Back-to-back 20 win seasons. And one helluva coaching performance tonight. His players believe. So great to see. Virtually assured of his 3rd trip to the Big Dance. #PoundTheRock
Is CCC a good coach?
- Thread starter CoralSpringsCat
- Start date
Hummel just asked Collins about Martinelli's performance tonight and his response was "I don't know how it works but he's a gamer" I almost spat out my drink... but I think he's incredibly proud of this team and deserves credit for the way the program appears to be heading.
He deserves Coach of the Year again!
I take issue with use of the word “good” in the thread title. Whether he’s “great” or not is the question to pose. You know my answer.
Yes, he is. And he's a much better, more dynamic coach than he was just a few years ago. He needed to learn, and he did. His staff also deserve huge credit - as does CC for pulling together the right staff and leading them the right way. I personally think Lowery is a mastermind who behind the scenes has had a huge impact on this coaching staff, and on CC himself.
As a team, this squad is a shape shifter. How many different ways are we going to find to win this year? This ability to get it done in different ways, with different personnel, is impossible without good coaching. We win with offence, and sometimes defense. We win by shooting well, or by rebounding, or by protecting the ball. We win on the shoulders of Boo, or BB, or Berry, or Borg, or... Martinelli (?!). We win through a great game plan - or by really smart in-game adjustments when something unexpected happens.
There are very few routes to winning that we haven't taken this year. With all due credit to our players - that's not going to happen without great coaching.
As a team, this squad is a shape shifter. How many different ways are we going to find to win this year? This ability to get it done in different ways, with different personnel, is impossible without good coaching. We win with offence, and sometimes defense. We win by shooting well, or by rebounding, or by protecting the ball. We win on the shoulders of Boo, or BB, or Berry, or Borg, or... Martinelli (?!). We win through a great game plan - or by really smart in-game adjustments when something unexpected happens.
There are very few routes to winning that we haven't taken this year. With all due credit to our players - that's not going to happen without great coaching.
Best in NU history. Showed it with his first tourney appearance. Reaffirmed with the 2nd. Silencing the most stubborn NU fans with the third.
Not all of the most stubborn fans. Somewhere DocCat and his son are cursing Collins and breaking down all of his coaching mistakes this game.
You could make an argument for Hoiberg, but really it should be Collins by unanimous decree.
Collins has said in a few different post games that he doesn't know how Nick gets it done, and he seems ok with that.
Hopefully Collins picked up a lot on how to run a top basketball program from his time at Duke. At the same time, the Assistant Coach Chris Lowery seems to also contributed to improvement and consistency. Hopefully Lowery will stay a while and maybe be the basketball version of Hankwitz.
Martinelli's game is unorthodox and he's coming into his own. Collins was just making light of that and I thought it was funny not a knock against Nick at all.
Ben Johnson will be considered
It won’t be Painter, because it’s PU against the world
If only for his unprecedented shift from football LB to basketball head coach.
This is a team that really plays for each other. CCC has built this.
I don’t know if I’ve ever read a coach use the word ‘love’ — as in how his players feel about each other — any more than CCC. (I don’t really watch press conferences.)
For me, the best part of the game was the on-court celebration. It was brief, but pretty vigorous. I have no doubt that CCC acknowledged who was missing, and challenged this team to get a huge road win. And when they did, watch out for the fist pumps!
NU didn’t really *dominate*, but also I spent very few minutes concerned that they’d lose. And those all came in the first half. NU, down two of its top four players, was just better than Maryland, on the road.
Great win.
I don’t know if I’ve ever read a coach use the word ‘love’ — as in how his players feel about each other — any more than CCC. (I don’t really watch press conferences.)
For me, the best part of the game was the on-court celebration. It was brief, but pretty vigorous. I have no doubt that CCC acknowledged who was missing, and challenged this team to get a huge road win. And when they did, watch out for the fist pumps!
NU didn’t really *dominate*, but also I spent very few minutes concerned that they’d lose. And those all came in the first half. NU, down two of its top four players, was just better than Maryland, on the road.
Great win.
Winning 20+ games with a tough big ten schedule ain’t easy. CC doing the job!
These last two years are pretty incredible coaching performances by a previously maligned guy. Yes, much of that can be attributed to Boo Buie making Collins look like a genius, but he’s remade this team 4 times in the last two years. The rebuilt the team two offseasons ago to what it was, totally retooled it this offseason into an outside bombing squad, made a bunch of big offensive style tweaks without Berry, and came up with a completely different way to play tonight. Tonight was pretty damn impressive
This is really well put. Thanks for tying it all together.
Collins is loving it. “Herky jerky” is his description of N-Mart, and it fits.
He's clearly proven that he can be a very good coach. He also took valid criticism for the team's return to the basement after the first tournament run. Both of those things can be true, but I'm very happy that he's not only rebuilt this but that there's some hope that it's not going to fall apart again after Boo leaves.
And he has to recruit better. A walk on is a significant contributor.
And Mullins should have been in the rotation all year. That’s not COY material.
Hopefully CCC stays. Everyone’s favorite Columnist Jim O’Donnell said last week that a change of scenery would do CCC some good.
That guy is just an asshole. Too hard to sustain success on the “Enchanted Lakefront.” Collins came here, in part, because we had no tradition and now that he’s actually taking the program to where he envisioned when he got hired, he should leave. He’s becoming a legend at NU. Unless Duke opens up, I don’t see him leaving.
Hilarious. And 100% true. I’m sure Medline has some criticisms as well. Great post!
What a dick!
Strong feeling that a change will do Chris Collins good regardless of what kind of NCAA tournament run Northwestern makes. It's simply too hard to sustain a winning men's program on The Enchanted Lakefront. Collins, 49, has done the best coaching of his career in the last two seasons. Every “W” the Wildcats notch in The Dance merely sweetens his pool of potential suitors. …
It’s sad that a core of fellow posters have embraced that troll’s reporting on Fitz. Even if we disagree on everything (including that issue), I wish we would not give him any feeling of being welcome to comment on NU.
Both of these things are true, but it’s a matter of degree. Many, many of the criticisms led folks to want to fire him or limit him to one more year. Those arguments may have been not quite as solidly based as others.
I remember you telling me recently that I always repeat the same argument. Hello Mr Pot, I’m Mr Kettle.
Get outta here with a reasonable opinion like that!
You know what Collins did? He did what good leaders do, especially those who have had past success before their current difficulties. He took in those criticisms, looked inward, and made the changes to himself and his organization needed to improve. Those aren’t just simple changes, they involve working to develop oneself. He’s a better coach today than even last year. He’s coming into his own, and it didn’t happen on accident.
When it’s true and folks won’t believe it, or it’s a subtle point vs. another one, it bears repeating.
This is not something I ever expect to hear from a Northwestern basketball fan. I generally spend 39 minutes and 55 seconds concerned that they'll lose.
Martinelli is a serious DAWG. A true junkyard DAWG.
God love him. Opposing teams will learn to hate playing him.
GOUNUII
