I haven't had a chance to read through all of the threads, so I apologize if this has already been discussed.
It seems NU has been stuck at this step in the building process for about five or six years now (with a few bad years tossed in there too). It's that step in the process where we can compete on a nightly basis with about 80-90% of the teams in college basketball, but just can't consistently make enough plays down the stretch of close games against quality teams to be a good team. And to me, that is the toughest step to make.
If you look at the Big Ten, you have a handful of teams at the top (MSU, Indiana, and Maryland) that just have a lot more talent than everyone else. Purdue isn't far from that either with their big men. Then the next eight or nine teams in the league really don't have much that separate them. Sure, a team like Ohio State has more athletic players than NU does, but what they have in athleticism, they lack in experience. And Iowa has a little more talent and a good amount of experience to match it, but not elite players. And down the line you go with teams that have some strengths, but also have pretty big flaws that don't allow them to be a great team. We're right in there with all those teams.
That next step f winning close games against quality teams consistently is a really tough one to make and it's the next step this program has to make. We saw it time and time again this year (and in past years) where NU would play with a team toe to toe for 35 minutes or more and then just not make enough plays down the stretch to win games. It's that time of a game where the more athletic and talented players take control and make the difference. This isn't a knock on our players, whom I really love and enjoy watching, but just reality.
The recruiting is definitely improving. We are getting more athletic and talented players up and down the roster than we have ever had. I truly feel we are putting ourselves in position to make that next step, but it won't be easy. Seems like we've been stuck at this point in the process for quite awhile now.
It seems NU has been stuck at this step in the building process for about five or six years now (with a few bad years tossed in there too). It's that step in the process where we can compete on a nightly basis with about 80-90% of the teams in college basketball, but just can't consistently make enough plays down the stretch of close games against quality teams to be a good team. And to me, that is the toughest step to make.
If you look at the Big Ten, you have a handful of teams at the top (MSU, Indiana, and Maryland) that just have a lot more talent than everyone else. Purdue isn't far from that either with their big men. Then the next eight or nine teams in the league really don't have much that separate them. Sure, a team like Ohio State has more athletic players than NU does, but what they have in athleticism, they lack in experience. And Iowa has a little more talent and a good amount of experience to match it, but not elite players. And down the line you go with teams that have some strengths, but also have pretty big flaws that don't allow them to be a great team. We're right in there with all those teams.
That next step f winning close games against quality teams consistently is a really tough one to make and it's the next step this program has to make. We saw it time and time again this year (and in past years) where NU would play with a team toe to toe for 35 minutes or more and then just not make enough plays down the stretch to win games. It's that time of a game where the more athletic and talented players take control and make the difference. This isn't a knock on our players, whom I really love and enjoy watching, but just reality.
The recruiting is definitely improving. We are getting more athletic and talented players up and down the roster than we have ever had. I truly feel we are putting ourselves in position to make that next step, but it won't be easy. Seems like we've been stuck at this point in the process for quite awhile now.
