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Good win, lessons to be learned

MC_Cat

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2001
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Wow, for a while there NU looked every bit of a Tourney team, and that's a good thing, because you can see the potential. Turnovers almost caught up with them, but I liked how aggressive the Cats were even in the closing minutes going to the rim and trying to draw fouls.

AJ Turner had a rough night but Collins is putting his faith in him so hopefully he will find his mojo, like he did against Utah. I really was impressed with Kopp tonight; that's the best he's looked this year by far. He should've seen more minutes in the 2nd half. Once Ga Tech started chipping away at the lead, Collins went back to the MO of the past few years where he just locks in on 5 guys and plays them all the way to the end. Problem is our guys get gassed too and he had more options on the bench to try. Nance, Kopp, and Benson all should've gotten more minutes in my opinion.

I will be very interested in how the team plays against Indiana on Saturday. I think they will have a chance to win. What a start to the conference season that will be if it happens. We shall see!
 
Wow, for a while there NU looked every bit of a Tourney team, and that's a good thing, because you can see the potential. Turnovers almost caught up with them, but I liked how aggressive the Cats were even in the closing minutes going to the rim and trying to draw fouls.

AJ Turner had a rough night but Collins is putting his faith in him so hopefully he will find his mojo, like he did against Utah. I really was impressed with Kopp tonight; that's the best he's looked this year by far. He should've seen more minutes in the 2nd half. Once Ga Tech started chipping away at the lead, Collins went back to the MO of the past few years where he just locks in on 5 guys and plays them all the way to the end. Problem is our guys get gassed too and he had more options on the bench to try. Nance, Kopp, and Benson all should've gotten more minutes in my opinion.

I will be very interested in how the team plays against Indiana on Saturday. I think they will have a chance to win. What a start to the conference season that will be if it happens. We shall see!
It was quite an overall effort from a yeam who played four games in seven days and didn't get back from the West Coast until Monday night. As for the second half, Benson was actually in there for quite awhile, and Nance's time suffered a bit since GA Tech played a small, quick lineup. Kopp could have played more, but he clearly needs to work on his D, imo.
 
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Even when G-Tech got the lead down to under ten I never felt like we were going to lose. That first half was extremely impressive, and that's what I'm taking away from this one.

Also, though I'm late to the party on this one, the new Welsh Ryan is quite impressive. The best seats, in my opinion, are the balcony seats behind the baskets.
 
Wow, for a while there NU looked every bit of a Tourney team, and that's a good thing, because you can see the potential. Turnovers almost caught up with them, but I liked how aggressive the Cats were even in the closing minutes going to the rim and trying to draw fouls.

AJ Turner had a rough night but Collins is putting his faith in him so hopefully he will find his mojo, like he did against Utah. I really was impressed with Kopp tonight; that's the best he's looked this year by far. He should've seen more minutes in the 2nd half. Once Ga Tech started chipping away at the lead, Collins went back to the MO of the past few years where he just locks in on 5 guys and plays them all the way to the end. Problem is our guys get gassed too and he had more options on the bench to try. Nance, Kopp, and Benson all should've gotten more minutes in my opinion.

I will be very interested in how the team plays against Indiana on Saturday. I think they will have a chance to win. What a start to the conference season that will be if it happens. We shall see!


Should be a good game but Indiana is going to be ****** off and they are finally healthy again.
 
Now that's the way to watch a game. I saw most of the first half, and the beginning on the second half when we extended the lead to 28. Then I had to run an errand and so missed a big chunk when things apparently took a turn. However, I returned to see us hold onto the lead for the last three minutes. Incredibly stress-free!

Seriously, we looked very good in the first half. Our defense is for real. GA Tech didn't know what to do for a long time there.
 
What jumped out at me is how unselfish Law, AJ and Taylor are with the ball.

Gaines should pay attention in film session to what they do.

Nance was poor on spacing....Collins went nuts on him....wasn't a good team for Nance to match up against.

