To be fair, he was 6-6 before these last two pairs. This is, as the Brits call it, squeaky bum time.
Game Thread: Penn State vs. Northwestern
- Thread starter mshelton33
- Start date
They doubled Buie all day. They are very athletic against our other guys 1:1. Penn State was on a 4 game winning streak. It’s not just that we were off.
That was a win which showed the toughness that makes me just love this team!
Well thank goodness that victory is is the can.
I hope Ryan didn’t get hurt on that last mugging.
I hope Ryan didn’t get hurt on that last mugging.
Free-throw shooting was great today...just the timing of the misses made the final few minutes stressful.
The box score tells a tale of very poor shooting (or good defense?), but there are some interesting nuggets there:
Barnhizer an abysmal 3-for-15 from the field, but he finished one rebound shy of another double-double, and he added four steals and two blocks.
NU turned it over three times in the first five minutes...and also three times over the final 35 minutes.
Nicholson added eight boards and has really upped his game there in the last few weeks. Today his positioning and boxing out was much better than usual.
39-33 win for NU on the boards, including 13-3 on the offensive glass.
Baldwin got "just" two steals in this game after all the talk of his eight steals last time.
Boo had six assists and five rebounds on a day he wasn't shooting great.
Cats were 22-for-27 (81.5%) from line. Yes, there were some misses late, but otherwise, this is excellent. Even Nicholson made all three of his!
Barnhizer an abysmal 3-for-15 from the field, but he finished one rebound shy of another double-double, and he added four steals and two blocks.
NU turned it over three times in the first five minutes...and also three times over the final 35 minutes.
Nicholson added eight boards and has really upped his game there in the last few weeks. Today his positioning and boxing out was much better than usual.
39-33 win for NU on the boards, including 13-3 on the offensive glass.
Baldwin got "just" two steals in this game after all the talk of his eight steals last time.
Boo had six assists and five rebounds on a day he wasn't shooting great.
Cats were 22-for-27 (81.5%) from line. Yes, there were some misses late, but otherwise, this is excellent. Even Nicholson made all three of his!
It was mostly Barney and Boo that struggled to hit shots. We were fortunate that our first game was against a VERY mediocre PSU team.
They’re not mediocre. They had won 3 in a row. The only bad team in the B1G is Michigan. We got the dub and that’s all that matters.
I don’t want to not gove merit yo PSU, their players move their feet well on defense and stay in front of their opponents. But we shot what 30%? I have not looked. It just seemed really low regardless of opponent.
Thankfully we rebounded well and, after a shaky start, did not turn the ball over
They did a good job blocking our layup attempts (layups being the types of shots that usually elevate your shooting percentage), so their defense had something to do with it.
Mostly attributable to playing the entire game most of the time.
They are not close to good. Can’t even tell what they try and do on offense except shoot 3’s. Don’t fall into the NU fan trap of respecting every opponent like they are the Boston Celtics. Just because these teams can occasionally spring an upset doesn’t mean they rise above a mediocre status for the entire season.
There is no evidence that Preston/Hunger would work (or not work) as a frontcourt.
As always, a few people here will guarantee "it won't work." Until it does.
Thats the pattern.
Here's the thing.
YOU PLAY YOUR BEST PLAYERS.
When Collins was struggling as a coach, he did not play his best players.
He played everybody. Weird combinations, weird substitution patterns.
Almost grasping at straws.
But then, he seemed to change his mindset...
Last year the rotation was trimmed. It helped. Fewer wasted minutes.
This year, the rotation was trimmed again and the team has generally played well, with some episodes of fatigue.
Now, we have lost a good player and we have a very short bench. (a known exposure).
These are our best players.... in order.
Buie
Barnhizer
Martinellli or Langborg or Nicholson
Hunger
Preston
Clayton
everybody else
So, because it is logical, I'd like to see more minutes from Hunger and/or Preston before I see more time from Clayton or anybody else. But not at the expense of Nicholson. Thats just sheer common sense.
The only way to do that is to try Preston and Hunger in the frontcourt - giving Nicholson and Martinelli a rest.
You're still going to have to use Clayton to get Buie and Langborg a breather.
For Barnhizer, you might even try Preston / Hunger / Martinelli / Langborg / Buie.
Gotta try it - the alternatives have been inferior thus far. Play your best players.
Barney was gassed at the end. He missed 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch, and I attribute most of that to exhaustion. He played his heart out and was a big factor in getting the dub today. Just hope that Collins finds some way to give him some rest during games. We really missed Berry today.
