Three things that have to change for NU to get to the dance....

[Medill90]

Maybe for the first few games, but that won't last long. He is what he is. He's just not athletic enough to play at this level.

On offense as an underclassman, Benson had a mid range game....would face up and knock down 7-10 footers. We haven't seen that, but it's useful. He's more of a 4, doesn't have the beastly power game to own part of the paint and convert with regularity. But he has tools that can be mixed up.

The bigger issue is defense where he's a foul machine. My sense is that he gets a pretty quick hook because Pardon is sitting there. Maybe if he's given a bit more time/rope he'll settle down and the officials will settle down.

With that said, Haywood telegraphed something up thread. He's telling us that the redshirt/kid coming in will be more effective. Haywood did the same thing on this board when Pardon was wearing a red shirt. Question is, are the coaches seeing something in practice with Ryan Young....or is the kid from Alabama off the charts....or is it that Benson hasn't developed into the 5 they had hoped (because he's a 4 IMO)

 

[NJCat]

....or is the kid from Alabama off the charts....

That would be Georgia......

 

[Medill90]

That would be Georgia......

correct

 

[hdhntr1]

I get that impression that the university IS giving Collins what he wants.


(I presume that academic exceptions or looking the other way on other character issues is not something Collins wants).

Character issues maybe but I would have to think he would not have a problem if the academic restrictions were reduced

 

[gradeck]

It would be pretty odd that Collins would want to coach at Northwestern if he also wanted a lower academic bar to admission for players.

 

[TheC]

On offense as an underclassman, Benson had a mid range game....would face up and knock down 7-10 footers. We haven't seen that, but it's useful. He's more of a 4, doesn't have the beastly power game to own part of the paint and convert with regularity. But he has tools that can be mixed up.

The bigger issue is defense where he's a foul machine. My sense is that he gets a pretty quick hook because Pardon is sitting there. Maybe if he's given a bit more time/rope he'll settle down and the officials will settle down.

With that said, Haywood telegraphed something up thread. He's telling us that the redshirt/kid coming in will be more effective. Haywood did the same thing on this board when Pardon was wearing a red shirt. Question is, are the coaches seeing something in practice with Ryan Young....or is the kid from Alabama off the charts....or is it that Benson hasn't developed into the 5 they had hoped (because he's a 4 IMO)

There is no way Benson could play the 4. He is waaaaay too slow. He can barely stay in front of a big center yet alone a 4 that has any ability to put the ball on the floor. And could you imagine him running out to the 3 point line?

But he's got one more year left to make some noise. Sometimes guys who haven't done anything in their careers end up turning in serviceable senior years

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

It would be pretty odd that Collins would want to coach at Northwestern if he also wanted a lower academic bar to admission for players.

No it isn’t.

 

[hdhntr1]

It would be pretty odd that Collins would want to coach at Northwestern if he also wanted a lower academic bar to admission for players.

While he agreed to current standards, that does not mean that he would not welcome a relaxation of them

 

[Medill90]

It would be pretty odd that Collins would want to coach at Northwestern if he also wanted a lower academic bar to admission for players.

I think he wants the bar set at the median of Vanderbilt, Stanford and a couple others (not Duke). He doesn't want to consistently say no to kids who then go right into a conference competitor's program.

 

[hdhntr1]

There is no way Benson could play the 4. He is waaaaay too slow. He can barely stay in front of a big center yet alone a 4 that has any ability to put the ball on the floor. And could you imagine him running out to the 3 point line?

But he's got one more year left to make some noise. Sometimes guys who haven't done anything in their careers end up turning in serviceable senior years

He is likely another Big that would have benefited from a RS year

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

He is likely another Big that would have benefited from a RS year

So he could take 5 years of abuse instead of 4?

 

[EagerFan]

Benson did not make the step forward this year as I had hoped (and I think predicted early in the year). Coach has one more off season to break his reaching fouls habit - it’s still possible he’ll be the guy next year. I’ve seen a lot worse play from NU centers over the years.

I don’t think one star player gets it done. NU has (almost) always had a go to guy on the team. The problem has been that a talented and/or well coached team can mitigate one star pretty well.

What NU needs is at least three (semi) stars on the floor. I don’t have stats at hand so maybe Im way off, but iirc Carmody’s successes revolved around having Juice, Coble/Shurna, Nash/Crawford, and Hearns offering more scoring options than could be reliably shut down every game. And Collins tourney run was predicated on the spread of talent supporting each other.

Collins (and many of us I suspect) thought he had that again this (last) year, and it just didn’t work out that way. But we’ve seen in various games even this year that Pardon (Law) could be our star when some combination of Turner/Taylor/Kopp were hitting enough shots to demand defensive attention.

 

[go cats go]

Benson did not make the step forward this year as I had hoped (and I think predicted early in the year). Coach has one more off season to break his reaching fouls habit - it’s still possible he’ll be the guy next year. I’ve seen a lot worse play from NU centers over the years.

This is a far cry from "he'll be one of the best 7 starting centers in the league." This is what we need: more better players. We currently only have 2 guys who would start for most B1G team. Both of those guys are graduating. This is concerning.

 

[Max_Power]

I believe that Gaines, Kopp and Nance are strong enough to create the situation you are talking about if NU can find a guy who is a threat every possession. For example - if Robbie Beran were to show up next year and be a star (15 points per game w/ clutch shots), I think that it could mean a winning season next year (NIT) and then the NCAA the next year.

