No. Despite the name of our blog which may lead one to conclude we have some of anti-CCC agenda the point of these statistical summaries is to take an unbiased view of CCC's performance relative to CBC's benchmark. We didn't know what the results would be this year when we started it. We figured that whatever happens happens and we'll interpret it accordingly.
And let's just reiterate that we do hope good things happen in the future. It's hard to understand how any Northwestern fan does not hope for the best in the future no matter what one's thoughts are on that fateful decision to fire CBC about one year ago.
GAMBLE Report
OK down to business. The three week break may not be ideal for someone interested in how any of the past six games influenced the statistics but conversely it does provide an opportunity to view trends over the last third of the season.
The team's overall ranking slipped 31 rungs from where we last measured it. Basically NU is now at the same place it was before the big upset at Wisconsin. NU finished the B1G regular season at #146 which is 14 rungs worse than last year's injury plagued season. FULL STOP.
Let us repeat because it bears repeating. An unusually healthy NU squad (only material absence -- Cobb missed the last four games), one that had the benefit of adding three keys to its lineup who were not available to CBC during last year's B1G campaign (Crawford, Cobb, Lumpkin), finished the year ranked 14 rungs lower than last year's team.
On offense the story is ALL RED!!!!! How is that even possible??!?!?!?!?
The adjO is at #319. This is just horrible and is only a dead cat bounce away from the season low (#324: GR 1.17).
The eFG% continued to go from bad to worse. Or maybe we should say from worse to worst. It is now #328 which is the season low. Where the hell is the improvement?!?!?!
Oh wait. We found the improvement. It was in TO% which improved 11 rungs to #89. That good news is muddied by the fact that is still 52 rungs worse than last year and 70 rungs worse than in the NIT years.
The OR% did not improve one iota from it laughable #348 in our last report. Remember: there are only 351 teams tracked by kenpom.
The FT% improved marginally by 6 rungs to #288. That's still worse than the NIT years and last year. #NUEra?????
The good news is that the story on defense remains largely the same. A marked improvement over CBC's NIT years and 2013. On all fronts except TO% this year's team was hands down better than the CBC benchmarks. We are quite happy to ignore the TO% difference because at the end of the day NU had the #14 defense in the land. That is off from the high water mark of #7 but it is still MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE and a welcomed changed. Kudos CCC!!!!!!!!!
BIG GAMBLE Report
The story is bleaker than when we last looked at the BIG GAMBLE Report. We had been giving some credit to CCC for having to compete against an improved B1G at least at the bottom of the standings. But now the kenpom rating is lower than even last year (see note 2) so even that modest note of good news is no more.
As we know the offense couldn't get any worse. No use beating that horse anymore.
Sadly the defense slipped over the last trimester of B1G play. NU's high water mark of #4 is no more with NU slumping backing to a slightly below average overall defense at #7. That's still a marked improvement over the CBC benchmarks.
Our Overall Take on the GAMBLE Reports
These reports do not paint a pretty picture, and this last report just underscores it in our minds ever so slightly. Yes the defense made big strides. And yes there were some growing pains to be expected with the coaching transition. But we can't help but conclude that this season has been anything more than a disappointment.
Why? Because we just can't get past the fact that it underperformed a severely hamstrung CBC team which was missing three key personnel from this year's team which so happened to be 4-6 in B1G play until Jared Swopshire went down with an injury and was the straw that broke the camel's back. That is simply inexcusable and grounds for a "D" grade for this coaching staff at best.
Sure excuses have and will continue to be made about this being a natural outgrowth of the coaching change. There is some truth in all that. But that hand is SO OVERPLAYED. It's basically the same as trying to bluff a pair of 10s with a pocket ace past two other hands no worse than three of a kind. Yes you have something to go on but it's a loser hand.
Some even go one or two steps further and say the personnel didn't fit CCC's offense so you can't blame him. Usually the tone is not so subtle though with many willing to throw nearly the entire team under the bus in an effort to deflect blame away from CCC.
Screw that! Simply put CCC did not have the wherewithal to tailor his offense to make adequate use of the talent he inherited. CCC himself has said the mark of a good coach is one who maximizes what he has. On offense it was an EPIC FAIL of a coaching job. Instead of the team adjusting to the new offense and improving during the year -- straws that some had feebly tried to grasp out of desperate hope for this season -- this offense just got worse. The eFG% ended the year at rock bottom for goodness sakes.
For all the goodwill earned by the defensive coaching our confidence in the future is shaken by the complete disaster that we witnessed from this year's offense. Based on the team's performance alone it is a stretch to say that this year was a step in the right direction.
A Look to the Future
The hope now is that the defense will stay at or near current levels and the offense improves once CCC's recruits make their way to Evanston. We will say that these kids do sound pretty good on paper. Vic Law is the headliner and is arguably the most ballyhooed recruit to land in Evanston since The Esch. The other four have decent resumes as well although not hands down any better than what we had seen during CBC's latter classes.
There may even be some more new blood on the way in the form of an incoming 5th year transfer or two if the rumors that at least one NU underclassman will be parting ways with the team (Abrahamson is the most common name floated about, but we have also seen some suggest Taphorn or even rising senior Sobo).
So next year's team will be substantially made over with CCC-style recruits. That in and of itself should prove improve the team in the long term although in the near term many aren't appreciating just how hard for most if not all of the recruits to make the from high school stardom to B1G play. No one is saying these kids are one-and-done types afterall, and only those type of recruits tend to make waves during their freshmen years.
What's more concerning to us is that CCC is used to working with McD AA type recruits. Can he get it done with a tier lower of recruits? No one knows the answer to that, but this year's offense does not suggest CCC will be very adaptable if the fit and/or talent level aren't adequate.
The other question we have is whether CCC will routinely get a Vic Law or better caliber recruit in the future? If he can then we might just have to hop on the CCC-bandwagon.
For now there are too many uncertainties and red flags to put more than one foot on board.