Thought some of the officiating, especially in the paint, was ticky tack.
 
It was quite an overall effort from a yeam who played four games in seven days and didn't get back from the West Coast until Monday night. As for the second half, Benson was actually in there for quite awhile, and Nance's time suffered a bit since GA Tech played a small, quick lineup. Kopp could have played more, but he clearly needs to work on his D, imo.

Kopp was more aggressive on defense, although there were still times he made apparent mistakes on helping or not cutting off drives. But you could see in the first half why Collins is starting him. I wish he had played more in the second half. The only way he and Nance will improve is by being in the game in competitive situations.
 
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Nance was poor on spacing....Collins went nuts on him....wasn't a good team for Nance to match up against.
I believe that Nance thinks like a guard in a big man's body. So far, it seems like he is being guarded mainly by shorter, but quicker wing players. He can't dominate them on the perimeter the way he probably could in high school. So, the next step for him is to develop a post-up game where we can isolate him on the block against a smaller wing - which will then open up his outside game as teams are forced to switch a big man onto him.

That's when he will really take off I think. Right now, he's too one-dimensional and its easy for teams to take that one-dimension away from him. If he can force teams to play him like a big man, then his natural guard skills can become a real weapon.
 
I believe that Nance thinks like a guard in a big man's body. So far, it seems like he is being guarded mainly by shorter, but quicker wing players. He can't dominate them on the perimeter the way he probably could in high school. So, the next step for him is to develop a post-up game where we can isolate him on the block against a smaller wing - which will then open up his outside game as teams are forced to switch a big man onto him.

That's when he will really take off I think. Right now, he's too one-dimensional and its easy for teams to take that one-dimension away from him. If he can force teams to play him like a big man, then his natural guard skills can become a real weapon.
 
Looks like we might have a real home court advantage.

Tough to watch NU fall apart at the end after being so dominant.

Hope the team gets the rest it needs to beat IU.
 
The problem right now with Nance and Koop is The staff doesn’t want them on the floor at the same time. As result we get small doses of both, which may be good in the short run, but sooner or later we are going to have to see both of them on the floor at once
Another problem is we can’t get much time from Ash because last night at least it was very apparent he was hurting. If he is OK we can get a solid 15 minutes out of him.
The next problem is Falzone. If he can’t play that scholarship is a washout, which is unfortunate when you take into regard Greer, who has great potential but lacks experience.
 
The problem right now with Nance and Koop is The staff doesn’t want them on the floor at the same time. As result we get small doses of both, which may be good in the short run, but sooner or later we are going to have to see both of them on the floor at once
Another problem is we can’t get much time from Ash because last night at least it was very apparent he was hurting. If he is OK we can get a solid 15 minutes out of him.
The next problem is Falzone. If he can’t play that scholarship is a washout, which is unfortunate when you take into regard Greer, who has great potential but lacks experience.
Well said. Let's see how we respond next week against Indiana and Michigan
 
I believe that Nance thinks like a guard in a big man's body. So far, it seems like he is being guarded mainly by shorter, but quicker wing players. He can't dominate them on the perimeter the way he probably could in high school. So, the next step for him is to develop a post-up game where we can isolate him on the block against a smaller wing - which will then open up his outside game as teams are forced to switch a big man onto him.

That's when he will really take off I think. Right now, he's too one-dimensional and its easy for teams to take that one-dimension away from him. If he can force teams to play him like a big man, then his natural guard skills can become a real weapon.

Exactly what I was thinking. This team has a lot of potential, but really if boils down to Nance.

You’ve got your core 4: Law, Pardon, Taylor, Turner

You have Gaines and Kopp who can sub in and out for defense vs. offense.

You have Benson as a backup big and Greer/Ash for ballhandling needs.

Then there is Nance. Where does he fit in? Can he contribute beyond just handing the ball off around the perimeter?
 
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