Wisconsin humbles Cats
Coach Bill Carmody tried switching up the starting lineup by inserting Mike Thompson and Michael Jenkins for Vince Scott and Mohammed Hachad, but it failed to ignite Northwestern in a 73-58 loss to Wisconsin.
The Cats (9-11, 2-6 Big Ten) fell behind by 16 at halftime before making a second-half run to cut the game to eight with 6:58 remaining. But then leading scorer Vedran Vukusic fouled out followed shortly after by Davor Duvancic fouling out.
Clearly, the season is long over, so the question remains as to why Carmody does not play some of the young players. Brandon Lee saw garbage-time minutes against Wisconsin. Vince Scott should start taking Davor Duvancic's playing time in anticipation of next year. And why is senior walk-on Michael Jenkins playing so many minutes? He's not on scholarship and he's not playing for the team next year.
It's time to move on, but to what? Hachad and T.J. Parker have regressed significantly, Thompson is not a savior and the Cats have no outside shooters in a Princeton offense. Good luck winning with that.
Comments
I definitely agree about Parker, but was anyone really expecting THAT much out of Hachad? I think he's the same player he was last year -- undersized and marginally talented. But with a better team around him (and Jitim Young doing all the dirty work), he didn't have to step up and make plays or create a shot for himself. Now that he does, he's been exposed.
Thompson is a real mystery. I think he's a good player on a team that doesn't know what to do with him. They completely change how they play when he's in the game. They try to be a half-court team. After years of learning to play the Princeton offense, they abandon it for a style they're not used to. Maybe that's a reflection on bad coaching more than anything.
Posted by: Matt | February 3, 2005 03:47 PM