Takeaways from Spain

[DaCat]

After watching the highlights of the games from Spain, the Cats look really athletic, confident, and deep. What are your takeaways? I have the following observations:

- Demps looks mature and confident. Looking for an All-Big 10 senior season.
- Lindsey looks ready for a breakout year. Could be our #2 offensive option.
- Falzon adds another 3-point threat. He's going to get his minutes and score in bunches.
- Mac looks like he will play a provider role, less scoring but running a high-efficiency offense.
- Law looks stronger and more confident.
- Olah took it easy (hopefully) but will be ready when given the ball on offense.
- JVZ adds athleticism and a defensive presence.
- Pardon will contribute as a true frosh.
- Skelly will be getting his minutes and making a contribution.
- Lumpkin plays tough but minutes will be limited.

This could be the year!

 

[shakes3858]

After watching the highlights of the games from Spain, the Cats look really athletic, confident, and deep. What are your takeaways? I have the following observations:

- Demps looks mature and confident. Looking for an All-Big 10 senior season.
- Lindsey looks ready for a breakout year. Could be our #2 offensive option.
- Falzon adds another 3-point threat. He's going to get his minutes and score in bunches.
- Mac looks like he will play a provider role, less scoring but running a high-efficiency offense.
- Law looks stronger and more confident.
- Olah took it easy (hopefully) but will be ready when given the ball on offense.
- JVZ adds athleticism and a defensive presence.
- Pardon will contribute as a true frosh.
- Skelly will be getting his minutes and making a contribution.
- Lumpkin plays tough but minutes will be limited.

This could be the year!

What about Ash and Taphorn? Think Tap will get any time or is he getting pushed out? Being injured is not helping him. Did you see anything on Ash? Is he a 1 or a 2? With Demps and Lindsey being 2s, and only Mac at the 1, it would be nice to get Ash to be a 1 as well. How many minutes do you think he'll get?

 

[Walker Fan]

Demps will be playing some minutes at PG, I hope. He also realizes that the NBA (his dad is the GM of the NO Pelicans) needs to have him play some PG. Ash is a good backup player if McIntosh or Demps is injured or out for a game. Lindsey's performance and development is going to force Coach C to have Demps play some minutes at PG with Lindsey at SG and Law at SF. Falzon looks like the real deal. His shot is smooth and pure and from the few snippets I did see from Spain trip is that he also can pass the ball to the low post (i.e. Olah or Van Zegeren or Pardon) for open looks at the hoop. He is going to see a good amount of minutes right away. Skelly brings size, athleticism and a burst at PF that prior PFs can not bring since he is 6'8" or 6'9" as opposed to 6'5"-6'6".

 

[DaCat]

Ash appeared on some highlights with his passing and hitting the open J. I guess he would rotate in at the 1 to give B-Mac a breather.

 

[NJCat83588]

After watching the highlights of the games from Spain, the Cats look really athletic, confident, and deep. What are your takeaways? I have the following observations:

- Demps looks mature and confident. Looking for an All-Big 10 senior season.
- Lindsey looks ready for a breakout year. Could be our #2 offensive option.
- Falzon adds another 3-point threat. He's going to get his minutes and score in bunches.
- Mac looks like he will play a provider role, less scoring but running a high-efficiency offense.
- Law looks stronger and more confident.
- Olah took it easy (hopefully) but will be ready when given the ball on offense.
- JVZ adds athleticism and a defensive presence.
- Pardon will contribute as a true frosh.
- Skelly will be getting his minutes and making a contribution.
- Lumpkin plays tough but minutes will be limited.

This could be the year!

Agree with all your points. Team is deep, no stiffs or practice players. Having said that, Pardon will take tim to develop as a big man. I think you will see a long rotation this season, and Collins will play the hot hand off the bench. The play of Olah in Spain may have been the adjustment to a 24 second shot clock which puts a premium on creating your own shot and the 3 (see the NBA for example). Remains to be seen how the team handles the 3o second clock the NCAA will use this season. I'm still a little concerned about BMac's shooting but if in fact he was concentrating on defense and distribution it's probably not an issue. Hope Tap's foot heals and he is another shooter off the bench.