 

[EagerFan]

This is a far cry from "he'll be one of the best 7 starting centers in the league." This is what we need: more better players. We currently only have 2 guys who would start for most B1G team. Both of those guys are graduating. This is concerning.

Yeah I don’t think that is Benson’s future. I do believe his foul trouble is solvable as it’s mostly him reaching and grabbing when he just ... doesn’t ... need to. If he can drop that habit, I think he can be a decent 10 minute a game guy in conference. He isn’t a solution, I’m just hoping he won’t be a problem.

 

[EagerFan]

I believe that Gaines, Kopp and Nance are strong enough to create the situation you are talking about if NU can find a guy who is a threat every possession. For example - if Robbie Beran were to show up next year and be a star (15 points per game w/ clutch shots), I think that it could mean a winning season next year (NIT) and then the NCAA the next year.

I can get behind all of that. I think Gaines is there, Kopp might be there, and Nance has a lot of work to do still in figuring out how to be as big as he is. He needs some muscle, but I think he’d be better served developing better spatial awareness and footwork - maybe ballet lessons or something.

 

[hdhntr1]

This is a far cry from "he'll be one of the best 7 starting centers in the league." This is what we need: more better players. We currently only have 2 guys who would start for most B1G team. Both of those guys are graduating. This is concerning.

By the beginning of next year, we will likely have a few. Kopp has shown signs. Gaines is and Turner are getting close to that now there and I would predict that Nance and/or Beran reaches that level as well. Not sure if Greer. Buie will make the jump to that level. Will wait to see at the center position. I would think that we will be as good or better at 3 to 4 positions.

 

[hdhntr1]

Yeah I don’t think that is Benson’s future. I do believe his foul trouble is solvable as it’s mostly him reaching and grabbing when he just ... doesn’t ... need to. If he can drop that habit, I think he can be a decent 10 minute a game guy in conference. He isn’t a solution, I’m just hoping he won’t be a problem.

It is is likely a matter of him being a limited minutes guy with Pardon. Can't get into a flow. I am thinking he will improve enough that he gets closer to 20 mpg and you have a RS Young to back him up. Jones is wild card as he is likely to be more of a 4 and I can see playing 2 at a time

 

[CappyNU]

Yeah I don’t think that is Benson’s future. I do believe his foul trouble is solvable as it’s mostly him reaching and grabbing when he just ... doesn’t ... need to. If he can drop that habit, I think he can be a decent 10 minute a game guy in conference. He isn’t a solution, I’m just hoping he won’t be a problem.

He would be significantly better if he just wasn't...so...slow... His lack of foot speed is a big reason why he commits so many fouls, and why he's a non-factor on offense, especially when juxtaposed against Pardon. Defensively we generally do well when he's in the game because he's a gigantic human being. Benson played roughly 25% of our defensive possessions in conference and opponents only scored 20% of their points when he was in the game. That's good! Problem is, our offense was atrocious with Benson at C. If he can get faster/better footwork, he may be a halfway decent player next year.

 

[haywood jahblowme]

I think he wants the bar set at the median of Vanderbilt, Stanford and a couple others (not Duke). He doesn't want to consistently say no to kids who then go right into a conference competitor's program.

this

 

[cat inkansas]

I think Nance will start at the 5 if he can put on enough muscle.

No

 

[Catreporter]

Chris Collins said it post Illinois: College basketball is a game of GUARDS and we need to find some!

 

[haywood jahblowme]

No

its possible. we will need to put our 5 best players on the floor.

 

[hdhntr1]

He would be significantly better if he just wasn't...so...slow... His lack of foot speed is a big reason why he commits so many fouls, and why he's a non-factor on offense, especially when juxtaposed against Pardon. Defensively we generally do well when he's in the game because he's a gigantic human being. Benson played roughly 25% of our defensive possessions in conference and opponents only scored 20% of their points when he was in the game. That's good! Problem is, our offense was atrocious with Benson at C. If he can get faster/better footwork, he may be a halfway decent player next year.

Our O wasn't too good when he was on the bench either

 

[EagerFan]

He would be significantly better if he just wasn't...so...slow... His lack of foot speed is a big reason why he commits so many fouls, and why he's a non-factor on offense, especially when juxtaposed against Pardon. Defensively we generally do well when he's in the game because he's a gigantic human being. Benson played roughly 25% of our defensive possessions in conference and opponents only scored 20% of their points when he was in the game. That's good! Problem is, our offense was atrocious with Benson at C. If he can get faster/better footwork, he may be a halfway decent player next year.

Better footwork would be great and is trainable. I don’t think he’ll get faster. Maybe they can Olah him up over the summer. He has decent height, reach, and a bunny shot going for him. I maintain he could cut his fouls per game a bunch by simply not reaching around all the time.

I can’t recall if they’ve ever or often run an O play for him to take an open shot from the FT line or similar? I think that could be a couple of baskets a game for him.

 

[PurpleFaze]

Benson- biggest thing he needs to be is more aggressive, especially on offense. Saw some signs of that the last few games. If he goes up hard then he either gets fouled or dunks it. Instead he brings the ball down and gets tied up or turns it over.

I think next year will be bad unless collins finds a couple of really good grad transfers who fill spots. That's just life in the Big 10 when we currently have 3 upperclassmen in Turner, BB, and Gaines.

Year after next is going to be interesting. Nance/Kopp/Greer/Young in their 3rd years, Beran/Jones/Boo as sophs. If collins can add another strong recruiting class then it looks like a program on the upswing.

To me the direction of the program is all about the next two recruiting classes.