Big man Cher, Turner left us with huge vacated gap on team

[Turk]

I don't fault Cher "I got you babe" Ajou for transferring, nor do I fault Turner or Kale from leaving, but the vacancies of big men have noticeably cost us and will prolly be felt even more next year. That said, Collins did fine getting folks to fill in the gaps, it will just take time.

 

[sdDaveP]

I don't think you can bundle Ajou in with the other two because Ajou had zero value on the floor. Kreisberg's limited value far exceeds Ajou. Ajou was a walk-on level player who snagged a schollie.

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by Turk:
I don't fault Cher "I got you babe" Ajou for transferring, nor do I fault Turner or Kale from leaving, but the vacancies of big men have noticeably cost us and will prolly be felt even more next year. That said, Collins did fine getting folks to fill in the gaps, it will just take time.

Funny post. Don't "blame them" for leaving? Without opening the old wounds again let's at least agree that Collins didn't really see these guys as fitting into his system and for whatever reason they are no longer here. I am quite sure he did not try to convince them to stay.

 

[JournCat]

Kale would have been the only one of those three to have an impact this year, imo. With respect to Turner, he never showed signs of being a Big Ten player. Neither did Ajou. While inconsistent, Kale's shooting would have gotten him minutes during a game like last night when no one could hit anything. But Collins wouldn't have played him over Law, and he wasn't strong enough to regularly play the 4.

 

[willycat]

doc, those two "big guys" were not Div.1 like players and why they were offered schlorships is a good question only a few people no longer at NU know.

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by willycat:
doc, those two "big guys" were not Div.1 like players and why they were offered schlorships is a good question only a few people no longer at NU know.

I'm not going to argue that point. I'm just suggesting that Turk's original insinuation that they departed thus leaving us in a lurch is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Deeringfish]

Turk, I was really happy to have Cher on the team and his life story made me proud to think he was a cat but I watched him walk down the street one day and honestly I could't even imagine him running or making athletic moves. I suppose he must have transformed some on the court but I don't think he fit anywhere in Collin's game plan. I hope he is doing well and wish him the best but he wasn't going to do well in BB under Christ Collins so he agreed to move on.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:
I'm not going to argue that point. I'm just suggesting that Turk's original insinuation that they departed thus leaving us in a lurch is kind of ridiculous.

It was essentially two scholies taken up by a frosh and soph who had no business being on a B1G roster. When every scholarship is pretty darn important, that's a problem...

 

[willycat]

Deering, who is Christ Collin's? NU's BB savior?

 

[Gladeskat]

Originally posted by willycat:
Deering, who is Christ Collin's? NU's BB savior?

He might be. We'll see. He's being nailed to the hardwood cross at the moment though.

 

[hdhntr1]

I think he would have been OK with Turner had he (Turner) embraced the idea that he was a 4 and truly loved BB enough to do what it takes. That took a level of work that Turner was not willing/able to do. But since he didn't, there was no place to play him and he was taking up a spot on the roster. That he stayed at NU indicates that he never really had the love of BB. It worked out best for him as it is likely he just transferred to a different kind of scholarship.

 

[docrugby1]

I am not sure how anyone could evaluate Ajou,since he rarely set foot on the floor. I saw him in the pre-season scrimmage his first year . He could run the floor. I would have played him with the instructions to block every shot possible until he fouled out. Opponents would have been worried about getting their shot blocked or getting hammered

I hope CC starts getting the freshmen more minutes. I would play Skelly and Olah together with Law, Lindsey and BMc rounding out the starting 5. Demps could resume his 6th man role, Lumpkin could spell Skelly, Lindsey spells Law with BMc sliding over to the SG when Sobo or Vassar enters the game. Experiment with different combos ,then go with the most effective rotations in the B1G Tourney

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by hdhntr1:
I think he would have been OK with Turner had he (Turner) embraced the idea that he was a 4 and truly loved BB enough to do what it takes. That took a level of work that Turner was not willing/able to do. But since he didn't, there was no place to play him and he was taking up a spot on the roster. That he stayed at NU indicates that he never really had the love of BB. It worked out best for him as it is likely he just transferred to a different kind of scholarship.

