šµAt Northwestern, polar opposites exist simultaneously
Plus, a little football nugget for you.
After a week when we got to be blissfully ignorant of the Northwestern menās basketball team and this increasingly hard-to-write newsletter, weāre back.
And nothing has changed.
The menās team crapped the bed again in a road loss at Rutgers before getting blown out at home by Michigan.
All the while, the womenās team returned from their week off to continue a march towards a potential Big Ten title.
And, later in the newsletter, Iāll throw a little football in there for you as a treat (if you can call it that).
Hey, at least we got this blessed image:
Letās blame some things.
šµBlameĀ the desire for something positive
Each time I watch the Northwestern menās team play, I search, hopelessly, for something positive on to which I can latch.
For most of the season, itās been Miller Kopp. More shots for one of the Big Tenās best shooters! Iām keeping my real estate on Kopp Island, but it may or may not be listed on Airbnb now.
Then there were the few weeks in December when Boo Buie emerged to get me all jazzed up. Because Chris Collinsā offensive sets are, well, um, not the most innovative nor effective, Northwestern will need a shot-creating guard to keep the teamās head above water as long as Collins is calling the shots. For now, at least, Buie is too inefficient to make a consistent positive impact. And while thatās normal for a freshman guard, it doesnāt make me feel great right now.
So, the hunt continues.
Benching Pete Nance was a good move. But I feel like Robbie Beran has been playing worse without Nance on the floor as much, which also stinks.
What can we have to look at over the next few weeks?
Despite how Beran has kind of faded over the past couple games without Nance to take on the more physical opposing wing threat on the defensive end, the lineup of Pat Spencer, Buie, Kopp, Beran and Ryan Young has been really the only main lineup of consequence thatās been a net positive for the Wildcats.
That group, according to NatStat, has been a net positive on a per possession basis. Maybe with more time it can grow into something?
I mean, I find it wild that Collins has just discovered that you can have two ball-handlers on the court at the same time. Heās doing it pretty often now, with two of Spencer, Buie, and Ryan Greer sharing the court for more minutes over the past couple games than they have all season.
When you have so little shot creation from your highest volume shooter (Kopp), and the offense you run doesnāt do much to manufacture open looks without relying on a defensive breakdown, having guys that can dribble can go an awful long way.
In short, dribbling. Iām excited for more dribbling. Ugh.
šµBlameĀ nothing
Nine wins in 10 games has the Northwestern womenās team positioned as the polar opposite of its male counterparts.
Theyāre near the top of the Big Ten.
The Wildcats had to battle against Michigan last night, but good thing they have Veronica Burton, who put them ahead for good late in the game for a 66-60 win.
With Lindsey Pulliam having an off night, Burton (who I think is more indispensable than Pulliam), controlled the game masterfully.
Joe McKeown relies on his starters a lot. That group (Pulliam, Burton, Sydney Wood, Abi Scheid, and Abbie Wolf) has played way more than any other other five-woman grouping on the roster. And theyāve been damn good. Itās been one of the better lineups in the country this season.
That group is outscoring its opponents by about 30 points per 100 possessions, according to NatStats. Thatās just bonkers.
Northwestern closes Big Ten play with five games in which they should be the favored team. The Wildcats sit a half game back of Maryland right now, who play three of their final four games on the road.
šµBlameĀ returning āproductionā
Remember those stats I was quoting during football season to showcase Northwesternās per-down weighted efficiency and all that nonsense. Well, the 2020 projections of SP+ are now out and, woo boy, itās pretty entertaining.
OK, so Bamaās back atop the rankings, with Ohio State close behind.
But whereās Northwestern?
In the context of the country, ESPNās Bill Connelly has Northwestern ranked No. 50. Not bad! The defense is rated No. 17. The offense? 110th.
Looking at the Big Ten, Northwestern is the 11th-best team, rated higher than the vaunted trio of Illinois, Maryland, and Rutgers.
In the Big Ten West, Northwestern sits next-to-last. The ratings see the division in two tiers. Thereās the top tier with Wisconsin (9), Minnesota (20), Nebraska (25), and Iowa (29). And thereās the bottom tier of Purdue (46), Northwestern (50), and Illinois (61).
You might think that No. 50 is pretty high for Northwestern. And, frankly, I agree with you, especially after ending last year ranked 91st based on the metric.
The reason: returning āproduction.ā
One of the āmajor factorsā in the ratings, this metric is a weighted calculation of how much of a previous seasonās productive players are returning. And, guess what?
Northwestern projects to have the most āproductionā returning in the country. The metric indicates 88% of Northwesternās offensive production is back for another action-packed season in Evanston in 2020. (On defense, itās 80%.)
But, as we all saw during a season that feels like a lifetime ago, that might not be such a good thing.
Thatās where weāll end things this week. Thanks for sticking with another edition ofĀ šµBlame the Phones.
And remember, if you want to be one my bag people,Ā itās here.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. Iād love to hear them.
Take care,
Josh Rosenblat