 

[TheC]

Hard to say from only seeing a few minutes of highlights each game, but trying to cull things from the boxscore and CC interviews, here are my take aways:

- Demps is going to be our star. He is hitting his threes, and taking it to the basket aggressively in traffic. And I'm assuming he still has that sweet step-back
- After that, we will likely have a different co-star every other game. Law, Falzon, Lindsey, even Olah can go off for big nights depending on how the game goes
- Falzon will play a lot. He is legit and may break records at NU before he's done
- This team is playing some defense and now has the bodies to go hard on D the full game. Don't underestimate the importance of depth to defense. Guys don't have to rest on D anymore and so the intensity can be there the whole time. I sensed from the CC interviews that one of the things he was most pleased about was the defensive intensity on this trip. I love that, if its true
- Joey VZ may not score in bunches, but the guy will be an intimidating presence in the middle. We may see him in there more just as a rim protector. When has NU ever had a rim protector?
- I am really looking forward to this season!!

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

We are very deep this year! Has to help come January!

 

[Turk]

Agree with all your points. Team is deep, no stiffs or practice players. Having said that, Pardon will take tim to develop as a big man. I think you will see a long rotation this season, and Collins will play the hot hand off the bench. The play of Olah in Spain may have been the adjustment to a 24 second shot clock which puts a premium on creating your own shot and the 3 (see the NBA for example). Remains to be seen how the team handles the 3o second clock the NCAA will use this season. I'm still a little concerned about BMac's shooting but if in fact he was concentrating on defense and distribution it's probably not an issue. Hope Tap's foot heals and he is another shooter off the bench.

Bmc has a great shot so im concerned if he isnt a viable offensive threat as Spain might suggest. Are people just slotting falzon in as a scoring machine or did he score alot in spain? Admittedly i only saw clips from the game where he was 1-11.
It does appear like JVZ will be mostly a defender with little offensive threat and thats fine as long as we have other offensive outlets. Sorry but we need our pg to make shots so im assuming BMC will be asked to play a key role on offense.
lindsey seems more and more interesting plus demps is our clear bread and butter. I dont believe we have any stiffs at all so although i cant see how things will shake out, collins has many options.

 

[Deeringfish]

It seems to me, just from reading everything I can online, that this is a team that can win if it finds the person with the hot hand. I see this as different from previous years where we depended on one or two guys to be the scorer.

 

[NJCat83588]

It seems to me, just from reading everything I can online, that this is a team that can win if it finds the person with the hot hand. I see this as different from previous years where we depended on one or two guys to be the scorer.

Agree with you on this. Cats seem to have multiple options this season. All taken with a huge grain of NaCl given that they were playing against air in 4 of the 5 games in Spain.

 

[DaCat]

It seems to me, just from reading everything I can online, that this is a team that can win if it finds the person with the hot hand. I see this as different from previous years where we depended on one or two guys to be the scorer.

I think that's what so good about this team. Demps is obviously the first option, but on any given night, we can potentially get 20+ points from a Lindsey, Olah, Law, or Falzon. B-Mac has shown that he can score in bunches. Taphorn has a good shot, just don't know how much playing time he'll get. This team can run and convert fast break points, so expect to see highlight dunks from JVZ, Skelly, Lumpkin, etc. But it all starts with defense, and this team is probably the most athletic team I've seen at NU in ages which bodes well for the defense.

 

[Medill90]

It's going to be all about the defense. If it clicks and the Cats can shut down top tier teams this can be a bubble team. If the defense is absent or porous at times the NIT will be the goal.

A good to great defense (which we did not see last year) would really propel the offense with the shorter shot clock.

There's no good reason that this team doesn't play defense somewhere between good and great.

It's the coach's number one priority.

 

[NUera]

Falzon might turn out to be good, but I've learned not to rely too much on Freshman. If he can give us 6 ppg, I'd be thrilled.

 

[NJCat83588]

Falzon might turn out to be good, but I've learned not to rely too much on Freshman. If he can give us 6 ppg, I'd be thrilled.

