📵HAT week is here (finally)
The end is nigh.
There is one week left.
Then, the season is all done.
It is time to blame.
📵Blame inconsistency
Another weird week for Northwestern’s men’s basketball team ended last night, one that began with a loss to Radford that was followed by a win over Norfolk State. After those two performances, Northwestern men’s basketball entered last night’s game against Bradley as underdogs. To be fair, Bradley did beat Radford earlier this season.
And, naturally, the Wildcats absolutely whooped them in a 78-51 win down at a tournament in Fort Myers, Florida.
After falling down 6-0, the Wildcats got their act together and never looked back. They’ll play against Pittsburgh tomorrow night in the tournament’s championship.
If you missed the game (and I don’t blame you for not tuning in), here are some takeaways:
Pat Spencer might be good. But also, I’m still skeptical.
First off, I am setting my computer to autocorrect Pat Spencer to “Pat Spencer, the former all-time great college lacrosse player who now is playing a season of basketball for Northwestern as their starting point guard.” I just don’t have the time to type that every week.
But it’s a necessary reminder.
Spencer was the best player on the floor last night, putting up a team-high 23 points in a team-high 28 minutes. He also added a team-high 8 assists.
In the first half, Spencer operated best in end-of-shot-clock situations, in semi-transition, or whenever Bradley’s defense got caught leaning a certain direction. He struggled to get separation off the dribble when neutral with his defender, relying on an awkward midrange game (and, to give him credit, the shots went in).
He looked most comfortable reading and reacting to space that was already created for him. And he took advantage. His drive-and-kick game is impressively developed for a guy who hasn’t played at this level of basketball. And, generally, he reads the game well.
I’m still skeptical about how he’ll be able to deal with the size of Big Ten opponents on offense. He doesn’t get many easy shots off the dribble, but has some nice touch from 12-16 feet. If you close out on him under control, you can keep him under wraps, I think.
I was REALLY skeptical of Northwestern’s point guard situation before the season. And, I have to give it to Spencer. He played well enough last night to calm some of my nerves.
But that was just one game.
Ryan Young
The redshirt freshman center has been playing damn well. He had 16 points and 7 boards in Northwestern’s win against Providence. He had 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Norfolk State.
And, against Bradley, Young was stellar. He finished with 13 points (and left some on the table with missed free throws) and 7 rebounds.
He’s got good hands down low. He’s shown some solid vision as a block-to-block passer so far in his career, but can be a bit turnover prone when his initial post move gets stopped. His inside-out passing is a weakness right now as he tends to miss open weak-side shooters when he goes to work down low.
But even so, Young has surprised me with his rebounding. And, on defense, he has some decent timing as well.
He’s been a pleasant guy to watch so far this season.
Who should be Northwestern’s best offensive player?
So far this season, Pete Nance has been Northwestern’s top scoring threat.
But he hasn’t been particularly efficient.
And neither has Miller Kopp.
What about Pat Spencer? He has been really inconsistent with just a few flashes here and there.
Among those three contenders, my answer is Kopp.
He’s the best shooter of the bunch and can score at all three levels. He started his freshman year shooting 45% from three. But he shot horribly over the final third of last season to bring his percentage way down.
He’s trails Nance in shots on the season by 9. At some point, that’s got to change.
Northwestern’s offense needs to work to create looks for Kopp. But Nance is the one taking the initiative so far this season, especially off the bounce. He’s not shy.
If Northwestern’s going to have a chance to win Big Ten games, head coach Chris Collins is going to have to find a way to get Kopp more looks.
📵Blame the HAT
At this time last year, Northwestern had the Big Ten West locked up for a couple weeks. Travel arrangements were made for Indianapolis. The starters got to rest for much of the second half in an 8-point win over Illinois.
All was well.
And now, it’s not.
Northwestern has six QBs on its roster. Five have played this season.
And Andrew Marty — who started the season as (probably) the fourth-stringer — may end up being the guy when the Wildcats travel to Champaign this weekend.
Marty played against Minnesota, completing 8 of his 10 passes for fewer than a hundred yards. But he added 52 rushing yards on 16(!) attempts. Inefficiency aside, he brought a bit of a spark to the Wildcats.
I mean, they matched their season high vs. Big Ten teams with 22 points. (The other 22-point performance was a loss to Purdue.)
Marty spoke to reporters today and was listed as the first-team QB on the depth chart. Pat Fitzgerald said Hunter Johnson will be out, ending his season. He added that Aidan Smith practiced yesterday after missing the game against Minnesota. The sophomore from Cincinnati had “an absolutely terrible week of practice last week,” according to head coach Pat Fitzgerald. He was not joking, apparently.
“[Marty’s week of practice] was really bad,” wide receiver Riley Lees added, according to Inside NU.
Alas, here we are.
As a recruit, he was one of the lowest-rated quarterbacks that has committed to Northwestern in recent years.
“I liked his size, all the intangibles out of high school,” Fitzgerald said. “This was a guy that really wanted to be a college football player.”
I guess that’s the scouting report?
Anyway, it’s time to win a Hat.
Northwestern student journalism of the week
Neya Thanikachalam of the Daily Northwestern had a really interesting story on what happens to students who return to school after taking a medical leave. It turns out that it’s not always a seamless transition.
That’s where we’ll end things this week. Thanks for sticking with another edition of 📵Blame the Phones.
And remember, if you want to be one my bag people, it’s here.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. I’d love to hear them.
Have a happy Thanksgiving,
Josh Rosenblat