Coming off their first Big Ten win of the season, Northwestern was looking for glory this afternoon in West-Lafayette, Indiana. It seemed like good things would happen with Ivan Peljusic leading the charge with a career high 13 points in the first half alone. However, the ‘Cats were never able to maintain their lead and eventually fell to the Boilermakers.
The game was there for the taking, but the ‘Cats just couldn’t come up with key buckets or defensive stops. Sound familiar?
On a positive note, there have been some recent good signs within the basketball program. As of late, Ivan Peljusic has emerged from bench-warmer and towel waver extraordinaire, to a legitimate post presence, playing a big role for the Wildcats. He’s shown a nice touch around the basket, good energy, and aggressive rebounding. Even though he makes you scratch your head a few times a game with some decision-making, his energy and aggressiveness will only help the team going forward.
Additionally, in recent games the ‘Cats have gotten into a good rhythm in the first half. Their offense is crisp and they’re aggressive on the boards. However, with the exception of the Indiana game last Saturday, their play continues to regress in the second half.
It’s been clear all season that Coach Carmody needs to work on his in-game adjustments. But these recent second half struggles have pushed the problem over the top. Despite their clear second half struggles; he rarely makes personnel or defensive changes. It is no coincidence that in the last 5 games opponents have shot 52.2%, 54.2%, 52.6%, 52.2%, and 61.9% from the field in the second half. In addition, over that same 5 game stretch NU opponents’ field goal percentage has improved by an average of 13.2% from the first half to the second half. Now some of the credit certainly should go to the opponents for their play and halftime adjustments. But, Coach Carmody definitely deserves some blame for his lack of in-game adjustments.
What’s causing these struggles down the stretch? Is it fatigue? If so, balance the minutes of the players. Cut down some of the minutes of Juice Thompson, Craig Moore, and Kevin Coble from the 35+ they’re currently averaging, down to a more manageable 30. At the same time, give more minutes to youngsters Peljusic, Jeremy Nash, and Mike Capocci. Not only are they better rebounders than the aforementioned Moore, Thompson, and Coble; but they would also benefit greatly from consistent minutes.
Unfortunately, the cause of the ‘Cats second half struggles may not be fatigue, but rather in-game defensive adjustments. All season long, I, among others, have been crying for Coach Carmody to change things defensively. He has started to occasionally switch out of the 1-3-1 defense, but the results of this adjustment tend to vary from game to game. Still, his stubborn nature and lack of creativity has hit a boiling point with most Northwestern fans. Game after game, opponents say in postgame press conferences that they were confused with the Northwestern zone early, but once they figured it out things really started to click offensively. After today’s game Purdue’s Tarrance Crump said, “We started getting adjusted to their zone, and how they were playing us. Once we started attacking we got some open looks. Once we made some shots, it opened up the zone.” Hmmm…once the Boilermakers got comfortable in the zone they were able to adjust and find the shots. I’m not saying that the ‘Cats should immediately abandon the 1-3-1 for the remainder of the game once they start struggling in the second half. I just think the ‘Cats would be better served to constantly switch defenses throughout the entire game in order to confuse opponents. They would force opponents to take extra time on offense, in turn slowing the pace down to a more comfortable speed. Until the ‘Cats add more defensive strategies to their arsenal, they’ll continue to struggle in the second half.
Up next: Home vs. Iowa on Tuesday at 8 PM…could this be the second Big Ten win???
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