Unlike last season, when Collins had to run BMac into the ground because he had no one else to play point, NU has options at every position this season, and will be able to keep the 3 freshmen fresh men [pardon the pun]. None of them will have to do anything heroic this season.

 

[backdoorpass]

...I've learned not to rely too much on Freshman. If he can give us 6 ppg, I'd be thrilled.

I don't know where you've learned this--certainly not from watching NU hoops the past decade. With the exception of the Lumpkin/Taphorn first-year under Collins when our team simply couldn't score, our best freshman each of the past 10 years has always averaged more than the 6 ppg you'd be "thrilled" with.

Our 2015-16 team will be a high-scoring team, especially with the shortened shot clock. And Falzon is our highest rated recruit in who-knows-how-long (possibly ever?). I'm looking for at least 9 ppg from Falzon...and this would be only be an average output for NU's best freshman over the past decade.

2014-15 - BMac - 11.4 ppg (B1G All-Freshman Team)
2013-14 - Lumpkin - 3.8 ppg
2012-13 - Demps - 7.6 ppg
2011-12 - Sobo - 8.3 ppg (B1G All-Freshman team)
2010-11 - Cobb - 7.4 ppg
2009-10 - Crawford - 10.0 ppg (B1G All-Freshman team)
2008-09 - Shurna - 7.3 ppg
2007-08 - Juice - 11.6 ppg (B1G All-Freshman team)
2006-07 - Coble - 13.4 ppg (B1G All-Freshman Team)
2005-06 - Moore - 6.8 ppg (B1G All-Freshman Team)

 

[DaCat]

Good post. Falzon may not be called on to do as much but he can score in bunches from the 3.

 

[backdoorpass]

Good post. Falzon may not be called on to do as much but he can score in bunches from the 3.

Falzon is basically competing against Taphorn and Lumpkin, neither of whom were top recruits for Carmody. Falzon is perhaps Collins' best recruit to date. I believe that by B1G season (if not before), Falzon will certainly jump those two in the rotation.

 

[NJCat83588]

Falzon is perhaps Collins' best recruit to date. .

Is this based on what you have seen in his play, or stars on recruiting sites? Not a flame, just curious.

 

[backdoorpass]

Is this based on what you have seen in his play, or stars on recruiting sites? Not a flame, just curious.

Both! As far as I know, Falzon is the first ESPN Top 75 player we've ever landed... And I followed his highlights last season playing for one of the best prep teams in the country (Northfield Mount Hermon). He scored 40+ points more than once on a team loaded with Div1 talent. Here is what he can do:



I like Taphorn and Lumpkin, but Falzon is an elite player.

 

[7levery7]

Both! As far as I know, Falzon is the first ESPN Top 75 player we've ever landed... And I followed his highlights last season playing for one of the best prep teams in the country (Northfield Mount Hermon). He scored 40+ points more than once on a team loaded with Div1 talent. Here is what he can do:

View embedded media

I like Taphorn and Lumpkin, but Falzon is an elite player.

 

[7levery7]

Shooting touch, good fundamentals and poise under pressure. Not bad. Although highlight videos are generically impressive, this one isn't just a collection of made shots: he shows court sense and the ability to beat pressure, albeit against far lesser competition than he'll soon face. It's fortunate that Falzone won't be called upon to be the Cats' #1 scoring option and designated savior. NU will be fun to watch whether Falzone is the next (actually the first) coming or not.

 

[clarificationcat]

Shooting touch, good fundamentals and poise under pressure. Not bad. Although highlight videos are generically impressive, this one isn't just a collection of made shots: he shows court sense and the ability to beat pressure, albeit against far lesser competition than he'll soon face. It's fortunate that Falzone won't be called upon to be the Cats' #1 scoring option and designated savior. NU will be fun to watch whether Falzone is the next (actually the first) coming or not.

I have said this before, but I really think it will come down to whether he can play defense. Is he big enough to guard 4s? Is he quick enough to guard 3s? Taphorn couldn't have shot better from 3 last year and his minutes were limited, I assume, because of defense. He's the same size as Falzone. Falzone certainly looks like he is more of a scorer than Taphorn but if he gets abused on defense, his offense as a freshman is probably not going to be good enough to keep him on the floor.

