Northwestern hosts No. 18 Iowa State at Welsh-Ryan Arena today for an exhibition. The game is set to tip at 12:30 pm CT and will be aired on B1G+
I will be live tweeting the game, as well.
I will be live tweeting the game, as well.
Game Thread: Northwestern vs. Iowa State (Exhibition)
- Thread starter mshelton33
- Start date
I sat through the whole thing so might as well give my $.02:
West is going to have to be score-first a lot more this year, him doing that early second half led them to get as close as 20ish, which is great considering how bad it was in the first half.
Gelo looked a bit more confident on offense, even taking one or two mid-range shots off the dribble. Pie in the sky best case scenario is he becomes something resembling junior-year Barnhizer.
Pratt has been bad both games, almost wonder if he comes off the bench when Smith is healthy and they go bigger. Especially since he’s the only other primary ball-handler after West.
The big guys look overmatched, McEldon is big but not particularly athletic or skilled, same for Soulis, and Ghai is very raw.
They’re going to need to chuck 3s this year to have a shot, would help if Smith gets healthy and is a 40+% guy again.
West is going to have to be score-first a lot more this year, him doing that early second half led them to get as close as 20ish, which is great considering how bad it was in the first half.
Gelo looked a bit more confident on offense, even taking one or two mid-range shots off the dribble. Pie in the sky best case scenario is he becomes something resembling junior-year Barnhizer.
Pratt has been bad both games, almost wonder if he comes off the bench when Smith is healthy and they go bigger. Especially since he’s the only other primary ball-handler after West.
The big guys look overmatched, McEldon is big but not particularly athletic or skilled, same for Soulis, and Ghai is very raw.
They’re going to need to chuck 3s this year to have a shot, would help if Smith gets healthy and is a 40+% guy again.
I like this, agreed.
I think offensively we’ll improve significantly as they get more used to bigger and faster. But I have my doubts we can be decent on the defensive end. Our bigs are way too overmatched.
I almost think they should try Federiko as a 5 and switch everything, since I’m not sure he fits as a 4 with our current bigs. Though those lineups would get killed on the boards and bullied by teams with offensively skilled big guys.
I saw zero of this game, but Gelo is going to have to improve a lot to be more than a 3rd if fourth option on offense. Still think he is more of an energy guy that has to focus on defense and crashing the boards.
I think the idea is that Pratt and Karasinski will be the #2 and #3 options in some order. Pratt isn’t hitting outside shots and was driving into traffic and either losing the ball or trying a heavily contested layup. Karasinski can shoot but I’m not sure he’s going to be able to create his own shot at this level.
Smith might be a double digit scorer too but not sure he profiles as much beyond a catch and shoot guy.
I think Gelo’s issue in the past has been ball security. He looked okay on that front when he had the ball in his hands, but I don’t think he’s going to be creating his own shot very often to your point. He did have a nice floater over Singleton where in the past he probably would have gone for the poster dunk and missed.
Gelo cannot possibly be the 2nd best option on offense like he was yesterday. He is limited, his scoring is always predicated on freakish athleticism, not much on skill. And his shooting from long range is not great.
Pratt and Karasinski are why I belive we will get better offensively. They look skilled, but a bit too overmatched physically right now. It felt palpable they were in a game they had to rush their normal execution or the defenders stayed solidly in front of them or closed too quickly. They will, to some extent, get more used to it.
We are no strangers to less athleticism even if the gap is not what it was 20 years ago. Langborg, for example, was not athletic and could play. But the best example, IMO, was Jalen Leach. Struggled a lot when he started, the same way it felt for me Karasinski and Pratt did yesterday, but, by the time he got injured, was a different, more B1G level, player.
Not to get off topic, but I'll always love Langborg for that overtime performance.
Ok, I'll buy this. I'll come back in off the ledge for now. I just got so discouraged by one drive where Pratt went into traffic and just sort of threw the ball near the basket in an uncontrolled fashion that looked like something out of my Sunday morning 50+ games. He just looked so overmatched. But let's hope he adapts.
