Voters just needed to see more from Martinelli before they were sure. Go Cats!
Cats are AP #25
- Thread starter NUCat320
- Start date
This one I believe.
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No, we don't want it publicized -- nobody needs to know we are ranked....
I find it very hilarious how Illinois was ranked 20th and balloons all the way up to 16th even with a loss to Tennessee who was 4-3 and Wisconsin who is now 7-3 stays at 23 after getting smoked by Arizona on Saturday like I said all about brand-name with these rankings.
#26 on the coaches poll
www.espn.com
2023-24 Men's College Basketball Rankings - ESPN
Find the 2023-24 NCAAM rankings on ESPN, including the Coaches and AP poll for the top 25 NCAAM teams.
This is exactly why NU needs to embrace being ranked and not shy away from it. There is definitely still a “brand name” bias as well as a stickiness factor to the rankings. All NU can do is keep winning and make the voters keep them where they are or move them up.
The way Buie and Collins and Brooks and the guys talked after the Purdue win, it seems like they understand that to “level up” as a program they have to embrace being the hunted, embrace the idea of being the favored team that others are coming for. This is GOOD.
(Edit: fwiw Illinois and Wisconsin are 14th and 15th in KenPom so if you believe in those metrics the AP rankings aren’t totally out of line… NU is 41st in KenPom.)
North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Texas and Miami, FL are all rated higher than they deserve, based on their games so far.
I wasn't sure at the beginning of the year, but I am starting to think this year's team is better than last year's, even though I do think we really miss Chase.
Clearly, we are way more skilled offensively this year. I wasn't sure if we could execute an offense in November last year. We improved as the year went on, but it took a while. I don't think last year's team pulls that upset over Purdue if last year's game was in December instead of closer to the end of the season.
The fact that we could beat Purdue this early in the year this season was really impressive. If this team can keep improving like last year's team did throughout the year, watch out! And I think they are improving. They have played their best three games in the last three, including two blowout wins and the big upset. Starting to build something here!
Clearly, we are way more skilled offensively this year. I wasn't sure if we could execute an offense in November last year. We improved as the year went on, but it took a while. I don't think last year's team pulls that upset over Purdue if last year's game was in December instead of closer to the end of the season.
The fact that we could beat Purdue this early in the year this season was really impressive. If this team can keep improving like last year's team did throughout the year, watch out! And I think they are improving. They have played their best three games in the last three, including two blowout wins and the big upset. Starting to build something here!
Yeah, I'm kind of tired of the "I prefer we're unranked" arguments. I know some like to think if NU loses as a ranked team that somehow that was the reason, but ranked teams lose all the time. You know what else ranked teams do all the time? WIN.
So let's beat ASU and the three cupcakes and go into 2024 with a shiny Top 20 ranking.
As someone who was relieved to see Audige and especially Beran move on, there has been one game so far where I definitely missed Audige and I'm pretty confident that I will never really miss Beran if the team stays healthy.
In the Mississippi State game we couldn't do anything to stop that little guard (Josh Hubbard) who lit us up for 29 points off the bench. Audige would have at least slowed him down. And there will certainly be other games when we can't stop our opponent's top guard or wing.
To be fair, Audige is eternally linked with Beran. The team couldn't help but play better with Martinelli, Barnhizer and perhaps (occasionally) Hunger replacing Beran at the 4. That predictable improvement doesn't reflect negatively on Audige, but so far Langborg's ability to shoot (and make) midrange pull-up jumpers gives us another edge on offense, at the expense of defense.
This year's team is better and more fun to watch.
The players on the team (as well as the staff) want to take the program to the next level.
That means more (frequent) post season success which leads to pre-season rankings.
Think being ranked pre-season 2 out of every 5 seasons, (with another getting votes) is doable for the program.
While it would've been nice for Audige to have also returned, was not as worried as thought Berry would provide enough D (while not a B1G DPoY like Audige, Berry is still a plus defender), esp if Berry could also provide more consistent O, which he has been doing beyond expectations thus far.
Berry not only has the highest FG% on the team, he, by far, has the highest 3P% (45%).
Thought Langborg would transition to the B1G pretty seamlessly and have one, if not the highest 3P make rates, but while Langborg has brought a much needed presence at the 3P line, Berry has been leading the way for the team.
Wouldn't be surprised if Roper took Berry making the leap into account in transferring as he would have been stuck as the 4th guard.
Going forward, would like to see BB ncrease his efficiency on O.
That means more (frequent) post season success which leads to pre-season rankings.
Think being ranked pre-season 2 out of every 5 seasons, (with another getting votes) is doable for the program.
While it would've been nice for Audige to have also returned, was not as worried as thought Berry would provide enough D (while not a B1G DPoY like Audige, Berry is still a plus defender), esp if Berry could also provide more consistent O, which he has been doing beyond expectations thus far.
Berry not only has the highest FG% on the team, he, by far, has the highest 3P% (45%).