 

[T_Levine]

It May not have been ESPN TOP LIST, but Evan Eschmeyer was ranked 34 coming out of high school. Trust me, he is the highest ranked recruit we have had since I started following the cats 30 years ago.

 

[backdoorpass]

It May not have been ESPN TOP LIST, but Evan Eschmeyer was ranked 34 coming out of high school. Trust me, he is the highest ranked recruit we have had since I started following the cats 30 years ago.

Forgot about Esch. You're right on this one.

 

[NUera]

I don't know where you've learned this--certainly not from watching NU hoops the past decade. With the exception of the Lumpkin/Taphorn first-year under Collins when our team simply couldn't score, our best freshman each of the past 10 years has always averaged more than the 6 ppg you'd be "thrilled" with.

Backdoor, I'd say I learned it from watching college basketball, where averaging 10 ppg is a huge deal For comparison, OSU only had 2 guys do it; Wisconsin had 3 and then two guys with 8 ppg. Hell, even Kentucky only had 3 guys do it. And we don't score nearly as much as those teams do. Is Falzon really going to outscore Demps, Olah, BMac and Law?

As for past years, I would suggest all those guys -- Jitim, Coble, Moore, Juice, Crawford, etc. -- scored that much because we absolutely needed them to... to the point where they barely ever sat on the bench. This isn't the same team. We're deeper team than previous seasons.

That said, the one thing I haven't considered is the new shot clock rule. It's possible Falzon will hit 8 ppg. And really, I'd love to be wrong about this.

 

[backdoorpass]

As for past years, I would suggest all those guys -- Jitim, Coble, Moore, Juice, Crawford, etc. -- scored that much because we absolutely needed them to... to the point where they barely ever sat on the bench.

I have to point out that Shurna averaged 7.3 ppg as a freshman while averaging only 18.5 minutes per game. Still, your points are well taken. I might have been overzealous in my response, but 6 ppg just struck me as a low output for a scorer such as Falzon.

I'm obviously excited about Falzon and believe he will provide a real upgrade at that position. And I think he'll get plenty of open looks. I don't think it's a coincidence that Taphorn and Lumpkin (believe it or not) were our best two 3-point shooters in terms of percentage last season. The offense provides good looks for the 4-spot.

 

[Katatonic]

I don't think avg'ing 9 ppg is out of the question for Falzon; it'll all depend on how much he plays (which will depend whether he's passable on D), but at the same time, unlike for Coble, Juice and BMac - there are presently a good bit more scoring options, so Falzon wouldn't have to carry the load scoring (which is why BMac's scoring will probably go down, but his assists total up).

Hard to say due to the competition level the team faced in Spain but seems like pretty much everyone can contribute/has a role to play on the team.

Lindsey looked like he may have taken the next step and Skelly (who oft gets overlooked) was able to hit shots in the paint despite contact.

Would be great if the 'Cats have a legit 1A and 2A lineups.

1A
PG - BMac
SG - Demps
SF - Law
PF - Falzon (think Lumpkin may start early on, but Falzon will eventually work his way to the starting 5).
C - Olah

1B
PG - Demps, Ash
SG - Lindsey
SF - Tap
PF - Lumpkin, Skelly
C - JVZ

The indication that Demps might be assuming PG duties some of the time seems to indicate CC wanting better D at the 1 (the reason why the D last season wasn't as good as the year prior was b/c Cobb was injured and then when he came back wasn't anywhere close being able to be the primary defender on the opposing PG).

Ash's strength is supposed to be his D, but he needs time to work on his other stuff - which is probably why Demps and Lindsey will share the backcourt at times.

 

[NUera]

I take it back. With Law out for the season, Falzon now has a great shot at 10 ppg.

 

[DaCat]

I think Falzon will be 10 ppg or more this season. It's as simple (on paper) as hitting 2 or 3 3-pointers per game. But Demps is the key to this season. He is capable of carrying this team on his back.