Takeaways: Northwestern 63, NIU 46
Northwestern overcame a tough shooting night to thump NIU. Here are our takeaways.
Takeaways: NU 63 NIU 46
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
Yes, it can be done. We beat a MAC team in the non-conference season in a major revenue sport. Great!
Great win by the Cats. Defense will be this teams calling card and smothered the Huskies last night. Encouraged to see Beran play assertively on offense. He has always been a great defensive player. Nicholson and Berry showed big improvement. Roper was rusty from not playing but looks great physically and could be wild card on this team. Huge road game Tuesday at Georgetown., keep it rollin!
The way aau is now what is is considered a lower level team has no fear of an upper level team.
They are all playing against each other since 9th grade
Quite a few exciting games last night.
Fun to see good games
They are all playing against each other since 9th grade
Quite a few exciting games last night.
Fun to see good games
It goes against the pre season consensus around here, maybe not the current opinions, but I think Berry has to play more at the expense of Roper’s minutes.
Last year we had more offensive options. It made some sense to give more minutes to the guy who was more effective on defense. Not that Berry does not put in the effort. He surely does, very very eager dude. But also more prone to silly decisions on defense.
This year we need more options on offense. We s have struggled to put points on Quincy and NIU. Not going to get easier in conference play. Berry does not hesitate, he pulls the trigger if he has a decent look. I can see him gaining confidence and being quite a threat. Hopefully he gets better finishing fast breaks. That was horrendous last year.
Last year we had more offensive options. It made some sense to give more minutes to the guy who was more effective on defense. Not that Berry does not put in the effort. He surely does, very very eager dude. But also more prone to silly decisions on defense.
This year we need more options on offense. We s have struggled to put points on Quincy and NIU. Not going to get easier in conference play. Berry does not hesitate, he pulls the trigger if he has a decent look. I can see him gaining confidence and being quite a threat. Hopefully he gets better finishing fast breaks. That was horrendous last year.
Hey Gato - I'm gonna have to partly disagree with you. Roper has been sick or injured. Can't judge him on his first game back. Berry didn't shoot it all that well last night, but the 11 rebounds does confirm his willingness to work hard. The jury is out on Berry... and after his 0 for 6 last night - Audige.
I see a lot of "potential" scoring inside - thru Nicholson. Buie drives the lane and almost always tries to shoot. He does have a little chemistry with Verhoeven on pick and roll. Buie also drove to the basket and had the one little lob to Nicholson, who tapped it in with his left hand, showing surprising finesse. Buie should look for more of that because it is available Not surprisingly, Roper, who is quite savvy, drove the paint and tried to dump it to Nicholson, who wasn't expecting it and got tied up for a jump ball.
Its a whole new thing for the NU guards to process - having an athletic big guy parked within dunking distance of the rim - and getting him the ball occasionally - opening up the outside shooting.
Of course, we don't know yet if Nicholson can post up or pass... but he can definitely dunk and I would hope we try to expand the offense to incorporate our new advantage.
I dont mind Nicholson fouling guys—as long as he puts anyone who drives the lane about 3 rows deep.
I was impressed by how effective Matt was yesterday. He may be starting soon.
Disagree man, we are here to bounce opinions.
I did not mean to imply that it’s clear Roper should sit more. Dude has not even had the chance to show us what he’s got post summer. Just an intuition right now.
I believe I’ve been more enthusiastic about Berry than most going back to last season. It feels deceiving to see him miss 3 pointers and jump to conclusions. Because that’s all he has done, it’s shooting 3 pointers. And when he didn’t, he made terrible plays trying to finish on fast break. But ultimately , when you tally the numbers, he’s a 40% 3 pt shooter. And that’s while giving me the impression he has not been fully confident yet (losing starting role last year probably hurt). So fire away young man. We need offense.
What I’m more confident is that Nicholson is better than Verhoeven. It’s obvious to everyone his ceiling is higher. But I think he’s also better right now. That’s not to say I think it’s wrong for Verhoeven to be starting right now. There’s some merit to increasing Matt’s minutes and they’ve been increasing. Priming his confidence to not be intimidate to carry the responsibility of starting. If he’s not a starter within a few games, something is weird.
Agree and easy to catch games with ESPN+ streaming service. Was able to see SIU upset win over Ok State on Thursday night. What a game. Tough defense and senior leadership down the stretch from their two seniors led them to victory. Veteran leadership, which Cats also have, means a lot.
This is just my opinion, but I like Matt coming off the bench. I would rather end a half and end the game with him. Also has to get in better shape to keep from getting that lazy foul.
If he keeps showing he can limit his fould then start him. He should be up to 25 to 30 minutes by BIG season
If he keeps showing he can limit his fould then start him. He should be up to 25 to 30 minutes by BIG season
Matt’s size was a real issue for NIU in the second half when they were on offense. Lane presence. His main issue will continue to be avoiding picking up cheap fouls like that moving screen last night. This squad is really going to need him in Big 10 play
The only solution for that is playing time.
The sad thing for Nicholson is that the Big Ten refs target guys who look like him for cheap fouls. I can already see Jackson-Davis shoulder going into Nicholson's chest and "drawing a foul."
Northern Illinois' frontcourt was small, so as folks have pointed out, the game against Georgetown will be a much better gauge. For the improved Beran and Verhoeven as well.
That’s the travesty of the big man seeing more playing time: less pistols
🔫
Matt was very impactful yesterday. He changed the momentum of the game a couple of times when he was on the floor. Got some easy baskets and blocked or altered a few shots. He's a big dude. He is definitely the best target on pick and rolls on the team. Looking forward to seeing him play against better big men. There will be some cringeworthy moments but I think the good will outweigh the bad. He's got some limitations but, if he didn't, he would have been a 4-star and probably wouldn't have ended up at NU.
Our defense was very good yesterday. The guys played hard and with more energy than against Chicago State. Berry has great hands for an average athlete. Beran is impressive guarding smaller guys on the perimeter.
Buie really needs to finish better. He played under control, ran the offense well and took good shots around the rim but he missed several easy shots. He didn't force any 3's and had one clean look that was half-way down. I have only seen him dunk once in warmups (last game), so the dunk at the end of the first half was pretty cool.
My biggest concern is Audige on offense. He missed a lot of shots but more concerning to me is that he passed up several open 3's, which ended up with us passing the ball around until the shot clock was running down. We don't have enough scorers to pass up open shots. He took a lot of ill-advised shots last year but he needs to take 3's in rhythm. Our starting small forward has to contribute on offense.
I think Chase is in a good place. He‘s become a better team player. Looking for teammates is an improvement over last year. CC has “counseled” his guys during the first two games not to pass up good shots. I’m sure Chase will take that advice.
He was clearly lacking in confidence on offense. I hope it’s not an extended back thing.
Berry three + Berry gigantic smile + Nicholson pistols = NU hoops nirvana
I think Nicholson only does the pistols when he is sitting on the bench, bored out of his mind...
But if we get the scenario you have described and Nicholson is actually firing his pistols on the court, that would be hilarious. Maybe he could do that while backpedaling past a plodding Zach Edey.
