Welcome to the NU Basketblog, where we hope you will find insight about the men's and women's hoops teams at NU.
Tip-off for the men is just a little over 24 hours away (!!!!), with Northwestern hosting the Stanford Cardinal at Welsh-Ryan arena at 8 pm. Most people who have any familiarity with the team know the storylines heading into the season: no Coble for a while, 3 freshman in the starting lineup, lack of size, etc.
I like to think I have a pulse on the excitement level on campus in regards to NU athletics. Not surprisingly, there is little buzz about this team just a day before the season opener. Those who know anything about the team assume it will be a rough year, and those who know nothing about the team rehash the same, tired (but painfully true) line about the team never making it to the Big Dance.
And why not? What reason has this team given, besides an exhibition victory over sorry neighbor-smart school UChicago, that this year will be any different? Chances are, this team will win more non-conference games than it will lose and will lose (many) more conference games than it will win. So why should already apathetic students and casual fans show up to the game tomorrow when they will probably only be met with heartbreak?
The answer is this: The core of this team right now, in all its youth and inexperience, is exciting. Bill Carmody's Princeton Offense, which with the right talent has proven to be effective, might finally have the tools to work in the Big Ten. Maybe not this year, and maybe not next, but this Northwestern team is going to turn some heads. The light at the end of the tunnel is still too far away to see, but there is at least hope that there is a light, and for Northwestern fans that is great news in and of itself.
It might not be pretty tomorrow (though the team's track record at home indicates that it should be close for a while), but this is a team with a young core that will only continue to grow. Might be worth it when one day NU reaches the Dance to say you were there when the seeds were planted.
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You WNUR guys have it right. Just because the 'Cats will likely have a mediocre season does not mean we can lie down and let our team fall to last place in the Big Ten without giving them a fighting chance!
Stanford has not played a decent team in its first three games and is playing without their best player--Brook Robin--who is academically ineligable with a 1.8 GPA last semister.
We can win this game and start our season off with a big non-conference win!
GO CATS! Even the NIT would be nice.
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