Thought Langborg would transition to the B1G pretty seamlessly and have one, if not the highest 3P make rates, but while Langborg has brought a much needed presence at the 3P line, Berry has been leading the way for the team.
Wouldn't be surprised if Roper took Berry making the leap into account in transferring as he would have been stuck as the 4th guard.
Going forward, would like to see BB ncrease his efficiency on O.
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I think Chase is still way underestimated by some here. This team will have to win more games with offense than in the past. They seem capable of doing that. However, there is no way someone can convince me we are as good on defense without Chase. Not close. Some tend to focus too much on what players can’t do well and overlook what they do well.
I personally don't think we will miss Chase because of his ability to slow down this or that player. I don't think that's where he excelled. I think his defense was elite in disrupting passing lanes, getting steals, etc. Not the one on one defense part. Shannon Jr, for example, abused Chase last year. We switched 1-4 anyway, so the idea he would slow down this or that guy is a bit dubious. But, as a defensive group, we were better with him. For sure. No doubt, we were quicker rotating, we showed arms obstructing passing lanes a lot more.
We will also miss his outbursts on offense. It clearly won us the game against Purdue last year. And gave us hope against UCLA. But I remain optimistic that we will be better offensively. This year's Purdue win is a good sign of that. It still remains to be seen. Chase improved but still had pretty bad shot selection. And still showed a bit too much ball stickiness.
The other part of the equation is Beran. He brought a double inside that was pretty potent when you consider it was often a 7 footer plus a 6'9 doubling the post. Hard to get out of with a clean, crisp pass. He was also a decent intimidator in the paint. But without him we are quicker rotating and better on switching mismatches. And I truly believe we are much, much better on offense.
Put all this together and I think we can be better relative to competition. My personal evaluation on that is getting to 13 wins. Might not even get us a same as last year 2nd place, but, for me, 13 wins will mean we got better.
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Beran might be the most frustrating NU hoopster in my nearly 50 years of NU fandom. He had the physical tools and skills to be a special player. We all saw it for brief moments. But damn! If ever a kid needed a full time IV injection of serious swag it was probably Robbie.
GOUNUII
I couldn't keep count of the number of times where Robbie made a great play that caused me to say... that has to be the play that will get him going!
And it never did.
He sure seemed to have the tools though.
Most frustrating NU hoops player? That's a good one. I always had a problem with Charles Howell, but he didn't do enough good or bad to really earn my ire. I think Geno Carlisle is the one for me, especially because it seemed like the fans thought he was awesome. I know NU needed points in those days, but I've never seen an NU player throw up so many terrible shots in such a short period of time. I did not miss him when he transferred.
As for Chase, you can check the stats but it seems to me that at this point in the season last year he was scoring pretty well as Langborg is currently. It seems like it wasn't until the middle of conference play that Chase seemed to wear down and his offense fell off except for bursts of OMG. I haven't fact checked this, tho. My hope is that Ryan can maintain his inside/outside game and defense for the long haul. I have high hopes.
Your memory is pretty good. But his output fell off the last 5 games of the B1G season. He was strong though the middle. Here are the data:
Chase Audige 2022-23 Game Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
2022-23 Game Log for Chase Audige
www.sports-reference.com
I forgot just how bad he was offensively down the stretch - in a 12-game run late in the season he shot 30.8% from the field (26.5% from long range) and even shot under 65% from the line (although fairly low volume).Your memory is pretty good. But his output fell off the last 5 games of the B1G season. He was strong though the middle. Here are the data:
Chase Audige 2022-23 Game Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
2022-23 Game Log for Chase Audige
On the other hand, he averaged two steals/game over those 12 games, and he had that marvelous stretch in the Purdue game that makes up for every brick he had against Illinois, Rutgers, and Penn State.
You didn’t miss a player that was all-B1G first team and an all-Pac 10 guard who was co-MVP for his team. And was selected for the under 22 USA Select team. Ok…
Yeah, I stand by that. Those teams were terrible (granted, his freshmen he was playing with the gamblers), and though points had to come from somewhere and I'm thankful he generated them, his shooting was so poor that he always made me want to pull my hair out. I'm happy he had some other success elsewhere, and I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth (I'll admit he was much more talented than the usual guys NU was getting in the mid-1990s), but he just wasn't for me.
What do you mean he had success elsewhere? He was 1st team All B1G and only HM for the PAC and so arguably he had his best success here
Too late. It was publicized and both our players and Chicago State knew all about it. WTF
He almost (if I squint) makes it seem like NU and Illinois could pass for rivals.
I think I’m doing ok, because you literally respond to me every single time.
I also keep getting temporarily banned (shout-out mods for the restraint). So it’s hard to engage in thoughtful, intelligent discourse when I lose access.
Thoughtful, intelligent discourse tends to be difficult for Illinois fans.
Pretty hard for you even when you have access from what I've seen.
Your last insightful post stimulated the discussion. Maybe more than an emoji next time.
