Carmody and his team should be ashamed of themselves. This was one of the most lackluster and gutless performances I’ve witnessed from a Big 10 team all season. The Cats came out of the gate like they’d just had an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the Ramada. Stone cold shooting, a passive zone that the PSU shooters feasted on early, and they gave up countless offensive boards and putbacks. They worked off the griddlecakes midway through the half and kept contact.
But, the sequence just before halftime was indicative of why Carmody and his team deserve harsh criticism. With the ball out of a T.O., Carmody’s bunch runs a disorganized half-court set, capped off by an ill advised, eyesore 30-foot airball by Evan Seacat. To make matters worse, they don’t get back in transition and give up a layup. It was a fulcrum moment and it says a lot about Carmody and his team today. Poor execution, no heart.
Other than Craig Moore and Mike Jenkins no one in Purple came to play. Vukusic played a lackluster, uninspired game from the start. Where was the senior captain today? No leadership, no passion.
And Carmody and his staff spent most of the game with arms crossed, perhaps dreaming of those salad days in Princeton. Bill, you are in the Big 10. It’s time to start coaching like a guy in the best conference in the country who deserves his half million per annum. Get off your tuffet and unfeather that hair a bit and do some motivating. Your kids embarrassed the conference today, not to mention the program.
News flash–the Cats had a lot to play for today. A lot. An NIT bid was in the balance. For a guy who has been in Evanston for 6 years and has no postseason appearances, that seems to me like adequate impetus to show up for work today with a fire in the belly. The job at NU is not easy. It’s the toughest job in the conference. But a win today and a good effort against the Buckeyes on Friday, maybe even a win, and the program’s momentum can be forever reversed. An NIT bid would be monstrous for this program. It would say to some of the recruits in Chicago and elsewhere who are on the fence about coming to Evanston, hey, maybe this program is on the rise, let’s give this a shot. NIT 2006, NCAA by 2008. Instead, the Cats left Conseco stinking of pancakes and gave NU fans, NU recruits, NU administrators nothing but more doubt about Carmody’s ultimate fitness for the job.
That said, credit to DeChellis and the Nittany Lions. They played with exactly the kind of immediacy and passion that I expected from Northwestern. They played like a team and a program on the rise. DeChellis has turned the corner in Happy Valley. And OSU will have a dogfight on their hands tomorrow. PSU has the NIT locked up, but wouldn’t it be fun to see them continue the run the rest of the weekend and have a chance for the Dance? Dream a little dream. DeChellis might just be the wizard of the weekend.
