J Lloyd update

as others had already pointed out, it appears that my hand-wringing may have been misdirected. according to this, Northwestern is still very much alive for Johnathan Loyd.

although my confidence sags when i realize it may come down to a "Bill Carmody in-home visit."


5/3 update: it's official. he signed with Oregon.

And now, some good news

it appears the tournament expansion we've all been dreading has been postponed, at least for one season. CBS/Turner has a new deal with the NCAA, but next season's tournament will only have 68 teams. no word on whether those will be actual "play-in" games, i.e. have eight teams compete for the last four at-large spots. that would be awesome, but i expect it will instead be teams from the MEAC, SWAC, etc. playing for the right to lose to Duke, Michigan State, etc. as a 16 seed.

i strongly believe that the absence of immediate expansion to 96 teams is based solely on logistics. there simply isn't time to adjust schedules and secure arena space to pull this off in 2011, so expect the full 96 in 2012.

one interesting note is that for the first time ever, the tournament will broadcast simultaneous games at once, on four different channels (most likely CBS, TNT, TBS and Tru TV- formerly Court TV). that means we are no longer subject to the sometimes maddeningly slow trigger finger on the remote control at CBS HQ.

So long, Johnathan Loyd

step aside Tavaras, the big boys have arrived. while it's at least encouraging that NU was able to identify this kind of talent early enough that we actually got a campus visit, i certainly would think this is where the courtship ends.

[Loyd] liked his visit to Northwestern and smiled at the thought of helping the once perennial doormat Wildcats make their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

when asked about playing for Billy Donovan or Tom Izzo, Loyd presumably did a lot more than smile at the thought of making multiple tournament, Final Four, and/or NBA draft appearances.

See you in San Antonio*

Lunardi put together a 2011 bracket with 96 teams, and NU squeaked into the field as a 20 seed. Joe has the Wildcats playing VCU for the right to play Villanova, and according to his projections we were among the last four teams included. it would be interesting if Northwestern really did play VCU, considering my brief little obsession with their coach last April. if nothing else, click on that link to relive the good ole days of AC vs. anonymous.

enough has been written about what a terrible idea the 96 team tourney is, and this mess confirms it. the bracket has 8/11 Big Ten teams, 13/16 Big East teams, and all 12 from the ACC.

*yes, i realize the first round or opening round or whatever they're going to call it would not be played in San Antonio. but there is no way to know yet where that game would be played.

And so, another mediocre big man moves on

following in the shoes of the original Michael Thompson, Kyle Rowley decided he's had enough of Northwestern basketball, apparently to find more playing time elsewhere. i've not always been kind to Kyle Rowley. a quick search reveals some of these Rowley-related comments from the past season:

"while Kyle Rowley continues to be utterly useless"
"i did not like anything Kyle Rowley attempted (and failed) to do"
"thank god Rowley wasn't in the game at that point"
"contributed 3 fouls and a turnover in 11 minutes"
"When Rowley comes in, we play 4-on-5 on offense"
"not awful"
"at least he's becoming a somewhat competent defensive rebounder"
"awkward as usual but not completely terrible"


at least those comments trended positive as we neared the end of the season. but i'm not mad at Kyle Rowley. the truth is that he came late to the game of basketball and came early to the Big Ten. that was not a winning combination. (don't forget that he was originally a 2009 recruit but enrolled at NU a year early.) he was never the right fit for Northwestern's style of play, but Carmody had no choice. NU was getting killed on the boards every night and the guys on the roster weren't getting any taller. here was a local seven footer who could theoretically help right away, so NU rolled the dice. the early buzz was good - let's take a look back to when Rowley picked the Wildcats:

Rowley came to America two summers ago, in 2006, and was very raw and unskilled. Now weighing in at 280 lbs, Rowley is a very mobile, skilled post presence. He is a good rebounder and adequate shot blocker, is a very good passer for a big man and has great moves around the basket. Rowley is also a good free-throw shooter and has a good mid-range jumper. The skilled big man is also a gym rat, and it is easy to see that his long hours on the court have paid off, as he has improved a vast amount over each of the past two years.

are you sure we're talking about the same Kyle Rowley? offensively he was a nonfactor; he finished his career around 45% FG and 53% FT. his career high was 10 points, and he hasn't done that since 12/1/08. he didn't rebound well enough to earn playing time; only twice in his career did he have more than four rebounds. sure, injury and illness were a factor this season, but he didn't get more than eight minutes for a two month stretch until the NIT game (in which Mirkovic couldn't play).

i also found it interesting that the original article mentioned the possibility of Rowley red-shirting his freshman year. i've since heard Carmody say that he should have done that. we'll never know if that would have made a difference.

personally, i was never able to watch Kyle Rowley play basketball without thinking of the George Carlin bit about bad names for boys. soft names make soft people.

Kyle Rowley is out

news here.

Heckle

after witnessing Northwestern's loss in the NIT, we were just sitting around as fans filed out. after a few minutes i remembered that Bill Carmody, after going into the locker room, does a postgame interview with WGN Radio. sure enough, i leaned forward in my seat and saw him standing by press row with headphones on.

i joked to friends that i should yell something at him after the interview. obviously, as soon as i said that, the expectation was that i would yell something at him after the interview. i really wish i'd put more forethought into this, but he was wrapping up with Dave Eanet so i had to come up with something quickly. he took off the headphones and started walking towards the tunnel opposite our seats. i knew it was now or never.

"CARMODY, YOU SUCK!"

in the next half second i realized just how much of the crowd had cleared out. i know i'm a good yeller, but i'm not kidding when i say it fucking ECHOED. it sort of startled me, but at the same time i recognized that he had no doubt heard me, and i pretty much had the attention of anyone left in the arena, so i needed to capitalize.

"GO BACK TO THE IVY LEAGUE!"

i fully admit that i should have yelled something more insightful/insulting/funny. my brother in law is pissed at me for not yelling out the name of this blog. that's a great idea that i hadn't thought of, but i'm also not sure that something ending in "...blogspot.com" has great POP. over the course of the next few days i thought of dozens of better things to yell, but at that moment back on March 17, it felt good just to yell anything. it's difficult being a Northwestern basketball fan living outside Big Ten country. i've been able to see a game every year or two, but that's not nearly enough outlets for my anger. for me to release a season's worth of frustration and have BC actually hear me, that was extremely cathartic.