After a long period of silence on the state of Northwestern basketball, I guess it’s time to suck it up and finally face what has happened in the past week. All of the momentum that the Wildcats derived from that three-game win streak has been lost. While Northwestern competed impressively in both West Lafayette and Bloomington, it has nothing to show for its efforts, except two close losses.
In both games, the Wildcats were close heading into the final few minutes, but simply got out-gunned in the home stretch. Against Purdue, Northwestern held a 55-54 lead with 7:44 remaining before the Boilermakers sank three consecutive shots from behind the arc to take a six-point lead. Purdue led the rest of the way, as Northwestern’s offense seemed too tired to mount a significant comeback. While John Shurna was amazing in the final minutes, hitting fadeaway shots in the paint, three-point shots from well behind the arc and finishing backdoor cuts in the paint, to score 18 points in the final seven minutes, his teammates were unable to match his prowess, scoring just four points the rest of the way. Against Indiana, Northwestern was literally tied with four minutes to go and trailed by a basket with just two minutes to go, but the Wildcats were unable to formulate efficient offensive possessions in the game’s final minutes. This is when the Wildcats’ lack of depth hits them hardest. While the Hoosiers seemed riled up in the final few minutes, the Wildcats seemed dead. Shurna was clearly not his normal self, after playing all 40 minutes, and none of his teammates stepped up to fill the void. Northwestern was unable to penetrate the paint in the game’s final few minutes and was forced to shoot a variety of terrible shots at game’s end. Even the Wildcats’ one successful possession was an awful one, as Alex Marcotullio had to take a shot that started from behind the basket with the shot clock about to expire. Although Marcotullio was somehow able to angle his body to the left, off the baseline, so that his shot didn’t hit the side of the backboard, it wasn’t the type of shot you want your team taking in the final couple of minutes.
It’s really not hard to figure out why this keeps happening to Northwestern. Whereas Indiana’s starters were well-rested heading into the final few minutes, Northwestern’s were exhausted. Shurna hit his peak with about five minutes remaining, far too early. With sufficient rest, perhaps that peak would have come at game’s end, when they needed him most. Take a look at the minute counts of the team’s three greatest stars, and you’ll see just how much of a disadvantage the Wildcats were at:
INDIANA NORTHWESTERN
- Christian Watford 28 John Shurna 40
- Cody Zeller 30 Drew Crawford 38
- Jordan Hulls 34 Dave Sobolewski 36
To be honest with you, the Indiana loss upset me the most. Purdue, give the Boilermakers credit, they won that game. They hit an unbelievable number of threes, draining 11-of-23 from behind the arc. Role players stepped up, including D.J. Byrd (20 points) and Ryne Smith (14 points). That’s something the Wildcats would have loved to have seen this weekend. On the other hand, the Hoosiers hit just two from behind the arc. They weren’t that good. The Wildcats blew a big opportunity at Assembly Hall.
Now, when I became really frustrated on Wednesday was hearing the Big Ten Network guys rip on John Shurna for feeling the effects of fatigue toward the end of the game. They tried to use that classic, overly stated, argument that great players need to step up in the clutch, and if Shurna is to be a true leader, he needs to dominate until the final whistle. Obviously, that would be nice, but it’s not easy to carry a team for 40 minutes, or for 80 minutes rather over two games. When the opposition is getting rest, so that they can play active defense, and you’ve been working your butt off for the entire game, it’s hard. I don’t think you can pin the blame on Shurna. Very few players have to do for their teams what Shurna had to do for his team this weekend. If you saw him play, and saw the sheer ridiculousness of the shots he drained, the drives he took, the energy that goes into setting up and creating his own shots, it’s hard to get mad at him. He needs his teammates to join him on that plane. That’s all.
Also, how funny is it how the mighty have fallen. Indiana is no longer the top-notch team that we thought it was. The Hoosiers had to battle hard for that win on Wednesday, and they really didn’t look all that dominant at any point during the game. They played shutdown defense in the end, something bound to make Tom Crean happy. It’s funny because Indiana started the game playing such horrendous defense. Northwestern was driving past defenders with ease early on, but by game’s end, the Hoosiers had tightened it up. They somehow managed to win despite zero points from their star shooter, Jordan Hulls. But Hulls’ performance raises questions, and reminds us how contingent Indiana is on the three-ball. Cody Zeller is not as good as everyone thinks he is. He’s tall and incredibly artful around the net. He has a wide variety of post moves that he can utilize at any moment. He showed strength too, the way he took it to Shurna early, but he’s not the punishing force that Meyers Leonard is. Leonard versus Zeller is a question of brawn versus brains. Zeller does far more around the hoop but he doesn’t establish the post the way Leonard does, particularly on defense. Zeller appears to be a finesse guy early in his career, a speedy guy who can finish off fast-breaks, while Leonard likes to swat shots, back down defenders and keeps his moves relatively simple. The one Indiana player I was really impressed with despite his 4-for-11 performance is Christian Watford. I really like the way he aggressively takes it into the paint before pausing and taking a soft shot from 10 feet away. He’s a pretty good player. With Watford and Victor Oladipo, the Hoosiers have two guys who can create their own shots, something Northwestern quite frankly lacks.
Also, if there’s one thing we learned from this past weekend, it’s that Purdue is better than we realized. I was wrong about Robbie Hummel. I admit it. I still don’t think he’s great, but he is clutch and he is dangerous from the outside. He’s a smart player to be sure, and after burning Northwestern for 27 points, he went right back to work, burning Illinois for 19 points and 11 rebounds. Big win for the Boilermakers over the Fighting Illini. Very impressive stuff. Beyond Hummel, the Boilermakers have an experienced point guard and a couple of strong role players. This isn’t a great team, but it’s impressive to see them fight in the wake of JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore’s departures.
Where does this Northwestern team go from here? Well, the Wildcats need to win at least three of five to have a shot at March Madness, and in my opinion, they need to win four out of five. They have plenty of winnable games coming up. Assuming a loss to Ohio State, Northwestern simply needs to beat Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Penn State. Fortunately for the Wildcats, their two hardest upcoming games are at home, as the Wolverines will dominate the rebounding column and the Golden Gophers will dominate the paint. The Wildside will have to show up big time for those games. Meanwhile, Iowa and Penn State are two highly winnable games on the road, although given Northwestern’s road struggles over the past couple of years, neither is a given. It has to happen this year though. Shurna combined to score 59 points in the Wildcats’ two losses. He was that guy. When the Wildcats needed a score, it was either Shurna or nothing. Unfortunately, at the end, if was nothing. Without him, I’m not sure Northwestern has a legitimate, consistent scoring threat.
As for what the Wildcats need to do on the court. They need Dave Sobolewski to play with tenacity and intelligence. Those three offensive fouls in the opening minutes against Indiana really hurt Northwestern, since this offense clearly flows better when its freshman point guard is driving to the hoop. That sets up the open threes from Reggie Hearn and the easy dunks for Drew Crawford. Without that, both Hearn and Crawford were quiet in Northwestern’s last two losses. So, Sobolewski needs to avoid the charges and drive to the hoop like he did against Iowa. Northwestern is a far better team when he does. And finally, they need Davide Curletti to man up and contribute. In 34 minutes of play against Indiana and Purdue, he had just three points, five rebounds and seven assists. As impressive as the assists number was, Curletti has to do more than simply be a facilitator at the elbow. He literally is a stick there, just holding the ball and waiting to feed the backdoor cut. That’s great, but he needs to score. I’m not asking for an encore of his Michigan State performance, though that would be nice, I’m just asking for the occasional inside play to keep a defense honest.
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