Thoughts on the game

[clarificationcat]

Back from the game. A few observations from a limited sample size.

Loudest crowd I can remember for a nonconference game against a bad team. I have been to some of these early games and you could hear conversations across the court. Student sections were filled. I really hope this becomes part of the culture.

Martinelli looks very, very confident and under control. Berry and Nicholson are understandably still getting into game shape. Leach has a pretty nice overall skill set. He can score from anywhere on the court, can handle the ball and has decent vision. Hunger looked much improved. Freshmen will both be contributors down the road (how far down the road I don’t know).

And the worse the opponent the crazier Collins gets. He was pretty nuts today. Every bad play resulted in pained looks and then a fair amount of yelling. I assume he is trying to fight complacency. But sometimes it’s just kind of silly. He always tones it down when we play quality teams and is much more encouraging.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Back from the game. A few observations from a limited sample size.

Loudest crowd I can remember for a nonconference game against a bad team. I have been to some of these early games and you could hear conversations across the court. Student sections were filled. I really hope this becomes part of the culture.

Martinelli looks very, very confident and under control. Berry and Nicholson are understandably still getting into game shape. Leach has a pretty nice overall skill set. He can score from anywhere on the court, can handle the ball and has decent vision. Hunger looked much improved. Freshmen will both be contributors down the road (how far down the road I don’t know).

And the worse the opponent the crazier Collins gets. He was pretty nuts today. Every bad play resulted in pained looks and then a fair amount of yelling. I assume he is trying to fight complacency. But sometimes it’s just kind of silly. He always tones it down when we play quality teams and is much more encouraging.

CCC was primarily going after the new players. KJ, Angelo, and Fitz took the brunt of it.

 

[rogerkim]

CCC was primarily going after the new players. KJ, Angelo, and Fitz took the brunt of it.

Agree - as in seasons past, CCC was demonstrative in his frustration about rookie mistakes.

I also agree that some of it is intentional, to send the message that no matter how big the lead or how overmatched our opponent is, complacency is not allowed on our team. And I am completely okay with that - his approach has created a undeniable culture to our basketball program, so whatever theatrics he feels that are necessary to maintain it, I am 100% supportive.

I will also say that it does get a bit comical when we're up by 40+.

 

[rogerkim]

Back from the game. A few observations from a limited sample size.

Loudest crowd I can remember for a nonconference game against a bad team. I have been to some of these early games and you could hear conversations across the court. Student sections were filled. I really hope this becomes part of the culture.

Martinelli looks very, very confident and under control. Berry and Nicholson are understandably still getting into game shape. Leach has a pretty nice overall skill set. He can score from anywhere on the court, can handle the ball and has decent vision. Hunger looked much improved. Freshmen will both be contributors down the road (how far down the road I don’t know).

And the worse the opponent the crazier Collins gets. He was pretty nuts today. Every bad play resulted in pained looks and then a fair amount of yelling. I assume he is trying to fight complacency. But sometimes it’s just kind of silly. He always tones it down when we play quality teams and is much more encouraging.

Great summary. Some more observations to add from section 107:

Student section was definitely full and very high energy throughout the game, especially when the chicken sandwich started to come into play. 😋

Martinelli: I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard CCC say in the preseason that he expects Nick to be an all-conference level player. I thought Nick would be good, but not to that level. I stand corrected. He looks the part. The comparisons to Brooks' progression are spot-on. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

Hunger: Huge increase in how confident he looks on the court compared to last year. Going to give CCC a lot of flexibility to play him and MN to maximize matchups against other teams' bigs.

Leach: Definitely has the athleticism to play in the Big Ten. His reverse lay-up and-1 play looked effortless. Seems to have a good enough handle to be the primary ball handler, or at least share duties with Brooks when he returns. (side note: Martinelli also brought the ball up the court a lot, especially when Lehigh went press.) Great addition to the team.

KJ: Really doesn't look like a freshman out there. All around solid player and doesn't seem to have the "deer-in-headlights" look that one often sees from first-year players.

Berry: Clearly a little rusty. Was happy to see CCC keep him out there in the second half even with a big lead so that he could get some more time to get back into game rhythm.