1) There's almost too many issues to discuss in one sitting.
2) Maybe somebody can remind me, but I'm not sure I can ever remember a team where it's so difficult to identify three starters. But it's early.
3) It seems like the staff is crossing their fingers that Karasinski can lift his game. After yesterday, I'm REALLY concerned Karasinski is Max Green 2.0. Looked good as a "mid-major," but ...
4) Man, to me, you can already see West has a lot on his shoulders. Ball-handling ... scoring ... directing traffic on both ends. And I'm just not sure he's near that level of player yet. You could see the frustration in him at times yesterday.
2) Maybe somebody can remind me, but I'm not sure I can ever remember a team where it's so difficult to identify three starters. But it's early.
3) It seems like the staff is crossing their fingers that Karasinski can lift his game. After yesterday, I'm REALLY concerned Karasinski is Max Green 2.0. Looked good as a "mid-major," but ...
4) Man, to me, you can already see West has a lot on his shoulders. Ball-handling ... scoring ... directing traffic on both ends. And I'm just not sure he's near that level of player yet. You could see the frustration in him at times yesterday.
Oh! I am kind of on the ledge myself. Just not so much because of offense as I believe we can get to a decent level there. On defense, different story, just don't see how we will ever be competent.
I agree about the defense. Collins has built the program on playing lock-down defense, but roster management v2.0 filled the team with guys who can't defend. Puzzling.
It seems to me, and I didn't see the game, that NU's defense really requires both trust and familiarity with both system and fellow teammates. Most people aren't going to pick it up in a month or two. And I don't think new-to-the-team players get there effectively until maybe January at best. Not as a (semi?) cohesive unit.
It's one of the reasons I think Collins success is rooted in his ability to retain quality players from year to year.
It's one of the reasons I think Collins success is rooted in his ability to retain quality players from year to year.
You are right that switching all around, etc, gets better over time because it requires better coordination than straight man to man. The problem is that our big man were severely dominated. And that will throw everything out of whack.
I needed a couple days to stew on it. However, your 2nd point really resonated with me. I can understand "losing" to the Redbirds (again, it's an exhibition, but it wasn't like they were re-setting the score every quarter, or running game situations like in past "secret scrimmages.") given that the team has very little continuity, and they were on the road against a team with two returning senior starters. And yes, Iowa State is a pre-season ranked top 20 team, also with more continuity and cohesion, so that was likely to be a loss.
But oy, it would've been nice just to see a semblance of some sort of identity out there. Again, it's early days, and I'm a believer in Collins, so I'm not calling for him to be fired. But, it's apparent to how much we miss Boo, Brooks and now Nick - at the very least, those guys demand attention which can precious space for teammates to get looks/shots up.
I get why keeping Jake West was a top priority - you need a point guard, and as long as he can stay upright, he can become a solid playmaker and scorer. It's be great to get him to be passable on defense, but man, he's just a sophomore. I can see how LA Pratt could be a nice backcourt partner for Jake - in that he's got enough twitch to get inside, and he's strong enough to absorb inside contact. LA just gotta build more chemistry with teammates, but I can see where the kickouts can be had.
Karansinski has a nice quick release, but he's just gonna need help. I get the Max Green comp - he doesn't have the quick twitch to get space on his own. Plus he's thick enough to do a little banging inside, but I don't think he's got the midrange creativity that Nick had. (Not his fault, very few do.). Gonna need Colin Smith to be healthy, and port over that 40% 3FG ability just to create lanes. Same thing goes for Kostic - he's gonna need West, Pratt (and maybe Gelo?) to be able to slash and kick.
Yeah, we're rough at the 5. None of these guys are plus defenders/space eaters like a Matt Nicholson; nor are they offensively talented to force the defense to honor them outside of hustle rebounds. Let us all pump the brakes on Symon Ghai - great length, even better story. But, my dude got roasted on pick and roll as he was just in-between on every time they attacked him. That's just a nuance that he's gonna have to learn (hopefully get enough reps in the non-con just to get to "not awful").
