Looking on bright side of win over Florida Atlantic
Northwesterndefeated Florida Atlantic in its home opener Monday, 69-59.
Let's try really hard to look at the positves.
Coach Bill Carmody commented on the negatives in his postgame radio segment on WGN radio.
"I was really disappointed in our backcourt," Carmody told WGN's Dave Eanet. "Especially the older guys."
Carmody talked about a lack of leadership and how the team looked like it needed the departed T.J. Parker. Fifth-year senior Michael Jenkins turned the ball over five times and fellow senior Tim Doyle had six assists but also five turnovers. Overall, the backcourt seemed to struggle against mediocre ball pressure and was lackadaisical with the ball.
The team also had a remarkable lack of athletic ability on the floor for extended periods of the game. The loss of Parker's speed and ability to push the ball up the floor was evident.
Center Michael Thompson did not play and sat at the end of the bench with the team's trainers for most of the game. No word on his status, but we hope it is just a flu bug. Thompson's rebounding presence was missed.
Carmody has begun to work his bench more into the regular rotation. Freshman Craig Moore showed no hesitancy with shooting open shots and looked comfortable in 24 minutes of playing time. Redshirt freshman Sterling Williams played a heady game and is poised for a larger role in future games. Kentucky transfer Bernard Cote knocked down a three and grabbed three rebounds. It only took one shot to know that Cote has one of the sweetest looking jump shots on the team.
Want another negative on this game? It was about as exciting as C-Span. The Cats are slower than last year, do not create turnovers and do not push the ball up the court on fast-break situations. The team seems content to play a half-court game.
This is only the fourth game of the year and the team does not have the chemistry as a team yet, so it's hard to fault them for sloppy play. Let's just be happy that the team has won three of its first four.