Mullins: Probably going to split time with KJ as the first man of the bench when Brooks returns. Did all the little things. CCC put it well - going to be a great "glue guy" for the team.

Ciaravino: Looks a little bit more like a first-year than KJ, but less hesitancy than in the exhibition game. Still made some ill-advised decisions/plays that got him benched.s

Nicholson: Didn't look as rusty as Berry, which makes sense since he is not as reliant on his jump shot as Ty. Not on as much of a pitch count as in the exhibition game, but you could tell that Collins didn't feel the need to play him when the game was out of reach in the same way that he wanted Ty to get some time. I'm guessing the coaching staff wants to avoid putting too much wear and tear on him early in the season.

Barnhizer: Disappointing that he didn't play, but I love how he continues to be engaged on the bench, acting as another assistant coach to the younger players. Great leadership on this team all around, from Brooks, Ty, Matt, and Nick.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Great summary. Some more observations to add from section 107:

Student section was definitely full and very high energy throughout the game, especially when the chicken sandwich started to come into play. 😋

Martinelli: I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard CCC say in the preseason that he expects Nick to be an all-conference level player. I thought Nick would be good, but not to that level. I stand corrected. He looks the part. The comparisons to Brooks' progression are spot-on. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

Hunger: Huge increase in how confident he looks on the court compared to last year. Going to give CCC a lot of flexibility to play him and MN to maximize matchups against other teams' bigs.

Leach: Definitely has the athleticism to play in the Big Ten. His reverse lay-up and-1 play looked effortless. Seems to have a good enough handle to be the primary ball handler, or at least share duties with Brooks when he returns. (side note: Martinelli also brought the ball up the court a lot, especially when Lehigh went press.) Great addition to the team.

KJ: Really doesn't look like a freshman out there. All around solid player and doesn't seem to have the "deer-in-headlights" look that one often sees from first-year players.

Berry: Clearly a little rusty. Was happy to see CCC keep him out there in the second half even with a big lead so that he could get some more time to get back into game rhythm.

Mullins: Probably going to split time with KJ as the first man of the bench when Brooks returns. Did all the little things. CCC put it well - going to be a great "glue guy" for the team.

Ciaravino: Looks a little bit more like a first-year than KJ, but less hesitancy than in the exhibition game. Still made some ill-advised decisions/plays that got him benched.s

Nicholson: Didn't look as rusty as Berry, which makes sense since he is not as reliant on his jump shot as Ty. Not on as much of a pitch count as in the exhibition game, but you could tell that Collins didn't feel the need to play him when the game was out of reach in the same way that he wanted Ty to get some time. I'm guessing the coaching staff wants to avoid putting too much wear and tear on him early in the season.

Barnhizer: Disappointing that he didn't play, but I love how he continues to be engaged on the bench, acting as another assistant coach to the younger players. Great leadership on this team all around, from Brooks, Ty, Matt, and Nick.

I think you hit the mark on these. I would just add, that I am very pleased Barney abandoned the flat top for that awesome mullet he is sporting.

 

[SmellyCat]

Martinelli: I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard CCC say in the preseason that he expects Nick to be an all-conference level player. I thought Nick would be good, but not to that level. I stand corrected. He looks the part. The comparisons to Brooks' progression are spot-on. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

Berry: Clearly a little rusty. Was happy to see CCC keep him out there in the second half even with a big lead so that he could get some more time to get back into game rhythm.

I hate to say it because I couldn't stand the guy, but I'm thinking Martinelli is going to be NU's Coleman Hawkins. Hawkins, for how much he whined and how much I wanted to punch him in the face, I will grudgingly admit was pretty good. I'm glad he left the conference for all those reasons.

I'm happy Berry (and to a lesser extent, Nicholson) got some run in the second half. I don't believe I heard much grumbling from NU fans about playing starters late in a blowout, which is not the usual reaction from us. I think many of us have come around to the idea that getting real playing time and working with your teammates is worth the small risk of an injury. Still, I'm a little nervous when a guy who was so important to NU last year is playing when he doesn't have to.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I could hear CCC bellowing like a mad cow when Angelo did that dumb dribble drive into traffic during mop up duty. He was incensed. Angelo got sent to the end of the bench like a scolded dog.

That is coaching.