is that they came in as freshman and looked like they belonged. They didn't have to be stars as freshman and they certainly didn't have to be perfect. But you could tell they weren't overwhelmed or afraid. Boo played that way as a frosh. Brooks did a little, but injuries messed up his first year. Ty was a little rough around the edges, but he didn't seem afraid of the moment. Nick certainly wasn't afraid of the moment. I think it's safe to say that Windham and Ciaravino played pretty fearlessly last night. Windham almost looked cocky, he played with such swagger. I am excited about him. He will be a nice player this year, but a real potential leader going forward. Ciaravino displayed some clear talents and it will be fun to watch him get more comfortable and develop his game.
4) Has Luke Hunger arrived? Here is another guy that showed courage as a frosh and now looks like he's ready to take off. He may not be quite big enough to hold his own on defense the way Matt can, but other than that, he is clearly our better option at the 5. That step back jumper from about 12 feet in the second half was super sweet! And he can still confidently put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. He will mess up some bigger BIG centers this year with that dribble drive - especially if they have to respect his three point shot.
5) The team defense may be even better this year. While I loved the 51 first half points, the thing that excited me more in that first half was watching our team defense. We could switch at just about every position and guys were outstanding at recovering after the switch. Guys were hedging to help on drivers without leaving their man totally wide open. When someone fell off, someone else was always there and the rotation of the rest of the lineup to find the open man was fun to watch. Most importantly, it looked like guys were working their butts off on defense. That effort plays, man.
6) Ok, let's be real. We'll get a better sense of whether this was a mirage or not after this weekend. Lehigh heads to Georgetown next. If the Hoyas beat them by 40 or 50 points, then we'll know some of this had to do with just how bad Lehigh is. We, of course, see a step up in competition against Dayton. I'd like to think the things we did in this game are repeatable against better teams. But I also know that Lehigh missed a ton of shots. It seemed like they had nobody who could finish at the rim. Their big guys looked weak and we were able to bully them (Us! Northwestern! Being the bullies!!). I'm not ready to put us in the dance quite yet, but if this team is even half as good as they looked last night, we may have some fun in Welsh Ryan again this year.
P.S.... I was stunned at the student turnout for a November game against a nobody team. That was really encouraging to see. I hope we continue to have great atmosphere's in WR this season!
