Okay, now that the BigTen basketball season is winding down and the tournament begins shortly, I’d like to take a look at the state of the Wildcats’ basketball team as I see it. I’ve been hearing things, and seeing things in print, both positive and negative, all season long. Without getting too deep into specifics, I’d like to get into some of those concerns.
This team sucked. They finished dead last in conference for the first time in years. They won only one conference game and were lucky to do even that. For a long stretch there, they lost every conference game, every one, but more than 10 points per game. I found myself frustrated and annoyed at times, especially when I could feel the game turn, like when NU was up by 14 over Iowa and, although I was only listening to it on the radio, I could actually tell exactly when the momentum shifted. Is that a tribute to Dave Eanet’s announcing? Perhaps. More likely it was simply a reflection of this nightmare of a season.
My question is: what did anyone expect? The core of the team began to develop last season as freshmen. Without the senior leadership of Tim Doyle, last year’s ‘Cats would have been the epitome of crap, much worse than this season. I find it hard to believe that nobody noticed that. I also find it hard to believe that nobody saw that that same scenario, slightly amended, would happen again this season. Last season’s freshmen are sophomores, true. But they are supplemented not by the Tim Doyles of the world, but by more freshmen. There is no effective senior leadership this season (although Craig Moore’s leadership abilities have become more apparent as the season has worn on, but I’ll get into that, shortly). It’s hard to believe that a team that’s been mediocre, at best, over the last several years could be in a rebuilding mode, but there it is. This team is rebuilding.
I had no expections of grandeur from this team. None. I didn’t even expect mediocrity. I expected them to be the worst team in the BigTen and they didn’t let me down in that. All I was hoping for was Craig Moore to get his shot back, the continued development of Kevin Coble and Jeremy Nash and Jeff Ryan. I was also hoping that the freshmen coming in would progress as the season wore on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t seeing that. At least, not up until the Indiana game. Yes, IU was still reeling with the Kelvin Sampson stuff. But the ‘Cats showed a fight and fire in them I hadn’t really seen all season. It’s also where I saw the leadership abilities of Craig Moore become more apparent. This team is young and inexperienced, but it’s learning and growing as is going to get better. Just you watch.
How much better? Well, I’m not going to anoint them BigTen champs just yet. In fact, if they become a middle-of-the-pack team, that would make me happy. This team has all the elements of becoming a powerful club in the future. All the elements except one. And it’s what’s been missing all along: a dominant big man under that basket. I always hoped that that’s what Vince Scott would turn into but it just never materialized. And, until that happens, the ‘Cats will be only mediocre. That’s the way things are in the BigTen. And even then, that’s not a guarantee but it sure would help.
Whither Bill Carmody?
The biggest cry I’ve heard, though, is for Coach Carmody’s head. Well, true, I’ve been hearing it for a number of years, now, but with the team being as bad as it has been this season, that cry has gotten much louder. And, I have to admit, I was beginning to jump on the bandwagon. (In fact, it might be fair to say that I still have one foot on the running board.)
The thing is, I like Bill Carmody. He’s great at the technical aspects of the game. He may be the best there is at getting a lot out of very little. With little real talent, he’s kept the team relevant for a number of years when maybe it shouldn’t have been. Which brings us to the problem: he doesn’t seem to know how to recruit.
Case in point: he still hasn’t gotten us that big man in the middle. He snagged Vince Scott and that should have been a huge coup, but it wasn’t. He’s also gotten tallish Europeans like Vedran Vukusic and Davor Duvancic. But they’ve never really been true centers; more like power forwards who’ve tried to adapt themselves to the center position. But never a true center like Paul Davis of Michigan State a few years back or Greg Oden from Ohio State.
It seemed as if Carmody just didn’t get it; he just didn’t understand recruiting. Considering the peculiarities of recruiting at Northwestern, it’s understandable. But, by now, he should have a handle on recruiting.
So, yeah, I can certainly see the point to cutting him loose now. It’s just that, I think he’s learned. Bill Carmody is as much a work in progress as the NU basketball program is. It’s going to require a little more patience on the part of the anti-Carmody group. I have that kind of patience but I know it’s because I like the coach. But his recruiting is, in my opinion, is getting better. For example, on Feb. 28, it was announced that NU got a commitment from Davide’ Curletti, a 6-9 center from St. Mary’s Prep in Orchard Lake, Michigan. Combine that with is recruits from the last couple of years and things are looking better. In the past, it was almost as if he tried to re-create NU’s program in everyone else’s image, but our’s is a special needs (for lack of a better phrase) basketball program. In my opinion, the evidence is growing that he’s finally getting that and, with his technical proficiency, I think we may see great things with him as head coach. Of course, people have said that before, I know. But I really do believe this.
Really.