Wow. Or maybe he just realized that the next 60 years of his life was more important than the next 2?

 

[hdhntr1]

I am just saying that if BB was his love, it would be likely he would have transferred someplace he could play. That he didn't would indicate BB was not that important to him. Without that love of the game he was not going to do what it took to be the player we needed. He was a reach and a project from the beginning so he really needed to have that love of the game and indications were that he did not have it. But his exit did leave a hole in the roster that we have just started to fill. That said, his leaving the team was likely best for everyone.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Originally posted by hdhntr1:
That said, his leaving the team was likely best for everyone.

I also recall it being reported that grades played a role in his withdrawal from the team...

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Originally posted by hdhntr1:
I am just saying that if BB was his love, it would be likely he would have transferred someplace he could play. That he didn't would indicate BB was not that important to him. Without that love of the game he was not going to do what it took to be the player we needed. He was a reach and a project from the beginning so he really needed to have that love of the game and indications were that he did not have it. But his exit did leave a hole in the roster that we have just started to fill. That said, his leaving the team was likely best for everyone.

Basketball could very well have been (or still be) tremendously important to Evan... but earning a degree from Northwestern seems to have been even more important. Absent a transfer to a similar academic institution at a lower level of play, it's not likely he could have gotten a degree of a similar caliber elsewhere. Throw in the ability to stay closer to home and it isn't all that hard to see why he might remain at NU without playing basketball.

 

[thewildcat2011]

If we had Evan Turner, we probably would be in the tournament by now.

 

[DocCatsFan]

True, but his point remains totally valid.

 

[thewildcat2011]

Would never disagree there. The identity of those lobbing shots at Turner is unsurprising.

This post was edited on 2/12 3:34 PM by thewildcat2011

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Originally posted by thewildcat2011:
If we had Evan Turner, we probably would be in the tournament by now.

Sheesh... not sure where that came from -- discussion of NU big men (Eschmeyer?)?

Point stands, but somewhat embarrassingly.

 

[FightNorthwestern]

IMO if he really wanted to juggle academics and basketball, he could have transferred to that school down south. I recall he even went to the HS affiliated with U of C.

 

[DocCatsFan]

Originally posted by FightNorthwestern:
IMO if he really wanted to juggle academics and basketball, he could have transferred to that school down south. I recall he even went to the HS affiliated with U of C.

NU was Mike's dream school from the time he was a kid. Are we really judging him by his decision to STAY at Northwestern?

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:

Originally posted by FightNorthwestern:
IMO if he really wanted to juggle academics and basketball, he could have transferred to that school down south. I recall he even went to the HS affiliated with U of C.

NU was Mike's dream school from the time he was a kid. Are we really judging him by his decision to STAY at Northwestern?

Who's judging him?

 

[willycat]

doc, if it was indeed was Mike's dream school well he should be happy that he stayed at NU and likely will get a degree. One thing I did hear from someone very close to Mike and the family, is that he continued to insist that he was a 5 and resisted any attempts to be coached up at the 4 and 3.

 

[FightNorthwestern]

Originally posted by DocCatsFan:

Originally posted by FightNorthwestern:
IMO if he really wanted to juggle academics and basketball, he could have transferred to that school down south. I recall he even went to the HS affiliated with U of C.

NU was Mike's dream school from the time he was a kid. Are we really judging him by his decision to STAY at Northwestern?

I wasn't "judging" him in the slightest. Just pointing out that there is a school with a similar academic profile nearby where he could have kept playing if he wanted to.

Not everyone in this board is out to get you.

 

[Katatonic]

Kreisberg was an upgrade over Ajou and Skelly seems to have taken Kresiberg's minutes.

While undersized height-wise, Lumpkin would still be getting the bulk of the minutes at the 4.

The real loss was KA since the 'Cats were desperate for another shooter, but wouldn't have been nearly the issue if Tap hadn't been injured (much less Cobb).