I attended the Cat Chat with Coach Bill Carmody tonight at Wolfgang Puck's in Evanston. I've always enjoyed these events because it's a chance to see Carmody in a different setting and hear some insight on the season.
However, the most striking thing for me tonight was the sense that Carmody was so worn down by the season. The loss Wednesday to Indiana was a tough one, a game the Cats played well and gave a great effort against a good team, but lost. And it had to be tough.
And Carmody isn't Norman Vincent Peale in general. He has a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor and he's not a rah-rah guy, but he seemed really down tonight. Let's hope it's nothing more than a long season and a long week. I sure hope so.
The other interesting tidbits from the Chat were Carmody's admission that they need a big man (duh) and they are actively involved with some recruits. "We're working on it," Carmody said, which drew some laughs because it was such an obvious point.
He was asked about the inroads the Cats have made with Chicago-area recruits and he gave a sense that the Cats have another good recruiting class coming in. Mike Thompson, from Lincoln Park high school, is "tough as nails" and Carmody praised the athleticism of Mike Capocci from Glenbard East. Capocci is the key to the recruiting class and I'd be surprised if he didn't start right away.
Going back to the lack of a big man issue, I don't think NU will land a true, 7-footer type. That type of on-the-blocks player doesn't jive with the offense that Carmody runs. What the Cats really need, in my opinion, is a couple 6-8 players who can rebound, but are versatile enough to score and pass on the perimeter.
It's why Kevin Coble is the perfect recruit for NU. Sure, that's easy to say now that he's proven to be one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten, but it bears repeating. He couldn't be more perfect for the offense and he can help in the rebounding department. He's 6-8, but certainly could add more bulk in the future.
And speaking of 6-8 players, Carmody talked about the two Croatian freshmen, Ivan Peljusic and Nikola Baran. Both are redshirting, so we haven't seen them play and there is some curiousity about their ability. Carmody did say that their English was getting much better. Carmody had more praise for Peljusic and told a good story about how he was playing in a scrimmage at practice and was scoring quite frequently. He scored to win the scrimmage game and yelled something that Carmody didn't understand. He asked Ivan Tolic what he had said. Tolic said that he had yelled "8 a.m."
Apparently, Peljusic has been arriving at the gym in the morning every day of the season for extra workouts to work on his shooting and fundamentals. His scoring in the scrimmage was validation that his work had paid off.
It was a good story and you really hope that Peljusic or Baran will pan out for the Cats and be the versatile 6-8 guys that the Cats need to take that next step toward an NCAA tournament berth.
The last tidbit from the Chat that was interesting was a question from a student about whether Carmody still believed that the Princeton offense could be effective in the Big Ten. While I think this question is a moot point in a lot of ways, I think Carmody handled the question well.
Carmody said that the offense was dependent on the players. Basically, that the system was fine, but they need better players. And I honestly think he's on the right track with bringing in players like Coble and Jeff Ryan. No, he hasn't given NU an NCAA berth yet, but if Capocci is as good as advertised, the Cats aren't that far off, either.