One postitve from tonight

[mikewebb68]

Kopp's' defense. I've been watching him closely on defense, as I typically do with freshman, since it is not a focus in high school and most freshman come in defensively challenged. In my observation, he would lose his man a ton on defense, get caught out of position on switches, and generally make a lot of freshman mistakes.

Until tonight, that is. He played 15 minutes, and he did not lose his man once that I saw. That has not happened all season. And not only that, I believe he faced up and blocked the shot of his man twice, and got a third block providing some timely backside help. Look for his minutes to continue to increase if he can play this kind of D against quality competition...

 

[lunker35]

Kopp's' defense. I've been watching him closely on defense, as I typically do with freshman, since it is not a focus in high school and most freshman come in defensively challenged. In my observation, he would lose his man a ton on defense, get caught out of position on switches, and generally make a lot of freshman mistakes.

Until tonight, that is. He played 15 minutes, and he did not lose his man once that I saw. That has not happened all season. And not only that, I believe he faced up and blocked the shot of his man twice, and got a third block providing some timely backside help. Look for his minutes to continue to increase if he can play this kind of D against quality competition...

Collins needs to stop forgetting about him late in the games. He needs to be on the court much more. Poor coaching from Collins tonight. That was on him.

 

[mikewebb68]

Collins needs to stop forgetting about him late in the games. He needs to be on the court much more. Poor coaching from Collins tonight. That was on him.

At the time, did you think that Taylor should be pulled for Kopp? In RETROSPECT, I did, but I don't know if I would have pulled him in the moment, since, to that point, as badly as Taylor played, Kopp had contributed zero on offense. Tough call in the moment., since you don't want to play 4 on 5 on offense down the stretch, and Kopp is a freshman who has not been in a clutch scenario such as that. And you don't coach for OT; we had a perfect play drawn up where two guys were open, guy who makes that shot in his sleep misses, not much Collins can do about that

 

[NUCatswin]

attendance was a positive. Not too many OU fans.

 

[mikewebb68]

attendance was a positive. Not too many OU fans.

The announcers commented that one OU player was from the Chicago area and did bring a few hundred fans. But even with the students our, I must say the crowd look impressive on tv, and even Coach Kruger (who saw us while he was at Illinois) commented on the crowd and the transformation of the facility.

 

[Palindrome]

Collins needs to stop forgetting about him late in the games. He needs to be on the court much more. Poor coaching from Collins tonight. That was on him.

Exactly. If he has earned a spot in the starting lineup, then he should be in the mix at least SOME of the time (depending on the situation) during crunch time. Freshman or not, he seems like a heads-up guy who is building some confidence in his game. Why NOT see what can do in key situations late in the game? Very puzzling.

Coach Collins is still not able to get the right formulae in late game situations. That goes for substitutions, pace, shot selection, and taking advantage of whatever edge we may be able to establish through matchups, foul counts, timeouts, etc., to CLOSE the f’ing DEAL. Got to figure this out. Once we do it a couple of times, it might just become second nature instead of random (sometimes careless, sometimes panicky) efforts that are destined to come up short unless the opponent craps all over the floor.

 

[Medill90]

That was a pretty fast, pretty athletic team that Kopp had his blocks against. For his size, he's also a force on rebounds/loose balls.

I would have liked more Nance in the second half.

 

[Sec.112]

Agree about Kopp.

As I said in another post, I also thought Nance took a good step up last night.

They're soooooooo close

 

[NJCat]

Coach Collins is still not able to get the right formulae in late game situations. That goes for substitutions, pace, shot selection, and taking advantage of whatever edge we may be able to establish through matchups, foul counts, timeouts, etc., to CLOSE the f’ing DEAL. Got to figure this out. Once we do it a couple of times, it might just become second nature instead of random (sometimes careless, sometimes panicky) efforts that are destined to come up short unless the opponent craps all over the floor.

Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma are all better teams than NU. The fact that the Cats were in a one possession game with a chance to win all three at the buzzer is a testimony to a) the heart of the players, and b) the game plan of the staff. No need to panic.

 

[cat inkansas]

Exactly. If he has earned a spot in the starting lineup, then he should be in the mix at least SOME of the time (depending on the situation) during crunch time. Freshman or not, he seems like a heads-up guy who is building some confidence in his game. Why NOT see what can do in key situations late in the game? Very puzzling.

Coach Collins is still not able to get the right formulae in late game situations. That goes for substitutions, pace, shot selection, and taking advantage of whatever edge we may be able to establish through matchups, foul counts, timeouts, etc., to CLOSE the f’ing DEAL. Got to figure this out. Once we do it a couple of times, it might just become second nature instead of random (sometimes careless, sometimes panicky) efforts that are destined to come up short unless the opponent craps all over the floor.

Re Shot Selection. Couldn't have been any better, 2 men open for game winning shot.
To me the "elephant in the room" is fact that Turner and Taylor performances have not met expectations. Especially Turner, who seems to disappear for minutes at a time.

 

[Palindrome]

Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma are all better teams than NU. The fact that the Cats were in a one possession game with a chance to win all three at the buzzer is a testimony to a) the heart of the players, and b) the game plan of the staff. No need to panic.

As I turn down the emotional part of my brain, and turn up the connection to the rational/analytical part, I certainly do agree with you. Just emoting with some frustration and impatience at multiple close outcomes going to the bad guys. I should get over that, for sure, inasmuch as I’ve been disappointed for the best part of 57 years of following NU basketball, and simply expecting them to close out some games in which they could win in the final minute(s) feels SO much better!

 

[freewillie07]

Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma are all better teams than NU. The fact that the Cats were in a one possession game with a chance to win all three at the buzzer is a testimony to a) the heart of the players, and b) the game plan of the staff. No need to panic.

Sure, but you don’t make the NCAA Tournament by losing to every team that’s better than you. Gotta steal a few here and there. NU has come up empty in that regard.

 

[NJCat]

Sure, but you don’t make the NCAA Tournament by losing to every team that’s better than you. Gotta steal a few here and there. NU has come up empty in that regard.

Which is where the loss to Fresno State hurts so much. First, because FSU probably isn't that much better than NU and it was a bad loss. Second, because they ended up on the losers side of the bracket and didn't play Miami (Power Conference) or perhaps Seton Hall (Power Conference). Those two teams and OU are the only OOC teams clearly better than NU given the weak OOC schedule NU had this season.

Now if NU can somehow win 10 B1G games they'll be in the conversation for the NCAA. But starting 0-3 if they lose @MSU will be a step hill to climb.

 

[NUCat320]

Sure, but you don’t make the NCAA Tournament by losing to every team that’s better than you. Gotta steal a few here and there. NU has come up empty in that regard.

Technically, Duke and MSU and Michigan and Kentucky and Gonzaga will make the tourney by losing only to teams that are better than them.

Northwestern, however, must beat teams that are better than them. (It’s the same way that, until Theo came along, every Cubs playoff berth was a “magical run” and not a “really good team”.)