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Gutty win, but...

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NJcatsfan

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Nov 21, 2004
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A win is always better than a loss, but man, this team still has some scary issues.

- Some of the calls seemed weak, but fouls are a serious problem. DePaul was *horrendous* from the FT line, otherwise they win comfortably.

- Just abused in the paint, in terms of points scored.

- Something is wrong with Mac. He looks like a shell of his former self, and he needs to be playing well for us to have a shot at the tourney. He's not even playing okay right now. Tough to watch, despite a handful of good plays.

- The scoring droughts are brutal.

- Any update on Vic's health? Gulp.

- Performances like that @OU and in the B1G will = lots of L's.

- On the positive side, some of our bench guys played some high-stress minutes & figured out how to win. We had ONE guy playing well (attaboy, Scottie), and we still managed to win on the road against a Big East team. And hey, it sounded like we had some fans there. Arena looked pretty nice.
 
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The bench seems to be getting better production. Hopefully laws injury is minor but if not our d a will suffer. Gaines will get more minutes certainly. Ash and Brown will have to step up. Our issue is athleticism which is slowly upticking but not yet there McIntosh will be fine. He did not play well in OOC last year. He will turn it up
 
Not playing well and not shooting well are two different things.

McIntosh had seven assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Every coach will take that. Plus I thought he was solid defensively. Just couldn’t buy a basket.
 
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Kelly_32 said:
Not playing well and not shooting well are two different things.

McIntosh had seven assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Every coach will take that. Plus I thought he was solid defensively. Just couldn’t buy a basket.
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I'm sorry but 2-17 from the floor (4 points, 3 fouls, 1 rebound) transcends poor shooting. I don't think that's spin-able. He's not playing well, a few nice assists and cleaning up his TO's (still a team problem) notwithstanding.
 
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Kelly_32 said:
Not playing well and not shooting well are two different things.

McIntosh had seven assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Every coach will take that. Plus I thought he was solid defensively. Just couldn’t buy a basket.
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You have a point, though I consider him responsible for a couple of turnovers and thought his defense was ok rather than solid.

Main thing is that his own real problem was getting his shots to drop. Hopefully gets back on track soon.
 
Kelly_32 said:
Not playing well and not shooting well are two different things.

McIntosh had seven assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Every coach will take that. Plus I thought he was solid defensively. Just couldn’t buy a basket.
Click to expand...
Bingo. He did exactly what you need from a point guard. The points will come.
 
Apparently Vic was vomiting at the half & fighting a bug. Maybe some other guys weren't feeling great. Having BMac struggling (I hope and want to believe he'll regain his touch) AND Law sick then hurt and still winning on the road is good. But the missed FTs were such a gift. Get well soon, Vic.
 
If DePaul hit even as many free throws as one of us could, they would have won. But hey, that's the way the ball bounces, and I'm relieved with the win.

I'll say it a again about McIntosh - a great Northwestern player, but a maddeningly inconsistent guy whom I won't miss too much.
 
Don't they teach left handed layups when coming in from the left side in Indiana? I am surprised he shoots them with his right.
 
Kelly_32 said:
Not playing well and not shooting well are two different things.

McIntosh had seven assists and zero turnovers in 38 minutes. Every coach will take that. Plus I thought he was solid defensively. Just couldn’t buy a basket.
Click to expand...

You're right that he had a pretty good game as a distributor. But when you're shooting that poorly, you've gotta take fewer shots
 
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He has had some bad games and takes awhile to get untracked the past 2 years but he is one of the best point guards we have ever had. Granted we have not had Magic Johnson but as far as distributor he is one of the best ever. He also has been incredibly clutch. He is not the most athletic guard but to make somewhat disparaging remarks is distasteful
 
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Fitz51 said:
If DePaul hit even as many free throws as one of us could, they would have won. But hey, that's the way the ball bounces, and I'm relieved with the win.

I'll say it a again about McIntosh - a great Northwestern player, but a maddeningly inconsistent guy whom I won't miss too much.
Click to expand...

So...... the guy who helped lead us to our first ever NCAA Tournament and accounted for some of the great moments in our basketball history ....... you won't miss him too much?

Wow.
 
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As a whole it seemed we didn't have as much energy. Maybe it's the flu going around or something. DePaul did a good job crashing the boards, always seemed to have more bodies around the ball. Also everytime Falzon put up a shot it seemed it would miss, we need him to shoot better. I don't mind Mac shooting when he's in a slump, he's a proven scorer and still a better option than some of our other guys. Gaines needs to work on his outside shot.
 
olshin said:
So...... the guy who helped lead us to our first ever NCAA Tournament and accounted for some of the great moments in our basketball history ....... you won't miss him too much?