To be positive, Phoenix Gill and Okku Federikko appear to have tools - I'm just unsure they can harness them effectively in rotation stretches, much less against B1G competition.
Hope they can start getting some confidence in the first few games and from there start sorting out roles.
Of course, identity would be nice. But for now, I think that's a distant goal. From what I saw on Sunday, mediocrity is a more reasonable goal. Knock down some open outside shots. A little defensive cohesion. Stay within 6-10 points for at least the first 10 minutes I'm sorry to say.
To me, a lack of connectivity on defense is unfortunately understandable. I can't imagine there's many teams on this side of the top 30 who have 8 new players and come out blazing on defense.
Yes he is!! Because on Sunday, his first two steps when he put the ball on the floor were often BACK ... back toward half court to clear some space for himself. It's a Jevon Johnson-induced pet peeve. Hopefully he's just getting comfortable in a new offense.
Didn't notice the pick and roll issues. Looking forward to watching that. Also, on the negative side, he has no clue what boxing out is.
But there's something there. This isn't Dan Kreft. You really don't think those long arms can eat up space? And he's got some nice agility.
If he has anything more than Blake-Preston minutes, it's more of a statement about the team. But he might be something by his junior year.
Ghai knows how to defend the pick and roll. But his timing on showing, stepping back, covering the lob, is awful. But he moves fairly well at 7’3. And he’s not worse on his timing than Matt was as a freshman. Kid has enormous potential.
Right on, let me correct myself: Ghai knows how to defend the pick and roll - however, his ability to manifest that knowledge in the present is severely lagging.
Hey man, I'm super excited about his ceiling! I can't recall us ever having a guy with his height, length and agility. If it was 10 years ago, I'd also be somewhat comforted by the notion that he can take his lumps this year and it'll be great in year 3 or 4. However, it's 2026, and I don't know if he'll even be here next year.
Kenpom has us as preseason 89. At this point, I'd rate success as being 65-70 by season's end. That may be whiffs of a tourney bid (even if the field is expanded, to nab an at-large, I'd estimate it'd be kp45-50), but to your point, Sec - that would mean the team has developed some cohesion and was at least a tough out night in and night out.
Again, who knows - perhaps Jackson and Collins made a rational assessment after last season - the roster was going to massively purged, they're still trying to figure out the portal/NIL landscape, and the resources were likely to be devoted to football - this season was going to be a bit of an experiment. I offer this up as I don't see "fire Collins/keep Collins" as the relevant question, as it's evident that he can coach. The larger questions are - how much is NU willing to compete in men's bball, how much is Collins willing to coach in the current climate, how effective is Collins in roster management/morale management when the rosters turn over by at least 50% from year to year, etc.
I agree with these huge larger questions. In general, can Collins run a program in this trainwreck, NIL era? But this isn't a one-year decision.
Hopefully, the NCAA or somebody else besides Congress can somehow save the NCAA from this mess. Nobody seems to like it except the agents. The players may love it also. I'm glad they have some of the leverage, but the Arrington Page plan isn't good for anyone except the scummy agents.
Well, if you wanted something to make you feel better about this season... I've got nothing for you. But I have this tweet with statistics that are relevant to our situation.
Jayden Reid was a good player for us and certainly there weren't rumors of character issues like with Page. Maybe keeping West required letting him go, though.
The Page departure really hurts in light of what we are putting out there in the front court. Don't understand what happened there.
As I posted before, if the players left for more money , CC has an excuse, but if he forced them out, he owns this team. Page, Reid and Singleton's strengths and weaknesses were not helped by NU's coaching staff. Last year's team should have been a tournament team.
Are you sure about that?
They went 5-15 in Big Ten play. 2-13 in Q1 games. 2-5 in Q2 games!
That’s a far, far cry from a tourney team. Even if the coaches didn’t optimize their roster, this wasn’t a team that missed the tourney on the margins. We weren’t even close.
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