Preston can’t guard anyone. We’d have huge mismatches if he and Hunger were out there together.
Very rarely has Clayton subbed for Bouie, so he can sit using the Hunger/Preston theory.
Today he subbed for Lanborg 2x, Nicholson and Martenelli,
Today he subbed for Lanborg 2x, Nicholson and Martenelli,
PSU is a terrible match up for trying the Hunger/Preston line-up. PSU was a relatively quick team and I could see their guards going through us like a serpentine course in a High School Driver Education class.
I am fine trying that proposed big line up in the right matchup, but I don’t see it being workable against many teams that go with athletic line ups.
I disagree. Many on this board are very quick to discredit other teams. They are not the Celtics but they are solid teams. MD is third from last in the BIG - they are not a good team? PSU just won 3 in a row and 2 on the road. They beat us repeatedly today with great cuts and easy layups, as well as some very athletic moves. (Shooting 19 3’s is not that many). Like Minnesota, they guarded us out top with very long, athletic types and it worked. And Wahab created a huge problem for us with his defense.
But in the end, most teams, like PSU, allow guys total freedom to make plays 1:1 and are not as structured offensively as we are (and need to be). We win because of slowing things down to run good sets that give our guy advantages. We don’t convert as many of these 1:1 advantages (or the occasional fast breaks) as much as other teams, but we get a higher proportion of open looks. And our forte is shooting the 3, which has an obvious advantage in points scored.
Just read Lou V. Writeup and it mentioned Clayton was a plus 13 today
I'm not who should play and who shouldn't. Want all the players to do their best. However is working hard and doing the right hing in that day should play and help NU get the win.
MN tried twice today to put the ball down and go to the hoop. Once was a turnover and once he almost broke the backboard. I don't think any of us saw that coming.
Martenelli tries to right handed layups. Result was not good, but trying to help get a win
Maybe Preston/Hunger may or may not work. They are both slow with the feet in defense, like Young was.
I'm not who should play and who shouldn't. Want all the players to do their best. However is working hard and doing the right hing in that day should play and help NU get the win.
MN tried twice today to put the ball down and go to the hoop. Once was a turnover and once he almost broke the backboard. I don't think any of us saw that coming.
Martenelli tries to right handed layups. Result was not good, but trying to help get a win
Maybe Preston/Hunger may or may not work. They are both slow with the feet in defense, like Young was.
The Hunger at 4, whether with Preston or Nicholson will not happen. We have zero indication Collins even remotely considers it a possibility.
But it could have been used with Mast and Allick on the floor against Nebraska. Or Crikke (sp) and McCaffrey on the floor against Iowa. None of those guys are too fast for our bigs and they play together.
Personally I am not as concerned with Barnhizer playing 40 as I am with us being able to cover foul trouble with the current rotation. I mean, of course it’s not ideal, there are guys grinding out 40 a night in a 82 game season in the MBA. You might see us slowing down the game, you might see players going a bit slower. But we can survive and still be a good team.
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Yes, we all know Kellogg students think very highly of themselves.
Who on earth is talking about Preston AND Hunger? Thats the idea, take one guy who averages less than 8 minutes a game in conference and hasn’t played in over a week because he’s not very good and pair him with another guy who is just good enough to average like 12 minutes a game in conference to spell the one big who is actually good?
There is no depth left. It’s our four wings playing nearly every minute possible from here on out. There aren’t any more power conference caliber players on this roster to magically appear and soak up minutes. Were gonna ride with the horses who brought us.
There is no depth left. It’s our four wings playing nearly every minute possible from here on out. There aren’t any more power conference caliber players on this roster to magically appear and soak up minutes. Were gonna ride with the horses who brought us.
Preston is a capable defender, in my opinion. Not as good as Nicholson, but better than Hunger. He just doesn't do much on offense. And he's a little small against some Big Ten centers. When Collins has played Preston with Barnhizer and 3 guards, we've been outscored 97-84 in 44+ minutes. That shouldn't surprise anybody, you play a lineup that small against most Big Ten teams, you're up against it.
However, with Martinelli at the 4, things go better for Preston.
With Martinelli, Barnhizer and any 2 of the other 3 starting guards, NU has won 103-85 in 50+ minutes.
Shocking? Perhaps. But also true.
