+/- for the reaming of Rutgers

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	RUT Pts	Raw +/-	Player Adjust	Net +/-
Barnhizer	33	62	45	+17	+3.5	+20.5
Nicholson	28	41	38	+3	+8.9	+11.9
Martinelli	18	33	20	+13	-1.6	+11.4
Verhoeven	11	22	13	+9	+1.6	+10.6
Audige	39	65	53	+12	-7.2	+4.8
Berry	30	49	41	+8	-4.0	+4.0
Beran	13	12	17	-5	+3.5	-1.5
Buie	28	41	38	+3	-4.7	-1.7

The Wildcats earned a significant victory against a desperate, but overmatched, Rutgers squad in New Jersey. In so doing, Northwestern earned a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season. As optimistic as I was coming into the season ("We'll finish at best 6th, at worst 12th") I didn't think we could finish 2nd, although I did think 11-9 was possible.

Anyhow, the dismantling of Rutgers has to be tempered with the knowledge that Rutgers just isn't that good without Mawat Mag, whose injury left them with useful 6 players. They wore down against NU and, as usual, struggled to score. Having written that, the positives for Northwestern are numerous.

Brooks Barnhizer is becoming an "above average" Big Ten player. He is scoring very efficiently, something the Cats had been lacking until his emergence. He continues to grab rebounds at an impressive rate. In our last 10 games, Barnhizer has made 40 of 78 shots, including 14 of 29 from outside the arc. He was the star of the game.

Matt Nicholson had a strong night, as reflected in his Player Adjust of +8.9, but it is worth noting that NU was only +3 in his 28 minutes. When Verhoeven was on the court we were +9 in 11 minutes as we dominated Rutgers bench.

Nick Martinelli surprised with a +13 in 18 minutes. The frontcourt of Nicholson / Martinelli / Barnhizer shut down Rutgers 22-12 in 13 minutes of action. Martinelli contines to improve. In fact, the Martinelli/Barnhizer combo is now 191-166 (with either center). "Martinelli with Verhoeven" is the highest-rated 2 man combo on the team, with a 128 - 108 advantage.

Robbie Beran is seeing his minutes cut. Somewhat sad to see him sitting on the bench during his last (?) regular season game, but hopefully going to the NCAA tournament will more than offset his difficulties on the court.

Chase Audige continues to struggle. He was 1 for 10 from the field. Player Adjust of -7.2. He doesn't need to be playing so many minutes. In his last 10 games he has made 39 of 126 field goal attempts (31%).

 

[ballerog711]

Beran has had many games to prove himself and has not done it on offense. Being one of his last games, you would think he would have come out with fire.

Great example is he drove to his right hand and could have used his body to create space and finish. Instead he kicked the ball out for a contested 3.

Down the other end the Rutgers player drove throw Verhovens chest and got a key basket for Rutgers. Why Beran did not do this is a mystery

Martenelli was active on the offensive boards and gave NU extra shots multiple times. Also had a couple of key deflections. And was up on his man defensively.

Teams have figured out to cut off Chase right hand. Makes it difficult for him.

 

[gradeck]

Chase Audige continues to struggle. He was 1 for 10 from the field. Player Adjust of -7.2. He doesn't need to be playing so many minutes. In his last 10 games he has made 39 of 126 field goal attempts (31%).

With Buie on the bench a bit more than usual, having Audige play more makes sense; pretty much one of the two of them is always going to be on the floor. He doesn’t need to take quite so many shots, though…

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

With Buie on the bench a bit more than usual, having Audige play more makes sense; pretty much one of the two of them is always going to be on the floor. He doesn’t need to take quite so many shots, though…

I'm just saying that Audige, being human, gets tired. So he makes mistakes in that specific game and gets worn out for the next one and the one after that.

Hopefully he benefits greatly from having 5 days off.

The way the team is going, it just doesn't seem to me that we would suffer much (and might actually improve) if Berry took some Audige minutes and Barnhizer played more at the 3. In other words, a 2 guard approach for half the game.

 

[phatcat]

Reaming of Rutgers sounds like a medical procedure I have every few years

 

[NUCatVet]

Chase is the key stopper on defense.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Chase is the key stopper on defense.

I get that... but the offense falls apart if Buie is on the bench, so he has to play... Berry is a very good defender and (gasp) a better rebounder than Audige and (double gasp) a more efficient player on offense than Audige.

Collins obviously loves Audige but his performance suggests that he (Audige) is worn out.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Agree it looks like Audige has not been 100% the past couple of weeks. Hoping these days off help. We need him in there because he is a key cog in covering players away from the trap and uncannily disrupting the passing lanes.

Buie didn't play for 10 minutes Sunday night and things were still ok.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	RUT Pts	Raw +/-	Player Adjust	Net +/-
Barnhizer	33	62	45	+17	+3.5	+20.5
Nicholson	28	41	38	+3	+8.9	+11.9
Martinelli	18	33	20	+13	-1.6	+11.4
Verhoeven	11	22	13	+9	+1.6	+10.6
Audige	39	65	53	+12	-7.2	+4.8
Berry	30	49	41	+8	-4.0	+4.0
Beran	13	12	17	-5	+3.5	-1.5
Buie	28	41	38	+3	-4.7	-1.7

“Martinelli with Verhoeven" is the highest-rated 2 man combo on the team, with a 128 - 108 advantage.”

Sometimes the world just does not make sense.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Buie didn't play for 10 minutes Sunday night and things were still ok.

You are correct, sir.
I don't think Rutgers had the depth to press us effectively and they schemed their defense to stop him in the halfcourt.

But the general idea - we played pretty well when Buie was sitting - because we had Barnhizer exclusively at the 3, Beran or Martinelli at the 4 and Verhoeven or Nicholson at the 5 - that approach - two guards - can be effective for us. So sit Audige 8 minutes a game and use Barnhizer at the 3 when Audige is sitting.