Wow.
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Correct. I explained that I feel he is a great player in NU history and all. But I feel his obvious limitations keep us in the run-the-clock-and-chuck mode. It's just my opinion. We're Northwestern. None of our all-time greats are actually "great."
 
catcrazy said:
He has had some bad games and takes awhile to get untracked the past 2 years but he is one of the best point guards we have ever had. Granted we have not had Magic Johnson but as far as distributor he is one of the best ever. He also has been incredibly clutch. He is not the most athletic guard but to make somewhat disparaging remarks is distasteful
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I explained myself. You guys disagree. Such is the nature of opinions.
 
Alan Smithee said:
This. I was a little critical of Mac today but this is beyond nuts.
Click to expand...

OK, everyone. I am a horrible fan for not loving BMac despite his being the best point guard the school has probably ever had (and I don't deny that he is). That's fine with me. I think I had the same or a very similar post in a game we lost earlier this year, and I didn't get slammed there, I am assuming because we lost, and you know how fan internet message board feelings are.
 
B Mac has "all game" intensity and that's evident if you watch him on the defensive end. The growth in his D over four years is impressive.

Thought De Paul scored a ton on offensive rebound put backs. Without looking at the stats NU's zone really hurt the defensive rebounding.

I don't know what to say about the officiating. The free throw discrepancy was huge. Sometimes players were allowed to bump and push, other times early whistles went off on touch fouls. NU may have gotten the worst of it, but poor calls both ways.

When I saw former St. Ignatius College Prep standout Ryckbosch was playing I knew it would be a difficult get. NU's intellectual advantage was neutralized and so it became a physical contest. Thankfully there was just enough to eke out the victory.
 
Fitz51 said:
If DePaul hit even as many free throws as one of us could, they would have won. But hey, that's the way the ball bounces, and I'm relieved with the win.

I'll say it a again about McIntosh - a great Northwestern player, but a maddeningly inconsistent guy whom I won't miss too much.
Click to expand...

Because Northwestern players with 1,800+ points and 700+ assists are so common.
 
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NJcatsfan said:
A win is always better than a loss, but man, this team still has some scary issues.

- Some of the calls seemed weak, but fouls are a serious problem. DePaul was *horrendous* from the FT line, otherwise they win comfortably.

- Just abused in the paint, in terms of points scored.

- Something is wrong with Mac. He looks like a shell of his former self, and he needs to be playing well for us to have a shot at the tourney. He's not even playing okay right now. Tough to watch, despite a handful of good plays.

- The scoring droughts are brutal.

- Any update on Vic's health? Gulp.

- Performances like that @OU and in the B1G will = lots of L's.

- On the positive side, some of our bench guys played some high-stress minutes & figured out how to win. We had ONE guy playing well (attaboy, Scottie), and we still managed to win on the road against a Big East team. And hey, it sounded like we had some fans there. Arena looked pretty nice.
Click to expand...
He went through the same thing early last year and then led us to a bunch of wins. Hard to look confident on offense when nothing falls.
 
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NUThump said:
Don't they teach left handed layups when coming in from the left side in Indiana? I am surprised he shoots them with his right.
Click to expand...
And he never, well almost never uses the backboard. It's always the little flip up.
 
Huge gutsy win by the Cats. Really impressed with Strus. Coach Collins gave high praise citing similarities to JJ Reddick.
 
Fitz51 said:
OK, everyone. I am a horrible fan for not loving BMac despite his being the best point guard the school has probably ever had (and I don't deny that he is). That's fine with me. I think I had the same or a very similar post in a game we lost earlier this year, and I didn't get slammed there, I am assuming because we lost, and you know how fan internet message board feelings are.
Click to expand...

Horrible fan. :confused: :rolleyes: ;)
 
NJcatsfan said:
I'm sorry but 2-17 from the floor (4 points, 3 fouls, 1 rebound) transcends poor shooting. I don't think that's spin-able. He's not playing well, a few nice assists and cleaning up his TO's (still a team problem) notwithstanding.
Click to expand...
Big question is why he is taking 17 shots. Needs to be more of a distributor. And we had moved away from all the dribbling but we were back into it again.
 
I'm no hoops expert and I love BMac, but he has this maddening tendency to drive the baseline, run out of room, leave his feet, and only then look to find someone to dish to.
 
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