Finally, win #20
and with that, Northwestern has won 20 games in a season. that's never happened before. so that's one less thing in the category of "Northwestern basketball has never..."
otherwise, this was a pretty ugly affair. NU couldn't buy a bucket from the outside in the first half, and it was a two-point game with about six minutes left. Michael Thompson bailed out the Wildcats scoring 11 straight points from the field as Northwestern broke it open.
i haven't gone back to look at the numbers, but i would be shocked if NU had this many bench minutes in any conference game this season. it was due mainly to Crawford being less than 100% and Mirkovic fouling out with more than ten minutes left. but Curletti (6-6 from the FT line) and Marcotullio (5 assists) acquitted themselves pretty well.
i'm really not trying to be negative, but some perspective is needed with this win. i know a lot of us expected the worst, but let's remember that IU had lost 12 of 13 and finishes the season with 21 losses. i know NU lost to them just a few days ago, but the Wildcats were the higher seed and should have been expected to win this game.
next up is a Robbie Hummelless Purdue. silly Northwestern fans will say things like, "Hey, we beat them at full-strength, so we'll definitely win again." uh, no. this will be a virtual road game, and the Boilers have a lot more to prove than NU does. sadly my pre-existing plans mean i will miss this one - but who the hell factors in Northwestern basketball when making weekend plans in March?!?! i certainly don't expect Purdue to go 9+ minutes without a field goal like Indiana did today, and i don't expect the Wildcats to win Friday night. but if they pull off the miraculous upset, i'll check in again on Saturday for the semifinals.
three other notes from this game:
1) i know the announcers have time to kill and i generally find Steve Lavin very amusing. and i also know they were just talking about hair. but here is an on-screen comparison i'm sure you never thought you'd see
2) the announcers spent a fair amount of time slurping BC and the job he's done at Northwestern. but this particular graphic really annoyed me. let's sum up the accomplishments of these coaches at these schools (before this season):
Tom Izzo - 12 NCAA app, 5 Final Fours, 1 title, 71% winning percentage
Bo Ryan - 8 NCAA app, 1 Elite Eight, 3 conf titles, 73% winning percentage
Bruce Weber - 5 NCAA app, 1 title game app, 2 conf titles, 73% winning percentage
Bill Carmody - 1 NIT app, 45% winning percentage
now do you understand why i get so pissed off about diminished expectations?!!?
3) i did play close attention to the post-game handshake. it appears that Tom Crean, while i'm sure he was disappointed to lose to a shitty team, was not in as huge a hurry as usual.
otherwise, this was a pretty ugly affair. NU couldn't buy a bucket from the outside in the first half, and it was a two-point game with about six minutes left. Michael Thompson bailed out the Wildcats scoring 11 straight points from the field as Northwestern broke it open.
i haven't gone back to look at the numbers, but i would be shocked if NU had this many bench minutes in any conference game this season. it was due mainly to Crawford being less than 100% and Mirkovic fouling out with more than ten minutes left. but Curletti (6-6 from the FT line) and Marcotullio (5 assists) acquitted themselves pretty well.
i'm really not trying to be negative, but some perspective is needed with this win. i know a lot of us expected the worst, but let's remember that IU had lost 12 of 13 and finishes the season with 21 losses. i know NU lost to them just a few days ago, but the Wildcats were the higher seed and should have been expected to win this game.
next up is a Robbie Hummelless Purdue. silly Northwestern fans will say things like, "Hey, we beat them at full-strength, so we'll definitely win again." uh, no. this will be a virtual road game, and the Boilers have a lot more to prove than NU does. sadly my pre-existing plans mean i will miss this one - but who the hell factors in Northwestern basketball when making weekend plans in March?!?! i certainly don't expect Purdue to go 9+ minutes without a field goal like Indiana did today, and i don't expect the Wildcats to win Friday night. but if they pull off the miraculous upset, i'll check in again on Saturday for the semifinals.
three other notes from this game:
1) i know the announcers have time to kill and i generally find Steve Lavin very amusing. and i also know they were just talking about hair. but here is an on-screen comparison i'm sure you never thought you'd see
2) the announcers spent a fair amount of time slurping BC and the job he's done at Northwestern. but this particular graphic really annoyed me. let's sum up the accomplishments of these coaches at these schools (before this season):
Tom Izzo - 12 NCAA app, 5 Final Fours, 1 title, 71% winning percentage
Bo Ryan - 8 NCAA app, 1 Elite Eight, 3 conf titles, 73% winning percentage
Bruce Weber - 5 NCAA app, 1 title game app, 2 conf titles, 73% winning percentage
Bill Carmody - 1 NIT app, 45% winning percentage
now do you understand why i get so pissed off about diminished expectations?!!?
3) i did play close attention to the post-game handshake. it appears that Tom Crean, while i'm sure he was disappointed to lose to a shitty team, was not in as huge a hurry as usual.
posted by Fire Bill Carmody at
7:19 PM
3 Comments:
Not sure which is more disconcerting about Steve Lavin:
1. His alarming lack of knowledge about the Big10 and/or NU hoops, as displayed by his comment that "No one in the league would be surprised if Northwestern won the Big 10 Tournament", or
2. His strange man-crush on Marcotullio
Carmody has 5 NCAA app? I think you made a goof.
@buckyor it has been corrected. sorry, i may or may not have been drinking during the game.
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