With Martinelli in, Barnhizer sitting, plus the other 3 starting guards, we're up 28-27 in 14.5 minutes.
Those numbers tell you the team can be effective with Preston at the the 5.
It also suggests that playing a bigger guy at the 4 could work with Preston at the 5.
On the other hand, Clayton hasn't scored a point since 11/27... 74 minutes of action.
In fact he has yet to score a point against a capable team. (unless you count Western Michigan, Northern Illinois or Rhode Island, against whom he had 9 points in 56 minutes).
I have nothing against Clayton, but the numbers are the numbers.
That would be me. I have explained why I think it might work and why it makes sense to try it.
I'm going to assume that everybody agrees that playing 4 guys 40 minutes a game is not really a good plan and that guys can (and will) get into foul trouble or just wear down. I'm talking about Plan B. Preston and Hunger in the frontcourt to rest Martinelli and Nicholson. If we're just blindly going to assume that 4 guys can play 40 minutes, then sure, lets do that.
I thought getting the ball to Brooks in the press would work and it did.
Collins panicked when Nick through a lazy pass that was deflected and put Brooks back as an unbounded. Lanborg caught the inbounds pass and almost turned it over.
Maybe Collins thought Smith would do a better job on defense at the 4 than Hunger.
Hunger won the starting center job from MN and did not keep it. He will get another chance Thurs against Rutgers. The bigs are active and physical
Collins panicked when Nick through a lazy pass that was deflected and put Brooks back as an unbounded. Lanborg caught the inbounds pass and almost turned it over.
Maybe Collins thought Smith would do a better job on defense at the 4 than Hunger.
Hunger won the starting center job from MN and did not keep it. He will get another chance Thurs against Rutgers. The bigs are active and physical
Kellogg students would average 41 in 40 minute game. Everyone knows that
I guess my first question is whether those + minutes with Preston are mostly non-con minutes. I'd also argue there is a big difference between Martinelli and Hunger. It is clear this team likes to switch 4 guys on defense and if Hunger moves to the 4, that seriously impacts that strategy.
That said, I entirely agree with your point about minutes. Someone has to absorb some of those minutes for Brooks, Buie and Langborg to remain effective. I kept hoping we'd take the redshirt off another freshman and they would emerge the way Martinelli did last year. Poor Blake Smith picked up two fouls in two minutes. I think he is a bit overmatched, though in his defense, that was a tough position for him to be in not having played hardly at all this year. I don't need him to score, but I do need him to play some decent defense.
He WAS overmatched, and not that there are easy guys to cover in the Big Ten, but Ace Baldwin is not exactly a good first assignment for him. People often talk about new players having to "get used to the speed" when they go up a level, and asking him to guard someone with more speed/talent than usual was a tall order. What, Terrence Shannon and Jahmir Young weren't available?
The second he was in the game Penn State stopped its offense and went full clearout ISO on Baldwin against Smith. Good for Smith being a fighter and a battler in practice and proving he understands the defensive system and earning the few minutes, but come on now, that was ridiculous
Yes, Mullins started for Denver all season.
He came in acknowledging that he needed to "get stronger."
He's athletic in a Casey Simmons sort of way.
Other than that, who knows what the issue is, but thus far he's not matching expectations around here.
My guess is that he has never played in a rigid, demanding defensive scheme and the coaches can't accept the mistakes.
Rewatch the scrimmage and you’ll see some sloppy plays and decisions with the ball from Mullins resulting in turnovers and some mental errors defensively. He very quick and athletic so that is not the issue. High ceiling imo but a lot of work to do.
If he can just be smart with the ball and not try to do too much offensively, and communicate and position well defensively then he’d be getting the lion share of the backup minutes with Martinelli in the starting line up. Those are big if’s.
Replacing Berry in the short term does not require any of the players to match his scoring output as Martinelli’s increased minutes takes care of that. The team needs a defensive replacement and minute replacement. Basically someone who can move the ball around and not screw it up on either end. Hopefully Berry will get healthy and be back soon.
I thought Blake did pretty well being throw in the diving well deep end. That second foul on him was bogus imo.
Disclaimer: I have never met Mullins beyond a simple "Welcome back to Chicago" pleasantry when I saw him on the floor after OSU.
My biggest concern about Mullins is that he can take the heat of being coached hard and not playing as he works to improve his game. He's effectively (not officially) redshirting this year. I hope uses the downtime to fuel his fire and improve. Physically, he's the goods. We can use athletes like that.
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