I've been thinking about the EIU game a lot and while I was very frustrated Friday night, I've come around to actually being happy about what we saw. So much of our disappointment is about the high expectations set by the two best seasons in recent memory, as well as the best NU player of all time. It's not that we're spoiled (lord know we're still behind pretty much every significant program historically speaking), but just that we've gotten so used to Boo and pulling them out or blowing them out that when NU plays a close game against a "bad" opponent it feels like a let down. But what about the positives?
1) NU won the game without the three top scorers from last year, including the one expected to lead the team this year
2) NU won the game despite Martinelli having his worst game of the season (by far). He still scored 16 points
3) NU got to the line a lot, especially Leach. This is a weapon NU has pretty much never had. Even Boo, for all his drives and great free-throw shooting, would rarely get into double-digit attempts in a game. Leach had 16 attempts, and he made 15 of them.
4) NU blew its lead against a bad opponent, but they didn't completely choke it away, made the shots when it mattered, and they eventually put EIU away. Far cry from Chicago State last year (when there were people who said it would be impossible to make the tourney afterwards).
5) Maybe it was later than we'd like, but when NU *really* had to put on the stifling defense, it did so. 9-0 in overtime.
6) New contributors stepped up, like Mullins and Jello. And they played in the OT, rather than at the end of the bench.
Meanwhile, NU is 3-1, about what reasonable people expected, and NOBODY on the NCAA committee is going to remember the EIU game (a win's a win) like they were forced to remember Chicago State last year. We can gnash our teeth all we want, but NU is doing just fine.
And Barnhizer is likely coming back tomorrow. He will be rusty, so we'll have to lean on Martinelli and Leach for at least one more game, but just having Barnhizer on the floor should make things easier for Marty and Leach (and Berry, who will hopefully see his volume of wide-open threes increase with Barnhizer back).
I am happy with where this team is right now, even with the cracks we've seen in the last couple of games.
1) NU won the game without the three top scorers from last year, including the one expected to lead the team this year
2) NU won the game despite Martinelli having his worst game of the season (by far). He still scored 16 points
3) NU got to the line a lot, especially Leach. This is a weapon NU has pretty much never had. Even Boo, for all his drives and great free-throw shooting, would rarely get into double-digit attempts in a game. Leach had 16 attempts, and he made 15 of them.
4) NU blew its lead against a bad opponent, but they didn't completely choke it away, made the shots when it mattered, and they eventually put EIU away. Far cry from Chicago State last year (when there were people who said it would be impossible to make the tourney afterwards).
5) Maybe it was later than we'd like, but when NU *really* had to put on the stifling defense, it did so. 9-0 in overtime.
6) New contributors stepped up, like Mullins and Jello. And they played in the OT, rather than at the end of the bench.
Meanwhile, NU is 3-1, about what reasonable people expected, and NOBODY on the NCAA committee is going to remember the EIU game (a win's a win) like they were forced to remember Chicago State last year. We can gnash our teeth all we want, but NU is doing just fine.
And Barnhizer is likely coming back tomorrow. He will be rusty, so we'll have to lean on Martinelli and Leach for at least one more game, but just having Barnhizer on the floor should make things easier for Marty and Leach (and Berry, who will hopefully see his volume of wide-open threes increase with Barnhizer back).
I am happy with where this team is right now, even with the cracks we've seen in the last couple of games.
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