After watching some clips of the Cats earlier in the year, it is pretty clear to me that the Cats have improved as the season has progressed. The post play by Nicholson and Verhoeven has improved at both ends of the court, Barnhizer has gotten his sea legs and with him and with Martinelli getting comfortable, the loss of Roper to injury has not affected overall depth. Barnizer also has a skill set that no one else on the team has. It also seems to me also that the players have settled into roles that play to their strengths and limit the damage of their individual deficiencies. Kudos to the coaching staff; I think late February NU beats November NU by 10 on a neutral court.
The Cats have improved as the year has progressed
- Thread starter eastbaycat99
- Start date
This team is unquestionably better on offense. They cut better. They pass better. Boo plays with way more control and assuredness leading the attack. All this while the defense remains as intense as ever.
If they could shoot better, they would really be dangerous in March.
If they could shoot better, they would really be dangerous in March.
I think one reason they are better on offense is the demonstrated effectiveness of the lob to Nicholson when the other team’s post defender cheats on his roll after setting a screen. If the defender has to follow him low, it opens space for Buie to drive or Audige to work at the elbow.
On defense, the timing of the double on the post has improved, and it looks to me like the perimeter defenders are doing a better job of reading the passing lanes out of the post.
If Nicholson had a jump hook around a basket he would be devastating
Based on how much progress he has made this season, I really do think you are right. He could become a real force next year with just a little bit of an offensive one-on-one game. If we can get a solid guard for next year's team - either by Boo and/or Chase sticking around or through the transfer portal, next year's team could be pretty exciting too.next year
The improvement that everyone points out is in their toughness, both on defense and with the ball. The amazing thing is that if you asked me coming into the season, "Who is the toughest player on the team?" without hesitation, I would have answered "Julian Roper". He's not even able to play, and they are so much tougher.
Exactly why much less emphasis should be put on early non-conference games in rankings. What is the team like now? That’s the question that matters.
Wolf man 90% of the time. When the priority is to scare the bejesus out or opponents.
Wolverine 10%. When he wants to appease the ladies.
They’re all more confident. It’s one thing to be excited about offseason growth, but another thing to pull off the upset at IU. That was they “hey maybe there’s something here” game, and Purdue was the, “whoa, we’re really something” game.
And now they’re comfortable saying they’ve got the conference’s best backcourt and they’re confident in making the big shot and in giving it off to anyone.
Today is a likely L, but none of them are likely Ls anymore, at least to the people in the uniform.
And now they’re comfortable saying they’ve got the conference’s best backcourt and they’re confident in making the big shot and in giving it off to anyone.
Today is a likely L, but none of them are likely Ls anymore, at least to the people in the uniform.
It’s just a shame that his bench time is focused on getting rest and not pulling out six-shooters after made threes.
The one true tragedy of this season.
Pew pew. Cooler than the goddess Coolidge with a machine gun.
They can shoot better. Iowa game and stats from last year show that. Just need to get it rolling consistently. I believe!
In chronological order...
1. Players and coaches put in the work in offseason and we started the season playing tough defense, surprising many doubters.
2. In mid-December, Nicholson became the starter and the offense became less stagnant - coaches started to modify the offense to be less perimeter-oriented.
3. After the Ohio State loss on Jan 1, Buie flipped a switch mentally and focused on getting into the paint. Buie has been excellent since.
4. In mid-January, we had the Covid break and Roper got injured. The latter led to more minutes for Barnhizer and some playing time for Martinelli. The ability to deploy bigger lineups moved us up another notch.
1. Players and coaches put in the work in offseason and we started the season playing tough defense, surprising many doubters.
2. In mid-December, Nicholson became the starter and the offense became less stagnant - coaches started to modify the offense to be less perimeter-oriented.
3. After the Ohio State loss on Jan 1, Buie flipped a switch mentally and focused on getting into the paint. Buie has been excellent since.
4. In mid-January, we had the Covid break and Roper got injured. The latter led to more minutes for Barnhizer and some playing time for Martinelli. The ability to deploy bigger lineups moved us up another notch.
Almost as cool as Ted Nugent deflecting live sheriff bullets with his rock and rollThe one true tragedy of this season.
Pew pew. Cooler than the goddess Coolidge with a machine gun.
The season’s pivot game is the first Illinois win. Boo was terrible from the field, 11 of 12 from the line, and NU’s students needed to arrive an hour early to get in.
For me, the moment was the opening tip at IU. Someone noticed that IU always ran a jailbreak outlet when they win the tip. We caught it, coached it, and executed it - Nicholson got back on a dead sprint and blocked the layup in what would end up a 1-point win. The perfect encapsulation of scouting, execution, and athletic ability to pull it all off.
It’s not so much the lob threat that creates space for Buie. Buie is still priority #1 in those situations. It’s that Matt has really learned how seal off the extra defender. He’s a large frame to get around. They’ve shown a couple pre game highlights of Buie where Matt is just standing between Buie and Matt’s defender after Buie beat his man preventing the help D.
I'm convinced that a couple of our late season losses are due to experimenting a little more with the offense, trying to add some wrinkles for post-season play. Whether or not that's the case, what a luxury that we were in a position to do so if CCC wanted to
I actually agree with GrandrapidsCat... It seemed to me that Collins was trying to run new stuff. Martinelli got more time and he's a scorer who wants to get closer to the basket (as opposed to Beran)
Well they were FORCED to run new stuff since the new strategy was just "double Boo Buie at all times since he's the one who actually scores," but it's not like they didn't get lots of good looks that they promptly clanked.
