Northwestern

[LA_Mustang]

Good chance to see NW on ESPN2 - they are playing Florida St. down 3 at the half.

[LA_Mustang]

I already see trouble with NW - they are a great 3 point shooting team - 40% on the season...and their leading scorer, Craig Moore, shoots almost 50% behind the line. He made nine 3s in a game earlier this year.

[Pony_Fan]

we are done in that game

[NickSMU17]

Ill be there....

[jkflamebo]

we are done in that game

absolutely, chalk it as a L

[CA Mustang]

What a coincidence, both of the schools I attended play at Northwestern this month! UCR visited the Wildcats Monday night and thanks to the Big 10 Network, I got to watch the game at home in HD.

Granted I haven't seen SMU play yet this year, so I can only comment on the perspective of facing Northwestern.

Frankly, I wasn't that impressed with the Wildcats. They aren't very athletic and only have one player of size. Their C is seven feet tall, but he's a FR with only average speed. His post moves are okay, but very basic and not quick at all. Fall should be able to get a few blocks on him. The PG is decent and like to drive, so Doherty will have to rotate PG to keep them fresh and minimize foul troubles. NW has several F who are good in cutting to the basket and/or colleting garbage around the rim, but can't really create shots of their own. If SMU denies cuts to the basket and rebounds decently, that will take away a large part of their game. Due in part due to the Princeton offense Carmody runs, they seem to operate with a balanced scoring approach. I didn't see anyone who could score 20 - 30 points in a game on that team.

On Monday night, UCR killed themselves with poor shooting. A 24% FG in the first half created to a 18 point halftime deficit. They rallied in the second half, but never got hot enough to make it close. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... 0812010421

[smupony]

Somebody give me Northwestern's/Princeton's offense. Man, they moved the ball all around the court and had some easy lay-ins from great picks and ball movement. Remember when Brown came in a few years ago and took us to overtime.

Mark my word (12/4/08 ), if SMU doesn't get its act together, expect Northwestern to beat us by more than 20 points. Maybe 30.

They are the real deal.

My question: How long does a team need to be together to have that type of continuity? Why can't we take pieces of this offense? Georgetown runs a more atheltic version of it, why can't we?

Execution of an offense can beat better atheletes. Florida State had superior atheltes and they got pounded.

Hope I'm wrong.

[50's PONY]

Down memory lane. Northwestern is the place where the Ponies made their only Final Four appearance in 1956. The fieldhouse was called McGaw Hall then. The Ponies were matched up against San Francisco and the great Bill Russell. Our All-American Jim Krebs had a great game and had 25 points against Russell. San Francisco had a forward named Mike Farmer that our scouting report said could not shoot. He hurt us from the outside with 20+ points while we were trying to surround Russell. The Ponies made a heroic effort but just couldn't get over the hump. The next night in the finals against Iowa Farmer had zero points. This was a great season for the Ponies and one that we will always be proud of.

[George S. Patton]

Somebody give me Northwestern's/Princeton's offense. Man, they moved the ball all around the court and had some easy lay-ins from great picks and ball movement. Remember when Brown came in a few years ago and took us to overtime.

Mark my word (12/4/08 ), if SMU doesn't get its act together, expect Northwestern to beat us by more than 20 points. Maybe 30.

They are the real deal.

My question: How long does a team need to be together to have that type of continuity? Why can't we take pieces of this offense? Georgetown runs a more atheltic version of it, why can't we?

Execution of an offense can beat better atheletes. Florida State had superior atheltes and they got pounded.

Hope I'm wrong.

Bill Carmody has been trying to run that for about 7 years and has been getting his head kicked in constantly. Has an overall losing record and his Big 10 career record is a mess.

But I will admit this Northwestern group looks a little more intriguing than past editions.

One other note: Northwestern has never played in the NCAA tournament.

[Water Pony]

I will be at the SMU/Northwestern in Evanston on Dec. 23rd. Go Ponies!